A Chain- and Content-Based Critique of al-Tabari’s Exegetical Report on Qur’an 33:69 Concerning the Attribution of a Reprehensible Act to Prophet Moses (Peace Be Upon Him)

Document Type : Research Paper

Author

Associate Professor of Department of Islamic Studies of Babol Noshirvani University of Technology. Babol, Iran.

Abstract

In the Holy Qur’an, the infallibility of the prophets from any form of disobedience and error is a clear and established principle, and Almighty God has referred to this matter in several verses. In contrast, a body of interpretive reports known as Isrā’īliyyāt appears in exegetical literature and, through fabricated and spurious narrations, attributes reprehensible acts to the prophets. Among the verses whose interpretation has been affected by such reports is verse 69 of Surah Al-Ahzab. Some Sunni commentators, especially al-Tabari, have cited narrations under this verse that explicitly suggest that Prophet Moses (peace be upon him) bathed naked and exposed his private parts in front of others. Such an account is not only irrational and implausible, but also incompatible with the exalted status of a divinely protected prophet and contrary to the theological foundations of Muslim belief in prophetic infallibility. The present study examines one narration cited in al-Tabari’s tafsir and evaluates it in terms of both its chain of transmission and its textual content. The findings show that the narration is distorted in its transmission and is textually inconsistent with the Qur’an, the sound Sunnah, and established rational evidence.

