Ibn Kathir

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the canonical Qur'an transmitter, see Ibn Kathir al-Makki.
Ibn Kathir
Personal
Bornc. 1300 / 701
Athari[1][2][3][4][5][6]
Notable work(s)- Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm (Tafsir Ibn Kathir), a Quranic exegesis;
- Al-Bidāya wan Nihāya ("The Beginning and the End"), a 14-volume history of Islam;
- Kitāb al-jāmiʿ, a hadith collection.[10]
Muslim leader
Influenced by
  • Ibn al-Qayyim
Epithet (Laqab)
ʿImād ud-Dīn
عماد الدين‎
"pillar of the faith"
Toponymic (Nisba)Ad-Dimashqi
Al-Qurashi
Al-Busrawi

Abu al-Fida Isma'il ibn Umar ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi (

Arabic: أبو الفداء إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير الدمشقي, romanized: Abū al-Fiḍā’ Ismā‘īl ibn ‘Umar ibn Kathīr al-Dimashqī; c. 1300–1373), known simply as Ibn Kathir, was an Arab Islamic exegete, historian and scholar. An expert on tafsir (Qur'anic exegesis), tarikh (history) and fiqh (jurisprudence), he is considered a leading authority on Sunni Islam
.

Born in

Arabic: البداية والنهاية).[13][14]

His renowned tafsir,

Athari
school of Islamic theology.

Biography

His full name was Abū l-Fidāʾ Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar ibn Kaṯīr (أبو الفداء إسماعيل بن عمر بن كثير‎) and had the laqab (epithet) of ʿImād ad-Dīn (عماد الدين‎ "pillar of the faith"). His family trace its lineage back to the tribe of

AH 701 (AD 1300/1).[15] He was taught by Ibn Taymiyya and Al-Dhahabi
.

Upon completion of his studies he obtained his first official appointment in 1341, when he joined an inquisitorial commission formed to determine certain questions of heresy.[10]

He married the daughter of

Great Mosque of Damascus.[10][16]

In later life, he became blind.

Ahmad Ibn Hanbal
in an attempt to rearrange it topically rather than by narrator. He died in February 1373 (
AH 774) in Damascus. He was buried next to his teacher Ibn Taymiyya.[18]

Creed

Further information: Ahl al-Hadith and Zubayr_ibn_al-Awwam § Hadith_&_Legals

The records from modern researchers such as

Shafi, he was closely aligned with Damascene Hanbalism.[28]: 86  David L. Johnston described him as "the traditionist and Ash'arite Ibn Kathir".[29]

Taha Jabir Alalwani, Professor and President of

Day of Resurrection and Hypocrisy in Qur'an.[20]

Ibn Kathir states:

"People have said a great deal on this topic and this is not the place to expound on what they have said. On this matter, we follow the early Muslims (

anthropomorphists (al-mushabbihin) is negated of Allah, for nothing from His creation resembles Him: "There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing" Rather this affair is like what the Grand Shaykh of Imam Bukhari Shaykh Naeem ibn Hamaad Khazaa'i said "Whosoever likens Allah to his Creation has done Kufr (disbelieved) and whosoever negates what Allah describes Himself with has also done Kufr (Disbelieved) There is nothing with what Allah describes Himself with nor his Prophet describes Allah with from likening Allah to his Creation (tashbeeh). Whosoever affirms for Allah what has reached Us from the Truthful Ayahs (verses) and Correct Hadeeth (Prophetic narrations) on the way that is befitting the Majesty of Allah while negating from Allah all defects indeed He has traveled the way of guidance." (Tafsir Ibn Kathir 7:54)[30]


These words from Ibn Kathir were argued by

Maturidites such as Al-Razi.[34][35]

In summary, Jon Hoover outlined that Ibn Kathir stance according to scholars were orthodox traditionists and rejected the view of Mutakallims, just like the view of Salafi Muslims and their predecessor Ahl al-Hadith school.[36]

