A Case Study of the Interweaving of al-Jalālayn’s Exegetical Sources
By Ismaeel Ghouse
Note: Interpretations mentioned in quotes are not direct quotations from the mufassir, but rather a rendition of their interpretation into a cohesive statement that those under discussion might have uttered.
Tafsīr al-Jalālayn, initially authored by Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī (d. 864/1459), then completed after his death by his student, the famous tenth-century Egyptian polymath Jalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911/1505), is a key work in traditional Islamic seminary curriculums. It is prized for its concise structure that attempts to incorporate exactly what the reader needs to understand the verse under discussion. In his introduction, al-Ṣuyūṭī lists several methodological objectives that he and his teacher integrated into the fabric of their work. Just as an expert weaver uses various threads to form a majestic tapestry, al-Ṣuyūṭī and al-Maḥallī drew from several earlier sources to create their masterpiece: al-Wāḥidī’s al-Wajīz (468/1075-76), al-Zamakhsharī’s al-Kashshāf (d. 538/1143-44), al-Kawāshī’s al-Talkhīṣ (d. 680/1281-82), al-Bayḍāwī’s Anwār al-Tanzīl (d. 691/1291-92), and Ibn Kathīr’s Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm (d. 774/1372-73).
To fully appreciate how the authors of al-Jalālayn utilized and integrated these sources, it is useful to compare how each of these exegetes explained the same verse. This paper is a case study comparing the five sources listed above, as well as two of al-Ṣuyūṭī’s others works, al-Durr al-Manthūr and his gloss on al-Bayḍāwī’s Anwār al-Tanzīl, to Tafsīr al-Jalālayn itself. The verses under focus here are verses seventy-two to seventy-six of Sūrat Āl ʿImrān. The paper is structured as a verse-by-verse analysis, where salient points of agreement and difference between the works under study will be discussed.
Verse Seventy-Two [And furthermore, a group from the People of the Scripture say to one another, “Profess faith at the start of the day in what has been sent down to Muḥammad ad to those who believe in his message, and renounce it at day’s end, so that they may doubt themselves and turn back from their faith.]
The bulk of the discussion regarding this verse revolves around the sabab al-nuzūl (occasion of revelation). In al-Jalālayn, al-Ṣuyūṭī alludes to a story of the Jews plotting to feign conversion to Islam in the morning and then abandon it by evening, as a means of introducing doubts into the minds of Muslims, whose supposed thought process would be, “These people, who possess knowledge, would not leave [Islam] after accepting it unless they recognized it to be false”. However, he does not mention a narration relating to this story.
The other works discuss narrations that discuss the background more specifically. al-Bayḍāwī mentions that the Jews conspired to tell the Muslims that, “We have examined our scriptures and consulted our scholars and found that Muḥammad does not meet the description given in the Torah.” Al-Wāḥiḍī and al-Zamakhsharī also mention this occurrence. Al-Bayḍawī also mentions a second narration, which mentions that this verse was revealed after the changing of the qiblah, upon which the Jews conspired to initially pretend that they had accepted the change by praying in the same direction as the Muslims, then later switching back to the original direction. This is also mentioned by al-Zamakhsharī, al-Kawāshī and Ibn Kathīr. al-Suyūṭī mentions both incidents in his Durr. From this, one can see that al-Suyūṭī, despite being aware of both narrations, chose to give an ambiguous description of the sabab al-nuzūl in a way that alludes to both incidents.
Verse Seventy-Three [Yet all the while, in your heart, believe none except one who follows your own religion, keeping its knowledge to yourselves. Say to them, O Muḥammad, “Indeed, all true guidance is the guidance of God.” Are you envious and begrudging that someone is given revealed knowledge from God like what you have been given from Him, or are you fearful that het believers will prevail in argument against you on Judgment Day before your Lord? Say to them, O Muḥammad, “Indeed, all bounty is in the mighty Hand of God. He gives it to whomever He so wills.” And God is all-encompassing, all-knowing.]
A key issue under discussion in this verse is the grammatical parsing. al-Suyūṭī mentions in al-Jalālayn that (أن يؤتى أحد مثل ما أوتيتم) is the object of (ولا تؤمنوا), with the exceptive phrase (إلا لمن تبع دينكم), which is grammatically connected to object, being mentioned prior to its expected place in the sentence. He also mentions that (قل إن الهدى هدى الله) is an interruptory phrase that has no grammatical connection to the remainder of the verse. According to this parsing, the meaning of the verse is, “Do not believe that anyone other than those who follow your religion will be given the likes of what you have been given (i.e., the Torah)”. This is a continuation of the statement of the Jews from the previous verse, highlighting their scheme to dissuade others from believing that a non-Jew could be given divine revelation.
