Al-W¥^idÏ's Asb¥b al-Nuz‰l - The Royal Islamic Strategic Studies ...

Asbab al-Nuzul
in the form of didactic and legislative universal discourses. This was done only in order to make the religion
easy to understand and to allow the scholars to deduct relevant rulings and legislations for as long
as the Muslim community exists. This being the case, the discourses of the Qur’an should not entirely
be confined to partial, particular scenarios for this will annul what is intended by them. Likewise, those
passages of the Qur’an which are certain to be of particular applicability should not be generalised, just
as the discourses which are applied without restriction should not be restricted and those which are
restricted should not be unrestricted in their applicability. Failing to take this into consideration will lead
to confusion regarding God’s intent in His Revelation. 19
Imam al-Wahidi and his Book Asbab al-Nuzul
Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn ‘Ali al-Wahidi 20 was born in the city of
Nishapur and it is in this same city that he died at an advanced age. He belonged to a family of merchants
who had originally come from the city of Sawah, located halfway between Rayy and Hamadhan. 21 According
to Abu Ahmad al-‘Askari, the affiliation al-Wahidi can be traced back to a family ancestor by the
name of al-Wahid ibn al-Din ibn Muhrah. 22 Al-Wahidi was a poet, philologist, grammarian and Qur’anic
commentator. He was, in fact, hailed as the greatest commentator of the Qur’an of his time. He studied
the different sciences of the Qur’an and Qur’anic exegesis with Abu’l-Qasim ‘Ali ibn Ahmad al-Busti,
Abu ‘Uthman Sa‘id ibn Muhammad al-Hiri (d. 427/1036) and Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al-Farisi
(d. 431/1040). But his main teacher in this field was the famous scholar Abu Ishaq Ahmad ibn Muhammad
al-Tha‘labi (d. 427/1036) the author of al-Kashf wa’l-Bayan ‘an Tafsir al-Qur’an, among others. He
studied lexicography and philology with Abu’l-Fadl Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-‘Arudi (d. 416/1025),
and grammar with Abu’l-Hasan ‘Ali ibn Muhammad al-Darir and Abu ‘Imran al-Maghribi al-Maliki
(d. 430/1039). 23 His teachers in Hadith included Abu Tahir ibn Mahmish, the judge Abu Bakr al-Hiri,
Abu Ibrahim Isma‘il ibn Ibrahim al-Wa‘iz, Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Muzakki, ‘Abd al-Rahman ibn
Hamdan al-Nasruyiyy and Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Najjar. 24 Al-Wahidi seems to have enjoyed the patronage
of the Seljuq vizier Nizam al-Mulk (d. 485/1092) and, after the death of the latter, he continued to
enjoy the favour and protection of Nizam al-Mulk’s brother Abu’l-Qasim ‘Abd Allah al-Faqih al-Ajall (d.
499/1106).
Imam al-Wahidi was a prolific writer even if some of his works have not reached us. Among the
books he authored, in fields other than those of Qur’anic sciences and exegesis, mention can be made
of: al-Tahbir fi’l-Asma’ al-Husna, Kitab al-Da‘awat wa’l-Mahsul, al-Ighrab fi’l-I‘rab, Kitab al-Maghazi, al-
Wasit fi’l-Amthal 25 and Sharh Diwan al-Mutanabbi. 26 In the fields of Qur’anic studies and Tafsir, al-Wahidi
authored the following: Maqatil al-Qur’an, from which Ibn Rajab al-Hanbali in his Lata’if al-Ma‘arif
quotes, 27 Nafy al-Tahrif ‘an al-Qur’an al-Sharif, Tafsir al-Nabiyy Salla Allahu ‘alayhi wa-Sallam. But his
scholarship was perhaps cemented due to his three different commentaries on the Qur’an al-Wajiz fi
19
Tafsir al-Tahrir wa’l-Tanwir, op. cit., vol. , part 1, p. 50.
20
On the life and works of Imam al-Wahidi, see: Yaqut al-Hamawi, Mu‘jam al-Udaba’: Irshad al-Arib ila Ma‘rifat al-Adib, Beirut:
Dar al-Gharb al-Islami, 1993, vol. 4, pp. 1659-1665; Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-A‘yan wa-Anba’ Abna’ al-Zaman, Beirut: Dar al-
Thaqafah, n.d., vol. 3, pp. 303-304; Imam al-Dhahabi, Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’, Beirut: Dar al-Fikr, vol. 13, pp. 627-629; Imam al-
Dhahabi, Ta’rikh al-Islam wa-Wafayat al-Mashahir wa’l-A‘lam, Hawadith wa-Wafayat 461-470, Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi, 1994,
pp. 257-260; Ibn Qadi Shuhbah, Tabaqat al-Shafi‘iyyah, Hyderabad: Da’irat al-Ma‘arif al-‘Uthmaniyyah, vol. 1, pp. 277-279. See
also the article ‘al-Wahidi’ in the Encyclopaedia of Islam, second edition, for a summary essay on al-Wahidi’s life and career.
21
Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’, op. cit., p. 227.
22
Wafayat al-A‘yan, op. cit., p. 304.
23
Mu‘jam al-Udaba’, op. cit., pp. 1661-1663.
24
Siyar A‘lam al-Nubala’, op. cit., p. 628.
25
Edited by ‘Afif Muhammad ‘Abd al-Rahman and published in Kuwait in 1975 (cf. al-Dhahabi, Ta’rikh al-Islam, op. cit., p. 259,
footnote 6).
26
Edited by Friedrich Dieterici, Berlin, 1858-1861. Ibn Khallikan [Wafayat al-A‘yan, op. cit., p. 303] thinks it is the best commentary
on the Diwan of al-Mutanabbi.
27
See, the introduction to al-Wahidi’s Asbab al-Nuzul, op. cit., p. 21.
xiv