Warning Against Tafsir Books That Deviate from the Correct Methodology
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh:
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
We continue, our dear brothers and listeners, with the questions we began in the previous episode. We have reached the most prominent books of tafsir, which the Honorable Shaykh presented in the last episode. We begin this episode with this question: The Honorable Shaykh, the library of tafsir contains many books that deal with this science. Based on what you said previously in the last episode, there are books that have deviated from the correct methodology. It would be desirable if you would point them out so that our dear brothers and listeners may be aware of them?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, every book of tafsir that does not adhere to the four aspects we mentioned, which the scholars mentioned in interpreting the Qur'an, as found in the principles of tafsir, as found in the introduction to the tafsir of al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him), which are the four sources: the Qur'an by the Qur'an, the Qur'an by the Sunnah, the Qur'an by the interpretation of the Companions, and the Qur'an by the Arabic language in which it was revealed.
Any tafsir that goes beyond these four and interprets the Qur'an from other sources is not to be trusted, because it is interpretation by bare opinion. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said And because this is speaking about Allah without knowledge, it is not permissible to say that the meaning of Allah's saying is such and such without having evidence from the Book of Allah, or from the Sunnah of the Messenger of Allah, or from the sayings of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, or from the Arabic language in which this Qur'an was revealed.
Yes. It is not permissible to interpret the Qur'an by the sayings of people, or the ideas of people, or the modern theories of people, and to say that this is interpretation of the Qur'an by science. Science is only the sacred science that was revealed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him); this is the science. The scholars are those who inherited this science, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) saidRiyad as-Salihin 1388 So the scholars are the heirs of the prophets. The scholars in the sciences of the Shari'ah are the heirs of the prophets. So one should refer to them in these matters, and one should not refer to the theories of doctors, the theories of astronomers, the theories of physicists, or others. Yes.
The presenter:
But Shaykh, regarding this issue, if scientific facts are established that agree with the Noble Qur'an, should it be pointed out that these are among the indications that prove? Muslims do not need confirmation that this is the truth and that this is a word from Allah the Exalted and Glorified[Fussilat 41:42], but this may need to be explained to non-Muslims to prove that this is a non-human source, that it is a divine book, aware of the facts of this universe and the wondrous creation of Allah the Exalted and Glorified therein, and consequently, these facts agree with what came in the Noble Qur'an.
The Shaykh:
It is not said that this is the meaning of the verse. It is not permissible to say that this is the meaning of the verse.
The presenter:
Meaning, restricting it to this meaning.
The Shaykh:
Yes, indeed. Rather, it is said that these things are possible, that the Qur'an may have guided to them or referred to them without certainty, without the certainty of saying that this is the interpretation of the verse, or that this is the meaning of the verse. Rather, it is said: Perhaps this is among what the Noble Verse indicates.
The presenter:
Yes, and the Qur'an has many aspects, as well.
The Shaykh:
The aspects that have multiple meanings are correct aspects, not aspects according to the desires of people.
The presenter:
Yes.
The Shaykh:
And the correct, Shari'ah-based aspects. Yes.
May Allah greet you and bless you.
The questioner:
We continue, our dear brothers and listeners, with the questions we began in the previous episode. We have reached the most prominent books of tafsir, which the Honorable Shaykh presented in the last episode. We begin this episode with this question: The Honorable Shaykh, the library of tafsir contains many books that deal with this science. Based on what you said previously in the last episode, there are books that have deviated from the correct methodology. It would be desirable if you would point them out so that our dear brothers and listeners may be aware of them?
The Shaykh:
In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. Praise be to Allah, Lord of the worlds, and may Allah send prayers and blessings upon our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and all his Companions. As for what follows, every book of tafsir that does not adhere to the four aspects we mentioned, which the scholars mentioned in interpreting the Qur'an, as found in the principles of tafsir, as found in the introduction to the tafsir of al-Hafiz Ibn Kathir (may Allah have mercy on him), which are the four sources: the Qur'an by the Qur'an, the Qur'an by the Sunnah, the Qur'an by the interpretation of the Companions, and the Qur'an by the Arabic language in which it was revealed.
Any tafsir that goes beyond these four and interprets the Qur'an from other sources is not to be trusted, because it is interpretation by bare opinion. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said
(peace and blessings be upon him) said: Whoever interprets the Qur'an by his opinion and by what he does not know, let him take his seat from the Fire.
صلى الله عليه وسلم من قال بالقرآن برأيه وبما لا يعلم، من قال بالقرآن برأيه وبما لا يعلم فليتبوأ مقعده من النار،Yes. It is not permissible to interpret the Qur'an by the sayings of people, or the ideas of people, or the modern theories of people, and to say that this is interpretation of the Qur'an by science. Science is only the sacred science that was revealed to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him); this is the science. The scholars are those who inherited this science, as he (peace and blessings be upon him) said
who bequeath neither dinar nor dirham but only that of knowledge
وان الانبياء لم يورثوا دينارا ولا درهما وانما ورثوا العلمThe presenter:
But Shaykh, regarding this issue, if scientific facts are established that agree with the Noble Qur'an, should it be pointed out that these are among the indications that prove? Muslims do not need confirmation that this is the truth and that this is a word from Allah the Exalted and Glorified
Falsehood cannot approach it from before it or from behind it
لَّا يَأْتِيهِ الْبَاطِلُ مِن بَيْنِ يَدَيْهِ وَلَا مِنْ خَلْفِهِThe Shaykh:
It is not said that this is the meaning of the verse. It is not permissible to say that this is the meaning of the verse.
The presenter:
Meaning, restricting it to this meaning.
The Shaykh:
Yes, indeed. Rather, it is said that these things are possible, that the Qur'an may have guided to them or referred to them without certainty, without the certainty of saying that this is the interpretation of the verse, or that this is the meaning of the verse. Rather, it is said: Perhaps this is among what the Noble Verse indicates.
The presenter:
Yes, and the Qur'an has many aspects, as well.
The Shaykh:
The aspects that have multiple meanings are correct aspects, not aspects according to the desires of people.
The presenter:
Yes.
The Shaykh:
And the correct, Shari'ah-based aspects. Yes.
Source
قناة «العلامة الدكتور صالح الفوزان»، 2 من 27|وقفات مع آيات الصيام|كتب التفسير المعتمدة وغير المعتمدة|صالح الفوزان|فقه|كبار العلماء — youtube.com (0:43)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.