Tafsir Abd al-Razzaq
- Author died
- 211 AH
- Editions
- Dār al-Kutub al-‘Ilmīyah
Tafsir Abd al-Razzaq (Tafsīr ʿAbd al-Razzāq) is an early collection of Quranic exegesis by the Yemeni traditionist Abd al-Razzaq al-Sanani (126–211 AH / 744–826 CE), preserving traditional narrations (tafsīr bi-l-maʾthūr) transmitted from early authorities of the first and second Islamic centuries .
Transmission and Structure
The book is arranged surah by surah following the order of the Quranic text . Like other works compiled by Abd al-Razzaq, its text was preserved and transmitted through his students, among them Ishaq ibn Ibrahim al-Dabari (d. 285 AH), Salama ibn Shabib, Muhammad ibn Hammad al-Tahrani, and al-Hasan ibn Yahya ibn Abi al-Rabi' al-Jurjani .
Sources and Methodology
The work relies on chains of transmission (asānīd) linking interpretations back to the Prophet ﷺ, Companions such as Abd Allah ibn Abbas, and early exegetes from the Successors . Its primary source is Abd al-Razzaq's principal teacher, Ma'mar ibn Rashid (d. 153 AH), whose transmissions dominate the compilation to such an extent that Fuat Sezgin characterized the work as essentially an adapted version of Ma'mar's own tafsir .
Through Ma'mar, the compilation primarily preserves the exegesis of Qatadah ibn Di'amah (d. 117 AH), alongside narrations from al-Hasan al-Basri and Muhammad ibn al-Sa'ib al-Kalbi . Abd al-Razzaq also incorporates traditions through Ibn Jurayj (recording opinions of Ata ibn Abi Rabah and Mujahid ibn Jabr), Sufyan al-Thawri, and Sufyan ibn Uyaynah .
Reception and Editions
As one of the earliest surviving sources of transmitted exegesis, the work served as a fundamental reference for later exegetes who compiled traditional commentaries . Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari incorporated the entirety of Abd al-Razzaq's tafsir into his own exegesis, Jami' al-Bayan, via the transmission of al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Rabi' al-Jurjani .
The work has been edited and published in three volumes (bound across four parts) edited by Mustafa Muslim .
Answer updated