Uzbekistan: a land multifarious geniuses. ABU-L-LAYS AS-SAMARQANDI (Part 3)

The tafsir created by Abu-l-Lays as-Samarqandi is classified in the order of the Suras of the Noble Qur’an and each commented Sura is mentioned in the process of commenting. The tafsir contains commentaries given on all 114 Suras. Unlike other authors of tafsirs, Abu-l-Lays does not divide the Suras into small classes titling them separately and describing their meaning but continuously explains the legal sentences in the course of description. At the beginning of each Sura he explains their origin and how they revealed in Mecca or Medina.

During commentaries, the author explains the reasons of revelation of these Suras and conditions under which they revealed and presents citations from the sayings of the Sahabis and Tabi’is. The author also mentions the change of meaning of the Suras if different readers uttered them differently. If reading was carried weakly, so he explains the shortcomings of reading. He also mentions the opinions of the lexicologists about polysemantic character of the word under different linguistic conditions. In order to enrich the meaning of the Suras, he provides the Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (saas).

The tafsirs created by Abu-l-Lays as-Samarqandi occupy a special place in the system of other ordinary tafsirs. The legends provided in his tafsirs during the commenting process are of great importance as they contain necessary and important information for the learners of his tafsirs.

The author begins his commentaries with such introductive expressions as "that is..., the meaning of it..., its comment..." and others. Then he explains the reasons of revelation of the ayahs from the Heaven and shows the ways of explaining the meaning of the ayah citing the words of the experts or saying this or that was the main reason or condition under which a new ayah revealed and came into being. In order to give a perfect explanation of the matter under discussion, the author also used the verses in the Arabic language.

In the process of commenting the meanings of ayahs, he used Arabic words and expressions, and tried to describe their specific character and gave examples with them. The author also used the question-answer method in explaining the matter under discussion. The fact that in the course of explanation he expressed his legal views is of much importance for the reader and for the science on the whole.

The fact that he used his own views and methods in explaining the matters concerning the character of the tafsir and in this pro­cess relied mainly on the Holy Qur’an and Hadiths of Prophet Muhammad (saas) as well as on the sayings of the Sahabis and, most important of all, his views were based on the rules and orders of the Sunnah were the main factors that made a considerable contribution to the development of this order.

One more characteristic feature of the tafsir created by Abu-l-Lays as-Samarqandi is the fact that it was based on the information provided by original and reliable ideas of the leading experts in this field, much attention is paid in this work to the rules and styles of pronunciation of the Holy Qur’an, polysemantic character of the Arabic words and expressions are explained and interpreted thoroughly. It should also be taken into consideration that the author tried to stress the educational character of the suras and ayahs of the Holy Qur’an.

As an example for this opinion, we can present the Surat "Yusuf" in which the goodwill of a person should be appreciated.

"Yusuf (as) said: I would ask Allah to have mercy upon me so that I could not make sin against someone and betray someone. My boss who bought me arranged my conditions of life quite suitably. Merciless exploiters cannot avoid the punishment of Allah". In other words, when Yusuf (as) was made to make sin with his boss’s wife Zulayha, he refused to do so because his boss showed him mercy and made positive arrangements for him and as gratefulness, he acted in this way. He refused to make sin with his boss’s wife due to two factors: the first one is because of duty and the second one is the goodwill that the boss showed him.

There are many ayahs calling Muslims not to divide into smaller parties. The author expresses his own vision on of one of those ayahs. "You are not responsible for the doings of those who divided the Muslims into different smaller parties. Their doings are presented to the attention of Allah. He (Allah) warns them for their wrong doings". In the tafsir of this ayah Abu-l-Lays as-Samarqandi says the following: "This ayah explains that the words and acts of the Muslims must be the same, they should not divide into smaller parties and try not to engage in making intrigues with each other".

In the ayah which is devoted to the description of a person who is invited as a guest, it is mentioned: "Hey, faithful people! You may enter the house of the Prophet when you are invited, even in this case you should not be insistent but should wait for the invitation. After the meal, you should not be busy with talking but leave the house immediately. Otherwise you may hurt the Prophet, but he does not dare to show his disappointment". Commenting on this ayah, Abu-l-Lays as-Samarqandi shows its meaning concerning the behaviour of a person when he is invited as a guest. He says: "The ayah means that when a person is invited as a guest, he must not be a burden for the host and should keep the rules of behaviour and education".

Abu-l-Lays as-Samarqandi also provides examples of ayahs which express respect to the spirits of those who passed away: "Those who came to the world after them say: "Hey, my Allah! Have mercy on us and on those who were faithful and lived before us! Do not let reproach appear in our souls against the faithful! Hey, our Lord! You are kind and merciful!" Commenting on this ayah, Abu-l-Lays as-Samarqandi declares its useful points in the meaning of education: "Those who express their thankfulness to the Sahabis and would not be annoyed with them they will have their own share of goodwill equal to those of the Sahabis. Those who do not respect them and curse them they are not of the Muslims. Because Allah said that immigrants and faithful people coming after them are the owners of faith. He mentioned and glorified them first. Alongside with it, there is a sign that Muslims should remember those who passed away with respect and care. Muslims should remember their ancestors and teachers with corresponding respect and wish them good faith".

Like other experts of tafsirs Abu-l-Lays as-Samarqandi bases his views and opinions on the rules and demands of the Holy Qur’an, Hadiths and sayings of the Sahabis and Tabi’is. The fact that Abu-l-Lays as-Samarqandi used verses, stories and other means of the Arabic language makes the work more important and precious. His work is also important because of the fact that it contains such aspects of the Holy Qur’an as qiraat, the reasons of revelation of the ayahs and other factors. It is also considered to be a precious work for being created at the beginning of development of tafsir as an independent branch of the Islamic science.

The scientific legacy of the genius Abu-l-Lays as-Samarqandi calls us to have goodwill and beautiful moral qualities, and it is undoubtedly a useful source for the growing generation to be educated in accord with the tnorals of life and religion.