Deduction of the Meaning of Quranic Terms in Al-Karaji Al-Qassab's Interpretation: A Descriptive Study

Abstract

This study explores the approach employed by al-Qaṣṣāb al-Karajī in inferring meaning from individual Qur’anic words (al-mufrada al-Qur’āniyya) in his Qur’anic Tafseer. Al-Qaṣṣāb, a prominent exegete of the 4th century AH, authored a Tafseer titled Nukat al-Qur’ān al-dālla ‘alā al-bayān fī anwā‘ al-‘ulūm wa al-aḥkām—a selective Tafseer in which he focuses on verses that he found to carry rhetorical or linguistic significance. A key feature of his interpretive approach is his emphasis on analyzing individual words from the Qur’an and supporting his interpretations with various types of evidence: the Qur’an itself, ḥadīṯs, reports from the Companions and the Tābiʿīn, customary usage among the Arabs, and contextual clues.

This research specifically investigates the instances in which al-Qaṣṣāb deduces the meanings of individual Qur’anic words using these sources. The findings indicate that the most frequently employed method is contextual analysis (22 instances), followed by references to ḥadīṯs and historical reports (14), intertextual Qur’anic evidence (9), and Arabic linguistic convention (6).

The study provides an analytical examination of these examples and derives insights into al-Qaṣṣāb’s Tafseer methodology.