Ibn Ashur’s Efforts in Critiquing and Explaining the Narrations of the Reasons for Revelation through His Exegesis: “Al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir

Abstract

This research aims to explore one of the most significant issues directly related to the interpretation of the Holy Qur’an — the matter of the causes of revelation (Asbāb al-Nuzūl). Understanding these causes helps resolve many difficulties in comprehending Qur’anic verses. However, not every verse has a specific cause of revelation, although many scholars have attempted to assign one to each verse. This created an urgent need to critically evaluate these narrations and distinguish the authentic reports from the weak ones. This is precisely what Al-Ṭāhir ibn ʿĀshūr undertook in his Qur’anic exegesis (tafsīr), which broadly focused on the sciences of the Qur’an. He introduced his exegesis with ten prolegomena on Qur’anic sciences, devoting the fifth specifically to the topic of Asbāb al-Nuzūl. In this section, he critiqued earlier scholars and aimed to rigorously scrutinize the narrations. This study highlights his valuable contributions in this field, clarifies his position on these narrations, and examines how he approached them. His views were often innovative and stood in contrast to the common exaggerations found in traditional scholarships.