View of some Ash'arite scholars

See also:
Ash'ari and Ahl al-Ra'y

In the modern times, Ibn Kathir's creed have sometimes been raised as a subject of disagreement between the Ash'arites, successor of

Salafis, theorized by Jon Hoover as successor of Ahl al-Hadith traditionist school.[36]
Some Ash'arite theologians have claimed Ibn Kathir as an Ash'ari, pointing out some of his beliefs and sayings reported from his works, and to the fact that:

Works

Tafsir

Main article: Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Ibn Kathir wrote a famous commentary on the

at-Tabari, he introduced new methods and differs in content, in attempt to clear Islam from that he evaluates as Isra'iliyyat. His suspicion on Isra'iliyyat possibly derived from Ibn Taimiyya's influence, who discounted much of the exegetical tradition since then.[24][40]

His Tafsir has gained widespread popularity in modern times, especially among Western Muslims, probably due to his straightforward approach, but also due to lack of alternative translations of traditional tafsirs.

Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Kathīr, which is evident from its emphasis on ḥadīth, Scripturalist approaches, the rejection of Isrāʾīliyyāt, and a polemical attitudes against the Ahl al-raʾy.[42] From the 1920s onwards, Wahhabi scholars also contributed immensely to popularisation of ḥadīth-oriented hermeneutics and exegeses, such as Ibn Kathīr's and al-Baghawī’s Qurʾān commentaries and Ibn Taymiyya’s al-Muqaddima fī uṣūl al-tafsīr, through printing press. The Wahhābī promotion of Ibn Taymiyya’s and Ibn Kathīr’s works through print publishing during the early twentieth century emerged instrumental in making these two scholars popular in the contemporary period and imparted a robust impact on modern exegetical works.[43]

In academic discourse

Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm is controversial in western academic circles. Henri Laoust regards it primary as a philological work and "very elementary". Norman Calder describes it as narrow-minded, dogmatic, and skeptical against the intellectual achievements of former exegetes. His concern is limited to rate the Quran by the corpus of Hadith and is the first, who flatly rates Jewish sources as unreliable, while simultaneously using them, just as prophetic hadith, selectively to support his prefabricated opinion.[44] Otherwise, Jane Dammen McAuliffe regards this tafsir as "deliberately and carefully selected, whose interpretation is unique to his own judgment to preserve, that he regards as best among his traditions."[45]

Unabridged English Translations

  1. Exegesis of the Grand Holy Qur'an (4 volumes) by Dr. Muhammad Mahdi Al-Sharif. It was published in 2006 by Darul Kutub Al-'Ilmiyyah in Lebanon.
  2. Another translation by
    Mawlana
    Muhammad Ameen Khaulwadiyah, the director of Darul Qasim in Glendale Heights, Chicago, Illinois is in progress. Only 2 volumes have been published so far.

Hadith

  • Al-Jāmiʿ (الجامع‎) is a grand collection of Hadith texts intended for encyclopedic use. It is an alphabetical listing of the Companions of the Prophet and the sayings that each transmitted, thus reconstructing the chain of authority for each hadith.[10]

