Chapters on Tafsir

Zayd ibn Thābit (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) took for himself a room in the mosque made of straw mats. He prayed in it for a few nights until some people gathered with him for the night prayer. One night they did not hear his voice and thought he had slept, so some of them started to attract his attention to their presence by clearing their throats so that he would come out. The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) then said: "You kept doing what I saw you doing till I feared that this prayer might become obligatory upon you, and if it were to become obligatory upon you, you would not be able to observe it. O people, pray at your homes, for a person’s best prayer is the one he offers at his home except the obligatory prayer."

Abu Bakr as-Siddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: O people, you recite this verse: {O you who believe, take care of your own selves. Those who have gone astray will not harm you as long as you are guided.} Indeed, I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say: "When people see an oppressor but do not stop him, Allah will soon overwhelm them with a punishment from Him."

Masrūq reported: I was reclining in the house of ‘Ā’ishah when she said: "O Abu ‘Ā’ishah, there are three things, whoever speaks of one of them has fabricated a tremendous lie against Allah; whoever claims that Muhammad (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) saw his Lord, then he has fabricated a tremendous lie against Allah." I was reclining, so I sat up an said: "O Mother of the Believers, give me enough time and do not be hasty! Did not Allah, Glorified and Exalted, say: {And truly he saw him on the clear horizon} [Sūrat At-Takwīr: 23] and: {He saw Him in another descent.} [Sūrat An-Najm: 13]?" She said: "I am the first of this Ummah who asked the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) about it; and he said: ‘Verily it is Jibrīl. I have never seen him in his original form in which he was created except on those two occasions (to which these verses refer); I saw him descending from the heaven and filling (the space) from the sky to the earth with the greatness of his bodily structure.’ Have you not heard that Allah says: {Eyes comprehend Him not, but He comprehends (all) vision. and He is Subtle, and All-Aware} [Sūrat al-An‘ām: 103]? Have you not heard that Allah says: {And it is not for any human being that Allah should speak to him except by revelation or from behind a partition or that He sends a messenger to reveal, by His permission, what He wills. Indeed, He is Most High and Wise.} [Sūrat Ash-Shūra: 51]. The one who presumes that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace be upon him) concealed anything from the Book of Allah has fabricated the greatest lie against Allah. Allah says: {O Messenger, announce that which has been revealed to you from your Lord, and if you do not, then you have not conveyed His message} [Sūrat al-Mā’idah: 67]. The one who presumes that he would foretell what will happen tomorrow has fabricated the greatest lie against Allah. Allah, the Almighty says: {Say: None in the heavens and earth knows the unseen except Allah.} [Sūrat An-Naml: 65]"

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When Allah created Adam, He wiped his back and every person that He created among his offspring until the Day of Judgment fell out of his back. He placed a ray of light between the eyes of every person. Then, He showed them to Adam and he said: 'O Lord, who are these?' He said: 'These are your offspring.' Adam saw one of them whose ray between his eyes amazed him, so he said: 'O Lord, who is this?' He said: 'This is a man from the latter generations of your offspring called Dawūd.' He said: 'O Lord, how long did You make his lifespan?' He said: 'Sixty years.' He said: 'O Lord, add forty years from my life to his.' At the end of Adam's life, when the angel of death came to him, Adam said: 'Do I not have forty years remaining?' He said: 'Did you not give them to your son Dawūd?' He said: 'Adam denied, so his offspring denied; Adam forgot, so his offspring forgot; and Adam sinned, so his offspring sinned.'"

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When Allah created Adam (peace be upon him), He said to him: 'Go and greet those – a group of angels who were sitting – and listen to what they are going to say in response to your greeting as that will be your greeting and the greeting of your offspring.' He (Adam) said: 'As-Salāmu ‘alaykum (peace be upon you).' They replied: 'As-Salāmu ‘alayk wa rahmatullāh (Peace and mercy of Allah be upon you),' thus adding 'wa-rahmatullāh (and mercy of Allah)' in their response to his greeting."

‘Uqbah ibn ‘Āmir reported that he heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) say on the pulpit: {And prepare against them whatever you are able of power} [Sūrat al-Anfāl: 60]ز Indeed, power is in shooting. Indeed, power is in shooting. Indeed, power is in shooting."

Abu Bakr as-Siddīq (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: When we were in the cave, I saw the feet of the polytheists as I raised my head, and I said: O Messenger of Allah, if one of them looked below his feet, he would see us. He said: "O Abu Bakr, what do you think of two persons, the third of whom is Allah?"

Ka‘b ibn Mālik (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, I would like to give all of my wealth as a charity for the sake of Allah and His Messenger to make my repentance fully approved." The Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Keep some of your wealth, for this is better for you."

