Author's Approach in Writing the Book
The author’s methodology in his book
1- The general overview of the author’s methodology based on his introduction:
One of the important factors which can help the researcher figure out the general outline of the author’s methodology in his book is the introduction of his book, especially that the author explicitly expressed his methodology and outline in his book as well as showing the purpose of writing his book and highlighting his sources. Then the researcher can discover the details of this methodology through research, investigation, close examination, and comparison of the rules which the author mentioned in his introduction with the practical implementation in the rest of the book.
Athaʿlabiyy (may Allah grant him mercy) has written an important introduction of his book. He mentioned the main outline of his book as follows:
The author started his book by praising Allah and asking Allah to grant blessings and peace upon the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) then he mentioned the importance of understanding and reflecting upon the Glorious Qurʾān.
Then he mentioned his childhood as well as the effort exerted for studying Islamic sciences in general and his specific studying of the interpretation of the Qurʾān.
1- The different categories of Qurʾān interpreters:
Athaʿlabiyy divided the interpreters into six categories:
A- The people of ‘bidʿah and ʾahwāʾ’ innovation and blind following of desires like such as the Muʿtazilī interpreters like Albalkhiyy, Aljubāʾī, and Alʾaṣfahānī, Arrumānī. The author stated that we as Muslims are commanded to avoid those interpreters and stay away from engaging in discussion with them. He also responded to the arguments of Muʿtazilah and refuted their opinions in many occasions; this will be clarified in detail when I cover his creed, his methodology of studying creed, and his responses to people who adhere to other beliefs.
B- The people who wrote valuable content but still mentioned the falsehood of the innovators along with the quotes of the righteous predecessors ‘As-Salaf Aṣāliḥ’ like Abī Bakr Alqaffāl and Abī Ḥāmid Almuqriʾ. The author gave the benefit of doubt to those interpreters as follows:
1- The falsehood mentioned in their books wasn’t intentional nor conscious. They were unaware and inattentive.
2- They were just jurisprudents (fuqahāʾ) and they weren’t specialized in Tafsīr.
C- The people who just quoted narrations without knowledge of textual scrutiny like Isḥāq ibn Rāhwaīh and Abī Isḥāq Alʾanmāṭiyy. The author called this category: “The ones who sell medicine are actually in need of physicians”. He meant that they just quoted narrations which they have heard, which is a great effort despite their lack of knowledge of textual scrutiny. But the author (may Allah grant him mercy) widely relied on these narrations based on the content of those interpreters and other interpreters, too. Unsurprisingly, this book is primarily known for the narrations with their chains of narrations but the author hasn’t just relied on this, he also included his opinion about the narrations and his knowledge of the narrators. Then the author mentioned another category of interpreters which is in contrast with this category:
D- The people who dropped the chains of narrations:
Athaʿlabiyy severely criticized those people who haven’t mentioned the chains of narration and copied from scrolls and notebooks, therefore, their interpretations included valuable, useless, sound, and weak knowledge. Athaʿabiyy mentioned that he ignored these interpreters to show the importance of the chains of narrations which prevent people from fabricating quotes and concocting falsehoods. It is totally expected for Athaʿlabiyy to criticize these interpreters because he primarily relied on chains of narrations in his book of Tafsīr.
E- The people of excellence and mastery of high quality:
Athaʿlabiyy commended them for their effort but he also thinks that their books were unnecessarily filled with many narrations and chains of narrations. Their books were oversized and redundant which led to the lack of benefit with regards to reading them. The author mentioned the Tafsīr of Ibn Jarīr Aṭabariyy and the Tafsīr of his sheikh: ʿAbdullah ibn Ḥāmid as examples for these books.
F- The people who excelled in interpretation but lacked sufficient coverage of rulings, commands and prohibitions as well as the absence of mentioning problematic issues along with their solutions in addition to not refuting the people of misguidance and misconceptions. This category includes many of the Tafsīrs of ʾʾAtābiʿīn and the great scholars of Tafsīr who followed them like Mujāhid, Muqātil, Assudiyy, and Alkalbiyy. Athaʿlabiyy commended them for their interpretation of the verses and coverage of the meaning of words mentioned in the verses. He widely relied on these interpreters as his book the Disclosure and Explanation on the Interpretation of the Qurʾān is considered one of top books of Tafsīr, if not the number one book which quoted the opinions of early Qurʾān interpreters. But the author thinks that this methodology isn’t enough for the interpretation of the verses. The experience and knowledge of details is indispensable. Athaʿlabiyy concluded these categories with a statement which shows his respect of scholars despite holding different opinions. He said: “All of these people of truth had praiseworthy purpose and effort.” Despite holding different opinion about some of their methodologies, Abū Ishāq hasn’t considered their effort void; he praised their endeavors especially that they had a noble purpose which is the service of Allah’s Book and the explanation of its meaning.