- Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm (Tafsir Ibn Kathir), a Quranic exegesis; - Al-Bidāya wan Nihāya ("The Beginning and the End"), a 14-volume history of Islam; - Kitāb al-jāmiʿ, a hadith collection.[10]
Abu al-Fida Isma'il ibn Umar ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi (Arabic: أبو الفداء إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير الدمشقي, romanized: Abū al-Fiḍā’ Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī; c. 1300–1373), known simply as Ibn Kathir, was an Arab Islamic exegete, historian and scholar. An expert on tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), tarikh (history) and fiqh (jurisprudence), he is considered a leading authority on Sunni Islam.
His renowned tafsir, Tafsir Ibn Kathir, is recognized for its critical approach to Israʼiliyyat, especially among Western Muslims and Wahhabi scholars. His methodology largely derives from his teacher Ibn Taymiyya, and differs from that of other earlier renowned exegetes such as Tabari. He adhered to the Athari school of Islamic theology.
Biography
His full name was Abū l-Fidāʾ Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar ibn Kaṯīr (أبو الفداء إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير) and had the laqab (epithet) of ʿImād ad-Dīn (عماد الدين "pillar of the faith").
His family trace its lineage back to the tribe of Quraysh. He was born in Mijdal, a village on the outskirts of the city of Busra, in the east of Damascus, Syria, around about AH 701 (AD 1300/1).[15] He was taught by Ibn Taymiyya and Al-Dhahabi.
Upon completion of his studies he obtained his first official appointment in 1341, when he joined an inquisitorial commission formed to determine certain questions of heresy.[10]
He married the daughter of Al-Mizzi, one of the foremost Syrian scholars of the period, which gave him access to the scholarly elite. In 1345 he was made preacher (khatib) at a newly built mosque in Mizza, the hometown of his father-in-law. In 1366, he rose to a professorial position at the Great Mosque of Damascus.[10][16]
In later life, he became blind.[17] He attributes his blindness to working late at night on the Musnad of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal in an attempt to rearrange it topically rather than by narrator.
He died in February 1373 (AH 774) in Damascus. He was buried next to his teacher Ibn Taymiyya.[18]
The records from modern researchers such as Taha Jabir Alalwani, Yazid Abdu al Qadir al-Jawas, and Barbara Stowasser has demonstrated important similarities between Ibn Kathir and his influential master Taqi al-Din Ibn Taymiyyah, such as rejecting logical exegesis of Qur'an, advocating a militant jihad and adhering to the renewal of one singular Islamic ummah.[19][20][21][22] In contemporary scholarship, Ibn Kathir is widely regarded as an anti-rationalistic, hadith oriented scholar who adhered to the Athari creed, much like his mentor Ibn Taymiyya.[23] According to Jane McAuliffe in regards of Qur'anic exegesis, Ibn Kathir uses methods contrary to former Sunni scholars, and followed largely the methodology of Ibn Taymiyyah.[24] Barbara Freyer contends that this anti-rationalistic, traditionalistic and hadith oriented approaches held by Ibn Kathir were shared not only by Ibn Taymiyyah,[19][25] but also by Ibn Hazm, Bukhari independent Madhhab,[26] and also scholars from Jariri, and Zahiri Maddhabs.[27] According to Christian Lange, although he was a Shafi, he was closely aligned with Damascene Hanbalism.[28]: 86 David L. Johnston described him as "the traditionist and Ash'arite Ibn Kathir".[29]
