Book: Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim by Ibn Abi Hatim
Author: Abu Muhammad 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Idris ibn al-Mundhir al-Tamimi, al-Hanzali, al-Razi, known as Ibn Abi Hatim (d. 327 AH)
Editor (Muhaqqiq): As'ad Muhammad al-Tayyib
Publisher: Maktabat Nizar Mustafa al-Baz - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
Edition: Third - 1419 AH
[Notice]
1. The original portion of the book (based on manuscripts) consists of:
* From [Surat] al-Fatiha to [Surat] al-Ra'd
* From [Surat] al-Mu'minun to [Surat] al-'Ankabut
The remainder was compiled by the editor from Tafsir Ibn Kathir, al-Durr al-Manthur, and other sources.
2. The numbering from hadith 8327 to 10100 in the printed edition contains severe confusion and repetition; therefore, it should not be relied upon. In these instances, one should cite the volume and page number instead.
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[Tafsir Ibn Abi Hatim]
(The Author)
Abu Muhammad Abd al-Rahman bin Muhammad bin Idris bin al-Mundhir al-Hanthali al-Razi, known as Ibn Abi Hatim (240 - 327 AH).
(The name of the book with which it was printed, and the description of its most famous editions:)
1 - It was printed under the name:
Al-Tafsir
With the critical editing (Tahqiq) of Ahmad al-Zahrani, and issued by Maktabat al-Dar, Dar Taybah, and Dar Ibn al-Qayyim, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, in the year 1408 AH.
2 - And it was printed under the name:
Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim musnadan 'an Rasul Allah (wa-al-Sahabah wa-al-Tabi'in (Note: Parenthesis error in the original)
With the critical editing of As'ad Muhammad al-Tayyib, and issued by Maktabat Nizar Mustafa al-Baz - Saudi Arabia, in the year 1419 AH.
(Documentation of the attribution of the book to its author)
And the book of al-Tafsir which is in our hands is established in its attribution to Ibn Abi Hatim, may Allah have mercy on him. Several of those who wrote his biography have attributed it to him, and its attribution to him became famous among the people of knowledge. For a group of Imams and memorizers [of Hadith] (Huffadh) quoted from it and benefited from it; among them: al-Dhahabi in al-Siyar (1/364), and Ibn Rajab in Jami' al-Ulum wa-al-Hikam (1/94), and Ibn Kathir frequently quoted from it in al-Tafsir as in (1/237), (2/263, 264, 275), and Ibn Hajar in more than one book of his, including: Fath al-Bari, and he frequently quoted from it as in (3/88, 231, 500), (8/4), (9/8) and other places, and Taghliq al-Ta'liq (3/6), (4/8, 34), and al-Isabah (1/8, 610), (2/383), and al-Suyuti in al-Durr al-Manthur (1/?), and Ibn Hajar mentioned it within his transmissions [heard/read] in al-Mu'jam al-Mufahras under number (365), and likewise Sezgin attributed it to him in Geschichte des arabischen Schrifttums (1/8).
(Description of the book and its methodology)
The Tafsir of Ibn Abi Hatim, may Allah have mercy on him, is considered the best example of Tafsir bi-al-Ma'thur (exegesis by transmitted reports), which prompted many of those who came after him and authored in Tafsir bi-al-Ma'thur to quote from it and benefit, such as al-Baghawi and Ibn Kathir, to the extent that al-Suyuti says in his Tafsir: "I summarized the Tafsir of Ibn Abi Hatim in my book."
And whoever reads the author's introduction to this book of his will find that he has clarified his methodology in it in the best manner, and we can summarize that as follows:
1 - It combines between its two covers the interpretation of the Qur'an by the Sunnah and the reports of the Companions (Sahabah) and the Successors (Tabi'in).
2 - If the interpretation is found from the Messenger of Allah (, he does not mention alongside it anything of what was narrated from the Companions regarding the interpretation of the verse.
3 - If he does not find the interpretation from the Messenger ( and finds it narrated from the Companions, and they agreed on this aspect of interpretation, he mentions the highest of them in rank with the most authentic chains of transmission (Asanid), then he names those who agreed with them without a chain of transmission. And if there was a disagreement in the interpretation, he mentions the disagreement with the chains of transmission, names those who agreed with them, and deletes their chain of transmission.
4 - If he does not find the interpretation from the Companions and finds it from the Successors, he acts just as he acted regarding the interpretation of the Companions.
5 - He extracted the interpretation with the most authentic reports in terms of the chain of transmission.
6 - The book is unique in containing narrations that are not found in any other [work].
7 - It preserved for us many of the lost books of Tafsir, such as the Tafsir of Sa'id bin Jubayr, Muqatil bin Hayyan, and others.
[The definition of the book, quoted from the Jami' al-Hadith website]
