Tafsir at-Tabari: Jami' al-Bayan - Dar al-Tarbiyah wa al-Turath Edition

Volume 1 · Page 90

Translation · EN

AI translation

—peace and blessings of God be upon him, said: "Whoever speaks concerning the Qur'an according to his personal opinion, let him take his seat in the Hellfire." (1)

74 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār narrated to us, he said: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd narrated to us, he said: Sufyān narrated to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā—he is Ibn ʿĀmir al-Thaʿlabī—narrated to us, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, from the Prophet, peace and blessings of God be upon him, he said: "Whoever speaks concerning the Qur'an according to his personal opinion—or without knowledge—let him take his seat in the Hellfire."

75 - And Abū Kurayb narrated to us, he said: Muḥammad ibn Bishr and Qabīṣa narrated to us, from Sufyān, from ʿAbd al-Aʿlā, he said: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr narrated to us, from Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: The Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, said: "Whoever speaks concerning the Qur'an without knowledge, let him take his seat in the Hellfire."

76 - Muḥammad ibn Ḥumayd narrated to us, he said: Al-Ḥakam ibn Bashīr narrated to us, he said: ʿAmr ibn Qays al-Mulāʾī narrated to us, from ʿAbd al-Aʿlā, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: "Whoever speaks concerning the Qur'an according to his personal opinion, let him take his seat in the Hellfire."

77 - Ibn Ḥumayd narrated to us, he said: Jarīr narrated to us, from Layth, from Bakr, from Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: "Whoever speaks concerning the Qur'an according to his personal opinion, let him take his seat in the Hellfire."

78 - And Abū al-Sāʾib Salm ibn Junāda al-Suwāʾī narrated to me, he said: Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth narrated to us, from al-Ḥasan ibn ʿUbayd Allāh, from Ibrāhīm, from Abū Maʿmar, he said: Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq, may God be pleased with him, said: "Which earth would carry me, and which sky would shade me, if I were to say concerning the Qur'an that which I do not know?" (2)

79 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā narrated to us, he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī narrated to us, from Shuʿba, from Sulaymān, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn Murra, from Abū Maʿmar, he said: Abū Bakr al-Ṣiddīq said: "Which earth would carry me, and which sky would shade me, if I were to speak concerning the Qur'an according to my personal opinion"—or: "that which I do not know."

Abū Jaʿfar said: These reports bear witness for us to the correctness of what we have said: that whatever belongs to the Interpretation of the verses of the Qur'an whose knowledge cannot be attained except through the explicit text of the clarification of the Messenger of God, peace and blessings of God be upon him, or through his establishing the Evidence for it—it is impermissible for anyone to speak concerning it by his personal opinion. Rather, the one who speaks concerning that by his personal opinion—even if he hits upon the truth in it—is in error regarding his action, by speaking concerning it according to his personal opinion, because his hitting upon the truth is not the hitting upon of one who is certain that he is correct, but rather it is the hitting upon of a guesser and conjecturer. And he who speaks

Notes

(1) Hadiths 73–76: All of these hadiths revolve around ʿAbd al-Aʿlā ibn ʿĀmir al-Thaʿlabī, and scholars have spoken regarding him. "Aḥmad said: 'Da'if (Weak) in hadith.' Abū Zurʿa said: 'Da'if (Weak) in hadith; he sometimes raises the hadith (marfūʿ) and sometimes stops it (mawqūf).' Ibn ʿAdī said: 'He narrates things for which he is not corroborated, yet trustworthy narrators have narrated from him.' Yaʿqūb ibn Sufyān said: 'There is leniency in his hadith, and he is trustworthy.' al-Dāraquṭnī said: 'He is taken into consideration.' al-Tirmidhī graded his hadith Hasan (Good), and al-Ḥākim declared it Sahih (Authentic), which is part of his leniency. al-Ṭabarī declared his hadith regarding the eclipse Sahih (Authentic)." Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb 6:94–95. Aḥmad narrated this hadith via Sufyān al-Thawrī from ʿAbd al-Aʿlā: 2069, and he also narrated it via Abū ʿAwāna from ʿAbd al-Aʿlā, No. 3025, with the wording: "Whoever lies against the Qurʾān without knowledge." And we said in the commentary on al-Musnad: "Its Chain of transmission is Da'if (Weak) due to the weakness of ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Thaʿlabī." Aḥmad also narrated it from other routes, all from the narration of ʿAbd al-Aʿlā. Ibn Kathīr said in al-Tafsīr 1:11: "Thus it was transmitted by al-Tirmidhī and al-Nasāʿī through routes from Sufyān al-Thawrī, with it. Abū Dāwūd narrated it from Musaddad from Abū ʿAwāna from ʿAbd al-Aʿlā, with it, Marfu', and al-Tirmidhī said: This hadith is Hasan (Good)." And I fear that Ibn Jarīr's statement afterward: "And these reports bear witness for us to the correctness of what we said..." indicates that he authenticates this hadith of his just as he authenticated his hadith on the eclipse.
(2) Report 78: In the manuscript and printed edition: "Sālim ibn Junāda", which is an error. In the manuscript: "Abū Niʿam" in place of "Abū Maʿmar", which is an error. Abū Maʿmar is: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Sakhbara al-Azdī, a trustworthy Successor (Tabi'i), who transmitted Mursal reports from Abū Bakr. The Ibrāhīm who narrated from him is: Ibrāhīm ibn Yazīd ibn Qays al-Nakhaʿī.
And his saying "carry me" (tuqillunī): i.e., bear me. Aqalla al-shay'a and istaqallahu: he lifted it and carried it. See the routes of this report in Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr 1:12.

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