التأليف في التفسير وتراجم القرآن لدى علماء شمال نيجريا قديمًا وحديثًا

The Writing of Tafsīr and the Translation of Qurʾān Amongst Southern Nigerian Scholars in the Past and Present

Abstract

The paper discusses the history of tafsīr and Qur’anic translation in Northern Nigeria. It is divided into two parts. The first one is concerend with the period of Shaykh ʿUsmān bin Fodio. It highlights the most famous book of tafsīr in the time of Shaykh ʿUsman that was written by his brother and the student of Sheikh ʿAbdullahi bin Fodio. He wrote three books of tafsīr in Arabic language, the two of them are complete qur’anic tafsīr. The largest among them is Ḍiyāʾ al-Taʾwīl fī Maʿānī al-Tanzīl. It was published in four moderate volumes. The second book, titled Kifāyat Ḍuʿafāʾ al-Sūdān, was also published in one volume. The third one is not a complete tafsīr. It is a compilation of some prophetic tafsīr of some Qur’anic verses titled: Nayl al-Suʾl min Tafāsīr al-Rasūl. The second part of the paper elaborates the nature of tafsīr methodology in the books of Shaykh Abubakar Mahmud Gumi which were among the renowned books in the region. He composed two books. The first one is a Qur’anic rranslation into Hausa language and  it was published in one big volume. The second book is a complete Qur’anic tafsīr in Arabic language titled Radd al-Adhhān Ilā Maʿānī al-Qurʾān and it was published in two volumes. Another writer in this field was Sheikh Muhammad Nasir Kabara. He wrote a tafsīr in Hausa language titled Ihsān al-Mannān Fi Iẓhār Khabāyā al-Qurʾān. It was published in four volumes. The paper explicates the methodology of writing of all the authors above.