The Formation of the Classical Tafsir Tradition

Abstract

While one may question the title of the book under review, there is little doubt that Walid Saleh’s revised Yale doctoral dissertation is a major development in Qur’anic studies and, in particular, of the exegetical traditions in Islam. Al-Tha`labi was important, but remains neglected in the field. A Sunni author widely cited by Shi`i exegetes and polemicists, a traditionist who drew upon Sufi commentaries, and a Muslim thinker interested in pre-Islamic religious lore, he had a major influence on the development of the Islamic East’s exegetical traditions. This is signalled by citations from his famous exegesis Al-Kashf wa al-Bayan, a monumental work that still awaits a critical edition, and by the disputes during the medieval period over his probity and reliability. After a useful introduction to the problematic of exegesis, the book comprises seven chapters. The introduction is not, however, free from contention. Saleh would like to argue that al-Tha`labi represents the “intellectual victory” of Sunnism during a period when it was “weak but most culturally open”; Sufi exegesis was co-opted some time before al-Ghazzali, Shi`ism through the incorporation of philo-`Alid material, and rationalism “dethroned by proclaiming the salvific power of belonging to the Muslim community.” I am not so sure. While Al-Kashf was influential, al-Tha`labi was widely derided in the medieval Sunni tradition, not least by every Islamicist’s favourite bête noire Ibn Taymiyya. His supposed “inclusive” Sunnism was clearly not favored in a time when Sunni political power dominated and was institutionally perpetuated in the madrasah. The gradual development of the nature of Sunni consensus and hegemony probably explains the process of al-Tha`labi’s work and its reception ...