Further reading: Gilles Kepel. “Foi et pratique: Tab-
lighi Jama’at in France.” In Travellers in Faith, edited
by Muhammad Khalid Masud, 188–205 (Boston: E.J.
Brill, 2000); Muhammad Khalid Masud, “The Growth
and Development of the Tablighi Jama’at in India.” In
Travellers in Faith, edited by Muhammad Khalid Masud,
3–43 (Boston: E.J. Brill, 2000); Barbara Metcalf, “Islam
and Women: The Case of the Tablighi Jama’at.” Stanford
Humanities Review 5, no. 1 (1995): 1–9.
tafsir
Religions with holy books or scriptures require
ongoing traditions of interpretation and commen-
tary (exegesis) that contribute to preserving the
sacredness of those books and adapting them to
the changing social and historical circumstances
of the communities that possess them. Com-
mentary is a way of making the texts meaning-
ful to new generations of adherents. This can be
seen in the histories of Judaism and Christianity,
where biblical commentary has been a significant
meaning-making activity, especially with regard
to matters of law and tradition in the former and
theological doctrine in the latter. Hindus, Bud-
dhists, Jains, Confucians, and Taoists have also
produced significant bodies of commentary litera-
ture for their sacred texts.
In Islam, qUran commentary is one of the
foremost subjects of classical Islamic learning and
one of largest genres of Islamic religious literature,
second perhaps only to biography. It is generally
known as tafsir, an Arabic term meaning “discov-
ery of something hidden,” but probably adapted
from an Aramaic or Syriac term (peshar, pashshar)
used earlier by Jews and Christians in relation to
their own commentary traditions. Another term,
tawil (“returning to the beginning,” “interpreta-
tion”), was once used synonymously with tafsir,
but eventually was understood with reference to
the elucidation of the Quran’s hidden (batin) or
esoteric meanings, which could only be known
by a select few. This approach to commentary was
embraced especially by the Sufis and Shii Ulama.
Tafsir, on the other hand, became more closely
associated with the elicitation of the “plain” or
exoteric meanings of the Quran. More elaborate
classifications of tafsir have been proposed that
include both of these aspects. For example, the
sixth Shii Imam JaaFar al-sadiq (d. 765) is cred-
ited with proposing a four-tiered model of Quran
interpretation, according to 1) literal meaning
(ibara); 2) allegorical meaning (ishara); 3) subtle
and symbolic meanings (lataif); and 4) higher
spiritual meanings (haqaiq).
Typically, commentaries are organized in accor-
dance with the chapters (suras) in the Quran,
proceeding sequentially verse by verse. Topics
addressed in standard books of tafsir include
whether the chapter or verse was revealed in
Mecca or Medina, the reasons for revelation
(asbab al-nuzul), grammar and vocabulary, rheto-
ric, variant readings for consonants and vowels
(debated because of the lack of vowel and con-
sonant markings in early manuscripts of the
Quran, and because of regional differences), and
legal implications of the verse and whether it had
been abrogated by another verse (al-nasikh wa’l-
mansukh). Commentators (known as mufassirun)
in the early centuries included narratives, called
Israiliyyat, drawn from a wider body of lore circu-
lating among different communities in the Middle
East to expand upon quranic narratives, such as
those concerning adam and eve, abraham, moses,
and other biblical figures. Likewise, this was done
with regard to stories about events in the life of
mUhammad, such as accounts of his first revela-
tions and his night JoUrney and ascent. Through
the centuries, commentators also discussed the
benefits and blessings to be accrued from reciting
certain chapters and verses. A special subgroup
of commentaries focused only on the small num-
ber of verses that concern legal matters (ahkam),
such as worship, family, business, and warfare.
There were also commentaries written by Sufis,
the mystics of Islam, that focused on select verses
considered to be of import for their spiritual
teachings and insights. The Shia, for their part,K 652 tafsir