Sources of the Compilation in "Explanation and Statement"
The sources which the author relied on in his book the Disclosure and Explanation on the Interpretation of the Qurʾān
There is a great benefit and significance of knowing the sources which the author relied on in his book. This is essential to get to know about the methodology of the interpreter, his exerted effort to find these sources, his methods, and his views added to these sources.
Muḥammad Abū Zahrah (may Allah grant him mercy) said: “The methodologies of the Tafasīr (interpretations of the Qurʾān) vary according to the different sources which the interpreter relies upon.”
The sources also show the academic value of the book as well as the scholarly level of the author. The variety and multitude of sources are directly proportional to the knowledge of the author, the significance of the book, and the mastery of different fields and techniques.
Athaʿlabiyy explicitly mentioned his sources in the Disclosure and Explanation on the Interpretation of the Qurʾān and he also mentioned the chains of narration of each source in the introduction of his book.
These sources are uniquely characterized with certain characteristics which will be clarified in the following topic then the list of these sources will be mentioned in the second topic by Allah’s Will.
1- The characteristics of these sources:
These are the following characteristics of Athaʿlabiyy’s sources in his book:
1- The chains of narration: Athaʿlabiyy narrated these sources through his own chains of narration all the way to the narrator, which added significance and authenticity to these sources.
This proves that Athaʿlabiyy was a narrator of chains of narration (ʾisnād) and his book is one of the most important books of narrations and chains of narration. The number of chains of narration of the sources in his book are 105.
2- Originality: the sources of Athaʿlabiyy are original. He directly narrates the Tafsīr via the great scholars of Tafsīr all the way to the Prophet’s companions, ʾʾAtābiʿīn (the followers of companions) and their followers based on his own chain of narration. He never cited the books which narrated these sources; therefore, he is a source of many other books of Tafsīr after him.
3- The multitude of sources: the many sources of the Disclosure and Explanation on the Interpretation of the Qurʾān are clearly known to the one who reads Athaʿabiyy’s introduction. He said: “I prayed ‘istikhārah’ (asking Allah to help the Muslim make a choice) to write a book which is comprehensive, scrutinized, exemplary, refined, fathomable, systemized, and derived from about 100 books that are collected and directly heard from the teachers themselves. This is without mentioning the commentaries, different parts, and directly acquired knowledge from trustworthy Sheikhs who are approximately 300.”
4- Variety: the sources of Athaʿlabiyy are various. They include many fields and technical knowledge without a focus on one type of specialization. All of this added so much value to this book and turned it into an encyclopedia of a variety of sciences.
Here is a list which proves relying upon a variety of sources as mentioned in the introduction of his book as follows:
a- Tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās
b- Tafsīrs of ʾʾAtābiʿīn (the followers of companions) and the great scholars of Tafsīr who came after them.
c- The Tafsīrs of his Sheikhs and contemporaries.
d- The books of different meanings of same words mentioned in different places in the Qurʾān (Alwūjūh wa Annaẓāʾir)
e- The books of the meaning of vocabulary mentioned in the Qurʾān (Maʿānī Al-Qurʾān)
f- The books of ambiguous words mentioned in the Qurʾān (Gharīb Al-Qurʾān)
g- The books of seemingly paradoxical meanings in the Qurʾān (Mushkil Al-Qurʾān)
h- The books of Qirāʾāt (readings and recitations)
i- The books of the Prophet’s life and battles as well as the books of history.
5- Comprehensiveness: due to the variety of sources which are relied upon in this book, the book included everything about Tafsīr, Qurʾānic sciences, etc. These sources included the Tafsīr based on the two Islamic schools of Ḥadīth (narrations) and Arraʾī (process of analogical reasoning) through the narrations of Tafsīr via Ibn ʿAbbās, ʾʾAtābiʿīn, and the great scholars of Tafsīr who came after them in addition to the books of Maʿānī Al-Qurʾān, Gharīb Al-Qurʾān, Alwūjūh wa Annaẓāʾir, Mushkil Al-Qurʾān, and the Qirāʾāt.
In the following pages by Allah’s Will, these sources will be closely analyzed as follows:
a- The authentication of the book and the authorship of Athaʿlabiyy.
b- The scrutiny of Athaʿlabiyy’s chains of narration via a close examination of all the narrators along with mentioning the source of information about the narrators.
c- The soundness of the chains of narration along with mentioning the opinions of scholars with regards to that.
