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Abu al-Fida Isma'il ibn Umar ibn Kathir al-Dimashqi (; ), known simply as Ibn Kathir, was an Arab Islamic Exegesis, historian and scholar. An expert on ( exegesis), (history) and (Islamic jurisprudence), he is considered a leading authority on Sunni Islam.
Born in Busra, Mamluk Sultanate, Ibn Kathir's teachers include al-Dhahabi and Ibn Taymiyya. He wrote several books, including a fourteen-volume universal history titled ().Ludwig W. Adamec (2009), Historical Dictionary of Islam, p. 138. Scarecrow Press. .
His renowned , , is recognized for its critical approach to , especially among Western Muslims and Wahhabism. His methodology largely derives from his teacher Ibn Taymiyya, and differs from that of other earlier renowned exegetes such as Tabari. He adhered to the Athari school of Islamic theology which rejected rationalistic Islamic theology in favor of strict textualism in the interpretation of the Quran and the hadith.
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 married the daughter of Al-Mizzi, one of the foremost Syrian scholars of the period, which gave him access to the scholarly elite. In 1345 he was made preacher ( khatib) at a newly built mosque in Mizza, the hometown of his father-in-law. In 1366, he rose to a professorial position at the Great Mosque of Damascus.
In later life, he became blind. 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.
He died in February 1373 (Anno Hegirae 774) in Damascus. He was buried next to his teacher Ibn Taymiyya.
Taha Jabir Alalwani, Professor and President of Cordoba University in Ashburn, Virginia maintains that these traditionalistic views of Ibn Kathir claimed by Salafists were rooted further to the generation of Sahaba Salaf, where Zubayr ibn al-Awwam, one of The ten to whom Paradise was promised also taught this view. Contemporary researchers notes that these anti rationalistic, anti Ash'arite methods of Ibn Kathir shared with his teacher Ibn Taimiyyah; were proven in his tafseer regarding the Day of Resurrection and Hypocrisy in Qur'an.
Ibn Kathir states:
These words from Ibn Kathir were argued by Athari scholarship as proof of Ibn Kathir not being Ash'arite. According to Salafi Muslims, since Ibn Kathir does not use logical rationale to reject anthropomorphism, he believed the attributes of God cannot be likened to creatures, while simultaneously affirming the verses and hadith about God's Attributes such as residence above His Throne and His Exaltation above all creatures. Salafis rebut Ash'arite claims as Formal fallacy regarding Ibn Kathir tafsir, and other claims such as four madhhab schools as supporting Ash'ari and Maturidites are fabrications. For this, they employ the reports from Ahmad ibn Hanbal who rejected the views of those who were allegedly deemed as proto Asharites and Maturidites, the Mutakallim, and deems them as not in Ahl as Sunnah teaching. According to Livnat Holtzman, historically the school of Ahl al-Hadith championed by none other than Ibn Kathir's master, Ibn Taymiyyah, had successfully crushed the interrogation and accusation from Ash'arite rational (Kalam) argumentations during the 13th AD century. while modern scholars such as Marzuq at Tarifi, and Sa'id Musfir al-Qahtani further posited that Abu al-Hasan al-Ashʿari, the eponym of Asharite school, himself was not fond of his "Asharite followers" and pointed out on his book, al-ibāna, that Abu al Hasan was teaching the method similar to Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Kathir, and rejected the Ahl al Kalam and Maturidites such as Al-Razi.
In summary, Jon Hoover outlined that Ibn Kathir stance according to scholars were orthodox traditionists and rejected the view of Mutakallims, just like the view of Salafi Muslims and their predecessor Ahl al-Hadith school.
While his tafsir had only marginal impact in the premodern period,Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4) (2 Vols): Volume I: Essays / Volume II: Transliteration and Facsimile "Register of Books" (Kitāb Al-kutub), MS Török F. 59; Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Könyvtára Keleti Gyűjtemény (Oriental Collection of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences). (2019). Niederlande: Brill. p. 281 it 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.Andreas Görke and Johanna Pink Tafsir and Islamic Intellectual History Exploring the Boundaries of a GenreOxford University Press in association with The Institute of Ismaili Studies, London p. 478 Ibn Kathir's Tafsir work has played major impact in the contemporary movements of Islamic reform. Salafi movement reformer Jamal al-Din Qasimi's Qurʾānic exegsis Maḥāsin al-taʾwīl was greatly influenced by Ibn Taymiyyah and Ibn Kathīr, which is evident from its emphasis on Hadith, Scripturalist approaches, the rejection of Isrāʾīliyyāt, and a polemical attitudes against the Ahl al-raʾy.
Creed
The records from modern researchers such as Taha Jabir Alalwani, Yazid Abdu al Qadir al-Jawas, and Barbara Stowasser has demonstrated important similarities between Ibn Kathir and his influential master Ibn Taymiyyah, such as rejecting logical exegesis of Qur'an, advocating a militant jihad and adhering to the renewal of one singular Ummah.R. Hrair Dekmejian Islam in Revolution: Fundamentalism in the Arab World Syracuse University Press, 1995, p. 40 In contemporary scholarship, Ibn Kathir is widely regarded as an anti-rationalistic, hadith oriented scholar who adhered to the Atharism, much like his mentor Ibn Taymiyya.Barbara Freyer Stowasser Women in the Qur'an, Traditions, and Interpretation Oxford University Press 1994 According to Jane McAuliffe in regards of Qur'anic exegesis, Ibn Kathir uses methods contrary to former Sunni scholars, and followed largely the methodology of Ibn Taymiyyah.Karen Bauer Gender Hierarchy in the Qur'an: Medieval Interpretations, Modern Responses Cambridge University Press 2015 p. 115 Barbara Freyer contends that this anti-rationalistic, traditionalistic and hadith oriented approaches held by Ibn Kathir were shared not only by Ibn Taymiyyah, but also by Ibn Hazm, Bukhari independent Madhhab, and also scholars from Jariri, and Zahiri Maddhabs. According to Christian Lange, although he was a Shafi, he was closely aligned with Damascene Hanbalism. David L. Johnston described him as "the traditionist and Ash'arite Ibn Kathir".
