ভূমিকা

Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books The Shi'ah and Islamic Disciplines Chapter 1:The Precedence Of The Shi’ah In Quranic Sciences This chapter comprises several sections but it is necessary to note that the Commander of the Faithful, Ali ibn Abi Talib, peace be on him, was the first to classify Qur’anic sciences. He dictated sixty categories thereof, illustrating each through an example. This is found in a book which we relate, on his authority, through several chains of narration.

It is the first source for all that is subsequently written on Qur’anic sciences. We still have a copy of this book. The first compilation of the whole Qur’an in the chronological order of revelation which was done after the Prophet's demise is that of the Commander of the Faithful, Ali, peace be on him. The narrations that came down to us from the Household of the Prophet to that effect are widely transmitted ( mutawatirah ) while the Sunnis' reports in this respect are extensive ( mustafidah ).

We have cited some of them and have reviewed Ibn Hajar Asqalani’s view in the unabridged version. Section One: The First Writers about Qur’anic Exegesis The first person to write on this subject was Sa’id ibn Jubayr who was a tabi’i (i. e. a Muslim who lived in the generation following that of the of the Prophet). He was the most learned tabi’i in exegesis ( tafsir ) as al–Suyuti related in Al–Itqan , on the authority of Qatadah and mentioned his work on tafsir .

Ibn al–Nadim also mentioned him in Al–Fihrist while listing the works written on tafsir and showed that none was earlier than Ibn Jubair’s. His martyrdom took place in the year 94 A. H. The fact that Ibn Jubair was among the sincere Shi’ah has been attested by our scholars in their books on the biographies of transmitters of hadith ( rijal ). Allamah Jamal al–Din ibn al–Mutahhar in Al–Khulasah and Abu Amr al–Kishshi, in his book on rijal , were among those who attested to that.

The latter also related some hadiths from the Imams in his praise, about his being a Shi’ah and his perseverance. Al–Kishshi said: ‘The only reason why Hajjaj killed him was this affair i. e. his being a Shi'ah. He was killed in the year 94 A. H. ’ Another group of tabi’i s from among the Shi’ah also wrote books on tafsir after Ibn Jubair. Among them was Abu Muhammad, Ismail ibn Abdurrahman al–Kufi al–Qarashi who was known as al–Suddi, the senior (d. 127 A. H).

Al–Suyuti says in Al–Itqan : ‘The ideal tafsir is that written by Ismail al–Suddi.