Do you have any observations regarding al-Qasimi's tafsir?
Machine translationRead the Arabic original
The questioner : Do you have any observations, O Shaykh, regarding al-Qasimi's tafsir?
The Shaykh : ... al-Qasimi (may Allah have mercy on him) was, roughly, the counterpart of Rashid Rida, and they were, so to speak, on the same path and methodology. Rashid Rida has a great virtue in spreading the Sunnah, without doubt, and the hadith, and in spreading the call to act according to the Book and the Sunnah and fighting taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence); he has a great virtue in this field. But he has a deviant position from the Sunnah regarding the unseen matters, the signs of the Hour, the Dajjal, 'Isa, and al-Mahdi. So I think, what is Jamal al-Qasimi's [position]?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : No, it's fine ... .
The questioner : Subhan Allah ... .
The Shaykh : Then, to begin with, regarding the names and attributes, both are good, but regarding the signs of the Hour and the like, it is between ta'wil (figurative interpretation) and ta'til (denial of the divine attributes). For example, the late Rashid Rida, unfortunately, denies the hadiths of the Dajjal and the descent of 'Isa.
The questioner : Al-Mahdi.
The Shaykh : Al-Mahdi is even more so. Jamal al-Qasimi, in his tafsir, is not of the Salafi methodology; that is, he follows the path of the mu'awwilin (those who interpret figuratively) in matters other than the verses of attributes and the hadiths of attributes.
The questioner : No one preceded you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : For example, I recall one of his anomalies in his interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted:[Al-Baqarah 2:223]. He interprets "whichever way you wish" to mean "in whatever position you wish," meaning in the front or in the back. It was like a bundle of straw on a camel, as they say. His adult son, Muhammad Fu'ad 'Abd al-Baqi, who printed the Egyptian numbered edition of "Sahih Muslim" and also "Sunan Ibn Majah," is a man who is not among the people of hadith in knowledge, nor among the people of hadith in conduct and methodology. All that is the case is that he appears to have been, like many Egyptian literary writers, a translator. So do not elevate his status; rather, lower his standing. First, he shaves his beard, then he has a mustache, and then he is an employee at the French bank.
The questioner : ... the main one.
The Shaykh : And he served the books of the Sunnah. And Allah knows his intention, for we cannot say what his intention was. This man was tasked with tracing the hadiths of al-Qasimi's tafsir. When he came to the hadith regarding the verse mentioned earlier, "Your wives are a place of sowing for you," he mentioned the hadiths that explicitly state it:As-Sunan al-Kubra lil-Nasa'i 63:97, Bulugh al-Maram 8:56, and he weakened them all, just to...
The questioner : ... defend...
The Shaykh : Yes, just to keep al-Qasimi's tafsir as it is... So this is one of the things taken against him. But Allah did not let his book be completed except that it is better than many of the later mufassirun (commentators). But as advice and clarification, and in fulfillment of the trust of academic integrity, we say that we have denied it.
The Shaykh : ... al-Qasimi (may Allah have mercy on him) was, roughly, the counterpart of Rashid Rida, and they were, so to speak, on the same path and methodology. Rashid Rida has a great virtue in spreading the Sunnah, without doubt, and the hadith, and in spreading the call to act according to the Book and the Sunnah and fighting taqlid (following a scholar without knowing his evidence); he has a great virtue in this field. But he has a deviant position from the Sunnah regarding the unseen matters, the signs of the Hour, the Dajjal, 'Isa, and al-Mahdi. So I think, what is Jamal al-Qasimi's [position]?
The questioner : ... .
The Shaykh : No, it's fine ... .
The questioner : Subhan Allah ... .
The Shaykh : Then, to begin with, regarding the names and attributes, both are good, but regarding the signs of the Hour and the like, it is between ta'wil (figurative interpretation) and ta'til (denial of the divine attributes). For example, the late Rashid Rida, unfortunately, denies the hadiths of the Dajjal and the descent of 'Isa.
The questioner : Al-Mahdi.
The Shaykh : Al-Mahdi is even more so. Jamal al-Qasimi, in his tafsir, is not of the Salafi methodology; that is, he follows the path of the mu'awwilin (those who interpret figuratively) in matters other than the verses of attributes and the hadiths of attributes.
The questioner : No one preceded you, O Shaykh.
The Shaykh : For example, I recall one of his anomalies in his interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
Your wives are a place of sowing of seed for you, so come to your place of cultivation however you wish
نِسَاؤُكُمْ حَرْثٌ لَكُمْ فَأْتُوا حَرْثَكُمْ أَنَّى شِئْتُمْThe questioner : ... the main one.
The Shaykh : And he served the books of the Sunnah. And Allah knows his intention, for we cannot say what his intention was. This man was tasked with tracing the hadiths of al-Qasimi's tafsir. When he came to the hadith regarding the verse mentioned earlier, "Your wives are a place of sowing for you," he mentioned the hadiths that explicitly state it:
Indeed, Allah is not shy of the truth; so do not approach women in their rear.
إن الله لا يستحي من الحق ؛ فلا تأتوا النساء في أدبارهنَّHe who has intercourse with a woman through her anus is accursed.
وملعون مَن أتى امرأة في دبرهاThe questioner : ... defend...
The Shaykh : Yes, just to keep al-Qasimi's tafsir as it is... So this is one of the things taken against him. But Allah did not let his book be completed except that it is better than many of the later mufassirun (commentators). But as advice and clarification, and in fulfillment of the trust of academic integrity, we say that we have denied it.
Source
www.al-albany.com
The Arabic text is copied verbatim from the original source, without any edits.