Tafseer Through the Sunnah

Submitted by admin on Thu, 27/07/2006 - 07:15. Tafseer

Abu Ammaar Yasir al-Qadhi
Taken from the Book, 'Introduction to the Sciences of the Qur'ân', published by al-
Hidaayah Ltd

After the Tafseer of the Qur'aan by the Qur'aan itself the second source of Tafseer is
Tafseer by the Sunnah. It must be mentioned that even though the Sunnah is taken to be
the 'second' source of Tafseer, it is in fact of equal importance to the Qur'aan. In other
words, a person wishing to understand the Qur'aan must turn to the Sunnah in order to
understand it correctly.

The Qur'aan and Sunnah must be taken together to arrive at a proper understanding of a
verse. In fact, one of the primary roles of the Prophet (r) was to explain the meanings of
the Qur'aan to mankind. Allâh says, "And We have sent down to you (O Muhammad (r) the
Remembrance, so that you may clearly explain to mankind what has been revealed to
them, and so that they may give thought" [16:44]

Therefore, not only was the job of the Prophet (r) to convey the literal text of the Qur'aan,
he also had to convey its explanation as well.[1]

How Much of the Qur'aan was Explained?

The question arises, then, as to how much of the Qur'aan was actually explained by the
Prophet (r) ? In other words, do there exist narrations from the Prophet (r) concerning the
interpretation of every single verse, and if not, then how is the previous quoted verse of
the Qur'aan understood? The scholars of Islaam were divided into two opinions with
regards to this issue.

Shaykh al-Islaam Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 A.H.) was of the view that the Prophet (r)
explained all of the Qur'aan, whereas Jalâl ad-Dîn as-Suyûtî (d. 911 AH.) claimed that the
Prophet (r) only explained a small portion of it.[2] In fact, both of these opinions are
correct once the intent of both sides is understood. Those who claimed that the Prophet (r)
only explained a small portion of the Qur'aan meant that there do not exist very many
verbal narrations from the Prophet (r) concerning the detailed explanation of every single
verse in the Qur'aan. On the contrary, as-Suyûtî only managed to find a few hundred
narrations from the Prophet (r) (including weak and fabricated ones) in which he (r)
explicitly interpreted a verse.[3]

On the other hand, what Ibn Taymiyyah meant was that the Prophet (r) left us all the
necessary knowledge needed in order to properly understand the Qur'aan. As 'Aa'ishah
reported, the Prophet's (r) character embodied the Qur'aan.[4] Therefore, even though
there might not exist many explicit statements from the Prophet (r) concerning Tafseer, the
Prophet (r) did leave us with the information and methodology necessary for understanding
the Qur'aan. Therefore, it is essential to understand the Qur'aan not only in light of the
explicit narrations of the Prophet (r) on the Qur'aan, but also in light of all of the hadeeth
of the Prophet (r), whether they are concerning beliefs or laws, and in light of the actions
of the Prophet (r), since his sayings and actions can be considered to be embodying the
laws of the Qur'aan. This opinion is supported by numerous statements from the
Companions.

Abû 'Abd ar-Rahmân as-Sulamî (d. 75 A.H.), the famous Successor, narrated, "Those who
taught us the Qur'aan, such as 'Uthmân ibn 'Affân, 'Abdullâh ibn Mas'ûd, and others, told
us that they would not memorise more than ten verses until they had understood what
knowledge it contained, and implemented it. They used to say, 'So we learnt the Qur'aan,
(its) knowledge and (its) implementation at the same time."[5] It is apparent, then, that
the Companions made sure that they understood the meaning of the Qur'aan, and then
implemented it. 'Umar narrated, "Amongst the last verses to be revealed were the verses
pertaining to interest, and the Prophet (r) passed away before explaining them to us." [6]
This narration explicitly shows that the Prophet (r) used to make sure that the Companions
understood the Qur'aan, since the only reason that the verses of interest were not
explained in great detail was due to the sudden death of the Prophet (r).
As was mentioned earlier, there are only a small percentage of verses for which explicit
narrations exist from the Prophet (r). The verse concerning the interpretation of
'wrongdoing' (6:82) as shirk has already been given above. This example illustrates the
necessity of the interpretation of the Prophet (r), for even the Companions, despite their
knowledge of Arabic, could not understand the correct interpretation of this verse until
they had asked the Prophet (r). Another example is the hadeeth of the Prophet (r) in which
he explained '...those whom You are angry with,' and '...those who are astray,' (1:7) as
the Jews and Christians.[7] He also explained the 'middle prayer' (2:238) as the Asr
prayer,[8] the 'additional (reward)' (10:26) as the seeing of Allâh by the believers in
Paradise,[9] and that al-Kawthar (108:1) was "...a river that my Lord has given me in
Paradise."[10]

In addition to such explicit examples of Tafseer, there exist numerous examples from the
life and sayings of the Prophet (r) which explain certain verses of Qur'aan, but are not
recorded as explicit statements of Tafseer. For example, the Prophet (r) stated, "Hell will be
brought forth on that Day (i.e., Day of Judgement). It will have seventy thousand ropes
(attached to it), and on each rope, there will be seventy thousand angels dragging it."[11]
Although this hadeeth does not mention any verse in the Qur'aan, it can be used to
interpret verse 90:23, "And Hell will be brought that Day." The hadeeth describes how it
will be brought.

