John Wansbrough’un Kur’ân Tefsirlerinin Tasnifine Yönelik Yaklaşımının Köken İddiaları Bağlamında İncelenmesi

This article examines the classification of the material produced by the tradition of Islamic tafsīr. The exegesis of the Qur’an has been classified in various ways. A chronological classification has been made by listing the tafsīrs written from the time the tafsīr first appeared until today. The chronology is followed from the beginning of the Qur’anic exegesis, that is, the Prophet’s interpretation of the Qur’an, to the contemporary exegetical works. The time after the commentary of the Prophet, the Prophet’s companions (ṣaḥāba), and their followers (tābiʿūn) can be classified according to centuries, or it can be classified by taking into account the political and economic events that had an impact on the history of Islamic culture. For example, when we classify the tafsīrs as the tafsīr of the Abbasid period, the tafsīr studies of the Umayyad period, the tafsīr literature created by the Fatimids and the Ayyubids, the tafsīr works written by the Andalusian Umayyads, the tafsīrs developed by the Mamluks and the Ottomans, we will make a chronological classification by centering the regime established by the political authorities. It is also possible to classify tafsīrs based on geography only. For example, a classification can be made as Qur’anic commentaries written in Asia, Africa, America, and Oceania. However, the geographical boundaries that have changed in the historical process may make this classification difficult. When we say that political, cultural, and economic events are taken into account, we are talking about a classification by accepting, for example, the periods of translation activities, crusades, Mongolian invasions, and famines as turning points. Thanks to this classification, it may be easier to examine the effects of these events on tafsīr. At the same time, the historiography of tafsīr can be re-constructed from the perspective of social historiography and cultural historiography.