Traditional Exegesis of Al Qur'an

These are some notes I have kept in my collection of old CDs. Just thought I needed to save it somewhere so I don't lose them again. The reason being (unfortunately) I don't have the links anymore.

Exegesis or exegeses is a big word. I have actually kept this notes to explain the use of Israiliyyat in the Islamic interpretation, especially in the context of Al Qur'an.

I couldn't find its exact translation in Malay (Kamus DwiBahasa DBP - no can do). Webter's New Dictionary gave the meaning as: n. literary interpretation esp. of Scripture. I think a related word (which may be the root word) is exigible: a. that may be exacted. But I am not sure (just a guess!).

Traditional Exegesis of Al Qur'an

Traditional exegesis often provides background in interpreting Quranic verses. Not surprisingly, the main source is the narrations of sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, (pbuh), which is also considered a form of Revelation, though distinct from the Qur'an.

They are often very helpful in interpreting a given passage.

There is also a body of information with varying degrees of authenticity called "circumstances/occasions of revelation," (asbab al nuzu¯l). It talks about the historical situation in which a given verse was revealed.

Next, there are other sources derived from Scriptures: the Bible, Torah and Jewish folklore. These are used to help to "fill in" the details especially when the Quranic passage is a narrative piece. These details, termed as Israiliyyat, were traditionally deemed helpful or at least not harmful as long as it did not contradict the plain sense of the Quran.

Israiliyyat literally means the stories by Jewish narrators and is often used in interpreting the Qur’an. However, its meaning does not apply to the Judaic traditions alone, but also include traditions from Christianity.

Isra’iliyat digunakan dalam penafsiran, kerana ada persamaan antara Al-Qur’an dengan Taurat dan Injil dalam sejumlah masalah, khususnya mengenai kisah-kisah tentang umat dahulu yang biasanya diungkapkan secara ringkas (Ijaz) dalam Al-Qur’an tetapi dalam kitab-kitab sebelumnya dibahas secara panjang lebar ((Ithnab).

Pada generasi para sahabat, Isra’iliyat ini merupakan salah satu rujukan dalam menafsirkan Al-Qur’an. Hanya saja mereka beranggapan bahwa hal tersebut merupakan suatu kebolehan saja dan bukan keharusan.

Tetapi pada masa Tabi’in, penafsiran Al-Qur’an dengan Isra’iliyat ini menjadi sesuatu yang sangat penting, hal tersebut disebabkan semakin banyaknya Ahlul kitab yang masuk Islam dan kecenderungan manusia untuk mengetahui segala hal (khususnya tentang kisah-kisah umat terdahulu) yang diringkaskan di dalam Al-Qur’an secara panjang lebar. Dan keinginan tersebut hanya dapat dipenuhi dengan mendengar kisah-kisah tersebut dari orang-orang Yahudi dan Nasrani. Lambat laun pengaruh Isra’iliyat itu sangat besar dalam penafsiran Al-Qur’an sehingga hampir semua kitab Tafsir memuatkannya.

Oleh karena itu, untuk mengetahui apakah cerita yang digunakan dalam menafsirkan Al-Qur’an berasal dari Isra’iliyat atau bukan, kita harus memeriksa sanad riwayat tersebut. Biasanya dalam kitab-kitab Tafsir akan diberikan penjelasan tentang sanad riwayat tersebut. Apakah sampai pada Rasulullah SAW ? Atau hanya sampai pada para sahabat?. Dan bagaimana pula kedudukan riwayat-riwayat tersebut Shohih atau tidak?

However, in using Israiliyyat, there is also the danger of over-explaining the unmentioned details of a story, and especially in the modern exegesis there is a complaint that these details included in traditional commentaries often cloud the message of the Quranic passage.