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Fatwa CenterAbout Ibn Taymiyyah's approach to Tafseer
Question
Assalaamu alaykum. Ibn Taymiyyah said in his Muqaddimah fee Usool At-Tafseer that you should come to the Quran with a blank mindset, without trying to prove any Mathhab (school of thought) or Aqeedah (creed); you just read it with a blank mindset and then make anything that you learn your Aqeedah or Mathhab. I think that you need to have an Aqeedah, like in the sense that you believe that the Sunnah is real, Allaah is God, and so on, and that you cannot come with nothing or that would be Kufr (disbelief), and if random layman do this, then they will get random ideas and say things like, 'Ok, this verse to me means that we reject the sunnah, I came with no mindset, but it seems that way, so I am going to do it.' What do we say about this?
Answer
All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.
We did not find the statement that you mentioned in Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah's book, Muqaddimah fee Usool At-Tafseer. However, he talked about some of the advocates of religious innovations who twist the religious texts to fit their personal inclinations. He said:
“Just as this method is present in the Tafseer (exegesis) of the Quran, it is also present in the Tafseer of Hadeeth. Those who err in both the evidence and its indication, such as the sects of the people of innovation, adopt a Mathhab that is against the truth that is adopted by the mainstream Muslims, who can never agree on falsehood, such as the Salaf (righteous predecessors) and the leading Imaams of this nation. They (those sects) interpret the Quran and twist it to support their views. At times, they use verses as evidence even though these verses do not support them, and, at times, they change the interpretation of that which contradicts their views, thus distorting the words from their proper usage. From these sects are the Khawaarij, Rawaafidh, Jahmiyyah, Muʻtazilah, Qadariyyah, Murji'ah, and others...” [Muqadimah fee Usool At-Tafseer]
There is no doubt that the correct approach in this regard is that the person's inclination conforms with the truth rather than the other way round. This is what Ibn Taymiyyah stated in his other books. He, for example, said in Al-Fataawa Al-Kubra:
“Genuine wisdom and justice lie in what the divine knowledge and wisdom entail rather than what the knowledge and wisdom of the slave entail. The slave should submissively follow the commands and decrees of Allaah without holding personal inclinations that are contrary to His commands and decrees. Allaah, The Exalted, says (what means): {But no, by your Lord, they will not (truly) believe until they make you (O Muhammad) judge concerning that over which they dispute among themselves and then find within themselves no discomfort from what you have judged and submit in (full, willing) submission.} [Quran 4:65]The Prophet, sallallaahu ʻalayhi wa sallam, said, 'None of you (truly) believes until his inclination is subservient to that which I have brought.' [Abu Haatim] ...” [Al-Fataawa Al-Kubra]
This does not contradict what you mentioned in the question because the sound creed that should be held by the Muslim can only be derived from the evidence in the Quran and Sunnah. Therefore, the evidence remains the primary factor in this respect.
Allaah knows best.
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