Kalmar "tushen Tafsīr" ba ta nufin ilimomin da mufassirai ke dogara da su wajen bayanin Alkur'ani bisa ga ra'ayin da suke riƙe da shi, kamar tauhidi, fiqhu, balaga, tarihi da sauransu. Waɗannan ba tushen tafsīr ba ne. Maimakon haka, abubuwa ne da suka yi tasiri ga mufassir har suka sa shi karkata zuwa wani al'amari a cikin tafsīr. Abin da ake nufi da 'tushen tafsīr' su ne tushen da aka amince da su waɗanda mufassirai suka kawo nassoshi daga cikinsu. Abin da suka ambata daga cikinsu suka rubuta a cikin tafsīrinsu, ba tare da la'akari da akidarsu a tafsīr ba. Idan muka yi nazarin tushen tafsīr, za mu ga cewa an iyakance su zuwa uku:

The word “sources of Tafsīr” does not mean the disciplines the mufassirun used to rely on when explaining the Qur’ān according to the idea they carried such as tawheed, jurisprudence (fiqh), rhetorics (balaagha), history etc. These are not the sources of tafsīr. Rather, they are matters which had an effect on the mufassir which led him to lean towards a specific matter in tafsīr. What is intended by 'sources of tafsīr' are the authoritative sources that the mufassirun qouted. What they quoted they wrote down in their tafsīrs, irrespective of their orientation in tafsīr. If we study the sources of tafsīr we find that they are confined to three:

Na farko: Tafsīr wanda aka riƙa watsawa daga Manzon Allah ﷺ, kamar hadisin da Manzon Allah ﷺ ya ce:

First: Tafsīr which has been transmitted from the Messenger of Allah  such as the narration that the Messenger  said:

Misali, abin da Ali ya ruwaito cewa ya ce:

For instance what has been narrated by 'Ali that he said:

Kuma abin da aka ruwaito ;

And what has been reported ;

Duk da haka, wannan nau'in tafsīr ba za a iya dogaro da shi a matsayin tushen watsawa ba, sai abin da aka ruwaito a cikin littattafan Sihah (littattafan hadīth kamar Bukhari da Muslim), domin masu ba da labari da masu ƙirƙira sun ƙara abubuwa da yawa a cikin kayan. Saboda haka wajibi ne a bincika irin wannan tushen saboda yawan ƙarairayi da aka danganta ga Manzon Allah ﷺ. Binciken malaman Salaf (malamai na farko) game da wannan nau'in tafsīr ya kai ga cewa da yawa daga cikinsu sun ƙi dukan nau'in gaba ɗaya... Sun riƙe cewa babu wani tafsīr da aka watsa daga Manzon Allah ﷺ. An ruwaito game da Ahmad bin Hanbal cewa ya ce:

However this genre of tafsīr cannot be relied upon as a source of transmission save what has been reported in the books of Sihah (books of hadīth such as Bukhari and Muslim) because the storytellers and fabricators greatly added to the material. That is why this type of source material has to be investigated due to the great number of lies against the Messenger of Allah . The scrutiny of the Salaf (early generations of scholars) of this genre of tafsīr reached the point where many of them rejected the whole genre altogether...They held that no tafsīr had been transmitted from the Messenger of Allah . It has been reported about Ahmad bin Hanbal that he said:

Shi ya sa muka ga mufassirai, saboda rashin amincewarsu ga abin da aka ambata, ba su tsaya a iyakar abin da aka riwaito ba. Maimakon haka, sun bi shi da abin da suka kai ga fahimta ta hanyar ijtihadinsu. Ba su tsaya a iyakar nassi ba. Abin da aka ambata game da Sahabbai ta fuskar tafsiri an ƙara shi ga hadisai game da Manzon Allah ﷺ. Ya fara da tafsirin da aka riwaito, haka kuma da tafsirin tabi'ai. Wannan nau'in tafsirin da aka riwaito ya yi girma sosai, har ya haɗa da abin da aka riwaito game da Manzon Allah ﷺ, da Sahabbai, da Tabi'ai. Kowanne daga cikinsu ya zama ya wadatar a matsayin tafsiri. Kusan dukkan littattafan tafsiri da aka rubuta a zamanin farko an takaita su ga wannan hanyar tafsiri.

That is why we find the mufassirun due to their lack of trust for what is mentioned did not stop at the limit of what has been reported. Rather, they followed that with what they reached through their own Ijtihād. They did not stop at the limit of the text. What has been mentioned about the Sahabah in terms of tafsīr was added to the ahadīth about the Messenger of Allah . It began with the transmitted tafsīr and likewise with the tafsīr of the tabi'un. This genre of transmitted tafsīr became huge and it began to include what has been transmitted about the Messenger of Allah , the Sahabah and Tabi'un. Each one came to suffice as a tafsīr. Nearly all the books of tafsīr written in the early ages were restricted to this manner of tafsīr.