See also

Notes

  1. ISBN 978-0-19-969864-6. the methodology proposed by Ibn Taymiyya (d.728/1328) and adopted by Ibn Kathīr (d. 774/1373), which ultimately resulted in the dismissal of philology in favour of hadith and of the doctrines of Sunnī traditionalism.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link) CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link
    )
  2. ISBN 978-0-7007-1588-6
    . IBN KATHIR, 'IMAD AL-DIN ISMA'IL IBN 'UMAR (AD 1300–73)... His reliance is totally upon hadith material; the era of Ibn Kathir, in fact, marks the triumph of traditionalism over the powers of rationalism.
  3. ISBN 978-0-19-969776-2. Born in Bosra in 1300, Ibn Kathīr was a historian and traditionalist of Mamlūk, Syria.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link
    )
  4. doi:10.5356/orient.48.57
    – via JSTOR. Philips is a follower of traditional literalist interpretation of the Qur'ān.... This is a basic and conservative method of interpreting the Qur'ān, which is used by traditionalist Muslim scholars such as Ibn Kathīr (d.1373)...
  5. ISBN 978-0-7007-1588-6
    . Ibn Kathir, 'Imad Al-Din Ism'il Ibn 'Umar (AD 1300–73)... His reliance is totally upon hadith material; the era of Ibn Kathir, in fact, marks the triumph of traditionalism over the powers of rationalism.
  6. ISBN 978-0-19-969776-2. Born in Bosra in 1300, Ibn Kathīr was a historian and traditionalist of Mamlūk, Syria.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: location (link
    )
  7. ^ "The Re-Formers of Islam: The Mas'ud Questions". Ibn Kathir is a scholar of Ahl al-Sunna who was of the Shafi'i school (according to the first volume of his main work, Tafsir al-Qur'an al-'Azim, 1.2), while Ibn Taymiya was a scholar whose fiqh remained in the general framework of the Hanbali school.
  8. ^ Younus Y. Mirza (2012). IBN KATHĪR (D. 774/1373): HIS INTELLECTUAL CIRCLE, MAJOR WORKS AND QUR'ĀNIC EXEGESIS. Georgetown University. Ibn Kathīr is often portrayed as the "spokesperson" for Ibn Taymiyya, one who promoted his work and implemented his theories. Ibn Kathīr is more accurately described as a Shāfi'ī traditionalists or a group of Shāfiʻī ḥadīth scholars who maintained a traditionalist creed.
  9. ISSN 1465-3591
    .
  10. ^ a b c d "Ibn Kathir - Muslim scholar". Encyclopædia Britannica. Retrieved 26 March 2016.
  11. ^ a b "Scholar of renown: Ibn Katheer". April 2002.
  12. ISSN 1465-3591
    . Jane McAullife remarks that 'certainly the most famous of Ibn Kathīr's teachers, and perhaps the one who influenced him the most, was the Ḥanbalī theologian and jurisconsult Ibn Taymiyyah'.
  13. ISSN 1465-3591
    .
  14. ISBN 0810861615
    .
  15. ^ Mirza, Younus Y. (1 September 2016). "Ibn Kathīr, ʿImād al-Dīn". Encyclopaedia of Islam, THREE.
  16. ISBN 9781859641422. {{cite book}}: |author2= has generic name (help
    )
  17. ISBN 0810861615
    .
  18. ISSN 1465-3591
    . Ibn Qāḍī al-Shuhba concludes mentioning that Ibn Kathīr was buried 'next to his teacher (shaykhihi) Ibn Taymiyya'.
  19. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-976183-8
    .
  20. ^
    ISBN 9789793536644
    . Retrieved 13 December 2021.
  21. ^
    ISBN 978-1-56564-404-5
    . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
  22. ISBN 978-0-815-62635-0
    page 40
  23. ISBN 978-0-199-87969-4
  24. ^
    ISBN 978-1-316-24005-2
    page 115
  25. ISBN 978-1-4384-5371-2
    .
  26. doi:10.1163/156851906778946341
    .
  27. ^ Stewart, Devin J. (2002). Weiss, Bernard G. (ed.). "Muhammad b. Dawud al-Zahiri's Manual of Jurisprudence". Studies in Islamic Law and Society. 15: Studies in Islamic Legal Theory. Leiden: Brill Publishers: 99–158.
