Qur'aan, kitabu cha mwisho cha ufunuo wa Mungu kwa mwanadamu, ndicho chanzo kikuu cha kanuni zinazounda mfumo wa maisha unaojulikana kama Uislamu.

The Qur’aan, God’s final book of revelation to man, represents the primary source of the principles which constitute the way of life known as Islaam.

Vifungu vya Qur'aani vina ushauri na mwongozo kwa njia ya sheria, mifano, hadithi na hoja kwa wale wanaochagua kumwamini Mwenyezi Mungu na Siku ya Hukumu. Kwa hiyo, mafanikio na furaha ya muumini katika maisha haya na ya Akhera hutegemea kwa kiasi kikubwa uelewa wake, kuyapokea ndani ya nafsi yake, na kuyatekeleza yale dhana zilizomo katika Kitabu hicho. Hata hivyo, kina cha ufahamu wa maana za Qur'aani kitatofautiana kutoka mtu mmoja hadi mwingine kutokana na tofauti za asili za akili. Tofauti hii ilikuwepo hata miongoni mwa Maswahaba (Masahaba) wa Mtume Muhammad ﷺ, licha ya uwazi wa usemi wa Qur'aani na kushushwa kwake kwa lahaja saba tofauti. Zaidi ya hayo, Allaah, Mwenye hekima kuu, alichagua kuweka dhana za jumla katika Qur'aani, baadhi yake akazifafanua baadaye katika aya nyingine za Kitabu hicho, na baadhi akazifafanua kwa Mtume ﷺ peke yake.

The passages of the Qur’aan contain advice and guidance in the form of laws, parables, stories, and arguments for those who choose to believe in God and the Day of Judgment. Hence, a believer’s success and happiness in this life and the next largely depend on his understanding, internalization, and application of the concepts contained in the Book. However, the depth of comprehension of the Qur’aan’s meanings will vary from individual to individual due to natural differences in intelligence. This variation existed even among the sahaabah (companions of Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), in spite of the Qur’aan’s clarity of expression and its revelation in seven different dialects. Moreover, Allaah, the Most Wise, chose to place generalities in the Qur’aan, some of which He later explained in its other verses, while some he explained only to the Prophet (r).

Mtume ﷺ alilijua na kuelewa Qur'ani kikamilifu kwa sababu Allah alimchagua kuwa chombo chake na akamfafanulia yote. Kwa hiyo, Allah amesema katika aya moja:

The Prophet (r) knew and understood the Qur’aan completely because Allaah had chosen him as its vehicle and explained it all to him. Hence, Allaah said in one verse:

Kwa hiyo, ilikuwa kazi ya Mtume ﷺ kuwafafanulia wafuasi wake Qur-aan kwa vitendo vyake, pamoja na kauli zake. Allah (SWT) alilieleza hili katika Qur-aan:

Therefore, it was the Prophet’s job to explain the Qur’aan to his followers by his actions, as well as his statements. Allaah stated this in the Qur’aan:

Kwa hiyo, Maswahaba wote walimgeukia Nabii ﷺ kila walipoweza wakati wa uhai wake kwa ajili ya tafsiri (ufafanuzi, ufahamu, maelezo) ya Qur’aan. Kwa mfano, Ibn Mas‘ood alisimulia kwamba aya ifuatayo ilipoteremshwa:

Consequently, the sahaabah all turned to the Prophet (r) whenever possible during his lifetime for the tafseer (explanation, understanding, interpretation) of the Qur’aan. For example, Ibn Mas‘ood related that when the following verse was revealed:

baadhi ya Maswahaba walihuzunika, kwa sababu maana ya kilugha ya kawaida ya "thulm" inajumuisha kila aina ya dhulma, kubwa au ndogo, na hakuna hata mmoja wao aliyekuwa huru na makosa. Hata hivyo, walipomwendea Mtume ﷺ kuhusu jambo hilo, alijibu,

some of the companions became distressed, because the general linguistic meaning of thulm covers any kind of wrong, major or minor, and none of them were free from error. However, when they approached the Prophet (r) about it, he replied,

Hivyo Mtume ( ﷺ) akawafafanulia kwamba maana pana ya neno *thulm* haikukusudiwa katika aya ya kwanza; badala yake lilitumiwa kumaanisha shirki. Katika tukio hili, Mtume ( ﷺ) alieleza Qur'ani kwa Qur'ani, akionyesha hatua ya kwanza katika mbinu iliyoamriwa kimungu ya kuelewa na kufasiri Qur'ani, mbinu iliyowekwa kwa vizazi vyote vya Waislamu hadi Siku ya Kiyama. Baada ya kufariki kwa Mtume ﷺ, Maswahaba waligeukia wale miongoni mwao waliokuwa na uwezo zaidi wa kuelewa Qur'ani, na waliokuwa wameweza kutumia muda mwingi zaidi pamoja na Mtume ﷺ kwa ajili ya kufasiri na kufafanua Qur'ani.

Thus the Prophet ( ﷺ) clarified for them that the broader meaning of thulm was not intended in the first verse; rather it was used to refer to shirk. In this incident, the Prophet ( ﷺ) explained the Qur’aan by the Qur’aan, demonstrating the first step in the divinely ordained method of understanding and interpretation of the Qur’aan that was established for all generations of Muslims until the Day of Resurrection. After the Prophet’s death, the sahaabah turned to those among themselves who were more gifted in understanding the Qur’aan and who had been able to spend more time with the Prophet ( ﷺ) for interpretation and explanation of the Qur’aan.

