Mukhtasar fi Qawaid al-Tafsir
- Author died
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- Editions
- Dār Ibn al-Qayyim - Dār Ibn ʻAffān
Mukhtasar fi Qawaid al-Tafsir (Abridgment of the Principles of Quranic Exegesis) is a work on the universal rules and principles governing Quranic interpretation by Khalid al-Sabt.
Background and Scope
The work is an abridged compilation derived from the author's extensive doctoral dissertation, Qawaʿid al-Tafsir: Jamʿan wa-Dirasah, completed at the Islamic University of Madinah and published in two volumes. In that research, al-Sabt gathered roughly 380 core and subsidiary interpretive rules inducted from approximately 225 classical sources spanning legal theory (usul al-fiqh), Arabic linguistics, and the Quranic sciences, categorizing them into twenty-eight distinct objectives (maqasid).
Structure and Content
The Mukhtasar organizes these interpretive maxims into twenty-eight chapters (maqasid), concluding with a specialized section on principles applicable when a word or phrasing admits multiple interpretations:
- Revelation and Exegetical Methodology (Objectives 1–2): Treats occasions of revelation (asbab al-nuzul), Meccan and Medinan contexts, variant readings (qira'at), and the arrangement of verses and chapters. It outlines the primary avenues of interpretation, prioritizing sound transmission from the Prophet ﷺ, the consensus and explanations of the early generations (al-Salaf), and classical Arabic linguistic norms.
- Linguistic and Rhetorical Rules (Objectives 3–16): Covers grammatical principles, Quranic modes of address (wujuh al-mukhatabat), explicit and implicit nouns, grammatical omissions and additions, word order, essential particles, nouns, conjunctions, adjectives, emphasis, synonymy, oaths, commands, prohibitions, negation, and interrogation.
- Usul and Quranic Sciences (Objectives 17–28): Discusses general and specific wording (al-ʿamm wa-l-khass), absolute and qualified terms (al-mutlaq wa-l-muqayyad), explicit text and implied meanings (al-mantuq wa-l-mafhum), decisive and ambiguous verses (al-muhkam wa-l-mutashabih), textual clarity, verse endings (fawasil), reconciling apparent textual divergence, repetition, obscure references (mubhamaat), abrogation (naskh), structural textual relations ('ilm al-munasabat), and overarching general rules.
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