TAFSIR AL-QURTUBI Classical Commentary of the Holy Qur'an - Volume 1

THE PUBLICATION OF THIS VOLUME represents a significant land mark in the history of Islamic literature in English. There has until now been a dearth of translations of classical tafsir literature into English. With the first volume of this abridged translation of Imam al-Qurtubi’s al-jami’ li-ahkam al- Qur’an (‘The Compendium of Legal Rulings of the Qur’an”) an important step has been taken towards remedying this situation. It gives English-speaking readers access to one of the great classical commentaries, containing a wealth of authoritative traditional exposition of the Sacred Text.

Comprehensive interpretation of the Holy Qur’an requires consideration of every aspect – spiritual, legal, linguistic, social, and others. While his Tafsir r covers them all, imam al-Qurtubi was especially concerned to bring out the legal implications of the Qur’anic text, and his work emphasises the practical applications of the Revelation. This gives it particular relevance to those Interested in learning how the Qur’an informs the daily life of the Muslims. On both the individual and the communal level. The author also explains the diversity of the Various readings (qira’at) and explores the alternative interpretations that can be derived from them.

Imam Abu ‘Abdullah Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abu Bakr al-Ansari al-Qurtubi, was born in Cordoba, Spain, at the summit of Its great period of Islamic civilisation. He was an eminent Maliki scholarï who specialised in fiqh and Hadith. The breadth and depth of his scholarship are evident in his writings. The most famous of then is his twenty-volume tasfir al Jami’ li-ahkam al-Qar’an, the first three volumes of which are covered by this publication. Imam al-Qirtubi was a man of great modesty who disdained worldly honours and throughout his life wore the simple gown and cap of the ordinary Muslin. He travelled from Spain to the East and settled in Munyaï Abi’l-Khusavb. in Upper Egypt. where he died in 671H/ 1273.