Al-Wāḥidī mentions this same parsing, but he does so by rearranging the verse to reflect the grammatical structure, which makes it more intuitive for the reader to follow. Al-Bayḍāwī offers another explanation: (ولا تؤمنوا إلا لمن تبع دينكم) is a command from the Jews to not divulge their recognition of the truth of the Qurʾān to anyone other than their fellow Jews. Al-Kawāshī mentions something similar. Al-Zamakhsarī also mentions this, explaining that the justification for this is that exposing this reality would encourage the Muslims to continue their mission and would increase the propensity of the polytheists to accept Islam. Then, according to al-Bayḍāwī’s interpretation, (أن يؤتى أحد مثل ما أوتيتم) is the indirect object of an omitted verb, based on which the meaning becomes, “[You plotted the way you did out of jealousy] that others could be given the like of what you were given.”
Al-Zamakhsarī also mentions this interpretation and explains that is supported by the alternate reading as an interrogative (ءأن يؤتى). Ibn Kathīr interprets the verse as saying, “Do not reveal what you know from your scriptures, lest the Muslims learn it and surpass you in knowledge of it”. Al-Zamaksharī also mentions that the first part of the verse can be understood to mean, “Do not exercise the plot mentioned in the previous verse except against those who converted from your religion to Islam, because dissuading them from Islam is more likely than dissuading others”.
From this, it is clear that this is a discussion with much nuance, with al-Zamakhsharī going into the most depth, as expected in a grammatical discussion. Following his normal methodology in al-Jalālayn, al-Suyūṭī restricts himself to mentioning only the parsing he finds to be the most accurate.
Verse Seventy-Four [It is He who singles out for His mercy whomsoever He wills. For God alone is the Possessor of Magnificent Bounty.]
Al-Suyūṭī does not discuss this verse in al-Jalālayn.
Verse Seventy-Five [Yet there are also among the People of the Scripture the likes of one who, if you were to entrust him with a heap of gold, he would faithfully restore it to you. And there are among them the likes of one who, if you were to entrust him with even a single dīnār, he would not restore it to you, unless you were to remain standing over him. That is because they say: It is not incumbent upon us to keep faith, with people unlettered in Scripture! And thus do they speak lies against God – and they do so knowingly.]
One of the points of discussion regarding this verse is specifying who is intended by “those who can be entrusted with a heap of gold” and “those who cannot be entrusted with even a single gold coin”. Al-Suyūṭī in al-Jalālayn mentions that the former refers to ʿAbd Allāḥ b. Salām, whereas the latter refers to Kaʿb b. al-Ashraf. He apparently derives this from al-Kawāshī, as none of his other sources mention Kaʿb b. al-Ashraf. al-Bayḍāwī, al-Wāḥidī, and al-Zamakhsharī mention that the former refers to ʿAbd Allāh b. Salām, while the latter refers to Finḥāṣ b. ʿĀzūrāʾ. They also mention a second interpretation, which is that the former refers to the Christians and the latter refers to the Jews. al-Suyūṭī transmits the same explanation from ʿIkrimah in his Durr.
Verse Seventy-Six [Rather, whoever fulfills his covenant and fears God, know that God, indeed, loves the God-fearing.]
A point of interest in this verse is the referent of the pronoun in (بعهده). In al-Jalālayn, al-Suyūṭī mentions two interpretations. The first is that the referent is the relative pronoun (مَن), referring to one who fulfills the promises he makes. The second is that the referent is Allah, referring to one who fulfills the covenant he made with Allah. al-Wāḥidī and Ibn Kathīr mention the second and al-Kawāshī mentions both. al-Wāḥidī and al-Kawāshī both explain regarding the second interpretation that the covenant with Allah includes fulfilling the trusts of others.
Al-Zamakhshari mentions both interpretations as well, and answers a potential objection against the first, which is that it implies that a Jew or Christian who fulfills his promises can earn the love of Allah. He responds by pointing out that one who fulfills all his promises will inevitably fulfill the covenant of belief in the final messenger enacted between the People of the Book and Allah.
In sum, by examining the sources of Tafsīr al-Jalālayn and comparing them with al-Jalālayn itself, one can see where al-Suyūṭī and al-Maḥāllī derived their explanations from. Sometimes, all their sources mention the same interpretation, while at others, their explanation is drawn from only one or two of their sources. Of course, this is not due to them not being aware of other interpretations, as their own sources mention them, and al-Suyūṭī himself sometimes mentions them in his Durr or gloss on al-Bayḍāwī. Rather, as is their objective, they chose what they felt was the strongest interpretation and did not undertake the task of mentioning all possible understandings.
