Preliminary Remarks on the Historiography of <i>tafsīr</i> in Arabic: A History of the Book Approach

Abstract

Since all the extensive histories of the tafsīr genre published so far are in Arabic, a close analysis of the historiography of these works is a desideratum. In this article I will argue that there are three major categories of historiography, the traditional Ashʿarī, the Salafī, and the modernist. Identifying these camps is essential if we desire to understand the manner in which tafsīr studies has been approached so far, since the proponents of all three have produced, and continue to produce, the editions of tafsīr works that are the basis of most histories in Western academia. It will also allow us to investigate the history of the all-present term ‘al-tafsīr bi'l-maʾthūr’ which has come to play a key role in the categorisation of tafāsīr. Charting the historiography of tafsīr, moreover, is here undertaken in conjunction with discussion of the history of publications of editions of tafsīr in the Arab world. In other words, a history of the editions themselves as eventful milestones in a historiography of tafsīr is the primary means through which I attempt to understand this selfsame historiography.