Va shunga o'xshash, ma'lum ma'nolarga ishora qiluvchi boshqa oyatlar bor, lekin ularning ma'nosini tushunish uchun nozil bo'lish sabablarini bilish talab etiladi.
And other such verses which point to well known meanings, there are other verses whose understanding requires knowledge of the causes of revelation.
Qur’onda muhkam (aniq) va ma’nosi ravshan oyatlar bor. Ular aqidaga oid asosiy masalalarni bayon qiluvchi, asosan Makkada nozil bo‘lgan oyatlar va huquq qoidalarining asoslarini, xususan muomalot (bitimlar), jazolar (uqubat) va guvohlik (bayyinot) bilan bog‘liq masalalarni bayon qiluvchi, asosan Madinada nozil bo‘lgan oyatlardir. Qur’onda, shuningdek, ko‘p odamlar uchun ma’nosi noaniq bo‘lgan mutashobih (mavhum) oyatlar ham bor. Bular bir necha ma’noga ehtimolli oyatlar yoki aqida – ya’ni Allohga odamga xos sifatlar nisbat berishdan xoli bo‘lishi kerak bo‘lgan e’tiqod – bilan ziddiyat tufayli zohiriy ma’noni tark etib, boshqa ma’noga o‘tishni talab qiladigan oyatlardir.
There are verses in the Qur’ān which are muhkam (explicit) and clear in meaning. They are the verses especially the Makkan verses which pertain to the fundamentals of the deen in terms of the ‘aqīdah and the verses which pertain to the fundamentals of the rules which are the Madinan verses, especially those related to transactions (mu'amalat), punishments ('uqubat) and testimonies (bayyinat). There are mutashabihat (ambiguous) verses as well in the Qur’ān which are ambiguous in meaning for many people, especially the verses that are open to a number of meanings or necessitates leaving the apparent meaning for another meaning because of the contradiction with the creed which should be free of anthropomorphic elements.
Garchi sahobalar Qur’onni tushunishda eng layoqatli bo‘lsalar-da, chunki ular arab tilini eng yaxshi biluvchi bo‘lgan va Qur’on nozil bo‘lgan vaziyat hamda voqealarga bevosita guvoh bo‘lganlar, ular Qur’onni tushunishda va uni tafsir qilish qobiliyatida bir-biridan farq qilganlar. Bu farq ularning arab tilini bilish darajasidagi tafovut hamda Payg‘ambar ﷺ bilan yaqinlik darajasidagi tafovutdan kelib chiqqan. Sahobalar orasida eng mashhur mufassirlar ‘Ali ibn Abu Tolib, ‘Abdulloh ibn ‘Abbos, ‘Abdulloh ibn Mas‘ud va Ubay ibn Ka‘b bo‘lib, ular to‘rtovlari tafsir ilmini turli musulmon shaharlariga eng ko‘p yetkazgan kishilardir. Ularga Qur’on tafsiri bo‘yicha chuqur bilim bergan narsalar arab tilini mukammal bilishlari, uning balog‘at shakllari va uslublarini tushunishlari, Payg‘ambar ﷺ bilan birga bo‘lib, u zotga yaqin turganlari sababli Qur’on oyatlari qaysi voqealar munosabati bilan nozil bo‘lganini bilishlari hamda ma’nolarni eng to‘g‘ri tarzda bog‘lab, to‘g‘ri natijaga kelish qobiliyatiga ega aql-zakovatlari bo‘lgan. Shu sababli ular Qur’onni tushunishda aql talab qilgan darajada ijtihod qilishdan tortinmaganlar. Aksincha, tafsirda ijtihod qilganlar, o‘z ijtihodlari (fikrlari) doirasida so‘z aytganlar va o‘z tushunish hamda ijtihodlariga asoslanib hukm chiqarganlar. Shuning uchun ularning tafsirlari tafsirning eng yuksak turlaridan hisoblanadi. Ammo ko‘plab kishilar ularga nisbatan yolg‘on gapirganlar va ular aytmagan so‘zlar ularning tafsiriga qo‘shib yuborilgan, shu sababli ularning tafsirlarida ko‘plab to‘qib chiqarilgan narsalarni uchratasiz. Ishonchli rivoyatchilar tomonidan isbotlangan narsa tafsirlarning eng kuchlisidir. Qolgan, to‘qib chiqarilgan rivoyatlarga kelsak, ular aytilganligi isbotlanmagani uchun ularni qabul qilish joiz emas. Ammo bu to'rttasining saqlangan (sohta) tafsirlarini olishdan ehtiyot bo'lish, ularning tafsirlarini o'qishdan ehtiyot bo'lish degani emas. Aksincha, bu ularni, ular sohta ekanligini hisobga olib, qabul qilish va amal qilishdan ehtiyot bo'lishdir. Ularni o'qib, tilga, Shariatga va aqlga tayangan holda, ulardagi zikr qilingan narsalar bilan to'g'ri tushunchani aniqlash esa foydalidir, chunki bu sohta rivoyatlarda, ularning Sahobalarga nisbat berilishi jihatidan isnodlari zaif bo'lsa ham, Qur'onni tushunish nuqtai nazaridan qimmatli izohlar (tafsirlar) bor.
