TafsД«r al-QurКѕДЃn al-КїAбє“Д«m is controversial in western academic circles. His tafsir gained widespread popularity in modern times, especially among Western Muslims, probably due to his straightforward approach, but also due to lack of alternative translations of traditional tafsirs. His suspicion on Isra'iliyyat possibly derived from Ibn Taimiyya's influence, who discounted much of the exegetical tradition since then. Although Ibn Kathir claimed to rely on at-Tabari, he introduced new methods and differs in content, in attempt to clear Islam from that he evaluates as Isra'iliyyat. Many Sunni Muslims hold his commentary as the best after Tafsir al-Tabari and Tafsir al-Qurtubi and it is highly regarded especially among Salafi school of thought. Ibn Kathir wrote a famous commentary on the Qur'an named TafsД«r al-QurКѕДЃn al-КїAбє“Д«m which linked certain Hadith, or sayings of Muhammad, and sayings of the sahaba to verses of the Qur'an, in explanation and avoided the use of Isra'iliyyats. On this matter, we follow the early Muslims ( salaf): Malik, Awza'i, Thawri, Layth ibn Sa'd, Shafi'i, Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ishaq Ibn Rahwayh, and others among the Imams of the Muslims, both ancient and modern that is, to let (the verse in question) pass as it has come, without saying how it is meant ( min ghayr takyif), without likening it to created things ( wa la tashbih), and without nullifying it ( wa la ta'til): The literal meaning ( zahir ) that occurs to the minds of anthropomorphists (al-mushabbihin ) is negated of Allah, for nothing from His creation resembles Him: 'There is nothing whatsoever like unto Him, and He is the All-Hearing, the All-Seeing' (Qur'an 42:11) Works Tafsir People have said a great deal on this topic and this is not the place to expound on what they have said. Salafis claims that Ibn Kathir did not interpret the mutashabihat verses and hadiths, but rather he accepted the apparent meanings of the verses, but refrained from asking вЂњHow?вЂќ and did not liken it to the creation and did not make ta'wil on the verses. In regards of exegesis, he uses methods contrary to former Sunni scholars, and followed largely the methodoloy of ibn Taimiyya. Furthermore, like Ibn Taymiyyah, he counts as an anti-rationalistic, traditionalistic and hadith oriented scholar. Ibn Kathir shares many similarities with his teacher Ibn Taymiyyah, such as advocating a militant jihad and adhering to the renewal of one singular Islamic ummah. Johnston described him as 'the traditionist and Ash'arite Ibn Kathir'. It seems Ibn Kathir implied that the dislike for him is due to his Ash'ari roots, and once Ibn al-Qayyim's son confronted him about this and said that even if Ibn Kathir swore to high heavens that he wasn't upon the creed of Ibn Taymiyya, people wouldn't believe him, because his sheikh (teacher) is Ibn Taymiyya. 852/1449) reported in his al-Durar al-Kaminah (The Hidden Pearls: on the Notables of the Eighth Islamic Century), that a dispute between Ibn Kathir and the son of Ibn al-Qayyim al-Jawziyya broke out over teaching position. 771/1370) in his Tabaqat al-Shafi`iyya al-Kubra (Comprehensive Biographical dictionary of Shafi'ites) that a condition to teach at the al-Ashrafiyya was to be Ash'ari in ' aqida. He belonged to the Shafi'i school of Islamic jurisprudence and was a professor of Hadith at the House of Hadith known as ' Dar al-Hadith al-Ashrafiyya' which was exclusively established for those aligned to the Ash'ari school of creed, as mentioned by Taj al-Din al-Subki (d.His creed in modern times has been a subject of disagreement between the Ash'aris and the Salafists.ДЄsh'aris claim him to be their own citing: He was buried next to his teacher Ibn Taymiyya. He died in February 1373 ( AH 774) in Damascus. He attributes his blindness to working late at night on the Musnad of Ahmad Ibn Hanbal in an attempt to rearrange it topically rather than by narrator. In 1366, he rose to a professorial position at the Great Mosque of Damascus. In 1345 he was made preacher ( khatib) at a newly built mosque in Mizza, the hometown of his father-in-law. He married the daughter of Al-Mizzi, one of the foremost Syrian scholars of the period, which gave him access to the scholarly elite. Upon completion of his studies he obtained his first official appointment in 1341, when he joined an inquisitorial commission formed to determine certain questions of heresy. He was taught by Ibn Taymiyya and Al-Dhahabi. He was born in Mijdal, a village on the outskirts of the city of Busra, in the east of Damascus, Syria, around about AH 701 (AD 1300/1). His family trace its lineage back to the tribe of Quraysh.

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