The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation from God (Allah). It is widely regarded as the finest work in classical Arabic literature. It is organized in 114 chapters, which consist of verses.
Al-Tabari was an influential scholar, historian and commentator on the Qur'an from Amol, Tabaristan, who composed all his works in Arabic. Today, he is best known for his expertise in Qur'anic exegesis (tafsir) and Historiography, but he has been described as "an impressively prolific polymath. He wrote on such subjects as world history, poetry, lexicography, grammar, ethics, mathematics, and medicine."
Abu al-Fiḍā ‘Imād Ad-Din Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibn Kathīr al-Qurashī Al-Damishqī, known as Ibn Kathīr (ابن كثير, was a highly influential Arab historian, exegete and scholar during the Mamluk era in Syria. An expert on Tafsir and Fiqh, he wrote several books, including a fourteen-volume universal history titled Al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya
Tafsir refers to exegesis, usually of the Quran. An author of a tafsir is a mufassir. A Quranic tafsir attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding and conviction of God's will.
John Edward Wansbrough was an American historian who taught at the University of London's School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), where he was vice chancellor from 1985 to 1992.
The mysterious letters are combinations of between one and five Arabic letters figuring at the beginning of 29 out of the 114 chapters (surahs) of the Quran just after the Bismillāh Islamic phrase. The letters are also known as fawātiḥ (فَوَاتِح) or "openers" as they form the opening verse of their respective surahs.
Naskh is an Arabic word usually translated as "abrogation". In tafsir, or Islamic legal exegesis, naskh is a theory developed to resolve contradictory rulings of waḥy "revelation" by superseding or canceling the earlier revelation. In the widely-recognized and "classic" form of naskh, one ḥukm "ruling" is abrogated in favor of another, but the text the ḥukm is based on is not eliminated.
Occasions or circumstances of revelation names the historical context in which Quranic verses were revealed from the perspective of traditional Islam. Though of some use in reconstructing the Qur'an's historicity, asbāb is by nature an exegetical rather than a historiographical genre, and as such usually associates the verses it explicates with general situations rather than specific events. The study of asbāb al-nuzūl is part of the study of Tafsir.
Abū Muhammad Abd-Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Qutayba al-Dīnawarī al-Marwazī or simply Ibn Qutaybah was an Islamic scholar of Persian He served as a judge during the Abbasid Caliphate, but was best known for his contributions to Arabic literature. He was a polymath who wrote on diverse subjects, such as Qur'anic exegesis, hadith, theology, philosophy, law and jurisprudence, grammar, philology, history, astronomy, agriculture and botany.
Esoteric interpretation of the Quran is the allegorical interpretation of the Quran or the quest for its hidden, inner meanings. The Arabic word taʾwīl was synonymous with conventional interpretation in its earliest use, but it came to mean a process of discerning its most fundamental understandings. Esoteric interpretations do not usually contradict the conventional interpretations; instead, they discuss the inner levels of meaning of the Quran.
The history of the Qur'an — that is the timeline and origin of the written compilations or manuscripts of the holy book of Islam, based on historical findings — spans several centuries, and forms a major part of the early history of Islam.
William St. Clair Tisdall (1859–1928) was a British Anglican priest, linguist, historian and philologist who served as the Secretary of the Church of England's Missionary Society in Isfahan, Persia.
Verse (ayah) 256 of Al-Baqara is a very famous verse in the Islamic scripture, the Quran. The verse includes the phrase that "there is no compulsion in religion". Immediately after making this statement, the Quran offers a rationale for it: Since the revelation has, through explanation, clarification, and repetition, clearly distinguished the path of guidance from the path of misguidance, it is now up to people to choose the one or the other path. This verse comes right after the Throne Verse.
The Shia view of the Qur'an differs from the Sunni view, but the majority of both groups believe that the text is identical. While some Shia disputed the canonical validity of the Uthmanic codex, the Shia Imams always rejected the idea of alteration of Qur'an's text. Only seven Shia scholars have believed in omissions in the Uthmanic codex.
In hadith studies, Israʼiliyyat are narratives assumed to be of foreign import. Although indicating such stories develop from Jewish sources, narratives designated as Isra'iliyyat might also derive from other religions such as Christianity or Zoroastrianism. Isrā'īlīyāt were received varyingly by both early and later Muslim scholars, with early prophetic traditions criticising their details yet encouraging their transmission. Some pre-modern scholars enthusiastically used them in exegisis whilst others condemned their use. In modern times they have been criticized as altogether unislamic.
Muqātil ibn Sulaymān was an 8th-century story teller of the Quran. He wrote one of the earliest, if not first, commentaries (tafsir) of the Qur'an still available today.
Jane Dammen McAuliffe is a prominent American educator, scholar of Islam and the inaugural Director of National and International Outreach at the Library of Congress. She is a President Emeritus of Bryn Mawr College and former Dean of Georgetown College at Georgetown University. As a specialist in the Qur'an and its interpretation, McAuliffe has edited the six-volume Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān and continues to lead the editorial team for the online edition of the work. She held previous appointments at Emory University as professor and associate dean and at the University of Toronto as Chair of the Department for the Study of Religion and Professor of Islamic Studies in the Department of Near and Middle Eastern Civilizations. She received her BA in Philosophy and Classics from Trinity Washington University and her MA in religious studies and PhD in Islamic studies from the University of Toronto.
Tafsir Furat Kufi is an exegesis of the Quran by Furat Ibn Furat Ibn Ibrahim al-Kufi and is one of the oldest Shia Quranic commentaries. It is the most famous book of the author and is a commentary based upon traditions (Hadith). The traditions used by this book are mainly narrated either from Muhammad al-Baqir, Jafar al-Sadiq or Ali's disciples such as `Abd Allah ibn `Abbas, Mujahid and Asbagh Ibn Nubata; although there are some that relate to one of the companions of Muhammad. Tafsir Furat Kufi is similar to Tafsir Ayyashi and Tafsir Qomi in that it is selective in offering commentary on Quranic verses. Unlike the two mentioned Tafsirs however, Tafsir Furat Kufi has a Shia Islam outlook and focuses only on verses that include Shia allusions. Tafsir Furat Kufi can be titled an Imami exegesis in all aspects. It has been cited extensively by many Shia scholars of later generations. For example, in his introduction to Bihar al-Anwar, Majlisi counts Tafsir Furat Kufi among the most important sources for his composition. Many old manuscripts of Tafsir Furat Kufi are found in Iran and Iraq.
Al-Jaṣṣās was a Hanafite scholar, mostly known as the commentator of Al-Ḫaṣṣāf's work on Qādī (jurisprudence). According to Tillier (2009:281), the original work and its commentary can now "hardly be separated: al-Khaṣṣāf's original text is included in al-Jaṣṣāṣ's commentary". Al-Jaṣṣās is also the author of a work on tafsir, Aḥkām al-Qur'ān.