Even though the Sahabah were the most competent in understanding the Qur’ān because they were the most knowledgeable in the Arabic language and because they witnessed the circumstances and events around which the Qur’ān was revealed. However, they differed in their understanding and they differed in their ability to explain (tafsīr) the Qur’ān due to the disparity in the level of their familiarity with the Arabic language and due to the disparity in their closeness to the Messenger . The most famous Mufassirun from the Sahabah were 'Ali ibn Abi Talib, 'Abd Allah ibn 'Abbas, 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud and Ubay ibn Ka'b, they are the four who nurtured the most amount of exegetical material to the different Muslim cities. What enabled them to have such a deep knowledge of tafsīr was their strong understanding of the Arabic language, their grasp of its rhetorical form and styles, their mixing with the Prophet and being close to him which enabled them to know the events for which verses of the Qur’ān were revealed and their faculty of intellect and intelligence, a faculty which enabled them to link meanings together in the best manner and come out with correct results. That is why they did not refrain from making Ijtihād in understanding the Qur’ān according to what the mind demanded. Rather, they made Ijtihād in tafsīr and spoke about it within their own opinions (Ijtihāds) and they made decisions based on what they had arrived at by their understanding and Ijtihād. Therefore, the tafsīrs of those people are considered as one of the highest forms of tafsīr. But many have lied about them and sayings have been interpolated in their tafsīr which they did not say, that is why you will find many fabrications in their tafsīr. What has been authenticated by trustworthy narrators is the strongest of tafsīrs. As for everything else from the fabricated reports it is not permitted to take them since it has not been proven that they said them. However, the caution of taking fabricated tafsīrs of those four does not mean it is a caution for reading their tafsīrs. Rather, it is a caution against taking them and practising them given the consideration that these are fabrications. As for reading them and determining a correct understanding by the language, Sharī’ah and intellect with what has been mentioned in them, this is useful because there are valuable explanations (tafsīrs) in these fabricated reports in terms of understanding even though their chains of transmission are weak in terms of their ascription to the Sahabah.
