KHUTAB II - 13. CATEGORIES OF TAFS.ĪR (2)

13. CATEGORIES OF TAFS.ĪR (2)

   (29 August 2003)

Brothers and sisters in Islam,

When we perform Friday khut.bah it should contain tah.mīd  (praise), praising Allah (except in the Mālikī school that considered it mustah.abbah, recommended only), such as saying أَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ  (praise be to Allah). It is recommended to pronounce the shahādatayn, namely, saying أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إلاَّ اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَه وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا رَسُوْلُ اللّه    meaning “I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, and I bear witness that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah”. It is also necessary to recite the s.alāwah,  namely,  asking the blessing of Allah on Prophet Muhammad s.a.w., by saying الَّلهُمَّ صَلِّ عَلَى مُحَمَّد   “O Allah,  give your blessing on Prophet Muhammad” (recommended only in the Mīlikī school). This is to indicate our love for him and appreciation for what he did for Islam. Usually, we say these together more completely, for example,  

أَلْحَمْدُ لِلّهِ نَحْمَدُهُ وَ نَسْتَعِيْنُهُ وَ نَسْتَغْفِرُهُ وَ نَسْتَهْدِيْهِ وَ نُؤْمِنُ بِهِ وَ نَتَوَكَّلُ عَلَيْهِ وَ نَعُوْذُ

بِاللهِ مِنْ شُرُوْرِ أَنْفُسِنَا وَ مِنْ سَيِّئَاتِ أَعْمَالِناَ، مَنْ يَهْدِ اللهُ  فَهُوَ الْمُهْتَدِ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلْ فَلا هَدِيَ لَهُ،

وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنْ لَا إِلَهَ إلاَّ اللهُ وَحْدَهُ لَا شَرِيْكَ لَهُ، وَ أَشْهَدُ أَنَّ مُحَمَّدًا عَبْدُهُ وَ رَسُوْلُهُ. أَللَّهُمَّ

صَلِّ وَ سَلِّمْ وَ بَارِكْ عَلىَ عَبْدِكَ وَرَسُوْلِكَ سَيِّدِنَا مُحَمَّدٍ وَ عَلىَ آلِهِ وَ صَحْبِهِ أَجْمَعِيْنَ .

Praise be to Allah, we praise him, we ask His help,

 Forgiveness and guidance, we believe in Him and place our

 trust in Him, and we ask His protection from the evilness of

 our  souls and deeds. Whomever Allah guides will be rightly

 guided, and whoever is made astray, will have no guidance.

And I bear witness that there is no god but Allah, no partner

 with Him, and I bear witness that Muhammad is His

 servant and messenger. O Allah, give grace, peace,

and  blessing to our master Muhammad, his

 household, and all of his companions.

The khut.bah should also contain at least one Qur’ānic verse and advice for people to do good deeds, such as obeying or fearing Allah. For example, we say

يَا أَيُّهَا اْلمُسْلِمُوْنَ ، أٌوْصِيْكُمْ وَ إِيَّايَ بِتَقْوَى اللهْ، فَقَدْ فَازَ اْلمُتَّقُوْن.

قَالَ تَعَالَى : " يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آَمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ

 إِلَّاوَأَنْتُمْ مُسْلِمُونَ " (آل عمران : ١٠٢)

It means,

O Muslims, I advise you and myself to fear Allah,

for those who fear Him will prosper. Allah said, ‘O ye who

believe! Fear Allah as He should be feared, and die not

except in a state of Islam’ (Q. 3:102).

Then we come to the topic of the khut.bah.

The topic of the khut.bah today is the continuation of the discussion about rational commentary of the Qur’an. A group of Muslims oppose it, as they accept the interpretation only from the Qur’an itself and from the Prophet whose duty, among others, was to explain it. But the Muslims in the mass accept it.

The arguments of scholars who opposed rational commentary were countered by other scholars with the following arguments: (a) Giving one's interpretation on the Qur’ān with ijtihād (lit., exertion, namely, independent judgement) is not a statement concerning Allah without knowledge, but rather with knowledge and which is permitted in religion, since a mujtahid according to a h.adīth will be rewarded with two merits if he is right, and one merit if he is wrong in his ijtihād. Since ijtihād is a meritorious act, it cannot be also a prohibited one at the same time. (b) With regard to the Prophet’s warning against practising tafsīr without knowledge, Ibn al‑Naqīb gives us five views which constitute five types of prohibited tafsīr, namely, tafsīr without having the sciences required for it; tafsīr of ambiguous passages which are known by Allah alone; tafsīr intended to support a straying sect, and in so doing, making the tafsīr subordinate to the sect; stating with certainty the meaning intended by Allah without proof; and lastly, tafsīr based on one’s own discretion (istih.sān) and whim (hawā).  (c) That the Prophet was appointed to explain the Qur’ān does not mean that nobody else was allowed to do it. This is apparent as the verse mentioned in the earlier khuṭbah ends with  (النحل : ٤٤)  وَلَعَلَّهُمْ يَتَفَكَّرُونَ “and that they might take thought”. (Q.16:44, Asad). Many verses in the Qur’ān were not explained by the Prophet, and it is the duty of Muslim scholars to find their meanings and interpretations. (d) The s.ah.ābah’s restraint from giving their own tafsīr was a precaution against stating what may not have been meant by Allah.  Abū Bakr himself gave his personal opinion concerning the kalālah (a deceased person who has left as heir neither a descendant nor an ascendant)  in the Qur’ān 4:176 and said: “I say it with my opinion; if it is right it is from Allah, and if it is not, it is from Satan.”  Kalālah is one of the three terms which ‘Umar wished the Prophet had defined in his lifetime, the other two being the khilāfah (caliphate, succession) and the ribā (usury), see A.Y. Ali, The Holy Qur’ān (Doha: Qatar National Printing Press, n.d.), p. 182, n. 520.

