Interpretation of Cordoba

 

Interpretation of Cordoba

Many are still allergic to Muslim scientists living in the West. This is the impact of feeling inferior and at the same time suspicious of some of us. Minder because the Islamic world is currently far behind from the world of science and technology in the West. Suspicious because it seems that the West is the same as Christianity, and Muslim scientists in the Western world are accused of being the henchmen of orientalists, zionists, liberals, secularists and others, to destroy Islam. Feelings of inferiority and suspicion are further exacerbated by the envy of imagining the pleasures of life for Muslim scientists working in the West.

This misunderstanding occurs because they think that Islam only exists in the Eastern world, and never in the Western world. Even though Islam has always existed in the West, for example in Italy and Spain. Ibn Rushd, the philosopher and fiqh scholar was born in Spain. Ibn Arabi, nicknamed the Greatest Shaykh (al-shaikh al-akbar) in the world of Sufism, was also born in Spain. Imam Syatibi, an expert on maqashid al-shari'ah, is also a Spaniard. Obviously they were all in the Western world.

Cordoba in Spain was once the center of Islamic civilization. There is one scholar who is better known by name based on the city of Cordoba where he was born. Al-Shaykh al-Faqih al-Imam al-'alim al-'amil al-muhaddits Abu Abdullah Muhammad bin Ahmad bin Abi Bakr bin Farh al-Ansari al-Khazraji al-Andalusi al-Qurtubi al-Maliki. He is commonly known by the name Imam al-Quthubi which refers to the Cordoba area – Arabic for Qurthubi. He is the author of the very famous Tafsir al-Qurtubi. He died in 1272 – about 740 years ago.

He behaved as a zahid (practicing zuhud), a very pious, expert in fiqh, interpretation, qiraah and hadith. This is all illustrated in the discussion of the verses of the Qur'an in his commentary. He followed the Maliki school, but he abandoned fanaticism and highly respected differences of opinion. He did not even hesitate to have different views with the Imam of his own school. For example, Imam Malik forbade small children to be the Imam of prayer, while Imam al-Qurtubi allowed it as long as he was a reciter. Imam Malik is of the opinion that if a person forgets to eat and drink while fasting, his fast is invalidated. Imam al-Qurtubi considers it not invalid and agrees with the views of the majority of scholars.

The systematic discussion in the interpretation is as follows: First, include the text of the verse to be interpreted; second, comment on the meaning of complicated vocabulary including the i'rab. Third, put forward the difference qiraat. Fourth, present the opinion of the scholars regarding the verse. Sometimes the name of the cleric is clearly mentioned, sometimes he only uses the word "qila" (it is said). This is where the exciting discussion takes place. Not infrequently Imam al-Qurtubi reveals the problems that arise in the discussion of the verse, then he presents his own opinion ("qultu"). He also included hadiths as supporting interpretations complete with their narrations (this is rarely done by other commentaries). However, he limited himself to presenting the story or stories of the previous people. He is more focused on legal discussions.

In the muqaddimah his commentary is explained at length about his vision as an interpreter, the steps he took, how to read the Qur'an, an explanation of qiraat, Ottoman manuscripts and others. I suggest you read the muqaddimah first before listening to the contents of his commentary. Seddaapp taste!

Here is a quote from Imam al-Qurtubi's advice for all of us students who love the Qur'an:

“So, those who know the Qur'an and seek an understanding of the Qur'an must always fear Allah and be sincere. If they feel they are doing something that is displeasing to Allah, hasten to ask for His forgiveness. Those who understand the Qur'an must take care of themselves more than others, because they have rewards that others do not get."

Furthermore, Imam al-Qurtubi gave a warning not to show off because his voice is good when reading the Qur'an, or his knowledge of the Qur'an is exorbitant so that he wants to be known as a reciter 'or expert on the Qur'an, or feels he understands the most. about Allah's verse.

In essence, this Imam from Cordoba advises us to be sincere when learning, interacting and practicing the Qur'an.