"People have said a great deal on this topic and this is not the place to expound on what they have said. On this matter, we follow the early Muslims (salaf): Malik, Awza'i, Thawri, Layth ibn Sa'd, Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh, and others among the Imams of the Muslims, both ancient and modern that is, to let (the verse in question) pass as it has come, without saying how it is meant (min ghayr takyif), without likening it to created things (wa la tashbih), and without nullifying it (wa la ta'til): The literal meaning (zahir) that occurs to the minds of anthropomorphists (al-mushabbihin) is negated of Allah, for nothing from His creation resembles Him: "There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing" Rather this affair is like what the Grand Shaykh of Imam Bukhari Shaykh Naeem ibn Hamaad Khazaa'i said "Whosoever likens Allah to his Creation has done Kufr (disbelieved) and whosoever negates what Allah describes Himself with has also done Kufr (Disbelieved) There is nothing with what Allah describes Himself with nor his Prophet describes Allah with from likening Allah to his Creation (tashbeeh). Whosoever affirms for Allah what has reached Us from the Truthful Ayahs (verses) and Correct Hadeeth (Prophetic narrations) on the way that is befitting the Majesty of Allah while negating from Allah all defects indeed He has traveled the way of guidance." (Tafsir Ibn Kathir 7:54)[30]
These words from Ibn Kathir were argued by Athari scholarship as proof of Ibn Kathir not being Ash'arite. According to Salafi Muslims, since Ibn Kathir does not use logical rationale to reject anthropomorphism, he believed the attributes of God cannot be likened to creatures, while simultaneously affirming the verses and hadith about God's Atttributes such as residence above His Throne and His Exaltation above all creatures.[31]: 205–207 Salafis rebut Ash'arite claims as Formal fallacy regarding Ibn Kathir tafsir, and other claims such as four madhhab schools as supporting Ash'ari and Maturidites are fabrications. For this, they employ the reports from Ahmad ibn Hanbal who rejected the views of those who were allegedly deemed as proto Asharites and Maturidites, the Mutakallim, and deems them as not in Ahl as Sunnah teaching.[31]: 43 According to Livnat Holtzman, historically the school of Ahl al-Hadith championed by none other than Ibn Kathir's master, Ibn Taymiyyah, had successfully crushed the interrogation and accusation from Ash'arite rational (Kalam) argumentations during the 13th AD century.[32] while modern scholars such as Marzuq at Tarifi,[33] and Sa'id Musfir al-Qahtani further posited that Abu al-Hasan al-Ashʿari, the eponym of Asharite school, himself was not fond of his "Asharite followers" and pointed out on his book, al-ibāna, that Abu al Hasan was teaching the method similar to Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Kathir, and rejected the Ahl al Kalam and Maturidites such as Al-Razi.[34][35]
In summary, Jon Hoover outlined that Ibn Kathir stance according to scholars were orthodox traditionists and rejected the view of Mutakallims, just like the view of Salafi Muslims and their predecessor Ahl al-Hadith school.[36]
In the modern times, Ibn Kathir's creed have sometimes been raised as a subject of disagreement between the Ash'arites, successor of Ahl al-Ra'y rationalist school and the Salafis, theorized by Jon Hoover as successor of Ahl al-Hadith traditionist school.[36] Some Ash'arite theologians have claimed Ibn Kathir as an Ash'ari, pointing out some of his beliefs and sayings reported from his works, and to the fact that:
He belonged to the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence and was a professor of Hadith at the House of Hadith known as "Dar al-Hadith al-Ashrafiyya" which was exclusively established for those aligned to the Ash'ari school of creed, as mentioned by Taj al-Din al-Subki (d. 771/1370) in his Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya al-Kubra (Comprehensive Biographical dictionary of Shafi'ites) that a condition to teach at the al-Ashrafiyya was to be Ash'ari in 'aqida.[37]
Ibn Hajar al-'Asqalani (d. 852/1449) reported in his al-Durar al-Kaminah (The Hidden Pearls: on the Notables of the Eighth Islamic Century), that a dispute between Ibn Kathir and the son of Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya broke out over teaching position. It seems Ibn Kathir implied that the dislike for him is due to his Ash'ari roots, and once Ibn al-Qayyim's son confronted him about this and said that even if Ibn Kathir swore to high heavens that he wasn't upon the creed of Ibn Taymiyya, people wouldn't believe him, because his sheikh (teacher) is Ibn Taymiyya.[38]
