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Shiavault - a Vault of Shia Islamic Books Mahdi in the Qur’an According To Shi’ite Qur’an Commentators Chapter Ii - Shi’ite Commentators (mufassirin) and Their Commentaries (tafsir) The Sacred Text has been subject to interpretations ( Tafsir ), hermeneutics ( ta’wil ) and mystical exegesis throughout Islamic history. The Shi’ite understanding of the Qur’an is founded on the doctrinal belief that the Shi’ite Imams possess the hidden, esoteric ( batin ) knowledge of the verses of the Qur’an.

2-1 The principles of Shi’i Tafsir and the relation between the Imams and the Qur’an Tafsir means “interpretation” in general but not always of the Qur’an. “The most significant usage of the word is its reference to the branch of Islamic learning concerned with the Qur’an. A Tafsir of the Qur’an is a work which provides an interpretation of the Arabic text of the scripture.

In most cases, a work entitled Tafsir will follow the text of the Qur’an from the beginning to the end and will provide an interpretation ( Tafsir ) of segments of the text (word-by-word, phrase-by-phrase or verse-by-verse) as a running commentary. The major exceptions to this fundamental characteristic are to be found in the formative and the contemporary periods of Islam.

In the formative period, one finds works of Tafsir , which cover only isolated segments of the text, and in the contemporary period, thematic tafasir (mawdu’i) have become quite popular. Different mufassirun have different concerns and goals and this is reflected in the relative weight they put upon elements such as history, grammar, law, theology...” [1] The commentaries of the Qur’an are useful for deciphering the message of the Qur’an.

Many people who read the Sacred Book receive no more from it than the literal message. It is in the commentaries, based on the clarification afforded by the hadith and written by those who are qualified in the true sense, that man comes to understand explicitly and in more extended form what is contained often implicitly and in a contracted form in the Qur’an.

[2] a) The principles of Shi’i Tafsir -The exoteric and esoteric aspects of the Qur’an Among the principles of the Shi’i Tafsir is that the Qur’an has an outer dimension ( zahir ) and an inner dimension ( batin ) and the simple surface text of a verse unfolds multiple [1] A. Rippin, “ Tafsir ”, EI², p.83-84. [2] H. Nasr, Ideals and Realities in Islam, p.58 meanings and exemplifies a feature to be found throughout the Qur’an.