Jami Marwiyyat Istidrakat al-Salaf fi al-Tafsir
- Author died
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- Editions
- Dar al-Dulayqan
Jami Marwiyyat Istidrakat al-Salaf fi al-Tafsir (Compendium of Transmitted Narrations on the Early Generations' Rectifications in Exegesis) is a specialized compilation of transmitted Quranic exegesis by Nayif al-Zahrani. The work gathers 414 transmitted reports (riwayāt maʾthūrah) preserving interpretive corrections and emendations (istidrākāt) made by the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the Companions, the Successors (Tābiʿūn), and their followers.
Background and Composition
The author originally researched and critically examined 80 interpretive emendations in his master's thesis submitted to Umm al-Qura University, titled Istidrakat al-Salaf fi al-Tafsir fi al-Qurun al-Thalathah al-Ula: Dirasah Naqdiyyah Muqaranah (The Early Generations' Rectifications in Exegesis in the First Three Centuries: A Critical Comparative Study), which was published by Dar Ibn al-Jawzi in 1430 AH. A decade after the publication of that initial study—having lost the electronic files of the collected material—al-Zahrani recompiled the entire corpus into this comprehensive collection after several years of inductive survey across the primary classical sourcebooks of transmitted exegesis (kutub al-tafsīr al-musnadah).
Structure and Methodology
The work is organized sequentially according to the order of the Quranic chapters (surahs), beginning with Surah al-Baqarah. Under each chapter, al-Zahrani presents the specific Quranic verse followed by one or more transmitted reports that reflect an interpretive correction or clarification.
In selecting entries, the author included reports wherein the element of emendation (istidrāk) is explicit, even when alternative reports on the same verse might be better attested or more widely known. He employed concise referencing for the transmission sources and noted in the margins the 80 narrations that had undergone comparative analysis in his earlier monograph, intending for the remaining narrations to serve as a resource for future research into interpretive disagreements (ʿilm al-khilāf fī al-tafsīr). In the introduction, the author outlines sixteen potential scholarly research tracks that can be built upon this corpus, including the role of rational evidence in early exegesis, the early scholars' emendations against sectarian innovators, and the hermeneutical principles governing the weighting of conflicting interpretations.
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