Ibn Kathir wrote a famous commentary on the Qur'an named Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm better known as Tafsir Ibn Kathir which linked certain Hadith, or sayings of Muhammad, and sayings of the sahaba to verses of the Qur'an, in explanation and avoided the use of Isra'iliyyats. Many Sunni Muslims hold his commentary as the best after Tafsir al-Tabari and Tafsir al-Qurtubi and it is highly regarded especially among Salafi school of thought.[39] Although Ibn Kathir claimed to rely on at-Tabari, he introduced new methods and differs in content, in attempt to clear Islam from that he evaluates as Isra'iliyyat. His suspicion on Isra'iliyyat possibly derived from Ibn Taimiyya's influence, who discounted much of the exegetical tradition since then.[24][40]
His Tafsir has gained widespread popularity in modern times, especially among Western Muslims, probably due to his straightforward approach, but also due to lack of alternative translations of traditional tafsirs.[41] Ibn Kathir's Tafsir work has played major impact in the contemporary movements of Islamic reform. Salafi reformer Jamal al-Din Qasimi's Qurʾānic exegsis Maḥāsin al-taʾwīl was greatly influenced by Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Kathīr, which is evident from its emphasis on ḥadīth, Scripturalist approaches, the rejection of Isrāʾīliyyāt, and a polemical attitudes against the Ahl al-raʾy.[42] From the 1920s onwards, Wahhabi scholars also contributed immensely to popularisation of ḥadīth-oriented hermeneutics and exegeses, such as Ibn Kathīr's and al-Baghawī’s Qurʾān commentaries and Ibn Taymiyya’s al-Muqaddima fī uṣūl al-tafsīr, through printing press. The Wahhābī promotion of Ibn Taymiyya’s and Ibn Kathīr’s works through print publishing during the early twentieth century emerged instrumental in making these two scholars popular in the contemporary period and imparted a robust impact on modern exegetical works.[43]
In academic discourse
Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm is controversial in western academic circles. Henri Laoust regards it primary as a philological work and "very elementary". Norman Calder describes it as narrow-minded, dogmatic, and skeptical against the intellectual achievements of former exegetes. His concern is limited to rate the Quran by the corpus of Hadith and is the first, who flatly rates Jewish sources as unreliable, while simultaneously using them, just as prophetic hadith, selectively to support his prefabricated opinion.[44] Otherwise, Jane Dammen McAuliffe regards this tafsir as "deliberately and carefully selected, whose interpretation is unique to his own judgment to preserve, that he regards as best among his traditions."[45]
Unabridged English Translations
Exegesis of the Grand Holy Qur'an (4 volumes) by Dr. Muhammad Mahdi Al-Sharif. It was published in 2006 by Darul Kutub Al-'Ilmiyyah in Lebanon.
Another translation by Mawlana Muhammad Ameen Khaulwadiyah, the director of Darul Qasim in Glendale Heights, Chicago, Illinois is in progress. Only 2 volumes have been published so far.
Hadith
Al-Jāmiʿ (الجامع) is a grand collection of Hadith texts intended for encyclopedic use. It is an alphabetical listing of the Companions of the Prophet and the sayings that each transmitted, thus reconstructing the chain of authority for each hadith.[10]
^Shah, Muhammad, Mustafa, Muhammad; Pink, Johanna (2020). "55:Classical Qur'anic Hermeneutics". The Oxford Handbook of Qur'anic Studie. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. p. 829. ISBN978-0-19-969864-6. the methodology proposed by Ibn Taymiyya (d.728/1328) and adopted by Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373), which ultimately resulted in the dismissal of philology in favour of hadith and of the doctrines of Sunnī traditionalism.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^Richard Netton, Ian (2008). Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilisation and Religion. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 256–257. ISBN978-0-7007-1588-6. IBN KATHIR, 'IMAD AL-DIN ISMA'IL IBN 'UMAR (AD 1300–73)... His reliance is totally upon hadith material; the era of Ibn Kathir, in fact, marks the triumph of traditionalism over the powers of rationalism.
