Traditions in Tafsīr of Tibyān

Document Type : Original Article

Author

Abstract

There is no doubt concerning the role of traditions in the interpretation of the Qur'anic verses. Furthermore, forgery, fabrication, and weakness in certain traditions are among the known issues that all scholars and experts of Islamic sciences acknowledge. Sciences of tradition (‘ulūm al-ḥadīth) were founded on a basis to authenticate the narrators of traditions and verify their genuineness. Jurisprudence, which deals with people's practical acts of devotion and religious life, made it applicatory and sufficiently developed it to the extent that the appellation ‘ulūm al-ḥadīth became renowned as uṣūl al-fiqh (principles of jurisprudence); however, interpretation of the Qur'an which undertakes the laying of the foundations for and organizing the Islamic ideology, took a marginal position toward it.
Tafsīr of Tibyān, as the cornerstone of comprehensive interpretation and one of the significant sources of its kind in Shī'ism, is composed by a man who had achieved the pinnacles of jurisprudence and approached the realm of interpretation with an overwhelming prerequisite knowledge of the Qur'an; thus, enjoying a momentous status and special significance among the Shī‘a interpretations.
Most of the exegetical traditions have been transferred from Tafsīr of Tibyān to other interpretations that have been written afterwards. A review of Shaykh Ṭūsī's method of relating traditions in Tafsīr of Tibyān would perhaps encourage some deep research in this respect and expedite the purification of exegetical traditions. The present research includes such an approach.