Text copied Link copied

Al-Fatawa – home

﴿ فَاسْأَلُوا أَهْلَ الذِّكْرِ إِن كُنتُمْ لَا تَعْلَمُونَ ﴾

Scholar
Search mode

What is your opinion on al-Rafai's takhrij of "Tafsir Ibn Kathir"?

Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The Shaykh : Here are questions; you stated that al-Rafai's takhrij of Ibn Kathir's hadiths is not correct; so what is the alternative tafsir? Knowing that some female teachers do not know the terminology of hadith, so they return to the original "Tafsir Ibn Kathir"?
The Shaykh: There is some inaccuracy in this attribution to me in the expression, which I do not approve of for others, let alone for myself. I do not say that al-Rafai's takhrij of Ibn Kathir's hadiths is not correct. And here is a matter that must be noted, since we are answering a question concerning the science of hadith and its terminology: the science of takhrij of hadiths is one thing, and the science of authenticating and weakening hadiths is another. Takhrij of hadiths is something that beginner students of knowledge in this science can do, whereas authenticating and weakening is something that only a skilled, practiced person who has spent decades studying this science thoroughly, benefiting from the experiences of previous scholars, can do. This authenticating and weakening is something that only the fewest of those engaged in the science of al-jarh wa al-ta'dil, authenticating, and weakening can do. As for the science of takhrij of hadiths, it consists of opening the books and the takhrij specialist saying, "This hadith was narrated by al-Bukhari in such-and-such a book, page such-and-such, volume such-and-such, chapter such-and-such," and so on. This is an easy matter. So I did not say that al-Rafai's takhrij of Ibn Kathir's hadiths is not correct because he is not a takhrij specialist. If only he were a takhrij specialist; then the matter would be easy. But he authenticates and weakens, and he is neither in the caravan nor in the army, as is said in this field.
So the correct form of the question is to say: You stated that al-Rafai's authentication of the hadiths in "Mukhtasar Ibn Kathir" is not correct; in that case, the quotation from me is correct. For the man has no knowledge of authenticating and weakening, nor even of takhrij, which is easier than authenticating and weakening, as I mentioned earlier.
As for the rest of the question: What is the alternative tafsir? Knowing that some female teachers do not know the terminology of hadith, so they return to the original "Tafsir Ibn Kathir." I say: Even the original "Tafsir Ibn Kathir" does not convey the meaning of authenticating and weakening except to specialists. And therefore al-Rafai stumbled in his "Mukhtasar" blindly, like a man from his own land.The Shaykh : The other al-Rafai, al-Sabuni,The Shaykh : Ali al-Sabuni, who also, in his turn, abridged "Tafsir Ibn Kathir," and claimed in his introduction, like a man from his own land, that he limited his "Mukhtasar of Ibn Kathir" to the hadiths.
... ... the weak hadiths, and some of them are fabricated. So if some female teachers return to "Tafsir Ibn Kathir," even if they know the terminology, it does not benefit them much; because many of the hadiths that Ibn Kathir mentioned are attributed to some of the takhrij specialists, like al-Tabarani, without mentioning their isnad and without providing authentication or weakening for them.
Source www.al-albany.com

The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.

Similar fatwas