History of Qur'an Commentary: Tafsir al-Jalalayn

ARABIC 204 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

The Tafsir al-Jalalayn, a short Qur’an commentary co-authored by al-Suyuti (d. 911/1505) and al-Mahalli (d. 864/1460) is one of the most ubiquitous and recognizable of books in the Islamic religious tradition.  It remains popular and is used and studied still in seminaries. There is however not even one journal article on the work.  This seminar will be a course in the history of this work, an attempt to write a biography of a book – how it came into being, its manuscripts, its reception, the glosses written on him, and how it came to dominate the landscape of Qur’an commentary.  We will read from biographical dictionaries, awqaf of madrasas, glosses and their introductions, and from al-Jalalayn proper.  We will compare it with its putative sources and read the enigmatic entry on the work in Kashf al-zunun.  We will also discuss regionalism in the Islamic religious centers and why Cairo remained influential in Tafsir despite the competition from Istanbul. 

The aim of the course is to introduce students to research methods in Islamic and Arabic studies, to read Arabic at an advanced level and to reconstruct a history of a book via manuscripts, editions, and glosses. 

Course Notes

Course will be taught by Dr. Walid Saleh.

Recommended Prep

At least 2 or 3 years of Classical Arabic language courses