"People have said a great deal on this topic and this is not the place to expound on what they have said. 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" Rather this affair is like what the Grand Shaykh of Imam Bukhari Shaykh Naeem ibn Hamaad Khazaa'i said "Whosoever likens Allah to his Creation has done Kufr (disbelieved) and whosoever negates what Allah describes Himself with has also done Kufr (Disbelieved) There is nothing with what Allah describes Himself with nor his Prophet describes Allah with from likening Allah to his Creation (tashbeeh). Whosoever affirms for Allah what has reached Us from the Truthful Ayahs (verses) and Correct Hadeeth (Prophetic narrations) on the way that is befitting the Majesty of Allah while negating from Allah all defects indeed He has traveled the way of guidance." (Tafsir Ibn Kathir 7:54)
(2025). 9789795926948, Pustaka al Kautsar; Tim Riset Majelis Tinggi Urusan Islam Mesir (Egyptian Islamic Affairs High Council Research Team). . ISBN 9789795926948
View of some Ash'arite scholars
In the modern times, Ibn Kathir's creed have sometimes been raised as a subject of disagreement between the Ash'arites, successor of Ahl al-Ra'y rationalist school and the Salafis, theorized by Jon Hoover as successor of Ahl al-Hadith traditionist school. Some Ash'arite theologians have claimed Ibn Kathir as an Ash'ari, pointing out some of his beliefs and sayings reported from his works, and to the fact that:
9789079294220, Sunni Publications. . ISBN 9789079294220
(1997). 9782745126726, Dar al-Kutub al-'Ilmiyya (The House of Scientific Books). . ISBN 9782745126726
Works
Tafsir
Ibn Kathir wrote a famous commentary on the Qur'an named Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm better known as Tafsir Ibn Kathir 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. Many modern 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.Oliver Leaman The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia Taylor & Francis 2006 p. 632 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. His suspicion on Isra'iliyyat possibly derived from Ibn Taimiyya's influence, who discounted much of the exegetical tradition since then.Aysha A. Hidayatullah Feminist Edges of the Qur'an Oxford University Press 2014 p. 25 Deviating from the methods of his teacher however, Ibn Kathir also supplements the exegetical material with his own commentary.Treasures of Knowledge: An Inventory of the Ottoman Palace Library (1502/3-1503/4) (2 Vols): Volume I: Essays / Volume II: Transliteration and Facsimile "Register of Books" (Kitāb Al-kutub), MS Török F. 59; Magyar Tudományos Akadémia Könyvtára Keleti Gyűjtemény (Oriental Collection of the Library of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences). (2019). Niederlande: Brill. p. 281
(2025). 9780199696703, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199696703 From the 1920s onwards, Wahhabi scholars also contributed immensely to popularisation of ḥadīth-oriented hermeneutics and exegeses, such as Ibn Kathīr's and Al-Baghawi's Quran commentaries and Ibn Taymiyya's al-Muqaddima fī uṣūl al-tafsīr, through printing press. The Wahhābī promotion of Ibn Taymiyya's and Ibn Kathīr's works through print publishing during the early twentieth century emerged instrumental in making these two scholars popular in the contemporary period and imparted a robust impact on modern exegetical works. (2025). 9780199696703, Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780199696703
In Western academic discourse
Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm is controversial in western academic circles. Henri Laoust regards it primary as a philology work and "very elementary". Norman Calder describes it as narrow-minded, dogmatic, and skeptical against the intellectual achievements of former exegetes. His concern is limited to rate the Quran by the corpus of Hadith and is the first, who flatly rates Jewish sources as unreliable, while simultaneously using them, just as prophetic hadith, selectively to support his prefabricated opinion.Johanna Pink Sunnitischer Tafsir in der modernen islamischen Welt: Akademische Traditionen, Popularisierung und nationalstaatliche Interessen Brill, 2010 p. 40 (German) Otherwise, Jane Dammen McAuliffe regards this tafsir as "deliberately and carefully selected, whose interpretation is unique to his own judgment to preserve, that he regards as best among his traditions."Johanna Pink Sunnitischer Tafsir in der modernen islamischen Welt: Akademische Traditionen, Popularisierung und nationalstaatliche Interessen Brill, 2010 p. 40 (German)
Unabridged English translations
Hadith
See also
Notes
External links
Categories: 1301 Births, 1373 Deaths, 14th-century Syrian Historians, Hadith Scholars, Shafi'is, Syrian Muslim Scholars Of Islam, Quranic Exegesis Scholars, Atharis, Proto-salafists, Theologians From The Mamluk Sultanate, 14th-century Muslim Scholars Of Islam, 14th-century Jurists, Biographical Evaluation Scholars, 14th-century Arabic-language Writers, 14th-century Historians
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