Na biyu: Ɗaya daga cikin tushen tafsīr shi ne ra'yi, ko abin da ake kira Ijtihādi a cikin tafsīr. Wannan saboda mai tafsīr yana sane da maganar Larabawa da salon maganarsu a harshen magana. Yana sane da maganganun Larabci da ma'anarsu ta hanyar sanin abu ɗaya a cikin waƙoƙin jāhiliyya, da zantuka, da sauransu. Yana kuma sanin abin da ya tabbata daidai daga dalilin saukar aya. Ta amfani da waɗannan kayan aiki, yana bayyana ayoyin Alƙur'ani bisa ga abin da ya kai ga ta hanyar Ijtihādinsa. Tafsīr da ra'yi ba yana nufin faɗar duk abin da mutum yake so game da aya ba, ko abin da sha'awoyinmu suke bukata. A maimakon haka, ra'yin da ake yin tafsīr bisa gare shi ya dogara ne da adabin jāhiliyya ta fuskar waƙoƙi, da zantuka, da al'adu da maganar Larabawa. A lokaci guda yana dogara ne ga abubuwan da suka faru a zamanin Manzon Allah ﷺ, da duk abin da Annabi ﷺ ya fuskanta na adawa, rikice-rikice, hijira, yaƙe-yaƙe da wahalhalu. Da kuma duk abin da ya faru a wancan zamani wanda ya buƙaci hukunce-hukunce kuma ya bukaci saukar Alƙur'ani. Saboda haka, abin da ake nufi da yin tafsīr da ra'yi shi ne fahimtar jimloli ta hanyar fahimtar ma'anoninsu waɗanda bayanan da mai tafsīr yake da su ta fuskar harshe da abubuwan da suka faru ke nunawa. Dangane da abin da aka ruwaito daga sayyidina 'Ali ibn Abi Ɗālib cewa ya ce:

Second: One of the sources of tafsīr is the opinion (ra'y) or what is termed as Ijtihād in tafsīr. This is because the mufassir knows the speech of the Arabs and their mannerisms in the spoken language. He knows the Arabic expressions and their meanings by being acquainted with the same thing in jahili poetry, prose etc. And he familiarises himself with what he finds to be correct from the cause of revelation of a verse. Using these tools he explains the Qur’ānic verses in accordance with what he has reached through his Ijtihād. Tafsīr by opinion does not mean saying whatever one likes about the verse or whatever our own desires demand. Rather, the opinion according to which the tafsīr takes place depends on the jahili literature in terms of poetry, prose, the customs and speech of the Arabs. At the same time it relies on the events that took place in the days of the Messenger  and whatever the Prophet  faced in terms of hostility, conflicts, migration (hijra), wars and afflictions. And whatever happened during that period which required hukms and demanded the revelation of the Qur’ān. Therefore, what is meant by performing tafsīr by opinion is to understand the sentences by understanding its meanings which are indicated by the information the mufassir has at his disposal in terms of the language and events. As for what has been narrated about sayyidina 'Ali ibn Abi Talib that he said:

Wannan ba yana nufin cewa Alƙur'ani a buɗe yake ga duk wata mahangar da mutum yake so ya bayyana shi da ita ba. Abin da ake nufi shi ne cewa kowace magana ko jumla tana buɗe wa mahanga da dama a cikin tafsiri, amma waɗannan mahangu an iyakance su ga ma'anonin da magana ko jumlar take iya ɗauka, wanda ba ya wuce wannan iyaka. Saboda haka, tafsiri ta hanyar ra'ayi yana nufin fahimtar jumla a cikin iyakokin ma'anonin da kalmominta suke iya ɗauka. Shi ya sa suka kira shi tafsiri ta hanyar ijtihadi.

This does not mean that the Qur’ān is open to any viewpoint you wish to explain it from. Rather, what is meant is that any one expression or sentence is open to a number of viewpoints in tafsīr but the viewpoints are restricted to the meanings the expression or sentence is open to, which does not overstep that limit. Consequently, tafsīr by opinion means the understanding of a sentence within the limits of the meanings its expressions are open to. That is why they called it tafsīr by Ijtihād.

