Ibn Kathir's Hadith Commentary Method and Text Criticism in Tafseer al-Qur'an al-'Azeem

Abstract

'Imad al-Din Ibn Kathir (d. 774/1373), is an important historian, mufassir, muhaddith and Shafii jurist who lived in the 8th century. Ibn Kathir's work titled Tafseer al-Qur'an al-Azeem, beside its tafsir identity, can be utilized due to its rich hadith content and its comments on isnad and text of the hadiths. Ibn Kathir, due to his competency in history and hadith, analyzed the hadith rigorously and noted any necessary aspect regarding the isnad or the text. In this paper, the analysis and criticism of hadith texts in Ibn Kathir's tafsir is examined. Regarding the analysis aiming to understand the meaning of the hadith, issues such as explanation of unknown words, utilizing the chapter headings, evaluation of all related hadiths, comments of previous scholars as well as Ibn Kathir's original interpretations are examined. Regarding the criticism of the text, issues such as general criticism under the heading of munkar which indicates a hadith the text of which contains unacceptable meanings, specific criticisms due to conflict with the Qur'an, the Sunnah, reasoning and historical facts, solutions regarding the hadiths which have conflicting meanings are examined.