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Love for the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) : Al-Tawbah 9:24 as interpreted in consecutive classical commentaries

M.A. / By means of a conditional clause al-Tawbah 9:24 implicitly states that love for the Prophet (pbuh) alongside love for Allah and ‘jihad in His way’ must be greater than affection for family and relatives, and attachment to worldly property and possessions. Various words and concepts, found in the said verse, have become the concern of commentaries (tafsirs) on the Qur’an. For the purpose of the dissertation, ten consecutive ancient tafsirs are selected. They are those of al-Ṭabarī (d.310/922), al-Thaʿlabī (d.427/1035), al-Wāḥidī (d.468/1075), al-Baghawī (d.516/1122), al-Zamakhsharī (d.538/1143), Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d.606/1209), al-Qurṭubī (d.671/1272), al-Baiḍāwī (d.685/1286), Ibn Kathīr (d.774/1372) and Abū al-Suʿūd (d.982/1574). They cover a period spanning approximately seven centuries. For each commentary an English translation is given as well as a general discussion. Authorities referred to are chronologically specified. The commentaries are compared with regard to three foci, namely reason for revelation (sabab al-nuzūl), lexical contributions and interpretative approaches. As far as reason for revelation is concerned, the tradition strongly points to Hijra and the conquest of Mecca as historical orientation. The dissertation however shows that traditional material clearly reflects pre- and post-Hijra situations. Tafsirs lexically comment upon words in a variety of ways: e.g. providing synonyms, offering closely related words, providing definitions, showing the etymological origin or presenting poems to support the meaning. The interpretative approach demonstrates a practical and legal interest among commentators (mufassirs) in the case of love for Allah and His Messenger (pbuh) and an endeavour to assert the importance of 'jihad’ as expression of love for Allah and His Messenger (pbuh) and an attempt to stress the historical situation and threatening nature of the verse.

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:2101
Date28 February 2012
CreatorsSuna, Mustafa
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis

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