Yawancin mufassirai daga cikin Sahabbai sun kan fassara Alƙur'ani ta hanyar ra'ayi, kuma su dogara da shi tun farko yayin yin tafsiri. Sun kan sabawa juna a tafsiri har ma a bayanin kalma ɗaya, wanda hakan ke nuna cewa suna dogara ne ga fahimtarsu ta kansu, kamar yadda yawancin abin da aka ruwaito daga Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, Mujahid da wasu ya nuna. Misali, sun kan yi bayanin kalmar Tur a cikin faɗinsa:

The great majority of the mufassirun from the Sahabah used to explain the Qur’ān by opinion and rely on it in the first degree while performing tafsīr. They used to disagree in tafsīr even in the explanation of a single word which indicates that they used to rely on their own particular understanding like much of what has been reported about Ibn 'Abbas, Ibn Mas'ud, Mujahid and others. For example they used to explain the word Tur in His  saying:

Mujahid ya fassara Tur a matsayin sunan wani dutse, Ibn 'Abbas kuma ya fassara shi a matsayin dutsen kansa, wasu kuma sun ce Tur shi ne abin da ke fitowa daga dutsen, amma abin da ba ya yaduwa ba Tur ba ne. Wannan bambancin a tafsiri yana faruwa ne sakamakon bambancin ra'ayi, ba saboda bambanci a abin da aka riwaito ba. Ko da yake lamarin harshe ne, to me za a ce idan ra'ayin ya shafi ma'anar jumla ba ma'anar kalma ba? Shi ya sa, baya ga sabanin da suka yi a ma'anonin kalmomi, sun kuma sabawa juna dangane da ma'anonin ayoyi. Daga nazarin tafsirai na Sahabbai, musamman manyan mufassirai da aka sani, a gaba ɗaya ana gani cewa sun dogara ga ra'ayin mutum wajen yin tafsiri. Abin da aka riwaito daga wasu daga cikinsu, cewa suna kaucewa yin tafsiri da ra'ayi, suna takaita kansu ga tafsiri bisa abin da aka riwaito (manqul), ana ɗaukarsa a matsayin nuni ga ra'ayin wanda bai samu kayan aikin tafsiri ba, kamar sanin harshen Larabci da abin da yake son bayyanawa, da sanin al'amuran da aka saukar da ayoyin a kansu. Ba a ɗaukar hakan a matsayin cewa ya kamata a kauracewa fahimtar Alkur'ani, tun da an saukar da shi domin mutane su fahimce shi, ba domin su takaita kansu ga iyakar tafsirin da aka riwaito ba. Saboda haka, ba za mu ce Sahabbai sun kasu biyu ba: rukuni ɗaya yana kaucewa magana a kan Alkur'ani da ra'ayi, ɗayan kuma yana magana a kansa bisa ra'ayinsa. A'a, dukansu suna magana a kan Alkur'ani da ra'ayinsu. Suna kuma taka-tsantsan da duk wanda ya ce wani abu a kan Alkur'ani da ra'ayinsa ba tare da ingantaccen sani ba game da kalmar da ake bayanin ma'anarta da jumlar da ake bayyanawa daga ayoyin Alkur'ani. Wannan kuma shi ne matsayin Tabi'ai. Sai dai bayan su, sai ga mutane da suka zo suka san wadannan maganganu, suka fahimce su a matsayin gargadi kan yin magana game da Alkur'ani da ra'ayin kansu, sai suka guji cewa komai game da Alkur'ani daga ra'ayinsu. Kuma akwai kuma mutanen da suka san tafsirin Sahabbai da ra'ayi, suka kuma yi kira ga tafsiri da ra'ayi. Shi ya sa daga baya malamai suka rabu gida biyu game da tafsiri. Rukuni daya zai guji fadin komai da ra'ayinsa, ya takaita ga abin da aka isar, sai kuma rukuni da zai bada ra'ayinsa. Amma Sahabbai da Tabi'un ba rukuni biyu suke ba. Maimakon haka, suna magana game da Alkur'ani da abin da suka sani ta fuskar riwayoyi da ra'ayi, kuma suna kauracewa abin da ba su sani ba, suna kuma gargadin mutane kan yin magana game da Alkur'ani da ra'ayinsu ba tare da ilimi ba.

