The Formation of the Classical Tafsir Tradition

While one may question the title of the book under review, there is little doubt that Walid Saleh’s revised Yale doctoral dissertation is a major development in Qur’anic studies and, in particular, of the exegetical traditions in Islam. Al-Tha`labi was important, but remains neglected in the field. A Sunni author widely cited by Shi`i exegetes and polemicists, a traditionist who drew upon Sufi commentaries, and a Muslim thinker interested in pre-Islamic religious lore, he had a major influence on the development of the Islamic East’s exegetical traditions. This is signalled by citations from his famous exegesis Al-Kashf wa al-Bayan, a monumental work that still awaits a critical edition, and by the disputes during the medieval period over his probity and reliability. After a useful introduction to the problematic of exegesis, the book comprises seven chapters. The introduction is not, however, free from contention. Saleh would like to argue that al-Tha`labi represents the “intellectual victory” of Sunnism during a period when it was “weak but most culturally open”; Sufi exegesis was co-opted some time before al-Ghazzali, Shi`ism through the incorporation of philo-`Alid material, and rationalism “dethroned by proclaiming the salvific power of belonging to the Muslim community.” I am not so sure. While Al-Kashf was influential, al-Tha`labi was widely derided in the medieval Sunni tradition, not least by every Islamicist’s favourite bête noire Ibn Taymiyya. His supposed “inclusive” Sunnism was clearly not favored in a time when Sunni political power dominated and was institutionally perpetuated in the madrasah. The gradual development of the nature of Sunni consensus and hegemony probably explains the process of al-Tha`labi’s work and its reception...

Abstract licence: CC BY-NC-ND

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