The Best Books of Tafsir
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
Question:
This questioner says he has three questions. First, he inquires about the Qur'anic exegesis of al-Qadi al-Jurjani, who was born in the year 1292 AH, and what are the best books of tafsir?
Answer:
I have not looked into al-Jurjani's tafsir, but al-Jurjani is a great imam. As for his tafsir, I have not read it. The best books of tafsir are those that interpret the Qur'an by the Qur'an, or by the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), or by the language in which it was revealed, which is the Arabic language. The best and oldest of the tafsirs in this regard is the tafsir of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (may Allah have mercy on him); it is comprehensive in interpreting the Qur'an with athar and the sayings of the scholars. Then comes the tafsir of Ibn Kathir; it is a good tafsir, also comprehensive but concise and easy. Then the tafsir of al-Baghawi, the imam al-Husayn ibn Mas'ud al-Baghawi; al-Baghawi's tafsir is also comprehensive and concise, and it follows the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community. In our time, there is the tafsir of Shaykh Ibn Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him). It is an easy and accessible tafsir that aligns with the old tafsirs and with the works of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim. So it is a good and easy tafsir. Yes.
This questioner says he has three questions. First, he inquires about the Qur'anic exegesis of al-Qadi al-Jurjani, who was born in the year 1292 AH, and what are the best books of tafsir?
Answer:
I have not looked into al-Jurjani's tafsir, but al-Jurjani is a great imam. As for his tafsir, I have not read it. The best books of tafsir are those that interpret the Qur'an by the Qur'an, or by the Sunnah of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), or by the language in which it was revealed, which is the Arabic language. The best and oldest of the tafsirs in this regard is the tafsir of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (may Allah have mercy on him); it is comprehensive in interpreting the Qur'an with athar and the sayings of the scholars. Then comes the tafsir of Ibn Kathir; it is a good tafsir, also comprehensive but concise and easy. Then the tafsir of al-Baghawi, the imam al-Husayn ibn Mas'ud al-Baghawi; al-Baghawi's tafsir is also comprehensive and concise, and it follows the methodology of the people of the Sunnah and the community. In our time, there is the tafsir of Shaykh Ibn Sa'di (may Allah have mercy on him). It is an easy and accessible tafsir that aligns with the old tafsirs and with the works of Shaykh al-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn al-Qayyim. So it is a good and easy tafsir. Yes.
Source
نور على الدرب - الفوزان - 03/073 — archive.org (11:15)
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.