Tafseer

Fortnightly Tafseer takes place on Sunday after Asar

Quran is the best book of all and the most important in the religion of Islam, therefore, in order to understand it in its true capacity, a person has to sharpen his or her intellectual ability as well as increase the knowledge. A person can only truly understand Islam and its teachings if he delves into the message of the Quran and Allah SWT. To be at this level it is necessary for one to study the interpretation of the Quran. There are many reasons that the Tafseer is of great importance but the basic reason is that Allah SWT has sent the Quran as a book of guidance to mankind. He can do so only if he properly understands its meanings, implication and interpretation.

The literal meaning of Tafseer in the Arabic language is to open or to explain, interpret or comment. Technically, the science of Tafseer is a branch of knowledge in which the meanings of the Quran are explained and its injunctions and wisdoms are described openly and clearly (al-Burhan).

It should be noted that the Holy Prophet SAW not only taught the words of the Quran to the people but he also explained them in detail. This is why, on some occasions, the revered Companions had to devote years at a time to learning a single surah.

Until such time that the Holy Prophet SAW graced the mortal world with his presence, seeking the explanation of a Quranic verse did not pose much of a problem. When the Companions faced any difficulty in understanding a verse, they would simply turn to the Prophet (upon him blessings and peace). Later, however, it became necessary that the Tafseer of the Quran be preserved as a permanent branch of knowledge so that, along with the words of the Noble Quran, its correct meaning remain protected and conserved for the Muslim Ummah as well, and so heretics and deviants could find no room for distortion of its meanings. So, with the grace and tawfiq of Allah SWT Almighty, the Ummah accomplished this wonderful mission with such efficiency that today we can say without any doubt or fear of rebuttal that not only have the words of this Last Book of Allah SWT been protected but also its correct explanation transmitted to us through the Holy Prophet and his Companions.

There are 6 sources of Quranic exegesis:

1.Quran
2.Hadith
3.Narrations of Companions
4.Narrations of (Tabieen) Successors
5.Arabic Language
6.Deliberation & Deduction

The Importance of Tafseer:

There is a variety of reasons why Tafseer is important and people consult Tafseer when it comes to understanding of Quran. The few important reasons that make Tafseer important are as follows:

Firstly, it tries to explain the Quran so that the understanding of the reader about Quran and its message increases. Reading only the translation can give the literal meanings of the words of Quran, however, Tafseer comes with context in which a particular Ayah was revealed, hence giving a context to each and every word, which consequently means a better understanding of Quran and its verses.

Secondly, Tafseer is also important when it comes to driving out the laws of Islam from Quran. Verses of Quran come with instructions, and then there are the hadiths of Prophet (PBUH) that also gives instructions. Thus, Tafseer combines both and gives a complete and comprehendible set of instructions to the reader.

Thirdly, when there is no science involved in the interpretation of Quran, then ambiguity and contradiction is surely to rise. When there is Tafseer of Quran available, that contains the scientific method of analysis of verses, the chances of ambiguity and conflict decrease. Hence, instead of ambiguous interpretations there are clear explanations.

Famous and unanimously agreed upon tafseers:

1.Tafseer Ibn Kathir
2.Tafseer al-Qurtubi
3.Mariful Quran

To contact our facilities

Please email Info@mpit.org.uk or call Masjid on 019124 472378. Alternative, you can visit and ask for one of our office bearers at Madina Masjid.