Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Mathur

Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Mathur (Encyclopedia of Traditional Quranic Exegesis) is a 24-volume reference work compiling early transmitted traditions of Quranic interpretation, prepared by the Center for Quranic Studies and Information at the Imam al-Shatibi Institute in Jeddah and published in 1439 AH (2017 CE) under the academic supervision of Musa'id ibn Sulayman al-Tayyar Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math….

Background and Compilation

The project was conceived in 1426 AH to gather early exegetical reports that were missing from al-Suyuti's (d. 911 AH) al-Durr al-manthur fi al-tafsir bi-l-ma'thur Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math…+1. A preliminary feasibility study on the thirtieth portion of the Quran (Juzʾ ʿAmma) comparing al-Durr al-manthur with the tafsir of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari demonstrated that al-Suyuti had omitted numerous traditions and variants, and had not utilized several early sources such as the tafsirs of Muqatil ibn Sulayman, Yahya ibn Sallam, and Ishaq al-Busti Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math….

The compilation took ten years of continuous work between 1427 AH and 1437 AH Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math…. The project was administered by a supervisory board comprising Nuh ibn Yahya al-Shehri as general supervisor, Musa'id ibn Sulayman al-Tayyar as academic supervisor, Bilqasim ibn Dhakir al-Zubaydi as secretary-general, and Khalid ibn Yusuf al-Wasil as academic director Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math…. The project's workflow was divided among four specialized committees:

• Book Survey Committee (Lajnat Jard al-Kutub): Surveyed over two hundred primary source works with chains of transmission to extract additions not found in al-Durr al-manthur Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math…+1.
• Writing and Drafting Committee (Lajnat al-Taʾlif wa-l-Siyaghah): Organized, classified, and harmonized the reports alongside a revised arrangement of al-Durr al-manthur Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math….
• Five Imams' Commentary Committee (Lajnat Taʿliqat al-Aʾimmah al-Khamsah): Extracted analytical explanations, critiques, and preferences from five major exegetical scholars Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math….
• Hadith Documentation Committee (Lajnat Takhrij al-Ahadith): Handled the documentation and attribution of prophetic reports and occasions of revelation, along with citing scholarly verdicts on their authenticity Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math….

Scope, Method, and Structure

The encyclopedia restricts its temporal scope of traditional exegesis (al-tafsir al-maʾthur) to narrations attributed to the Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, the Companions, the Successors (al-Tabiʿun), and the Followers of the Successors (Atbaʿ al-Tabiʿin) who died up to approximately 200 AH Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math…. The work encompasses 85,730 total traditions, drawing upon more than one thousand printed volumes across tafsir, hadith, creed, biography, history, and jurisprudence, with printed musnad tafsir works constituting around eighty percent of the material Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math…+1. Of these, 45,143 traditions represent additions (zawaʾid) over what al-Suyuti included in al-Durr al-manthur Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math….

The encyclopedia is organized into four main components al-Mustadrak ala Mawsuat …:

1. Introductory Studies: A methodological volume detailing the project's parameters alongside six scholarly studies on the definition, history, transmitters, categories, sources, and hadith criticism of traditional exegesis Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math…+1.
2. The Corpus of Traditions: The primary text, arranged according to the sequence of Quranic verses. Under each verse, reports are classified thematically (variant readings, occasions of revelation, interpretation, abrogation, legal rulings, and related topics) and ordered chronologically by the death dates of the authorities Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math….
3. Scholarly Commentaries: Explanations, evaluations, and preferences from five major exegetical scholars: Ibn Jarir al-Tabari (d. 310 AH), Ibn Atiyyah (d. 543 AH), Ibn Taymiyyah (d. 728 AH), Ibn Qayyim al-Jawziyyah (d. 751 AH), and Ibn Kathir (d. 774 AH) al-Mustadrak ala Mawsuat …+1.
4. Scholarly Apparatus and Footnotes: Footnotes documenting sources, grading prophetic hadiths according to authoritative critics, defining rare vocabulary (gharib), and correcting textual corruptions found in earlier editions Mawsuat al-Tafsir al-Math…+1.

Supplements

Following the initial publication, the Center for Quranic Studies and Information compiled a supplementary work titled al-Mustadrak ʿala Mawsuʿat al-Tafsir al-Maʾthur to incorporate newly edited musnad texts published after the encyclopedia's completion, rectify earlier omissions, and replace citations that had relied on flawed printings al-Mustadrak ala Mawsuat …+1.