with different explanations. Mujahid explained Tur as the name of a mountain, Ibn 'Abbas explained it as the mountain itself and some said that Tur is what emanates from the mountain and as for what does not spread, it is not Tur. This difference in tafsīr is a result of a difference of opinion and not attributable to the difference in what has been transmitted. Although the expression is linguistic so what about when the opinion concerns the meaning of the sentence and not the meaning of an expression, this is why in addition to their disagreement in the meanings of expressions they also disagreed with regards to the meanings of verses. It is apparent from studying the tafsīrs of the Sahabah especially the well known mufassirin that on a whole they would rely on (individual) opinion when making tafsīr. As for what has been narrated about some of them that they would refrain from making tafsīr by opinion and confined themselves to making tafsīr by what has been transmitted (manqul), it is taken to refer to the opinion of somebody who has not acquired the tools of tafsīr such as having knowledge of the Arabic expression, he wishes to clarify and knowledge of the events pertaining to which the verses were revealed. It is not taken to mean that one should refrain from understanding the Qur’ān since it has been revealed so that people may understand it and not so that they restrict themselves to the limit of the transmitted tafsīr. Therefore, we cannot say that the Sahabah were divided into two groups, one group refraining from saying anything about the Qur’ān by opinion and the other speaking about the Qur’ān according to their opinion. Rather, all of them used to speak about the Qur’ān with their opinion. They used to be wary of someone saying anything about the Qur’ān by his opinion without having sure knowledge of the expression being explained and the sentence being elucidated from the ayāt of the Qur’ān. Also, this was the position of the Tabi'un. However, after them there were people who came to know about these sayings and understood them as admonition for speaking about the Qur’ān with one’s own opinion, so they avoided saying anything about the Qur’ān from their own opinion. And there were also people who became acquainted with the the tafsīr of the Sahabah by opinion and they advocated tafsīr by opinion. That is why later scholars became divided into two groups regarding the tafsīr. One group would avoid saying anything with their own opinion and restrict themselves to what has been transmitted and a group that would give its own opinions. As for the Sahabah and the Tabi'un they were not two groups. Rather, they used to speak about the Qur’ān with what they knew in terms of the narrations and opinion and they refrained from that which they did not know and they warned people from speaking about the Qur’ān with their own opinions without having knowledge.

Sun tambaya game da abin da suka buge gawar mutumin da shi? Sa'ad da suka karanta:

They inquired as to what was that piece with which they struck the dead man? When they read:

Sun tambaye mu, wane ne bawan nan nagari wanda Musa ya haɗu da shi, ya roƙe shi ya koya masa? Daga nan ne labarin Khidr ya samo asali. Don haka duk lokacin da wani labari zai isa gare su sai su yi tambaya game da shi. Sun tambaya game da yaron da bawan nan nagari ya kashe, da jirgin ruwan da ya huda, da ƙauyen da bai karɓi baƙuncinsa ba. Sun bincika labarin Musa da Shu'aibu da girman jirgin Nuhu da sauransu. Abin da ya amsa waɗannan tambayoyi kuma ya biya buƙatar sha'awarsu ga irin wannan bayani shi ne Attaura da tafsirinta da bayaninta. Duk tatsuniyoyin da aka saka, waɗanda Yahudawa suka isar musu, ko da niyya mai kyau ko mara kyau, da wasu Kiristoci waɗanda suka karɓi Musulunci suka saka wasu labarai da rahotanni daga Baibul, amma hakan ya yi kaɗan idan aka kwatanta da abin da Yahudawa suka saka. Ta haka adadin labarai da rahotanni ya ƙaru sosai har ya zarce rahotannin tafsirin da aka isar. Littattafai da yawa na tafsiri sun cika da yawan israiliyyat, labarai da sauran rahotanni. Waɗanda suka saka mafi yawan israiliyyat kuma suka fi shahara su ne Ka'b al-Ahbar, Wahb ibn Munabbih, Abdullahi ibn Salam da wasu da yawa. Saboda wannan aiki, waɗannan israiliyyat, labarai da sauran rahotanni suka zama ɗaya daga cikin majiyoyin tafsiri ga mufassirai.

They asked us, who is the righteous servant that Musa met and requested to teach him. From here the story of Khidr arose. So whenever a story would reach them they would ask about it. So they asked about the boy the righteous servant had killed and the boat he had scuttled and about the village that did not entertain him. They inquired about the story of Musa and Shu'ayb and the size of Noah's ark etc. What answered these questions and satiated their greed for this kind of information was the Torah and its commentaries and exposition. And whatever fables were inserted which were transmitted to them by the Jews whether through good or bad intention, some Christians who had embraced Islam inserted certain stories and reports from the Bible but that was little compared to what the Jews had interpolated. In this manner the volume of stories and reports expanded greatly until it exceeded the reports of the transmitted tafsīr. Many books of tafsīr came to be loaded with huge amounts of israilyyat, stories and other reports. The ones who inserted the greatest amount of israilyyat and the most famous were Ka'b al-Ahbar, Wahb ibn Munabbih, 'Abd Allah ibn Salam and many others. Due to this activity these israilyyyat, stories and other reports became one of the sources of tafsīr for the mufasssrun.