 | |
| Author | Nasir al-Din al-Baydawi |
|---|---|
| Original title | أنوار التنزيل وأسرار التأويل |
| Translator | Gibril Fouad Haddad |
| Language | Arabic Edition &English translation based on 14 manuscripts, 12 commentaries, & 16 editions. |
| Subject | Qur'anic Exegesis (tafsir) |
| Publisher | Beacon Books |
Publication date | July 17, 2016 |
| Publication place | Shiraz,Persia |
| Pages | 902 pages |
| ISBN | 9780992633578 |
| Regarded by theSunnites as the most authoritative Qur'anic exegesis. | |
Anwār al-Tanzīl wa-Asrār al-Ta’wīl (Arabic:أنوار التنزيل وأسرار التأويل,lit. 'The Lights of Revelation and the Secrets of Interpretation'), better known asTafsīr al-Bayḍāwī (Arabic:تفسير البيضاوي), is one of the most popular classicalSunni Qur'anic interpretational works (tafsīr) composed by the 13th-centuryMuslim scholaral-Bayḍāwī (d.1319), flourished especially among non-Arab Muslim regions.[1]This work is based on the earlier work ofZamakhsharī'sal-Kashshāf ("the unveiling").al-Kashshāf, which hasMu'tazilite views, some of which al-Bayḍāwī has amended, and some omitted.[2]Tafsir al-Bayḍāwī is also based onal-Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī'sMufradāt Alfāẓ al-Qurʾān and his tafsir, as well asal-Tafsīr al-Kabīr (orMafātīḥ al-Ghayb) byFakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī.[3]
The commentary begins with a short opening, in which the author praises the value of interpreting the verses of the Qurʼan and argues that Qurʼanic exegesis is at the head of all sciences. The author then gives the name of his work, before launching into the explanation ofal-Fatihah ("the opening"), the first chapter of the Qurʼan.[4]
According to the Islamic scholarGibril Fouad Haddad, the work “became and remained for seven centuries the most studied of all tafsirs,” and it is to be regarded as “the most important commentary on theQur'an in thehistory of Islam.”Tafsir al-Baydawi is considered to contain the most concise analysis of the Qur'anic use ofArabic grammar and style to date and was hailed early on by Muslims as a foremost demonstration of theQur'an’s inimitability (i'jaz ma'nawi wa-lughawi) inSunni literature. Thus, the work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important and significant, because of its fame and influence, and many commentaries have been written on Baydawi's work.[5]
The work became one of the standard tafsirs in theMuslim world, receiving many supercommentaries and commonly being studied inmadrasa courses on Qur'anic interpretation, and was one of the first Qur'an commentaries published inEurope (1846 – 48).[6]
The work enjoyed a solid reputation amongSunnitheologians since its composition. More than 130 commentaries onTafsir al-Baydawi have been written in Arabic.Brockelmann (1898) lists eighty-three of such works, with the most prominent being the multi-volume commentary byShihab al-Din al-Khafaji (d. Egypt 1069/1659) and the gloss by Muhammad B. Muslim a-Din Mustafa al-Kuhi (d. 951/1544), which also includes lengthy quotations from the commentary byFakhr al-Din al-Razi. Al-Baydawi's commentary has proven popular in regions of the non-ArabMuslim world, such as in theIndo-Pakistani region and MuslimSoutheast Asia. It served as an important source for 'Abd al-Ra'uf al-Singkili'sMalay commentary upon the whole Qur'an,Tarjuman Almustafid ("The interpreter of that which gives benefit"), written around 1085/1675. It has served as a core text in Muslim seminaries in Pakistan'sNorthwest Frontier Province,Malaysia,Indonesia and other places, providing an introduction toQur'anic exegesis.[7][3]
Al-Baydawi was an expert on Qurʼanic exegesis,Islamic jurisprudence, andIslamic theology.[4] He was born in Bayda, nearShiraz,Persia. He was aShafi'i-Ash'ari scholar, ajudge, aSufi (mystic) and a Qur'anic exegete (mufassir). Al-Baydawi grew up to be a staunchShafi'i in jurisprudence andAsh'ari in theology and was opposed toShiites andMu'tazilites. He wrote a number of other scholarly works in tenets of faith,jurisprudence, andArabic, as well ashistory inPersian. He was also the author of several theological treatises. His major work is the commentary on the Qur'an. After serving as a judge in Shiraz, he moved toTabriz, where he died in 685 AH.
Al-Baydawi's father was the Chief Justice of theFars province. His grandfather, Fakhr al-Din 'Ali al-Baydawi, also served as the chief judge. Al-Baydawi was chiefly educated by his father. He believed that his teachers were taught by scholars who were in turn taught by scholars who ultimately received their education from the Islamic prophetMuhammad. According to him, his paternal grandfather came from the line of students ofAbu Hamid al-Ghazali (d. 505/1111).[8]
TheAlKoran, an early English translation made use of the convenience afforded by Al-Baydawi's work as the continuous commentary reproduced the Quran in its entirety.[9]
Al-Baydawi has attracted some criticism for the brevity of his writings, and for some inaccuracy, with some scholars accusing him of allowing some Mu'tazilite views held byal-Zamakhshari to filter through into Anwar al-Tanzil.[7]
Major translation work to English was conducted byGibril Fouad Haddad. Haddad is a Senior Assistant Professor at SOASCIS in Applied Comparative Tafsir. He was born inBeirut,Lebanon and studied in theUK,US,France, Lebanon andSyria. He holds a doctorate fromKolej Universiti Insaniah, Kedah Darul Aman, Malaysia and aPh.D. fromColumbia University,New York, US where he was the recipient of several fellowships including one at the prestigious École Normale Supérieure inParis, France. He also graduatedsumma cum laude from theNew York University Latin and Greek Institute. Haddad spent nine years of study inDamascus, Syria (1997-2006) and has receivedijaza (scholarly licenses) from over 150shaykhs and has authored dozens of books and hundreds of articles in Islamichermeneutics,doctrine,hadith,biography andheresiology.
He has lectured onQur'an,Hadith,Prophetic biography (seerah) andSufism in many countries. He was described in the inaugural edition ofThe 500 Most Influential Muslims in the World as “one of the clearest voices of traditional Islam in the West.”[10][11]
| Quran |
|---|
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
