❀ The Reality of Tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās – Scholarly Critique of
Compiled by: Tauheed.com
ٱلْـحَمْدُ لِلَّهِ وَحْدَهٗ، وَٱلصَّلَاةُ وَٱلسَّلَامُ عَلَىٰ مَنْ لَا نَبِيَّ بَعْدَهٗ، أَمَّا بَعْدُ:
◈ Introduction
The book "Tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās" known as Tanwīr al-Miqbās min Tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās is widely circulated and attributed to ʿAbdullāh ibn ʿAbbās (RA), the famed cousin of the Prophet ﷺ and early master of Qur'anic interpretation. However, upon rigorous analysis, it becomes evident that this attribution is false. The tafsīr is largely a fabrication, falsely attributed through a chain of narrators riddled with weak, abandoned, and lying individuals, particularly relying on the narration pattern:
Muḥammad ibn Marwān → al-Kalbī → Abū Ṣāliḥ → Ibn ʿAbbās
◈ The Chain of Narration in
"أخبرنا عبد الثقة ابن المأمور الهروي قال أخبرنا أبي قال أخبرنا أبو عبد الله قال أخبرنا أبو عبيد الله محمود بن محمد الرازي قال أخبرنا عمار بن عبد المجيد الهروي قال أخبرنا علي بن إسحاق السمرقندي عن محمد بن مروان عن الكلبي عن أبي صالح عن ابن عباس..."
Tafsīr Tanwīr al-Miqbās, p. 2This chain includes several discredited narrators, making the tafsīr unreliable and forged.
◈ Reasons for Declaring Tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās (Tanmīr al-Miqbās) Fabricated
➊ Abū Ṣāliḥ Bādhām (ضعیف راوی)
Criticisms from major scholars:
- Imām al-Bukhārī: Listed him in al-Ḍuʿafā’
Tuḥfat al-Aqwiyā’, p. 21 - Abū Ḥātim al-Rāzī: "His ḥadīth is written, but not used as evidence."
al-Jarḥ wa’t-Taʿdīl, 2/432 - al-Nasā’ī: "Weak Kufan"
al-Ḍuʿafā’ wal-Matrūkīn, p. 72 - al-Dhahabī: "Weak in ḥadīth"
Dīwān al-Ḍuʿafā’, p. 544 - Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī: "Weak, sends disconnected reports"
Taqrīb at-Tahdhīb, no. 634 - Ibn Ḥibbān: "He attributed narrations to Ibn ʿAbbās that he never heard from him."
al-Majrūḥīn, 1/185
Conclusion: The narration is disconnected (munqaṭiʿ) and unauthentic.➋ Muḥammad ibn al-Sāʾib al-Kalbī (کذاب و متروک)
This narrator is rejected and accused of fabrication:
- Sulaimān at-Taymī: “There were two liars in Kufa; one of them was al-Kalbī.”
al-Jarḥ wa’t-Taʿdīl, 7/270 – Sound chain - Sufyān ath-Thawrī: “Kalbī admitted: Any narration you hear from me saying ‘from Abū Ṣāliḥ from Ibn ʿAbbās’ is a lie. Do not narrate it.”
al-Jarḥ wa’t-Taʿdīl, 7/271 – Sound chain
Conclusion: Acknowledged liar and the centerpiece of this chain.➌ Muḥammad ibn Marwān as-Suddī aṣ-Ṣaghīr (متروک و کذاب)
- Ibn Numayr: “He is a liar.”
al-Ḍuʿafā’ al-Kabīr by al-ʿUqaylī, 4/136 - Imām al-Bukhārī: “He is abandoned; his ḥadīth is not recorded.”
at-Tārīkh al-Kabīr, 1/232; al-Ḍuʿafā’ aṣ-Ṣaghīr, p. 350
Conclusion: Abandoned and severely discredited narrator.◈ Opinions of Prominent Scholars
✔ Imām Aḥmad ibn Ḥanbal
“Al-Kalbī's tafsīr, from beginning to end, is based on lies. Reading it is not permissible.”
Izālat ar-Rayb, pp. 316–317; Tadhkirat al-Mawḍūʿāt, p. 82✔ Aḥmad Razā Khān (Barelvi Scholar)
“This is not the tafsīr of Ibn ʿAbbās (RA); it is based on lies, for its chain is known as silsilat al-kadhib (a chain of lies).”
Fatāwā Razawiyyah, Vol. 29, p. 396✔ Justice Muḥammad Taqī ʿUthmānī
“This book is wrongly attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās. The scholars of ḥadīth have labelled its chain as silsilat al-kadhib, and it cannot be relied upon.”
ʿUlūm al-Qurʾān, p. 458◈ Conclusion
The so-called Tafsīr of Ibn ʿAbbās, known as Tanwīr al-Miqbās, is fabricated and unauthentic. Its chain is weak and broken, and its key narrators are liars, fabricators, and rejected authorities. It is not permissible to rely upon this tafsīr for religious or scholarly argumentation. The consensus of ḥadīth scholars, both classical and contemporary, is that it is a forgery falsely attributed to Ibn ʿAbbās (RA).وَٱللّٰهُ أَعْلَمُ بِٱلصَّوَابِ
May Allah guide us to authentic knowledge and protect us from fabricated reports. Āmīn.
