A tafsir (tafsīr تفسير, also transliterated tafseer, Arabic "explanation") is Qur'anic exegesis or commentary. Someone who writes tafsir is a mufassir (mufassir, plural mufassirīn).

Sources of Tafsir

The five sources for commentary of the Qur'an are:

1. The Qur'an itself. This is the most superior form of tafsir, because the Qu'ran explains itself.
2. The Hadith. Muslims believe that God has sent the Prophet Muhammad for the reason of explaining and clarifying to people the Qur'an. Much tafsir of the Qur'an can be found in books of Hadith, under titles such as "Meaning of Qur'anic verses." This is the second most superior form of tafsir, because the Prophet of God is explaining it.
3. The reports of the Sahaba. The Sahaba or Companions of the Prophet Muhammad, knew the Prophet, and therefore have better insight into the Qur'an. If there is a consensus of the Companions on a certain verse, then it is followed, if not then later scholars interpret which has the better argument using Islamic principles.
4. After the reports of the Sahaba or Companions, is the reports of those who learned from the companions. These people grew up in an environment with people who had known the Prophet, so their insight is the next in line of the sources of tafsir.
5. Reason. The last and final source, and the weakest of all sources, to explain the Qur'an is using reason. By reason it is meant as deductive logic and evaluation of arguments to reach a conclusion.

Prohibited Tafsir

It is prohibited to perform Qur'anic tafsir using solely one's own opinion. This is based on the authenticated hadith of the Prophet which states it is prohibited.

Major Mufassireen

Major tafsirs of the Qur'an come from

• Ibn Kathir: Tafsir ibn Kathir - A classical tafsir of the Qur'an, it can be considered a summary of the earlier Tafseer Ibn Jarir.

• Imam Fakhr ud-Deen ar-Razi : "Mafateeh ul Ghayb" also known as Tafseer Kabir

• Qadhi Abu Saud al-Hanafi : "Irshaad ul Aql as-Saleem ila Mazaya al-Quraan al-Kareem" also known as Tafseer Abu Saud

• Imam Abu Abdullah al-Qurtabi : "al-Jaami' li Akaam il-Quraan" by the famous Maliki Jurist of Cordoba

• Allaamah Mahmood Aaloosi al-Hanafi : "Tafseer Rooh ul Ma'ani fi Tafseer il Quraan al-Azeem wa Saba' al-Mathani" a.k.a Rooh ul Ma'ani

• Imam Al-Ghazali: A Thematic Commentary of the Qur'an - Another classical tafsir by a great Sunni Imam who practiced tawassuf (the act of sufism, not the sufi sect)

• Allamah Tabataba'i : "Tafsir Al-Mizan" - A 20 volume commentary on the qur'an using a methodology of explaining the qur'an through the qur'an.

Modernist Mufassireen

• Sayyed Qutb: In the Shade of the Qu'ran - Many praise it as a modern tafsir of the Qur'an. However, many critics including some Wahhabi and Salafi scholars say that Qutb had little Islamic knowledge and did tafsir in his own opinion. It has also been attacked for not containing the classical tafsir style (using the above mentioned sources).

• Abul Ala Maududi : Tafheem ul Quraan - One of the most widely read Tafsir, is another relatively modern exegesis of the Quran. It is written mostly for the general public with a view to relate the Islamic teachings to all sphere's of life. It is criticized for its free style explanations.

External links

• Sayyed Qutb - In the Shade of the Qur'an
• Various Tafsirs
• Salafi/Wahhabi Tafsir
• Selected Tafsirs from a Salafi standpoint
• Audio Tafsir of the Qur'an in English from a Sunni standpoint
• Tafsir from the Hadith themselves
• Tafsir.com
• Al-Mizan - Allamah Tabatabai's tafsir of the qur'an
• Tafsir of selected verses

Shiite Tafsir link needed