  28. ISBN 978-0-521-50637-3
    .
  29. ISBN 9781845532253
    . The traditionist and Ash'arite Ibn Kathir...
  30. ISBN 9781438453712
    .
  31. ^ a b bin Abdul Qadir al-Jawaz 2006
  32. ISBN 9780748689576
    . Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  33. ^ Marzuqi at Tharifi, Abdul Aziz. Akidah Al-Khurasaniyyah. Pustaka al-Kautsar. Retrieved 14 October 2021.
  34. ISBN 9789793036090
    . Retrieved 14 December 2021.
  35. ISBN 978979-5926948
    . Retrieved 8 December 2021.
  36. ^
    ISBN 978-0-19-969670-3
    .
  37. ISBN 9789079294220. Archived from the original on 12 May 2021. الإمام الحافظ المفسر أبو الفداء إسماعيل بن كثير رحمه الله تعالى، صاحب التفسير العظيم والبداية والنهاية وغيرها، فقد نُـقِـلَ عنه أنه صَـرَّحَ بأنه أشعري كما في الدرر الكامنة 1/58، والدارس في تاريخ المدارس للنعيمي 2/89، أضف إلى ذلك أنه ولي مشيخة دار الحديث الأشرفية التي كان شرط واقفها أن لا يلي مشيختها إلا أشعري، وزدْ عليه ما في تفسيره من التنزيه والتقديس والتشديد على من يقول بظواهر المتشابه كما مـرَّ من قوله عند تفسيره لقوله تعالى من سـورة الأعراف ( ثمّ استوي على العرش ) (تفسيره 2/220) إلى غير ذلك من الأمثلة الظاهرة الجلية في كونه من أهل السنة الأشاعـرة. {{cite book}}: |website= ignored (help
    )
  38. ISBN 9782745126726 – via Google Books
    . ومن نوادره أنه وقع بينه وبين عماد الدين بن كثير منازعة في تدريس الناس، فقال له ابن كثير: أنت تكرهني لأنني أشعري، فقال له: لو كان من رأسك إلى قدمك شعر ما صدقك الناس في قولك إنك أشعري، وشيخك ابن تيمية.
  39. ISBN 978-0-415-32639-1
    page 632
  40. ISBN 978-0-199-35957-8
    page 25
  41. ISBN 978-0-19-870206-1
    p. 478
  42. ISBN 978-0-19-969670-3
    . More conservative forms of revivalism continued to flourish.. for instance, al-Qāsimī's above mentioned extensive Qurʾān commentary Maḥāsin al-taʾwīl is influenced by scripturalist ideas and places great emphasis on ḥadīth.... The methodology of this commentary owes much to Ibn Taymiyya and Ibn Kathīr, which is evident from its focus on ḥadīth, the rejection of isrāʾīliyyāt, and a polemical attitude against the so-called ahl al-raʾy,..
  43. ISBN 978-0-19-969670-3
    . .. from the 1920s onwards invested in printing activities and contributed massively to the popularization of what the Saudi scholars considered to be legitimate, i.e. ḥadīth-based hermeneutics and exegesis, for example Ibn Kathīr's and al-Baghawī's Qurʾān commentaries and Ibn Taymiyya's al-Muqaddima fī uṣūl al-tafsīr. The Wahhābī promotion of Ibn Taymiyya's and Ibn Kathīr's works—especially by publishing them in print in the early twentieth century—was instrumental in making these two authors popular in the contemporary period and had a strong impact on modern exegetical activities.
  44. ^ Johanna Pink Sunnitischer Tafsir in der modernen islamischen Welt: Akademische Traditionen, Popularisierung und nationalstaatliche Interessen BRILL, 11.11.2010 ISBN 9789004185920 p. 40 (German)
  45. ISBN 9789004185920
    p. 40 (German)

References

  • Norman Calder, 'Tafsir from Tabari to Ibn Kathir, Problems in the description of a genre, illustrated with reference to the story of Abraham', in: G. R. Hawting / Abdul-Kader A. Shareef (eds.): Approaches to the Qur'an, London 1993, pp. 101–140.
  • Jane Dammen-McAuliffe, 'Quranic Hermeneutics, The views of al-Tabari and Ibn Kathir', in: Andrew Rippin (ed.): Approaches to the history of the interpretation of the Qur'an, Oxford 1988, pp.& nbs al hafid ibn kathir is not ash,ai

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