also developed their own exegetical traditions,
based on the authority of their Imams. Shii com-
mentaries pointed out hidden and allegorical
references to the Imams, while identifying Sunnis
with the disbelievers and evildoers mentioned in
the Quran.
Muslims traditionally have distinguished
between two types of commentary. The one rec-
ognized by the more traditionally minded is based
on authoritative lines of transmission from earlier
generations, starting with that of the Muhammad
and his Companions, as conveyed in the hadith.
Some include the Quran’s self-commentaries as
an authority in this tradition. This is known as
al-tafsir bi’l-mathur, or al-tafsir bi’l-riwaya. The
second major type of commentary is al-tafsir bi’l-
ray, or commentary that has been guided more by
individual opinion than by traditional authority.
This type is regarded with suspicion by those who
prefer to abide by prophetic tradition, and reflects
differences between parties like the Hanbalis
and the Hanafis, or the people of hadith and the
mUtazili school. In order to better accommodate
commentaries of this nature, some scholars drew
a further distinction between “praiseworthy”
works written by scholars who had a solid grasp
of the traditional Islamic sciences and the Ara-
bic language and “objectionable” works written
primarily on the basis of personal opinion by
scholars who were considered to be unqualified.
In any case, even the most tradition-bound of
commentators still exercised his own reasoned
judgment in interpreting the Quran, and was
subjectively influenced by his personal circum-
stances, social milieu, and events of his time. A
third type of commentary identified by scholars
of the Islamic commentary tradition is al-tafsir
bi’l-ishara (commentary based on allegorical allu-
sion), which is concerned with the deeper, hid-
den meanings of the Quran. It is a kind of tawil,
as explained above.
Leading Medieval Commentaries. The historical
formation of the quranic commentary tradition is a
subject of some disagreement among scholars. Abd
Allah ibn Abbas (d. 688), Muhammad’s paternal
cousin, is remembered by Muslims as the father of
tafsir, but Sunni tradition credits 10 of the Com-
panions and 10 of their Successors as establishing
this area of Islamic learning. The Companions
identified in this regard include, aside from Ibn
Abbas, the first four Sunni caliphs (especially ali
ibn abi talib [D. 661]), Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr
(d. 692), Anas ibn Malik (d. ca. 709), and the
famed warrior Amr ibn al-As (d. ca. 663). Nearly
all of the Successors are said to have been students
of Ibn Abbas, and they included Ikrima (d. 723),
al-Hasan al-basri (d. 728), and Ali ibn Abi Talha
(d. 737). Some modern Islamic studies scholars,
however, maintain that this genealogy of tafsir
was a pious fiction, and that the tradition did not
develop until the early 9th century.
The foremost scholar of quranic exegesis dur-
ing the medieval period was Ibn Jarir al-Tabari
(d. 923), a Persian who achieved renown during
the era of the abbasid caliphate for the breadth
of his knowledge in the areas of hadith, history,
fiqh, and the quranic sciences. His tafsir, the Jami
al-bayan an tawil ay al-Quran (The Compendium
of Clarity Concerning the Exegesis of the Verses
of the Quran), is an encyclopedic work that gath-
ers a substantial body of comments and opinions
about the meanings of quranic verses that were
known up to his time. Modern print editions of
this commentary number as many as 30 volumes.
Al-Tabari’s commentary is considered to be foun-
dational for succeeding generations of mufassirun
and is part of the tafsir bi’l-mathur tradition of
exegesis. Other major commentaries in this group
include those of Abu 1-Layth al-Samarqandi (d.
983), Abu Ishaq al-Thaalabi (d. 1035), Abu
Muhammad al-Baghawi (d. 1122, an abridgment
of al-Thaalabi’s commentary), ibn kathir (d.
1373, an abridgment of al-Tabari’s commentary);
Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (d. 1505), and the Zaydi Shii
jurist Muhammad bin Au al-Shawkani (d. 1834)
of Yemen.
One of the foremost commentaries in the
tafsir bi ’i-ray tradition is Mahmud ibn Umartafsir 653 J