Zayd ibn Thābit al-Ansāri (may Allah be pleased with him) one of the scribes of the Qur'an, reported: Abu Bakr as-Siddīq sent for me when the people (of the battle) of Yamāmah were killed. I found ‘Umar ibn al-Khattāb sitting with him. Abu Bakr said: "‘Umar came to me and said: 'The death toll was heavy on the day of (the battle of) Yamāmah and I feared that many of the memorizers of the Qur'an would be killed on other battlefields, and a large part of the Qur'an might be lost unless you collect it. Can I suggest that you collect it?' I said to ‘Umar: 'How could I do something that the Messenger of Allah had not done?' ‘Umar said: 'By Allah, this is good.' ‘Umar kept on debating with me until Allah opened my heart to it and I accepted ‘Umar’s point of view." Then Abu Bakr said: "While ‘Umar was sitting with him silently: 'You are a wise young man and we do not have any suspicions about you. You used to write the revelation for the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him). So track down the Qur'an and collect it.' By Allah, had he ordered me to move one of the mountains, it would not have been harder on me than what he ordered me to do in collecting the Qur'an." I said to Abu Bakr: "How could you do something that the Messenger (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) had not done?" Abu Bakr replied: "By Allah, this is good." Abu Bakr kept on talking to me about it until Allah opened my heart to what He had opened the hearts of Abu Bakr and ‘Umar to. So I tracked down the Qur'an, collecting it (written) on parchment, shoulder blades, and palm stalks, and from the hearts of men, until I found these last two verses of Sūrat At-Tawbah from Khuzaymah al-Ansāri; I did not find them with anyone else: {There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves. Grievous to him is what you suffer, [he is] concerned over you...} until the end of the two verses [Sūrat At-Tawbah: 128-129]. The sheets on which the Qur'an was collected remained with Abu Bakr until he died, then with ‘Umar until he died, and then with Hafsah, the daughter of ‘Umar.

Ibn Shihāb reported from Anas ibn Mālik that he informed him that Hudhayfah ibn al-Yamān came to ‘Uthmān when he was preparing the people of the Levant and Iraq to conquer Armenia and Azerbaijan. Hudhayfah was alarmed by their difference in reading the Qur’an, so he said to ‘Uthmān: "O Commander of the Believers, save this nation before they diverge on the Book as the Jews and Christians diverged (on their scriptures)." So ‘Uthmān sent a message to Hafsah: "Send us the sheets so that we will transcribe them in the Mus'hafs, and then we will return them to you." Hafsah sent them to ‘Uthmān, who then ordered Zayd ibn Thābit, ‘Abdullāh ibn Az-Zubayr, Sa‘īd ibn al-‘Ās, and ‘Abdur-Rahmān ibn al-Hārith ibn Hishām to transcribe the sheets into the codices. ‘Uthmān said to the three Qurayshi men: "In case you disagree with Zayd ibn Thābit on anything of the Qur’an, then write it in the dialect of Quraysh, for the Qur’an was revealed in their dialect." They did so, and when they had transcribed the sheets into the Mus'hafs, ‘Uthmān returned the sheets to Hafsah. He sent one of the Mus'hafs which they had transcribed to every province and ordered that all the other Qur’anic materials, in each manuscript or Mus'haf be burned.

Ibn Mas‘ūd (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: A man kissed a woman (unlawfully), so he came to the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) and told him of what he did. Thereupon Allah, the Almighty revealed the verse: {And establish prayer at the two ends of the day and at the approach of the night. Indeed, good deeds do away with misdeeds.} [Sūrat Hūd: 114]. The man said: "O Messenger of Allah, is this (verse) for me?" He replied: "For everybody of my Ummah, all of them."

‘Abdullāh ibn ‘Amr (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: There was a man who looked after the family and the belongings of the Prophet (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him); he was called Karkara. The man died and the Prophet said: "He is in Hellfire." The people then went to look at him and found in his place a cloak which he had stolen from the war booty.

Al-Barā’ ibn ‘Āzib (may Allah be pleased with him) reported that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "When a Muslim is questioned in the grave, he testifies that no deity is worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah," this is His saying: {Allah keeps those who believe steadfast with the firm Word [of faith] in the life of this world and in the Hereafter.} [Surat Ibrāhīm: 27]

Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) reported: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah's peace and blessings be upon him) said: "Faith has over seventy branches - or over sixty branches - the most excellent of which is the declaration that 'lā ilāha illa Allah (there is no god but Allah)', and the lowest of which is the removal of what is harmful from the way; and modesty is a branch of faith."

Warrād, the scribe of Al-Mughīrah ibn Shu‘bah, related: Al-Mughīrah ibn Shu‘bah dictated to me in a letter to Mu‘āwiyah: The Prophet (may Allah’s peace and blessings be upon him) used to say after every obligatory prayer: "Lā ilāh illa Allah, wahdahu lā sharīka lah, lahu al-mulku wa lahu al-hamdu wa huwa ‘ala koll shay’in qadīr, allahumma lā māni‘a lima a‘tayt wa lā mu‘tiya lima mana‘ta wa la banfa‘u dha al-jaddi minka al-jadd" (There is no god but Allah, alone, with no partner with Him. To Him belongs the dominion and to Him praise is due, and He is Able to do all things. O Allah, none can withhold what You give and none can give what You withhold, and riches cannot avail a wealthy person against You).