Tafseer Usool at-Tafseer

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BOOKS OF TAFSEER
he books of tafseer have been divided into two general categories according
to the emphasis of their authors in their explanations. The tafseers of those
who restricted their expla-nations to transmitting what was explained in the
Qur’aan or stated by the Prophet (r), his companions, and their students were
referred to as tafseer bir-riwaayah or tafseer bil-ma’thoor (tafseer according to
transmission). The authors of such tafseers also avoided unfounded interpretations
and unnecessary expla-nations and always accepted authentic narrations. This is
not to say that such tafseers are totally free of personal judgment and opinion, for
any tafseer, of necessity, must reflect the opinion of the individual who compiles
it. But in this case, personal opinion was kept to a minimum.
On the other hand, those tafseers in which the authors often relied on their
personal opinions for explanations, inter-pretations and deductions were called
tafseer bid-diraayah or tafseer bir-ra’y (tafseer according to opinion). In some of
these types of tafseers, narrated explanations from the Prophet (r), the
sahaabah,and their students (taabi‘oon) are mentioned prior to personal
interpretation, and the deductions or opinions are in agreement with narrated
explanations, grammatical rules, and lexical meanings, while in others there is a
partial or even total disregard for narrated explanations, grammatical rules, and
word meanings. Tafseers of the first type are acceptable, while those based mostly
or solely on unfounded opinion are considered heretical or bordering on heresy.
Allaah and His Prophet (r) have expressly forbidden unfounded explanations of
the Qur’aan. For example, it was forbidden in the verse,
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