Tabi'inlar Sahobalardan keyin keldi. Ulardan ba'zilari yuqorida zikr etilgan to'rttasidan va boshqa sahobalardan rivoyat qilishi bilan mashhur bo'ldi. Tabi'inlar orasida eng mashhurlari Mujohid, 'Ato ibn Abu Rabah, Ibn 'Abbosning ozod qilingan quli 'Ikrima va Sa'id ibn Jubayr edi. Ulamolar tabi'inlardan bo'lgan bu mufassirlarga qanday ishonish darajasi borligi haqida ixtilof qilganlar. Mujohid rivoyatlari eng kam bo'lsa ham, eng ishonchli hisoblanadi; Shofe'iy va Imom Buxoriy kabi ba'zi imomlar va muhaddislar uning tafsiriga tayanganlar. Biroq ba'zilar Mujohidning Kitob ahlidan (yahudiy va nasroniylardan) so'raganini kuzatganlar. Shu nuqtai nazardan, uning so'zlarini qabul qilishdan oldin puxta o'rganib chiqqanlar, garchi uning rostgo'yligiga hammasi ittifoq qilgan bo'lsalar ham. 'Ato va Sa'id ikkalasi ham ishonchli va rostgo'y edilar, ularning rostgo'yligiga hech kim shubha qilmagan. 'Ikrimaga kelsak, ko'pchilik olimlar uni ishonchli deb biladi va uning so'zlariga ishonadilar. Buxoriy ham undan rivoyat qilgan, lekin boshqalar uni tafsirda xavfli yo'l tutgan deb hisoblaydilar, chunki u Qur'onni to'liq bilaman deb o'ylagan. Buning sababi u sahobalardan ko'p miqdorda Qur'on tafsirini rivoyat qilgani edi. To'rtovlon ichida 'Ikrima ko'proq Ibn 'Abbosdan rivoyat qilgan edi. Boshqa sahobalardan rivoyat qilganlar ham bor, masalan, Ibn Mas'udning shogirdi Masruq ibn al-Ajda' u zotdan tafsir rivoyat qilgan. Tabi'inlardan Qatoda ibn Da'ama as-Sadusiy al-Akma ham tafsir bilan mashhur bo'ldi. U arab tilini chuqur bilar, arab she'riyatini, arablarning tarixini va ularning nasablarini yaxshi bilardi. Tabi'inlar davri tugagandan so'ng, ulamolar muayyan usulga amal qilib tafsir kitoblarini tuzishni boshladilar: oyatni zikr qilib, so'ngra sanadlari bilan sahobalar va tabi'inlarning tafsirlaridan rivoyat qilinganlarni keltirish. Bu usulda mashhur bo'lganlardan Sufyon ibn 'Uyayna, Vakiy' ibn al-Jarroh, 'Abdurrazzoq va boshqalar bor edi. Bu kishilarning tafsirlari to‘liq holda bizga yetib kelmagan, balki bizgacha ularning sözlari, at-Tabariyning tafsiri kabi ba’zi tafsir kitoblarida kelgan holda yetib kelgan. Keyin al-Farro‘ kelgan, so‘ng at-Tabariy kelgan. Ulardan keyin esa tafsir olimlari har bir davrda, to bizning zamonimizgacha, ketma-ket kelganlar.
After the Sahabah came the Tibi'un. Some of them became famous for transmitting from the Sahabah, from the four mentioned above and from others. The most famous from those Tabi'un are Mujahid, 'Ata ibn Abi Rabah, 'Ikrama freedman of Ibn 'Abbas and Sa'id ibn Jubayr. The 'Ulama have differed on the degree of trust put on those Mufassirun from the Tabi'un, so Mujahid is the most reliable even though he had the fewest narrations and some imams and muhaddithun like Shafi'i and Bukhari rely on his tafsīr. However, some of them observed that Mujahid used to ask the People of the Book. So from this perspective they would give his sayings thorough consideration before taking them though they agreed on his honesty. Both 'Ata and Sa'id were trustworthy and honest and no one has questioned their honesty. As for 'Ikrama, most scholars trust him and believe him. And Bukhari transmits from him but others view him as taking risks in tafsīr thinking that he knows everything about the Qur’ān. And that was due to the huge amount of Qur’ānic tafsīr he has narrated from the Sahabah. From the four, 'Ikrama was the one who transmitted mostly from Ibn 'Abbas. There are those who used to narrate from rest of the Sahabah like Masruq ibn al-Ajda', the student of 'Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud, he used to narrate tafsīr from him. From the Tabi'un, Qatada ibn Da'ama Assudoos AlAkma also became well known for tafsīr. He had an extensive knowledge of the Arabic language and was well versed in Arabic poetry, the era of the Arabs and their genealogy. After the end of the era of the Tabi'un, the 'Ulama began to compile books of tafsīr following a specific method, which is to mention the verse and then quote what has been reported from the tafsīrs of the Sahabah and the Tabi'un along with their chains. Some of them who were famous for this method were Sufyan ibn 'Uyayna, Waki' ibn al-Jarrah, 'Abd al-Razzaq and others.Though the tafsīrs of these people have not reached us in their entirety rather what has reached us are statements found in some of the books of tafsīr like the tafsīr of al-Tabari. Then after them came al-Farra' and then came al Tabari. Then scholars of tafsīr came one after another in every age until our time.