^Bakhos, Carol (2015). "13: Interpreters of Scripture". In J. Silverstine; G. Stroumsa; M. Blidstein (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. p. 247. ISBN978-0-19-969776-2. Born in Bosra in 1300, Ibn Kathīr was a historian and traditionalist of Mamlūk, Syria.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location (link)
^Richard Netton, Ian (2008). Encyclopedia of Islamic Civilisation and Religion. Abingdon, Oxon: Routledge. pp. 256–257. ISBN978-0-7007-1588-6. Ibn Kathir, 'Imad Al-Din Ism'il Ibn 'Umar (AD 1300–73)... His reliance is totally upon hadith material; the era of Ibn Kathir, in fact, marks the triumph of traditionalism over the powers of rationalism.
^Bakhos, Carol (2015). "13: Interpreters of Scripture". In Silverstine, Adam J.; Stroumsa, Guy G.; Blidstein, Moshe (eds.). The Oxford Handbook of the Abrahamic Religions. Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press. p. 247. ISBN978-0-19-969776-2. Born in Bosra in 1300, Ibn Kathīr was a historian and traditionalist of Mamlūk, Syria.((cite book)): CS1 maint: location (link)
^"The Re-Formers of Islam: The Mas'ud Questions". Ibn Kathir is a scholar of Ahl al-Sunna who was of the Shafi'i school (according to the first volume of his main work, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim, 1.2), while Ibn Taymiya was a scholar whose fiqh remained in the general framework of the Hanbali school.
^Younus Y. Mirza (2012). IBN KATHĪR (D. 774/1373): HIS INTELLECTUAL CIRCLE, MAJOR WORKS AND QUR'ĀNIC EXEGESIS. Georgetown University. Ibn Kathīr is often portrayed as the "spokesperson" for Ibn Taymiyya, one who promoted his work and implemented his theories. Ibn Kathīr is more accurately described as a Shāfi'ī traditionalists or a group of Shāfiʻī ḥadīth scholars who maintained a traditionalist creed.
^R. Hrair Dekmejian Islam in Revolution: Fundamentalism in the Arab World Syracuse University Press 1995 ISBN978-0-815-62635-0 page 40
^Barbara Freyer Stowasser Women in the Qur'an, Traditions, and Interpretation Oxford University Press 1994 ISBN978-0-199-87969-4
^ abKaren Bauer Gender Hierarchy in the Qur'an: Medieval Interpretations, Modern Responses Cambridge University Press 2015 ISBN978-1-316-24005-2 page 115
^Lucas, Scott C. (2006). "The legal principles of Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl al-Bukhārī and their relationship to classical Salafi Islam". ILS. 13: 289–324. doi:10.1163/156851906778946341.
^Irham Zuhdi, Masturi; Abidun, M. (2015). Ensiklopedi Aliran dan Madzhab Di Dunia Islam [Encyclopedia of sects and Schools in the Islamic World; Arabic:Silsilah al-mawsu'at islamiyahmutakhasshihah; mausu'ah al-firad wa al-madzhahib fi al-alam al-islam] (in Indonesian). Pustaka al Kautsar; Tim Riset Majelis Tinggi Urusan Islam Mesir (Egyptian Islamic Affairs High Council Research Team). pp. 399–423. ISBN978979-5926948. Retrieved 8 December 2021.