2- The mention of these sources:
These sources will be mentioned here in brief. Then, by Allah’s Will, I will cover the detailed explanation and scrutiny of Athaʿlabiyy’s introduction.
A- Tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās
The author had five chains of narrations via Ibn ʿAbbās:
a- ʿAliyy ibn Abī Talḥah via Ibn ʿAbbās.
b- ʿaṭīah Alʿūfī via Ibn ʿAbbās.
c- ʿaṭāʾ ibn Rabāḥ via Ibn ʿAbbās; there are two chains of narration to ʿaṭāʾ:
1- Ibn Jurayj.
2- Aḍaḥāk.
d- ʿikrimah via Ibn ʿAbbās.
e- Alkalbiyy via Abī Ṣāliḥ via Ibn ʿAbbās; there are three chains of narration to Alkalbiyy:
a- Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl.
b- Assudiyy Aṣaghīr (the young one); there are two chains of narration to Assudiyy Aṣaghīr:
1- Yūsuf ibn Bilāl Asaʿdiyy.
2- Ṣāliḥ ibn Muḥammad Attirmidhiyy.
c- Ḥibān ibn ʿAliyy Alʿanziyy.
B- Tafsīrs of ʾʾAtābiʿīn and the great scholars who followed them:
1- Tafsīr Mujāhid. There are three chains of narration to Mujāhid:
1- Ibn Abī Najīḥ who has two chains of narration:
a- Muslim ibn Khālid Azzinjiyy.
b- Warqāʾ
2- Ibn Jurayj.
3- Layth ibn Abī Sulaym.
2- Tafsīr Aḍaḥāk. There are four chains of narration to him:
1- Juaybīr.
2- ʿAliyy ibn Alḥakam.
3- ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān Albāhiliyy.
4- Abī Rawq.
3- Tafsīr ʿaṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ.
4- Tafsīr ʿaṭāʾ ibn Abī Muslim Akhurāsāniyy.
5- ʿaṭāʾ ibn Dīnār.
6- Alḥassan Albaṣriyy.
7- Tafsīr Qatādah. Athaʿlabiyy had three chains of narration to him:
1- Saʿīd ibn Abī ʿarūbah. He narrated via Khārijah ibn Muṣʿab.
2- Shaybān Annaḥawiyy.
3- Maʿmar ibn Rāshid.
8- Tafsīr Abī Alʿālīah and Arrabīʿ ibn Anas.
9- Tafsīr Abī Jaʿfar Arrāzī.
10- Tafsīr Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb Alquraẓiyy.
11- Tafsīr Muqātil ibn Ḥayān.
12- Tafsīr Muqātil ibn Sulaymān. Athaʿlabiyy had three chains of narration to Muqātil:
1- Alhudhayl ibn Ḥabīb.
2- Isḥāq ibn ʾIbrāhīm Ataghlibiyy.
3- Abī ʿiṣmah Nūḥ ibn Abī Maryam.
13- Tafsīr Assudiyy Alkabīr (Assudiyy, the senior)
14- Tafsīr Alḥassan ibn Wāqid.
15- Tafsīr Ibn Jurayj.
16- Tafsīr Sufyān Athawriyy.
17- Tafsīr Sufyān ibn ʿUyaynah.
18- Tafsīr Wakīʿ ibn Aljarrāḥ.
19- Tafsīr Shibl ibn Ghabbād Almakkiyy.
20- Tafsīr Warqāʾ ibn ʿAmr.
21- Tafsīr Zayd ibn Aslam which is narrated by his son, ʿAbdurraḥmān ibn Zayd.
22- Tafsīr Rawḥ ibn ʿUbādah.
23- Tafsīr Muḥammad ibn Yūsuf Alfirīābī.
24- Tafsīr Qabīyṣah ibn ʿUqbah.
25- Tafsīr Abī Ḥudhayfah Annahdiyy.
26- Tafsīr Saʿīd ibn Manṣūr.
27- Tafsīr ʿAbdullah ibn Wahb Alqurashiyy.
28- Tafsīr Ibn Ḥumayd.
29- Tafsīr Muḥammad ibn Ayūb Arrāzī.
30- Tafsīr ʿAbdurraḥmān ibn Kaysān Alʾaṣam.
31- Tafsīr ʿAbdullah ibn Saʿīd Alʾashaj.
32- Tafsīr Abī Ḥamzah Athumāliyy.
33- Tafsīr Almusayib ibn Sharīk.