VII
QURANIC COMMENTARY AND
THE PROPHET'S TRADITIONS

Al-Tafseer or Quranic commentary has been defined as "a clarification of God's intentions in his Holy Book"⁽¹¹⁹⁾. Imam Ali ibn al-Hussain described the Quran's verses as 'vaults' and he instructed the faithful to "look into a 'vault' whenever one is opened"⁽¹²⁰⁾. Since early times, Muslims have paid special attention to understanding and commenting on the Quran because of its significance for building up Islamic knowledge and thought. Unfortunately, errors in understandings and commentaries led to unorthodox ideas while differences in understandings resulted in a multiplicity of theological and jurisprudence schools.

Quranic commentaries follow specific methodologies and the Imamiya Shiite school has laid down its own methodology based on the following principles:

1- Commitment to the concrete evidence or (Hujjat al-Dhur): This school regarded as evidence or proof whatever meaning or understanding is obtained on the basic of a sound knowledge of the Arabic language. This stems from the fact that the Quran was revealed in the Arabic language which the Arab at that time used and understood. This is expressed in the Quran as follows: "We have revealed the Quran in Arabic so that you may understand [it]"⁽¹²¹⁾.

2- Commenting on the Quran in accordance with the Prophet's traditions and those of the Imam who inherited his knowledge: According to the following verse, the prophet understood the Quran fully: "We have revealed to you the book so that you make clear to them those things in which they differ"⁽¹²²⁾.

3- Using human intelligence and reasoning in understanding the Quran: The Quran calls for the use of intelligence in comprehending the word of God and deducing their meanings:⁽¹²³⁾ "Will they not seek to understand the Quran or are there locks upon their hearts".

Evidently, the commentary methodology used by the Imamiya school is strictly based on the Quran and this is why the Imams of the prophet household forbade commentaries based on personal viewpoints.

Validating the Traditions:

The Prophet Sunna or traditions was defined by Muhammad Baqir al-Sadr as "everything that issued from the Prophet including his sayings acts and rulings"⁽¹²⁴⁾. The Prophet's companions received these traditions directly from the Prophet or from those who witnessed his deeds and sayings. At that time, the traditions were intact and preserved from distortion become it was possible to verify their authenticity by referring them to the prophet or the companions who could testify to the authentic traditions witnessed by them.

However, numerous sayings and traditions have been falsely attributed to the Prophet and many of his authentic traditions were either suppressed or distorted. Two major reasons are advanced to account for this. First, the traditions remained for a long time transmitted orally and unrecorded. Second, the prophet's statements were formed in human language and hence vulnerable to distortions and difficult to distinguish from fabricated statements.

It must be mentioned here that followers of the Imamiya school considered all that issued from the Imams in clarifying religious laws as an extension of the traditions and a source of laws in accordance with the Prophet's declaration in the sermon of the Farewell Pilgrimage referred to earlier.

The Imamiya school undertook to preserve the traditions as related by the Imams and reliable narrators. However, a number of narrators falsely reported from the Imams, and in order to safeguard the traditions from such errant persons the following menthology for validating the traditions was laid down by the Imamiya Shiite.

1- A saying attributed to the prophet or one of the Imams is not accepted until its source and contents have been verified.

2- One of the basic conditions of authenticity is consistency with the HOLY Book and the established traditions. Consequently, the Imamiya shiite school does not endorse a single book of traditions as totally authentic and, instead, consider all such books as collections of the traditions pending scientific investigation.

3- The basic criteria for accepting a tradition, according to this school, is the truthfulness and reliability of its narrator regardless of his sectarian affiliation or ideological persuasion.