محمدکاظم شاکر

There are nearly 14000 exegetical hadiths, narrated from Prophet's family, collected by some Shi'ah scholars in a number of commentaries well-known as Tafasir –e Ma'thur (traditional commentaries) in Shi'ah. In the 12th century, most of these traditions were collected in the two large collections entitled Al-Burhan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an, the work of Bahrani (d. 1107 A.H), and Nur al-Thaqalayn, the work of Huwayzi (d. 1112 A.H). These hadiths can generally be classified in three categories: 1. the hadiths explaining outward meanings of the Qur'an, 2. the hadiths expressing the inward meanings of the Qur'an, and 3. the hadiths applying the Qur'anic concepts to the certain individuals and groups of people. For example, some verses of the Qur'an have been interpreted as symbols for the Prophet, the Prophet's household and the opponents of the Prophet's family. The last type of traditions is called the hadiths of Jary (flow). The term comes from Shi'ah hadith concerning ta'wil. According to some hadiths, the Qur'an is like the sun and the moon; it flows through history as same as the sun and the moon flows in cosmos. Among 14000 exegetical hadiths of shi'ah, more than 2100 hadiths are classified as hadiths of Jary. These hadiths have been extremely criticized by some of Sunni Muslim scholars. However, some modern Quranic Shi'ah exegetes such as Muhammad Husayn Tabatabayi, the author of Al-Mizan fi Tafsir al-Qur'an hold that it was the method of Imams of Ahl al-bayt to apply a Quranic verse to all things it might be applied to. Nevertheless, our study shows that the numerous traditions in this respect have been fabricated. Many of these hadiths do not possess an authentic chain of narrators. Moreover, most of them came to Shiah hadith books via Ghulat (exaggerators) whom our Imams refused as heretics. In fact some of them are more similar to trite phrases, rather than interpretations of the Quran, like applying "ba'uza" (mosquito)(Q.2:26) to Imam Ali! There are some sound hadiths from the Imams of Shi'ah that they have denied some applications of the verses to themselves. Having clarified main exegetical concepts and presented two classifications of shi'ah exegetical hadiths, this paper examines these kinds of traditions and evaluates them with criticisms in both textual content and narrators through whom these hadiths have been narrated.

The book "The The Qur’an Misinterpreted, Mistranslated, and Misread: the Aramaic Language of the The Qur’an" was published in 2006 by Gabriel Sawma. The author has claimed that the language of the Qur'an is the Syro-Aramaic, and most of its teachings are derived from Jewish-Christian sources. Among his claims, he alleges that Muslims have misunderstood the verse 116 of Surah al-Baqarah:"And they say Allah has taken to Himself a son Glory be to Him…" (Wa Qālūt takhadhal lāhu Waladāan Subĥānahu). He regards the word ‘اتَّخَذ’ (Has taken) as a distortion of the Syriac «اتَّحدَ» (has united) happened by the Qur'anic scribers.  According to this recitation, the meaning of the verse is "They said that God is united with the Son". This meaning is in accordance with the New Testament doctrine of the incarnation of God through the Son. In this paper, Gabriel Sawma's viewpoint is reviewed and criticized by two intra-religious aspects including the Qur'an and Arabic literature and extra-religious features including linguistic historical-comparative in some branches of Sami languages and interfaith research. The authors conclude that the textual and linguistic evidence prove contrary to the Sawma's claim.