         Among the exponents of the rational commentary, to mention a few, were al‑Ghazālī, al‑Rāghib al‑As.bahānī, and al‑Qurt.ubī.

(3). Symbolic (Allegorical) Commentary. It is a commentary of the Qur’an that is different from its apparent meaning due to some hints that appeared through inspiration to some dedicated people endowed with knowledge. Contrary to the acquired knowledge known as العِلْمُ الكَسَبِيّ, this type of knowledge known as العِلْمُ الّلَدُنِّيّ comes directly from Allah, as mentioned in the Qur’an, as follows:  ...وَعَلَّمْنَاهُ مِنْ لَدُنَّا عِلْمًا..(الكهف: ٦٥ ).“…and unto whom We had imparted knowledge [issuing] from Ourselves.” )Q. 18:65, Asad).

          There is a great difference between the esoterical commentary    (التَفْسِيْرُ البَاطِنِيّ)  claimed by the Bāt.inīs (adherents of inner meanings of the Qur’ān) and the symbolic commentary  (التَفْسِيْرُ الإشَارِيّ) . To the Bāt.inīs, the only acceptable meaning is the esoterical one, whereas the Sūfīs accept both the ostensible and the symbolic meanings. The Sūfīs urge people to learn the ostensible meaning before they learn the symbolic meaning.  They say that whoever claims to have understood the mysteries of the Qur’ān-‑through mystical interpretation-‑without knowing the ostensible meaning is like a man who claims to have reached the roof of the house without passing through the door.

          Muslim scholars have different views on this symbolic tafsīr.  Those who reject it associate it with the esoterical tafsīr which, in their view, distorts the meaning of the Qur’ān. However, the exponents of this type of tafsīr give conditions for its validity, as follows:

(a)       it is not contrary to its obvious meaning;

(b)       it is not considered the only valid meaning by rejecting the obvious one; 

(c)        it is not a remote meaning which is beyond the context of its words, such as interpreting the term lama‘a as a verb meaning “to shine” rather than “indeed with” in the verse    (٦٩ : (العنكبوت  إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَمَعَ الْمُحْسِنِينَ “For, behold, God is indeed with the doers of good.” (Q. 29: 69, Asad);

(d)       it is not contrary to Islamic teachings and to reason; and finally,

(e)        it does not contain a view which might confuse people.

           One example of the symbolic commentary is Ibn ‘Abbās’ interpretation of the verse:   (النصر: ١) إِذَا جَاءَ نَصْرُ اللَّهِ وَالْفَتْحُ “When God’s succour comes, and victory,” (Q. 110:1, Asad). The caliph ‘Umar ibn al-Khat.t.āb one day asked the sah.ābah the meaning of this verse. They said that it meant that Islam would be victorious in Arabia. This is true, of course, as its ostensible meaning. Ibn ‘Abbās was present, and ‘Umar asked him his opinion, although he was still young (between 16 and 26 years old) among the elders of the companions of the Prophet. He said that the verse was a sign of the Prophet’s approaching death. It means that the Prophet’s duty has been done, and his mission has been accomplished, and it is time for him to go and meet his Lord. This deep and allegorical interpretation fulfils the above conditions.

Conclusion: Rational interpretation can be given only be experts who possess sufficient knowledge of Qur’ānic sciences and the topics they are dealing with; allegorical interpretation has to fulfil certain conditions: not contrary to obvious meanings, not the only valid meaning, not contrary to Islam and not confusing people.

بَارَكَ اللهُ لِيْ وَ لَكُمْ فِي اْلقُرْآنِ الْعَظِيْمِ وَ نَفَعَنِيْ وَ إيَّاكُمْ بِمَا فِيْهِ مِنَ الآيَاتِ وَ الذِّكْرِ الْحَكِيْمِ، أَ قُوْلُ قَوْلِيْ هَذاَ وَ ا ْستَغْفِرُ اللهَ لِيْ وَ لَكُمْ وَ لِسَائِرِ اْلمُسْلِمِيْنَ مِنْ كُلِّ ذَنِبٍ، فَاسْتَغْفِرُوْهُ إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُوْرُ الرَّحِيْم.

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TO BE CONTINUED WITH

KHUṬAB  III