Tafsir al-Qurtubi Vol. 7

Imam al-Qurtubi
Aisha Abdurrahman Bewley (translation)
Paperback, 456 pages
9781914397226

Juz 7: Surat Al-An'am & Surat al-A'raf

The tafsīr of al-Qurṭubī is perhaps one of the most compendious of them all and is certainly among the most famous. As its title, al-Jāmi‘ li Aḥkām al-Qur’ān – The General Judgments of the Qur’an, suggests, its main focus is on the rulings and judgments to be found in the Qur’ān. However, in the course of doing that, al-Qurṭubī examines all the relevant sciences necessary, such as the ḥadīth pertaining to the āyahs, events in the sīrah, what the Companions, their Followers and other noted people of knowledge said about the āyahs, essential aspects of Arabic etymology, syntax and usage, copiously illustrated by examples, and much more.

This volume covers Surat al-An'am - Cattle & Surat al-A'raf - The Ramparts. Surat al-An'am was revealed all at once except for six ayahs - because it constitutes a single argument - and it was accompanied by seventy thousand angels. It provides the basic premises for arguing against many false positions. Usul ad-din is founded on it because it contains clear ayahs that refute the Qadariyyah proponents of free-will who deny the Decree.

Surat al-A'raf tells the stories of many of the Prophets and then treats the account of Musa and Harun with Fir'awn and the Egyptians and then with Bani Israel at some length.