فتح البيان في مقاصد القرآن

Fath al-Bayan fi Maqasid al-Quran

A substantial commentary on the Qurʾān by the Indian scholar and ruler of Bhopal Abū al-Ṭayyib Muḥammad Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān al-Qinnawjī (1248–1307 AH / 1832–1890). Fatḥ al-Bayān is a comprehensive tafsīr combining transmitted interpretation (riwāyah) with linguistic and scholarly analysis (dirāyah), and reflects Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān’s extensive engagement with the classical exegetical tradition.

A central feature of the work is the author’s emphasis on tafsīr bi’l-maʾthūr. In explaining the verses he gives particular importance to the Sunnah, the interpretations of the Companions and Tābiʿūn, and the statements of the early authorities, while also drawing upon the explanations of Arabic linguists and earlier mufassirūn. He sought at the same time to avoid unreliable Isrāʾīliyyāt, unsupported stories, excessive sectarian disputation and lengthy theological controversies that he considered distractions from the principal purpose of tafsīr.

The commentary also gives considerable attention to Arabic vocabulary and linguistic usage, variant interpretations, Asbāb al-Nuzūl, ḥadīth and āthār, questions of creed, and the legal rulings derived from Qurʾānic verses. Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān discusses a broad range of fiqh questions and their evidences rather than restricting himself consistently to the rulings of a single legal school. The resulting work is both a running commentary on the Qurʾān and a substantial repository of earlier exegetical scholarship.

Ṣiddīq Ḥasan Khān benefited extensively from al-Shawkānī’s Fatḥ al-Qadīr, incorporating much of its material while adding further benefits and selections from other sources. His own work nevertheless has a recognisable emphasis on transmitted tafsīr and on selecting material that he considered firmly grounded in revelation, early interpretation and the principles of the Arabic language.

One of the major Qurʾānic works produced in the Indian subcontinent during the nineteenth century, Fatḥ al-Bayān fī Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān is particularly useful for readers seeking an extensive Arabic tafsīr that brings together Prophetic traditions, early exegetical reports, linguistic interpretation and juristic discussion.