Customer Reviews

Qur'an and Its Interpreters, The, Volume 1

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Thank you Dr. Ayoub for taking this enterprise. This book is a life saver for those who wants to do comperative study on the commentaries on the Quran written by past and late Islamic Scholars. There seem to be only the first two volumes published and I hope Dr. Ayoub will continue his efforts. Book takes each ayat of the Qur'an and basically tells you the different interpretations of the same ayat from Ibn Kathir, Qurtubi, Al-Razi, nisaburi. Ibn Arabi, Tabari,Tabarsi, Zamakhsari and many others and goes to end to cap it with more "contemporary" Qutb and Tabatabai. Not all ayats are investigated, I assume Dr. Ayoub did not see much difference in those ayats but enogh is covered. The selection of the interpreters differs from ayat to ayat comparisons. in situations where Sunni and Shia interpretations are differed they are explored, I wish though Dr. Ayoub make the finishin conclusion aleays with one of the contemporary interpreters. Without this book, if you need to compare the various opinions and hopefully make your own opinion you would need to read average ten thousand pages from each interpreter. What a life saver this book is. Now you can take this book as a guide and explore deep into originals as needed. This is not a substitute for the voluminuous commentaries but rater very helpful quick finder where you can see the differences of opinions in a nutshell. This book also as a by product is a source book for the difference in Shia Islam and Sunni Islam.