THE TRADITIONS OF QUR’ANIC EXEGESIS (TAFSIR) IN THE ISLAMIC CIVILISATION OF MOVAROUNNAHR

Abstract

In the lands where Islam spread, centres or schools of Qur’anic exegesis (tafsir) developed alongside the other sciences. The tafsir schools of Mecca, Medina, Iraq, and Syria, in particular, attained great renown in this field. In Movarounnahr (Transoxiana) too, centres of tafsir took shape in the Middle Ages; among them one may mention those that arose in such cities as Samarqand, Bukhara, Khwarazm, Tashkent, Nasaf, Termez, Margilan, and Kokand. In the dozens of madrasas of these centres, tafsir was taught as a separate discipline alongside the rules of the Arabic language, creed (aqida), jurisprudence (fiqh), hadith, and logic. The hundreds of exegetes (mufassirs) who worked there engaged not only in teaching but also in composing tafsirs, dozens of which won great renown in the Islamic world: some have been published, others are preserved in manuscript, and an unknown portion has not reached us. In all, more than fifty tafsirs were created in Movarounnahr during the Middle Ages, and this tradition continues today, with fourteen official translations published at present.