Keywords

Main Subjects


Qurʾān Karīm.
Abdul-Razzaq, A. (1403 AH). Al-Musannaf (Habib al-Rahman al-Azami, Ed.). Beirut: Majlis al-‘Ilmi. [In Arabic]
Aburiyyah, M. (1431 AH). Sheikh of Al-Mudaira Abu Hurairah. Qom: Ansarian Foundation. [In Arabic]
Abul-Futuh Razi, H. b. A. (1408 AH). Rawd al-jinan fi tafsir al-Qur’an. Mashhad: Astan Quds Razavi Foundation for Islamic Research. [In Arabic]
Amid Zanjani, A. A. (n.d.). Foundations and methods of interpretation of the Qur’an. Ministry of Culture and Islamic Guidance. [In Persian]
Alusi, S. al-D. M. (1417 AH). The spirit of the interpretation of the great Qur’an (M. H. al-Arab, Ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Fikr. [In Arabic]
Bukhari Ja‘fi, M. b. Isma‘il. (1407 AH). Sahih al-Bukhari (Vol. 3). Beirut: Dar Ibn Kathir. [In Arabic]
Dahkhoda, A. A. (1377 AH). Dehkhoda dictionary (2nd ed., entry: “Isra’iliyyat”). Tehran: University of Tehran Publishing and Printing Institute. [In Persian]
Diari Bid-Goli, M. T. (1383 AH). Research on Isra’iliyyat in the interpretations of the Qur’an (2nd ed.). Tehran: Suhrawardi Publications. [In Persian]
Dhahabi, S. al-D. M. b. A. b. U. b. Q. (1407 AH). The balance of moderation in criticism of men (A. M. al-Bajawi, Ed.). Beirut: Al-Risala Foundation. [In Persian]
Dhahabi, M. H. (1381 AH). Al-Tafsir wa al-mufassirun. Cairo: Dar al-Kitab al-Hadithah. [In Arabic]
Fadel Ibn Shazan. (1351 AH). Al-Idhah (Seyyed Jalal al-Din Muhaddis Irmay, Ed.). Tehran: Bija. [In Arabic]
Fadhel Miqdad, M. ibn A. (n.d.). Kitab Arshad al-Talibin ila Nahj al-Mustarshidin. Qom: Public Library of His Eminence Grand Ayatollah Marashi Najafi. [In Arabic]
Fakhr Razi, M. ibn O. (1420 AH). Al-Tafsir al-Kabir (Mafati al-ghayb) (3rd ed.). Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi. [In Arabic]
Farahidi, K. (1414 AH). Al-‘Ayn (M. al-Makhzoumi & I. al-Samarai, Eds.). Qom: Aswah Publications. [In Arabic]
Hatami, F., Biglari, A., & Azami, M. (1998). Criteria for identifying Israeli narrations in hadith societies. Hadith Sciences Quarterly, 90. [In Persian]
Hilli, H. b. Y. b. al-Mutahhar. (n.d.). Kashf al-murad fi sharh tajrid al-i‘tiqad. Qom: Islamic Publishing Foundation affiliated with the Teachers’ Association. [In Arabic]
Hosseini Tehrani, M. H. (1380 AH). Imams’ studies. Tehran: Institute for Translation and Publishing of Islamic Sciences and Education. [In Persian]
Ibn Abi al-Hadid, I. al-D. (1418 AH). Sharh Nahj al-Balagha (M. Abu al-Fadl Ibrahim, Ed.; Vol. 1). Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah. [In Arabic]
Ibn Babuyyah Qummi (Saduq), M. b. A. (n.d.). Al-Amali. Tehran: Nashr-e Katabchi. [In Arabic]
Ibn Hanbal, A. (1416 AH). Musnad Ahmad. Beirut, Lebanon: Mu’assasat al-Risalah. [In Arabic]
Ibn Kathir, I. b. ‘U. al-Qurashi Abu al-Fida. (1987). Tafsir al-Qur’an al-‘Azim (Vol. 2). Beirut: Dar al-Ma‘rifah. [In Arabic]
Ibn Manzur. (1408 AH). Lisan al-‘Arab. Beirut: Dar Ihya’ al-Turath al-‘Arabi. [In Arabic]
Ibn Najjar, M. b. M. (1361 AH). Al-Durra al-thaminah fi akhbar al-Madinah (Salah al-Din Ibn ‘Abbas Shakar, Ed.). Medina: Medina Studies Center. [In Arabic]
Ibn Qutaybah, A. b. Muslim. (1418 AH). Al-Imamah wa al-siyasah (Pt. 1). Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah. [In Arabic]
Ibn Qutaybah, A. b. Muslim. (1406 AH). Various interpretations of hadith. Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah. [In Persian]
Jawadi Amoli, A. (1383 AH). Masdar al-fikr. Qom: Israa Publications. [In Persian]
Johari, I. (1376 AH). Al-Sahih (A. A. Ghafoor Attar, Ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Ilm lil-Malaayeen. [In Arabic]
Khatib Baghdadi Shafi‘i, A. b. A. b. A. B. (1417 AH). History of Baghdad (Vol. 1). Beirut: Dar al-Kutub al-‘Ilmiyyah. [In Persian]
Kulaini, M. b. Ya‘qub. (1407 AH). Al-Kafi (A. A. Ghaffari & M. Akhundi, Eds.). Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah. [In Arabic]
Ma‘raft, M. H. (1419 AH). Tafsir and al-mufassirun fi thawab al-qashib (2nd ed.). Mashhad: Al-Jamaa al-Razaviyyah Publications. [In Persian]
Makarem Shirazi, N. (1991). Tafsir al-Namuna. Tehran: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah. [In Persian]
Majlisi, M. B. (n.d.). Bihar al-anwar. Qom: Dar al-Kutub al-Islamiyyah. [In Arabic]
Mamqani, A. (1411 AH). The scale of guidance in the knowledge of knowledge (1st ed.). Qom: Aal al-Bayt Foundation for the Revival of Heritage. [In Persian]
Motahhari, M. (1376 AH). Collection of works of Shahid Motahhari. Qom: Sadra Publications. [In Persian]
Muslim ibn Hajjaj ibn Muslim Qushayri Nishaburi. (1422 AH). Sahih Muslim (M. F. Abdul Baqi, Ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi. [In Persian]
Mustafawi, H. (1430 AH). Investigation of the words of the Holy Qur’an (3rd ed.). Beirut: Bija. [In Persian]
Qurashi, A. A. (1371 AH). Dictionary of the Qur’an (6th ed.). Tehran: Bija. [In Persian]
Ragheb Esfahani, H. (1416 AH). The words of the Qur’an (A. Davoudi, Ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Shamiyeh. [In Persian]
Reza, M. R. (1414 AH). Tafsir al-Qur’an al-Hakim (Tafsir al-Manar) (1st ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Ma‘rifah. [In Persian]
Rezaei Esfahani, M. A. (1387 AH). Tafsir-e Qur’an-e Mehr (1st ed.). Qom: Researches on Tafsir and Sciences of the Qur’an. [In Persian]
Sadouq, M. b. A. (1362 AH). Al-Khasal. Tehran: Nashr-e Javidan. [In Arabic]
Sanani, A. al-R. (1403 AH). Al-Musannaf (H. al-Rahman al-Azami, Ed.). Beirut: Majlis al-‘Ilmi. [In Arabic]
Sharaf al-Din, A. H. (1985). Abu Hurairah. Beirut: Dar al-Zahra. [In Persian]
Siyuti, J. al-D. A. al-R. (1363 AH). Al-Durr al-manthur fi al-tafsir al-ma’thur. Tehran: Amir Kabir. [In Arabic]
Sobhani, J. (1385 AH). Manifesto of Imamiyyah beliefs. Qom: Imam Sadiq Institute. [In Persian]
Tabatabayi, M. H. (1417 AH). Al-Mizan fi tafsir al-Qur’an (2nd ed.). Qom: Islamic Publications Office of the Qom Seminary Society of Teachers. [In Arabic]
Tabarsi, F. b. H. (1372 AH). Majma‘ al-bayan fi tafsir al-Qur’an (3rd ed.). Tehran: Nasser Khosrow. [In Arabic]
Tabari, M. b. Jarir. (1412 AH). Al-Bayan ‘an ta’wil ay al-Qur’an (Tafsir al-Tabari) (1st ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Ma‘rifah. [In Arabic]
Tha‘labi, A. I. A. (1422 AH). Al-Kashf wa al-bayan (Tafsir al-Tha‘labi) (Abi Muhammad bin Ashur, Ed.). Beirut: Dar Haya al-Turath al-‘Arabi. [In Arabic]
Tousi, M. b. H. (1351 AH). Al-Tabyan fi tafsir al-Qur’an. Beirut: Dar Ihya al-Turath al-‘Arabi. [In Arabic]
Tusi, M. ibn al-Hasan. (n.d.). Al-Amali. Qom: Research by the Mission Foundation, Dar al-Thaqafah. [In Arabic]
Zamakhshari, M. b. ‘U. (1407 AH). Al-Kashshaf ‘an haqa’iq ghawamid al-tanzil (3rd ed.). Beirut: Dar al-Kitab al-‘Arabi. [In Arabic]
Article list
Al-Khalili, J. S. (1999). Personal article on Muhammad ibn Jarir al-Tabari. Afaq al-Hadarah al-Islamiyyah Journal. [In Arabic]