Tafsir

The word ‘Tafsir’ comes from the root word ‘fassara’, which means to expound or to explain. Therefore, Tafsir of Quran means the explanation or interpretations of the verses of Quran. The Tafsir of Quran is not something done by anyone with ordinary or common intellect and understanding of Islam, rather it is done by people after obtaining extensive knowledge about Islam and reading the history of Islam thoroughly. The objective of a Tafsir is to find out the true meanings of the verses of Quran, so that the audience could benefit from it and know the right and true message of Quran.

Quran is the word of Allah Almighty, therefore, in order to understand it in the true sense, a person has to sharpen his or her intellectual ability as well as increase the knowledge. When one is at a particular intellectual level, only then can he or she start understanding the true message, which Allah Almighty conveyed through words of Quran. Pertaining to the explanation of Quran for the understanding of general audience, different people have tried to write the Tafsir of Quran. Although Muslims recite Quran and try reading it with translation, however, the reading of Tafsir has its own importance. The lines below discuss what Tafsir is, why is it important and its different kinds.

Muslims also believe in previous revelations, such as the Tawrat (Torah), the Zabur (Psalms), the Injeel (Gospel), the Scrolls of Abraham, and the Scrolls of Moses. The Islamic methodology of tafsir al-Qur'an bi-l-Kitab (Arabic: تفسير القرآن بالكتاب) refers to interpreting the Qur'an with/through the Bible.^[1] This approach adopts canonical Arabic versions of the Bible, including the Tawrat and the Injil, both to illuminate and to add exegetical depth to the reading of the Qur'an. Notable Muslim mufassirun (commentators) of the Bible and Qur'an who weaved biblical texts together with Qur'anic ones include Abu al-Hakam Abd al-Salam bin al-Isbili of Al-Andalus and Ibrahim bin Umar bin Hasan al-Biqa'i.^[1]

There is a variety of reasons why Tafsir is important and people consult Tafsir when it comes to understanding of Quran. The few important reasons that make Tafsir important are as follows:

1. Firstly, it tries to explain Quran so that the understanding of the reader about Quran and its message increases. Reading only the translation can give the literal meanings of the words of Quran, however, Tafsir comes with context in which a particular Ayah was revealed, hence giving a context to each and every word, which consequently means a better understanding of Quran and its verses. If you want to read Quran with its translation, you can enroll for the online Quran Translation course now and start knowing the verses with their meanings.
2. Secondly, Tafsir is also important when it comes to driving out the laws of Islam from Quran. Verses of Quran come with instructions, and then there are the hadiths of Prophet that also gives instructions. Thus, Tafsir combines both and gives a complete and comprehendible set of instructions to the reader.
3. Thirdly, when there is no science involved in the interpretation of Quran, then ambiguity and contradiction is surely to rise. When there is Tafsir of Quran available, that contains the scientific method of analysis of verses, the chances of ambiguity and conflict decrease. Hence, instead of ambiguous interpretations there are clear explanations.