Important scientific benefits from Tafsir al-Qurtubi

Dr. Muhammad Saeed Al-Qahtani Introduction Indeed, praise be to Allah, we praise Him, seek His help, and ask for His guidance. Blessings and peace be upon the most perfect and complete blessings, upon the noblest of prophets and messengers, our Prophet Muhammad, and upon his family and companions altogether. To proceed: Collecting benefits, restricting stray thoughts, gathering pearls of knowledge and its benefits, is the habit of the student of knowledge. In this, there is much goodness for him and for those who review what is written. It was said long ago: The banner of knowledge is hunting, and writing is its leash. Tie your prey with firm ropes. It is foolish to hunt a gazelle and leave it free among people. The interpretation of Imam Al-Qurtubi is among the greatest scientific encyclopedias, which contains abundant knowledge in all sciences: tafsir, jurisprudence, hadith, language, and others. I have lived with this tafsir for ten years, accompanied by virtuous brothers with whom we studied this tafsir. Each of us would note what he saw as important benefits from the various sciences contained in this important book in its field. We began this study in 1421 AH / 7th month / 1st day, and completed it fully in 1431 AH / 9th month / 15th day. I was overwhelmed with grief, pain, and burning passion over the pitfalls into which this great imam fell in the chapter of the Oneness of Allah’s Names and Attributes! He was affected by the Mu'tazila’s delusion, which only affirms Allah with seven attributes through rational evidence, and interprets the other attributes of Allah, claiming that manifesting them as they appear is akin to likeness with the Creator! I used to tell my brothers while studying this tafsir: "Subhanallah, how can a great scholar like this imam fall into such deadly mistakes?" The scholars of the Salaf before him, in affirming what Allah affirmed for Himself and denying what He denied for Himself, did so with affirmation without resemblance and with divine transcendence without nullification, as Allah said: "There is nothing like unto Him, and He is the Hearing, the Seeing" [Ash-Shura: 11]. Imam Al-Qurtubi was very stern in denying the heretical Sufis, the ones with the robes and reliance (tawakkul). His critique of them was scholarly and sound. He was also very stern in denying the Qadariyyah, the Mu'tazila, and the Rafidah. I wish he had followed the methodology of the Ummah in the chapter of Allah’s Attributes. But we ask Allah to forgive us and him. The Islamic nation has, throughout its history, been afflicted by the delusion of the Ash'ariyah, and the Salafi creed has been fought, until this delusion swept away many distinguished scholars who had a significant status in the history of this nation. Allah blessed me and my brothers with reading this great book entirely, from beginning to end, over these ten years. We used to meet every two weeks, each of us presenting to his brothers what he had noted of benefits and superior scientific pearls. I wanted to publish these benefits, hoping that Allah will benefit through the author, the writer, the collector, and the reader. I relied on the new edition, which was published with the investigation of His Excellency Dr. Abdullah Al-Turki and his team of researchers and investigators. It is, to my knowledge, the best copy available. It has been issued so far in the service of this great book. I ask Allah to grant success to all in what He loves and is pleased with. And may Allah’s blessings and peace be upon our Prophet Muhammad, his family, and his companions.