Mujahid ibn Jabr

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Persian scholar
Medieval era
Name
Mujahid ibn Jabr
Birth 642
Death 722 [1]
School/tradition {{{school_tradition}}}

Mujahid ibn Jabr (Arabic: مجاهد بن جبر‎) (d.722CE) was a Tabi‘in and one of the major early Islamic scholars [2].

Contents

[edit] Name

Mujahid

[edit] Biography

He was one of the leading Qur'anic commentators of the generation after that of the Prophet Muhammad and his Companions. He is the first to compile a written exegesis of the Qur'an. He is said to have studied under Amir al-Mu'minin 'Ali ibn Abi Talib until his martyrdom. At that point he began to study under Ibn Abbas, a Companion of the Prophet known as the father of Qur'anic exegesis. Mujahid Ibn Jabr was known to be willing to go to great lengths to discover the true meaning of a verse in the Qur'an, and was considered to be a well-traveled man [3] .

[edit] Works

It is related by Ibn Sa'd in the Tabaqat (6:9) and elsewhere that he went over the explanation of the Qur'an together with Ibn 'Abbas thirty times [2].

Mujahid Ibn Jabr is said to be relied upon in terms of tafsir according to Sufyan al-Thawri.

His exegesis in general followed these four principles [3]:

  1. That the Qur'an can be explained by other parts of the Qur'an. For example, in his interpretation of Q 29:13, he refers to Q 16:25.
  2. Interpretation according to traditions
  3. Reason.
  4. Literary Comments.
Al-Tabari's Jami' al-bayan attributes a significant amount of exegetical material to Mujahid .

[edit] Legacy

[edit] Sunni view

He has been classed as a Thiqah hadith narrator [2].

Al-A'mash said:

"Mujahid was like someone who carried a treasure: whenever he spoke, pearls came out of his mouth." [2].

After praising him in similar terms al-Dhahabi said: "The Ummah is unanimous on Mujahid being an Imam who is worthy in Ihtijaj .

[edit] Shi'a view

Shi'a have a very positive view of him [3]

[edit] Non-Muslim view

Gregor Schoeler calls him "an eminent rep­resentative of the school of Mecca" and whose Tafsīr was nothing more than personal notes [4]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Manna' al-Qattan, Mabahith fi Ulum al-Quran, Maktaba al-Ma'arif, 1421H, p. 393
  2. ^ a b c d Mujahid
  3. ^ a b c The Tafsir of Mujahid - The Earliest of Qur'anic Commentaries
  4. ^ Mit-Ejmes