From Transmission to Interpretation: The Epistemology of Narrative Selection in Tafsir Ibn Kathīr
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.59890/ijist.v4i10.73Keywords:
Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr bi al-Maʾthūr, Qur'anic Exegesis, Narrative Selection, Islamic Epistemology, Interpretive Authority, Qur'anic HermeneuticsAbstract
Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr is a major work of tafsīr bi al-maʾthūr, yet its underlying epistemological principles remain insufficiently explored compared with its sources and interpretive methodology. This study examines how Ibn Kathīr constructs interpretive authority through the evaluation, prioritisation, reconciliation, and rejection of competing narrations. Employing qualitative library research grounded in hermeneutic inquiry, documentary analysis, and qualitative content analysis, the study analyses Tafsīr Ibn Kathīr alongside classical and contemporary scholarship on Qur’anic exegesis, ḥadīth criticism, and Islamic epistemology. The findings reveal an interconnected epistemological hierarchy involving source verification, tarjīḥ (preference among interpretations), reconciliation, and contextual interpretation. These processes underpin the proposed Epistemological Narrative Selection Model, demonstrating that interpretive authority depends on disciplined reasoning as well as textual transmission. The study conceptualises tafsīr bi al-maʾthūr as a coherent epistemological methodology, offering a theoretical contribution to contemporary Qur’anic studies, Islamic epistemology, and classical hermeneutics.
References
Ahmad, M., & Greer, I. (2022). Shāh Walī Allāh in defence of Ibn Taymiyyah: A translation and reading of Risālah fī Manāqib Ibn Taymiyyah wa ’l-Difāʿ ʿanhu. Islamic Studies, 61(1), 25–44. https://doi.org/10.52541/isiri.v61i1.2243
Akhtar, J. (2026). Between Qurʾānic silence and cultural noise: Gendered violence and the misuse of Islamic texts in Pakistani literary narratives. Women’s Studies International Forum. https://doi.org/[DOI not available]
Almaani, J. M. M., Aldgoor, S. M. A., & Al Khalidi, H. S. A. F. (2026). The methodology for resolving conflicts between scientific facts and the interpretations of early Qur’anic exegetes. Journal of Daoist Studies, 19(S11), 111–125. https://journalofdaoiststudies.org/index.php
Anwar, F., & Mika, A. (2025). From exegetical epistemology to Qur’anic structure: Reconstructing Saʿīd Ḥawwā’s reading of Sūrat al-Aʿrāf in al-Asās fī al-Tafsīr. Journal of Ushuluddin and Islamic Thought, 3(2), 166–192.
Ardiansyah, A. F., Tambunan, M. A., Alamsyah, R. P., Akbar, I. A., & Nuruddin, N. (2025). Qiwāmah and epistemic violence: A critical socio-legal analysis of gendered authority in Islamic family law. Mawaddah: Jurnal Hukum Keluarga Islam, 3(2), 605–626. https://doi.org/10.52496/mjhki.v3i2.100
Bin Muhammad Yusoff, M. F., & Ismail, M. Y. (2023). Sunni ḥadīth and continuous commentaries on the eschatological Mahdī: A literary analysis. Religions, 14(4), Article 499. https://doi.org/10.3390/rel14040499
Brown, J. A. C. (2009). Hadith: Muhammad’s legacy in the medieval and modern world. Oneworld Publications.
Brown, T. B., Mann, B., Ryder, N., Subbiah, M., Kaplan, J., Dhariwal, P., Neelakantan, A., Shyam, P., Sastry, G., Askell, A., Agarwal, S., Herbert-Voss, A., Krueger, G., Henighan, T., Child, R., Ramesh, A., Ziegler, D., Wu, J., Winter, C., ... Amodei, D. (2020). Language models are few-shot learners. In Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (Vol. 33, pp. 1877–1901). Curran Associates, Inc.
Calder, N. (1993). Tafsīr from al-Ṭabarī to Ibn Kathīr: Problems in the description of a genre, illustrated with reference to the story of Abraham. In G. R. Hawting & A. K. A. Shareef (Eds.), Approaches to the Qur’an (pp. 101–140). Routledge.
Creswell, J. W., & Poth, C. N. (2018). Qualitative inquiry and research design: Choosing among five approaches (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
Dabengwa, I. M., Raju, J., & Matingwina, T. (2020). Applying interpretive phenomenological analysis to library and information science research on blended librarianship: A case study. Library & Information Science Research, 42(4), Article 101055. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lisr.2020.101055
Fuad, S., Rokhim, A., & Sahin, C. (2025). Qawāʿid al-tafsīr as an epistemological model for valid Qur’anic interpretation: A comparative analysis of Marāḥ Labīd and Al-Miṣbāḥ. Jurnal Lektur Keagamaan.
