A brief history of Tafsir in the era of the Sahabah – 1. The era of Abu Bakr

A brief history of Tafsir in the era of the Sahabah^[1]

1. The era of Abu Bakr (d. 13 AH)

After the demise of the Messenger salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, Abu Bakr al Siddiq radiya Llahu ‘anhu assumed the Caliphate which lasted for two and a half years. His most important accomplishment related to the Qur’an is its compilation. The first compilation was finalised in his era. He tasked ‘Umar ibn al Khattab and Zaid ibn Thabit radiya Llahu ‘anhuma with this momentous task.

During this era, we are unable to find but a few commentaries traceable to him. Examples of this are:

a. Al Sha’bi relates that Abu Bakr radiya Llahu ‘anhu commentated on al kalalah:

أقول فيها برأيي فإن كان صوابا فمن الله هو ما دون الولد والوالد

I present my opinion on it; if it is correct, it is from Allah. It refers to the absence of descendants and ascendants.

When ‘Umar radiya Llahu ‘anhu assumed the Caliphate, he remarked:

إني لأستحيي من الله أن أخالف أبا بكر

I am ashamed before Allah to oppose Abu Bakr.^[2]

Let us consider the lexical meaning and the jurisprudential qualification here just as we consider the extent of al Siddiq’s radiya Llahu ‘anhu knowledge and the extent of the Sahabah’s honour for this knowledge.

b. Abu Ma’mar reports that Abu Bakr al Siddiq radiya Llahu ‘anhu commented on Allah’s words:

ﯯ ﯰ

And fruit and grass.^[3]

أي أرض تقلني وأي سماء تظلني إذا قلت في القرآن ما لا أعلم

Which earth will bear me and which sky will shade me if I say about the Qur’an what I am unaware of.^[4]

It is apparent that Abu Bakr’s radiya Llahu ‘anhu purport is beyond the lexical meaning; hence, he refrained from commenting.

One of the colours of Tafsir which became manifest during Abu Bakr’s radiya Llahu ‘anhu era is correcting some errors of others in the commentary of Allah’s words.

An example is his correction of one who did not understand the correct meaning of Allah’s statement:

ﭫ ﭬ ﭭ ﭮ ﭯ ﭱ ﭲ ﭳ ﭴ ﭵ ﭶ ﭸ ﭹ J ﭻ ﭼ ﭽ ﭾ ﭿ

O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided. To Allah is your return all together; then He will inform you of what you used to do.^[5]

Qais ibn Abi Hazim reports that Abu Bakr al Siddiq radiya Llahu ‘anhu advised:

يا أيها الناس إنكم تقرءون هذه الآية يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ عَلَيۡكُمۡ أَنفُسَكُمۡۖ لَا يَضُرُّكُم مَّن ضَلَّ إِذَا ٱهۡتَدَيۡتُم وإني سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول إن الناس إذا رأوا ظالما فلم يأخذوا على يديه أوشك أن يعمهم الله بعقاب منه

O people, you recite this verse, “O you who have believed, upon you is [responsibility for] yourselves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you when you have been guided.” At the same time, I heard the Messenger of Allah salla Llahu ‘alayhi wa sallam warning, “When people see an oppressor and do not stop him, Allah will very soon envelope them in His punishment.”^[6]

When this misunderstanding of the verse became common, al Siddiq radiya Llahu ‘anhu challenged them and expounded the correct meaning and understanding of the verse.

NEXT⇒ 2. The era of ‘Umar (13-23 AH)

^[1] In this brief presentation, we relied on the lectures on the history of Tafsir by Dr. Musa’id al Tayyar and al Mufassirun min al Sahabah of Sheikh ‘Abdur Rahman al Mashd, the publication of Markaz Tafsir.

^[2] Musnad al Darimi, Hadith: 2972; Tafsir al Tabari, 6/457; al Silsilah al Da’ifah, Hadith: 4653, al Albani graded it authentic to al Sha’bi.

^[3] Surah ‘Abasa: 31.

^[4] Tafsir al Tabari, 1/72; Tafsir Ibn Kathir, 1/11. Ibn Kathir remarked, “A group of the pious predecessors refrained from commentating on what they had no knowledge of.”

^[5] Surah al Ma’idah: 105.

^[6] Musnad Ahmed, 1/2; Sunan Abi Dawood, Hadith: 4340; Jami’ al Tirmidhi, Hadith: 3057; Sunan Ibn Majah, Hadith: 4005, al Tirmidhi and al Albani graded it sahih.

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