امام ماتریدی کی تفسیر «تأویلات أہل السنۃ» — سورۃ الأعراف کی تحقیق و دراسۃ

A scholarly thesis for which the researcher was awarded the Master's degree (al-Takhaṣṣuṣ) in Uṣūl al-Dīn, specialization in Tafsīr and the Qurʾānic Sciences — Faculty of Uṣūl al-Dīn and Islamic Daʿwah in Tanta, al-Azhar University. Under the supervision of Prof. Shukrī Shafīq al-Akhḍar and Prof. Ṣalāḥ al-Dīn Yūsuf Shalabī. 1424 AH / 2003 CE. By Dr. Ahmed Muhammad Ali Abouseif, President of the American Imams Academy (AIA).

This is an introductory page for the thesis; its full, critically edited text is available for download as a PDF at the foot of the page.

About the Thesis

A scholarly critical edition (taḥqīq) and study of the tafsīr of Imām Abū Manṣūr al-Māturīdī (d. 333 AH), entitled Taʾwīlāt Ahl al-Sunna, within the compass of Sūrat al-Aʿrāf. In it the researcher undertakes to fix and critically establish the text of the commentary against its manuscript originals, to collate its several copies, and to provide takhrīj for its verses, its ḥadīths, and the statements of the exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl), while documenting the manuscript variants (furūq al-nusakh) in the apparatus, after the manner of the critical editors.

The critical edition is preceded by an introductory study in three chapters: the first treats the age of Imām al-Māturīdī and his life; the second, his contributions to tafsīr; and the third, his method in exegesis — in his interpretation of the verses of creed (āyāt al-ʿaqīda), the verses of legal rulings (āyāt al-aḥkām), and his stance toward the rules of the Arabic language — together with a description of the manuscript copies and the methodology of the edition, followed by a conclusion presenting its principal findings.

Among the aims of the thesis are: to bring to light the standing of al-Māturīdī as an exegete; to disclose his method of "interpretation" (taʾwīl) upon the foundations of the people of the Sunna; and to render service to a precious exegetical text by issuing it in a sound, carefully established critical edition within the compass of Sūrat al-Aʿrāf.

Thesis Details

Contents of the Introductory Study

• The Introduction, the research methodology, and the description of the manuscript copies.
• The Prefatory Study (three chapters):
• The Critical Edition: the text of Taʾwīlāt Ahl al-Sunna for Sūrat al-Aʿrāf, critically established, with the manuscript variants and the takhrīj set out in the footnotes at the foot of each page.
• The Conclusion: the principal findings and recommendations.

Copyright and Citation

This work is the sole scholarly property of the researcher, published here to make it available for consultation and benefit. Scholars may quote from it and refer to it in accordance with the established norms of academic documentation, with attribution to its source. It is to be cited as follows:

Ahmed Muhammad Ali Abouseif, "The Tafsīr of Imām al-Māturīdī, Entitled Taʾwīlāt Ahl al-Sunna: A Critical Edition and Study of the Commentary on Sūrat al-Aʿrāf", Master's thesis, al-Azhar University — Faculty of Uṣūl al-Dīn and Islamic Daʿwah in Tanta, 1424 AH / 2003 CE.

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