Gadamer, H.-G. (2004). Truth and method (2nd rev. ed., J. Weinsheimer & D. G. Marshall, Trans.). Continuum.
Görke, A., & Pink, J. (Eds.). (2014). Tafsīr and Islamic intellectual history: Exploring the boundaries of a genre. Oxford University Press.
Halil, H. (2024). Exegesis of the Qurʾān with the biblical and post-biblical literature. HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies, 80(1), Article a10144. https://doi.org/10.4102/hts.v80i1.10144
Hasyim, M. Y. A., Azam, M., Abuhannoud, K. K. A., Al Khalidi, H. S. A. F., Ghuzlan, M. A. T., & Moh’d Badawi, Y. A. (2026). Islamic legal hermeneutics and scientific knowledge: Reinterpreting classical Qur’anic exegesis in contemporary contexts. Nusantara: Journal of Law Studies, 5(2), 1280–1308. https://doi.org/10.66325/nusantaralaw.v5i2.371
Ibn Kathīr, I. ibn ʿUmar. (1999). Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm (S. M. Salāmah, Ed.). Dār Ṭayyibah.
Jacobs, B. (2024). The authenticity crisis. Computer Law & Security Review, 53, Article 105962. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.clsr.2024.105962
Khan, P. W., Byun, Y. C., & Park, N. (2020). A data verification system for CCTV surveillance cameras using blockchain technology in smart cities. Electronics, 9(3), Article 484. https://doi.org/10.3390/electronics9030484
Krippendorff, K. (2018). Content analysis: An introduction to its methodology (4th ed.). SAGE Publications.
McAuliffe, J. D. (Ed.). (2006). The Cambridge companion to the Qur’an. Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/CCOL0521831601
Musa, K. F., Zubairin, A., & Nugraha, E. (2026). Re-examining the consistency of al-Māwardī’s interpretative method on jināyāt verses. AHKAM: Jurnal Ilmu Syariah, 26(1), 81–98. https://doi.org/10.15408/ajis.v26i1.41375Nasrullah, I., Murtadho, M. A. C., & Umami, K. (2026). Textual authority and exegetical method in Salafi tafsir: Reassessing Ibn Kathīr in contemporary Qur’anic studies. QiST: Journal of Quran and Tafseer Studies, 5(1), 369–390. https://doi.org/10.23917/qist.v5i1.15951
Nigar, N. (2020). Hermeneutic phenomenological narrative enquiry: A qualitative study design. Theory and Practice in Language Studies, 10(1), 10–18. https://doi.org/10.17507/tpls.1001.02
Pink, J. (2019). Muslim Qur’anic interpretation today: Media, genealogies and interpretive communities. Equinox Publishing.
Rozikin, M. R. (2026). Al-Farāʾiḍ is half of knowledge: A critical ḥadīth analysis and its juridical implications in Islamic inheritance discourse. Cogent Arts & Humanities, 13(1), Article 2598289.
Saeed, S. (2022). Fights and flights: Two underrated “alternatives” to dominant readings in tafsīr. Journal of Qur’anic Studies, 24(1), 46–88. https://doi.org/10.3366/jqs.2022.0490
Saleh, W. A. (2004). The formation of the classical tafsīr tradition: The Qur’an commentary of al-Thaʿlabī. Brill.
Sani, L. (2026). Defying the hermeneutical universal: The contours of classical Islamic exegesis. Australian Journal of Islamic Studies, 11(2), 1–23.
Schreier, M. (2012). Qualitative content analysis in practice. SAGE Publications.
Shahzad, M. F., Xu, S., Lim, W. M., Yang, X., & Khan, Q. R. (2024). Artificial intelligence and social media on academic performance and mental well-being: Student perceptions of positive impact in the age of smart learning. Heliyon, 10(8), Article e29523. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2024.e29523
Supriyanto, S., & El Habib, E. H. S. A. (2026). Isrāʾīliyyāt narratives in Ibn Kathīr’s tafsīr: Methodological perspectives and their implications for Qur’anic studies. Tanzil: Jurnal Studi Al-Qur’an, 8(2), 233–252. https://doi.org/10.20871/tjsq.v8i2.563
Takim, L. (2026). From tradition to reason: The evolution and development of early Shiʿi exegesis. In A luminous intellect (pp. 3–27). Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004749108_002
Vahedi, M. (2020). A critique of Salafī contributions to the science of ḥadīth. Islamic Studies, 59(2), 145–170. https://doi.org/10.52541/isiri.v59i2.1405
Zed, M. (2008). Metode penelitian kepustakaan. Yayasan Obor Indonesia.