Miongoni mwa Maswahaba ambao walijulikana zaidi kwa uwezo wao wa kufasiri Qur-aan ni wafuatao: Makhalifa wanne waongofu,27 mke wa Mtume, ‘Aa’ishah bint Abee Bakr, Ibn Mas‘ood, Ibn ‘Abbaas, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, Zayd ibn Thaabit, Aboo Moosaa al-Ash‘aree, ‘Abdullaah ibn az-Zubayr, Anas ibn Maalik, ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar, Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullaah, na ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas.28 Ndani ya miaka ishirini na mitano baada ya kifo cha Mtume ﷺ, Maswahaba walieneza Uislamu hadi kila pembe ya dunia iliyojulikana, wakiziangusha katika mchakato huo falme kubwa za Uajemi na Byzantine. Mahali popote majeshi ya Kiislamu yalipositisha mwendo wao, baadhi ya Maswahaba walikaa na kuanza kuwafundisha wale waliosilimu usomaji na ufafanuzi wa Qur-aan. Kwa sababu hiyo, elimu ya tafsiri ilienea katika ulimwengu wote wa Kiislamu, na vituo vya elimu ya Qur-aan vikaibuka kila mahali. Miongoni mwa watu waliokusanyika karibu na Maswahaba walikuwepo baadhi ya watu mashuhuri waliobaki kuwa wanafunzi wao na kunyonya elimu yao. Wanafunzi hawa walijulikana kama Taabi‘oon. Kila Sahaabi alibeba pamoja naye sehemu ya elimu, baadhi yake ikiingiliana na ya wengine na baadhi isiingiliane. Kwa hiyo, baadhi ya wanafunzi walisafiri hadi vituo vingine vya Kiislamu kusoma chini ya Maswahaba wengine, huku wengine wakibaki kwa walimu wao hadi walipofariki.

Among the sahaabah who became the most noted for their ability to make tafseer of the Qur’aan are the following: The four Righteous Caliphs,27 the Prophet’s wife, ‘Aa’ishah bint Abee Bakr, Ibn Mas‘ood, Ibn ‘Abbaas, Ubayy ibn Ka‘b, Zayd ibn Thaabit, Aboo Moosaa al-Ash‘aree, ‘Abdullaah ibn az-Zubayr, Anas ibn Maalik, ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Umar, Jaabir ibn ‘Abdullaah, and ‘Abdullaah ibn ‘Amr ibn al-‘Aas. 28 Within the space of twenty-five years after the Prophet’s death, the sahaabah carried Islaam to all corners of the known world, toppling in the process the great empires of Persia and Byzantine. Wherever the Muslim armies stopped their advance, some of the sahaabah would settle and begin teaching those who came into Islaam the recitation and interpretation of the Qur’aan. For this reason, the knowledge of tafseer spread throughout the Muslim realm, and centers of Qur’aanic learning sprung up everywhere. Among the people who gathered around the sahaabah were some outstanding individuals who remained their students and absorbed their knowledge. These students became known as taabi‘oon. Each sahaabee carried with him a portion of knowledge, some of which overlapped with that of others and some of which did not. Consequently, some of the students traveled to other Islaamic centers to study under other sahaabah, while others stayed with their teachers until their deaths.

21 Kihalisi, ni 'Yetu.' 'Sisi' wa kifalme (royal We) hutumika kidogo sana katika Kiingereza, lakini ni kipengele cha kawaida katika usemi wa Kiarabu, unaotumika kuonyesha umuhimu wa msemaji. Ni desturi yangu ya kawaida kutafsiri 'Sisi' huu kama 'Mimi,' kwa kuwa tafsiri ya moja kwa moja mara nyingi husababisha mkanganyiko kwa wasemaji wa Kiingereza.

21 Literally, ‘Our.’ The ‘royal We’ is barely used in English, but it is a common feature of Arabic speech, used to indicate the importance of the speaker. It is my standard practice to translate this ‘We’ as ‘I,’ since the literal translation is a frequent cause of confusion for English speakers.

Sūrah al-Qiyāmah (75):17-19

22 Soorah al-Qiyaamah (75):17-9.

Sūrah an-Naḥl (16):44.

23 Soorah an-Nahl (16):44.

Sura al-An‘aam (6):82. Sura Luqmaan (31):13.

24 Soorah al-An‘aam (6):82. 25 Soorah Luqmaan (31):13.

Sahih Muslim, juzuu ya 1, uk. 72, na. 226.

26 Sahih Muslim, vol. 1, p. 72, no. 226.

27 Abu Bakr as-Siddiq, Umar ibn al-Khattab, Uthman ibn Affan, na Ali ibn Abi Talib.

27 Aboo Bakr as-Siddeeq, ‘Umar ibn al-Khattaab, ‘Uthmaan ibn ‘Affaan, and ‘Alee ibn Abee Taalib.

28 Al-Itqaan fee ‘Uloom al-Qur’aan, juzuu ya 2, uk. 239.

28 Al-Itqaan fee ‘Uloom al-Qur’aan, vol. 2, p. 239.