Former Tunisian Culture Minister Highlights Features of Ibn Ashur’s Quran Interpretation

IQNA – A former culture minister of Tunisia noted that the Quran exegesis by Muhammad al-Ṭahir ibn Ashur (1879 – 1973) was the first interpretation of the entire Quran in the Arab Maghreb region.

Mohammad al-Aziz ibn Ashur, a grandson of the late Quran interpreter, made the remark in an international Quranic conference held in Tehran on Saturday.

He said eh exegesis, which has 10 prefaces, greatly helped those conducting studies on Quran interpretation.   

He said Muhammad al-Ṭahir ibn Ashur was born into a religious family many of whose members were scholars and Quran teachers, and after completing his education, he started teaching Fiqh, Hadith and Quran interpretation at the University of Ez-Zitouna.

According to al-Aziz, the name of al-Tahir’s interpretation is Tafsir al-Tahrir wa'l-Tanwir and in one of its prefaces, he explains about the different between Tafsir and Ta’weel.

“He also paid special attention to the miracles of the Quran, an issue previous Quran interpreters did not pay much attention to.”

Another feature of this Quran exegesis is elaborating on the Asbab al-Nuzul (causes or occasions of revelation).

The Quranic conference, titled Risalat Allah (Messages of Allah), was held by the Islamic Culture and Relations Organization (ICRO) at the University of Tehran’s Faculty of Theology on Saturday, January 6.

It was aimed at developing and enhancing Quranic diplomacy.

Muslim elites, thinkers and scholars and representatives of Quranic centers from a number of countries, including Tunisia, Egypt, Iraq, Russia, Lebanon, Malaysia, Senegal, Thailand, India, and Pakistan took part in the conference.

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