^Fawzi al-'Anjari; Hamad al-Sinan. Forewords by Wahba al-Zuhayli; Muhammad Sa'id Ramadan al-Buti; Ali Gomaa; Ali al-Jifri; 'Abd al-Fattah al-Bazm (the Grand Mufti of Damascus); Muhammad Hasan Hitou (eds.). Ahl al-Sunnah al-Asha'irah: Shahadat 'Ulama' al-Ummah wa Adillatahum [Ahl al-Sunna: The Ash'aris - The Testimony and Proofs of the Scholars] (in Arabic). Sunni Publications. ISBN9789079294220. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. الإمام الحافظ المفسر أبو الفداء إسماعيل بن كثير رحمه الله تعالى، صاحب التفسير العظيم والبداية والنهاية وغيرها، فقد نُـقِـلَ عنه أنه صَـرَّحَ بأنه أشعري كما في الدرر الكامنة 1/58، والدارس في تاريخ المدارس للنعيمي 2/89، أضف إلى ذلك أنه ولي مشيخة دار الحديث الأشرفية التي كان شرط واقفها أن لا يلي مشيختها إلا أشعري، وزدْ عليه ما في تفسيره من التنزيه والتقديس والتشديد على من يقول بظواهر المتشابه كما مـرَّ من قوله عند تفسيره لقوله تعالى من سـورة الأعراف ( ثمّ استوي على العرش ) (تفسيره 2/220) إلى غير ذلك من الأمثلة الظاهرة الجلية في كونه من أهل السنة الأشاعـرة.((cite book)): |website= ignored (help)
^Oliver Leaman The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia Taylor & Francis 2006 ISBN978-0-415-32639-1 page 632
^Aysha A. Hidayatullah Feminist Edges of the Qur'an Oxford University Press 2014 ISBN978-0-199-35957-8 page 25
^Andreas Görke and Johanna Pink Tafsir and Islamic Intellectual History Exploring the Boundaries of a Genre Oxford University Press in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies London ISBN978-0-19-870206-1 p. 478
^Schmidtke, Sabine; Pink, Johanna (2014). "Striving for a New Exegesis of the Qurʾān". The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. New York, United States of America: Oxford University Press. p. 773. ISBN978-0-19-969670-3. More conservative forms of revivalism continued to flourish.. for instance, al-Qāsimī's above mentioned extensive Qurʾān commentary Maḥāsin al-taʾwīl is influenced by scripturalist ideas and places great emphasis on ḥadīth.... The methodology of this commentary owes much to Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Kathīr, which is evident from its focus on ḥadīth, the rejection of isrāʾīliyyāt, and a polemical attitude against the so-called ahl al-raʾy,..
^Schmidtke, Sabine; Pink, Johanna (2014). "Striving for a New Exegesis of the Qurʾān". The Oxford Handbook of Islamic Theology. New York, United States of America: Oxford University Press. p. 778. ISBN978-0-19-969670-3. .. from the 1920s onwards invested in printing activities and contributed massively to the popularization of what the Saudi scholars considered to be legitimate, i.e. ḥadīth-based hermeneutics and exegesis, for example Ibn Kathīr's and al-Baghawī's Qurʾān commentaries and Ibn Taymiyya's al-Muqaddima fī uṣūl al-tafsīr. The Wahhābī promotion of Ibn Taymiyya's and Ibn Kathīr's works—especially by publishing them in print in the early twentieth century—was instrumental in making these two authors popular in the contemporary period and had a strong impact on modern exegetical activities.
^Johanna Pink Sunnitischer Tafsir in der modernen islamischen Welt: Akademische Traditionen, Popularisierung und nationalstaatliche Interessen BRILL, 11.11.2010 ISBN 9789004185920 p. 40 (German)
^Johanna Pink Sunnitischer Tafsir in der modernen islamischen Welt: Akademische Traditionen, Popularisierung und nationalstaatliche Interessen BRILL, 11.11.2010 ISBN9789004185920 p. 40 (German)
References
Norman Calder, 'Tafsir from Tabari to Ibn Kathir, Problems in the description of a genre, illustrated with reference to the story of Abraham', in: G. R. Hawting / Abdul-Kader A. Shareef (eds.): Approaches to the Qur'an, London 1993, pp. 101–140.
Jane Dammen-McAuliffe, 'Quranic Hermeneutics, The views of al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir', in: Andrew Rippin (ed.): Approaches to the history of the interpretation of the Qur'an, Oxford 1988, pp.& nbs al hafid ibn kathir is not ash,ai
