Ma'ariful Qur'an () is an eight-volume tafsir (exegesis) of the Quran written by Islamic scholar Mufti Muhammad Shafi (1897–1976). Originally written in Urdu, it is the most prominent work of its author.
Background
About the background and starting of Ma'ariful Qur'an, Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani has written in the foreword of the English translation of the same:
Structure
The work consists of eight volumes. A detailed introduction, included at the beginning of the first volume, focuses on some of the basic issues of the Quran. Notable among them are the wahy, the modes of descent, the chronology of the revelation of the Quran, the first revealed verses (ayah), Meccan and Medinan verses, the preservation of the Quran, the printing of the Quran, the sources of tafsir, Arabic language etc. The work adopts a simple narrative style: first, several verses are provided in the original Arabic with their literal translation in Urdu; it is then followed by subject-wise discussion on almost every important issue. This narrative technique is repeated until the end. Below is the list of volumes and their contents: The first volume – surah Al-Fatiha and surah Al-Baqara The second volume – from surah Al-Imran to surah An-Nisa The third volume – from surah Al-Ma'ida to surah Al-A'raf The fourth volume – from surah Al-Anfal to surah Hud The fifth volume – from surah Yusuf to surah Al-Kahf The sixth volume – from surah Maryam to surah Ar-Rum The seventh volume – from surah Luqman to surah Al-Ahqaf The eighth volume – from surah Muhammad to Surat al-Nas.
Sources
In the introduction of Ma'ariful Qur'an, the author has mentioned the sources he has taken help from in compiling this voluminous work. Some of them are:
Tafsir al-Tabari, by Abu Jafar Muhammad ibn Jarir Tabari
Tafsir ibn Kathir, by Ibn Kathir
Tafsir al-Qurtubi, by Al-Qurtubi
Tafsir al-Bahr al-Muhit, by Abu Hayyan al-Gharnati
Ahkam al-Quran by Al-Jaṣṣās
Tafsir al-Kabir, by Imam Fakhruddin Razi
Dur al-Manthur, by Jalaluddin Al-Suyuti
Tafsir al-Mazhari, by Qadi Thanaullah Panipati
Ruh al-Ma'ani, by Mahmud al-Alusi
Translations
Gujarati
Gujarati Quran અહસનુલ બયાન
Ma'ariful Qur'an has been translated into Gujarati by Ilyas Patel Khanpuri. The complete eight volumes of Maariful Quran Translated into Gujarati language with eleven volumes by Ilyas Patel Khanpuri. Website: http://www.maarifulqurangujarati.com
English
Ma'ariful Qur'an has been translated into English by Prof. Muhammad Hasan Askari and Prof. Muhammad Shamim, and revised by Mufti Muhammad Taqi Usmani. It has been published from Karachi.
Bengali
The complete eight volumes of Ma'ariful Qur'an have been translated into Bengali by Maulana Muhiuddin Khan and published from Dhaka by Islamic Foundation Bangladesh. In 1992, the Saudi government "King Fahd Quran Printing Press" printed 1 million copies of it and distributed it worldwide for free. But later the Saudi government stopped the publication of the tafsir after the relevant scholars informed the Saudi authorities about the errors of Aqeedah and narratives in the translation and interpretation of the tafsir.
See also
List of tafsir works
List of Sunni books
References
External links
Juristic Thought of Mufti Muhammad Shafi and; A Study of Tafsir I Maarif al Quran marif al-Quran of Mufti Muhammad Shafi: An Approach