The Best Books of Qur'anic Exegesis
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Question:
They are asking about the best book for the exegesis of the Noble Qur'an? And they are asking Your Eminence for your opinion on the exegesis of Ibn Kathir?
Answer:
The best book in exegesis, to my knowledge, is the exegesis of Ibn Jarir, the exegesis of Ibn Kathir, and the exegesis of al-Baghawi. These three are the best exegeses. Then following them is the exegesis of al-Qurtubi—good and beneficial—and the exegesis of al-Shawkani—good and beneficial. However, none of them suffices in place of the others; none of them suffices in place of the others. The student of knowledge distinguishes between errors, for errors may occur in some narrations that some people rely upon. They may be weak hadiths in the work of Ibn Jarir, or in the work of Ibn Kathir, or in the work of others. Therefore, the student of knowledge must look into the chains of narration and pay attention to them if he is from the people of this discipline, knowing the validity of the chain and the invalidity of the chain. Likewise, he presents the opinions to the principles of the Shari'ah and the rules of the Shari'ah, if the opinions differ, so that the truth is distinguished for him from the rest. And so, some of the exegetes interpret the attributes figuratively, as may occur in the exegesis of al-Qurtubi.
Therefore, a student of knowledge must have insight into those who interpret the attributes, or who prefer some of the weaker opinions, so that he may choose what is best and point out the error. There is no book free from errors except the Book of the Lord (Exalted and Majestic is He), except the Book of Allah , which is the protected, preserved one, containing no error; rather, it is preserved. As for the books of people, errors may occur in them on the part of the author, or on the part of the scribe, or on the part of the printer. So the student of knowledge looks, investigates, and if something is unclear to him, he asks the people of knowledge, so that the truth may be distinguished for him from falsehood. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.
They are asking about the best book for the exegesis of the Noble Qur'an? And they are asking Your Eminence for your opinion on the exegesis of Ibn Kathir?
Answer:
The best book in exegesis, to my knowledge, is the exegesis of Ibn Jarir, the exegesis of Ibn Kathir, and the exegesis of al-Baghawi. These three are the best exegeses. Then following them is the exegesis of al-Qurtubi—good and beneficial—and the exegesis of al-Shawkani—good and beneficial. However, none of them suffices in place of the others; none of them suffices in place of the others. The student of knowledge distinguishes between errors, for errors may occur in some narrations that some people rely upon. They may be weak hadiths in the work of Ibn Jarir, or in the work of Ibn Kathir, or in the work of others. Therefore, the student of knowledge must look into the chains of narration and pay attention to them if he is from the people of this discipline, knowing the validity of the chain and the invalidity of the chain. Likewise, he presents the opinions to the principles of the Shari'ah and the rules of the Shari'ah, if the opinions differ, so that the truth is distinguished for him from the rest. And so, some of the exegetes interpret the attributes figuratively, as may occur in the exegesis of al-Qurtubi.
Therefore, a student of knowledge must have insight into those who interpret the attributes, or who prefer some of the weaker opinions, so that he may choose what is best and point out the error. There is no book free from errors except the Book of the Lord (Exalted and Majestic is He), except the Book of Allah , which is the protected, preserved one, containing no error; rather, it is preserved. As for the books of people, errors may occur in them on the part of the author, or on the part of the scribe, or on the part of the printer. So the student of knowledge looks, investigates, and if something is unclear to him, he asks the people of knowledge, so that the truth may be distinguished for him from falsehood. Yes.
The presenter: May Allah reward you with good.
Source
binbaz.org.sa
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.