In another example, the penalty prescribed for theft is, "As for the thief male or female,
cut off his/her hand" (5:38). The Sunnah of the Prophet (r) explains that the thief's hand is
only to be cut off if he steals above a certain monetary value, and that in such a case the
right hand is to be cut off from the wrist joint.[12] These additional details needed for
understanding this verse are not present in the Qur'aan itself.

In another verse, the Qur'aan proclaims, "Say, I do not find in that which has been
revealed to me anything which is forbidden to eat by anyone who wishes to eat it except a
dead animal, or blood poured forth, or the flesh of swine..." [6:145] However, this verse is
not exhaustive, as the Sunnah adds to this list all animals with fangs or claws, and
excludes from the general ruling of dead animals seafood and locusts.[13]

From these and other examples, it is possible to say that the Prophet (r) explained the
Qur'aan in the following manners:[14]

1) By his implementation of general or vague commands. For example, the Qur'aan orders
the believers to pray and perform Hajj. The Prophet (r), by his actions and statements,
showed the believers the exact procedure and timings of prayer, and the specific rites of
Hajj.

2) By explaining unclear concepts in verses. For example, the verse commanding the
believers to begin their fasts, "...when the white thread becomes clear from the black
thread" [2:187] was explained by the Prophet (r) as being the streaks of light in the sky
after dawn.

3) By specifying the exact connotation of a word or phrase. The example in which the
Prophet (r) specified that the "injustice" referred to in 6:82 was shirk falls in this category.

4) By constraining a general ruling or verse. The example of the specification of 'thief' and
'hand' by the Prophet (r) was given above.

5) By generalising a specific ruling or verse. An example of this is when some Companions

came to the Prophet (r) and asked him concerning the verse, "And if you travel through the
land, there is no sin upon you if you shorten your prayers, if you fear that those who
disbelieve may harm you" [4:101] The Companions could not understand why the Prophet
(r) and the Muslims were still shortening their prayers during travel, despite the fact that
there was no longer any fear from enemy attacks. The Prophet (r) responded, "(The
concession to shorten prayers even in a state of security) is a charity which Allâh has given
you, therefore accept the charity."[15]

6) By explaining the intent of a verse. The example in which the Prophet (r) explained
"...those whom You are angry with, and those who are astray" [1:7] as the Jews and
Christians falls under this category.
7) By adding extra commands or prohibitions to the verse. An example of this is the
Prophet's (r) prohibition of joining a woman with her maternal or paternal aunt in marriage
(i.e., as co-wives), whereas the Qur'aan only prohibits combining a woman with her sister
(4:23).

8) By emphasising the meaning of the verse. In other words, by practicing and affirming
the laws in the Qur'aan. For example, all hadeeth stressing good treatment to wives
merely affirm the verse, "And live with them on good terms (and kindness)" [4:19]

9) By showing that the verse was abrogated. This category has already been
discussed.[16] These few examples should be sufficient to illustrate that the Sunnah is of
equal importance to the Qur'aan in deriving laws and understanding the Qur'aan.

The Qur'aan can never be understood properly without the Sunnah. Even the Companions,
whose knowledge of the Arabic language was unparalleled, had difficulty understanding
many verses until the Prophet (r) cleared up the exact meaning for them. These two
sources of Tafseer, Tafseer of the Qur'aan by the Qur'aan, and Tafseer of the Qur'aan by
the Sunnah, are the two ultimate sources for understanding the Qur'aan. Neither is
allowed to contradict itself or the other, and both sources must be taken simultaneously in
order to arrive at a correct understanding. These two sources are also the final authority
on the interpretation of the Qur'aan - no interpretation is allowed to contradict or
supersede the interpretation of the Qur'aan by the Qur'aan and the Sunnah.

Footnotes
1 al-Albânî, Muhammad Nâsir ad-Dîn, Manzilat as-Sunnah ft al-Islaam (Dar al-Hayah al-
Islaamiyah, Egypt, n.d.), p.5.
2 adh-Dhahabî, v. 1, p. 54. Actually, as-Suyûtî clarifies his point of view later on in his
Itqân, which agrees in principle with Ibn Taymiyyah's view. c£ Itqân, v. 2, p. 264.
3 cf. Itqân, v. 2, pps. 244-264.
4 Reported by al-Bukhârî.
5 Ibn Taymiyyah, p. 12.
6 Reported by Ahmad and Ibn Mâjah.
7 Reported by at-Tirmidhî.
8 Reported by at-Tirmidhî, and referred to in al-Bukhârî and Muslim.
9 Reported by Muslim.
10 Reported by al-Bukhârî and Muslim.
11 Reported by at-Tirmidhî.
12 c£ al-Albânî, Manzilat, p. 6.
13 ibid, p. 7.
14 Based on adh-Dhahabî, pps. 60-62, and others.
15 Reported by Muslim.
16 See, 'The Categories of Naskh,' in Chapter 13.