Ismail Kamdar – What is Thematic Tafsir?

			hamdu Lillahi Rabbil alameen wa Salatu was Salam O Allah Nabila Karim, Allah Allah, he was heavy
marine. Welcome to this live stream on dematic tafsir. And the reason why I put this together today
is to just explain the concept behind
		

			what is the magic taapsee? How does it work? Right? So many of you may or may not be familiar with
my book themes of the Quran,
		

			which is a summary of the themes of the different use of the Quran. And
		

			a question I get quite often about this book is what do we mean by themes? What these themes have to
do with the fear? Right, his concept of themes is something
		

			that is relatively new in the field of Tafseer is a relatively new methodology of the field. And
what we're going to discuss in this video today is, what is the magic of zero? How does it work?
What are the benefits of it? And how does it fit in with the overall scheme of the seal?
		

			So to begin,
		

			the offseason is a very broad field. There are many, many approaches to tafsir. It's not just one
way of doing things.
		

			I mean, I have a large subsea library behind me. And if you look at those books, they represent a
variety of methodologies. So just looking now, we have a good to be, which is a pick based approach
to tafsir. We have even assur which is more rational approach to tafsir. We have a poverty, which is
more integration based approach to tafsir, and many, many others. The point being that different
authors have different methodologies of doing tafsir. And most of these methodologies are acceptable
as long as they meet certain conditions. Now, the methodology of the Matic Tafseer, or discussing
the themes of the Quran, this is relatively new, compared to most of the other methods of Tafseer.
		

			So there's a history of how to see it has evolved over time, that in the time of the early scholars
of seed was primarily narration based, meaning people would simply say, this is how the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wasallam interpreted this verse. This is what the Sahaba said about this verse. It
was simply conveying narrations from those before them. And this became the primary methodology of
Tafseer called obscene by narration. This is the method you will find in books like Tafseer of
poverty and even Kassir that they rely primarily on narrations. Now, this is important, this is
good. This is beneficial. This is foundational, really, the foundations of deceit is narration based
		

			up here. But a lot of people misunderstand and they think that this is it. This is the be all and
end all of that it's only about narration, and nothing else. It's just narrated based off the, you
know, rather narrated of See, it gives us our foundation, it gives us our limits, it lets us know,
what can be interpreted further and what can't, what are the limits of opinions, what verses have
specific set meanings and which verses are open to interpretation, they give us the fundamentals of
Tafseer. Beyond that, scholars can go deeper into any verse of the Quran in a variety of different
ways. So over the years, scholars have developed their own methodologies of Tafseer, for diving
		

			deeper into verses for diving deeper into Sutras, which may not have been explained by those who
came before them. And these methodologies initially became known as Tafseer by opinion. Now, the
word of see by opinion is again a misunderstood term in our times, people hear the word opinion, and
they run away. They think that opinion means that the individual is just making up his own Tafseer.
That's not what my opinion is. My opinion is actually, you know, if you want to use a more specific
term, it's actually true HD heart is actually a HD hardy approach to tafsir, where the scholar is
using the principles of Islam to derive new rulings on deeper understandings of the verse of the
		

			Quran. So it's not something that's just pulled out of nowhere. It's done using a proper
methodology. So in recent times, the great Tafseer by even a sure is a good example of opinion based
upon the many early examples of this are the most famous being the tipsy by force routing or Razi.
		

			These are the MA who applied HD hard to the field of tafsir. And they use this to arrive at deeper
conclusions about the vs.
		

			After that, other scholars develop their own approaches as well. So we have fick based tafsir, which
is the methodology of Alcor to be and many others, where they take a verse of the Quran, and the
extract from it every possible physical ruling that they can think of. So they just go into the
field of each and every verse, they just extract fit upon fit. So there could be one verse of the
Quran, and he could derive 19 to 23 rulings from that purse. So this is called a fig based approach
to tafsir. Now, the approach we're looking at today is something relatively new, something that's
only become popular in the past 100 years, and that's called a thematic approach should have seen
		

			the Matic Tafseer. So again, when people hear this is something new that here this is something
that's only become popular in recent times, the first reaction is to run away the first reaction is
that this is some kind of innovation, or some kind of changing the religion. In reality, it is none
of this, it is simply a continuation or a new way of doing tafsir to HD heart. And it's really
building off the writings of early tafsir by opinion scholars in a new way. So what is the Matic
tafsir? And why did it come about the Matic tafsir refers to data approach where a scholar looks at
a at the relationship between different verses of the Quran. So why did this come about this came
		

			about because they are
		

			there is a lot of writings by the enemies of Islam, the
		

			the islamophobes, the evangelists. Basically those people, the orientalist who are determined to
make the Quran look at a lot of their writings revolve around this idea that the Quran is
incoherent, that he just jumps from topic to topic, without any actual benefit without any actual
flow that it's like, talking about about debt, then it's talking about divorce, and it's talking
about jihad, and he's talking about a lot. It's like just jumping from topic to topic. So the claim
made by the enemies of Islam, is that the Quran is incoherent. And as a response to this claim to so
that to show that the Quran is completely coherent in a miraculous way, beyond human understanding,
		

			in the most subtle ways possible, scholars began to write about the automatic unity of the Quran,
they began to show the link between one verse and another one surah, and another one juice and
another, to show how it flows like a conversation, how the jump from topic to topic is not
		

			neutral, it's not random. It's all done in a very wise manner. And this approach that developed over
the past 100 years, became known as de Matic.
		

			And I myself love this approach. I love this approach. So much I wrote this book about it called
themes of the Quran, we essentially for each of the Jews of the Quran, I summarize what is the core
theme, relating all of the verses and sutras in that just that how they all flow together to discuss
a specific topic. So for example, in the second use of the Quran,
		

			for someone just reading it, for the first time, it seems to be just a random group of verses, some
talking about some topic, others talking about other topics. But if you take time to reflect, you
will realize that the second use of the Quran focuses on the Sharia the laws of Islam, and
everything in it focuses on law. So the laws are listed the detailed, they are stories about those
who obey the law, those who disobeyed the law, it's all related to the laws of Islam. It's the same
towards the end of the Quran. If you look, for example, at the 27 years, again, it seems to be a
group of disconnected sutras and disconnected verses on a variety of topics. But if you think deeper
		

			and you reflect, you will realize that the 27 Jews is all about the afterlife with a particular
focus on the descriptions of Paradise and *. So this reflection on what connects the verses in
sutras to each other and how the Quran flows. This is called the Matic tafsir. Now it's not entirely
new, it's not entirely new, you will find elements of this in classical Tafseer books like the
writings of accordion arrazi that he does occasionally discuss how certain verses are linked to
other verses. You also see this in the class classical methodology of of dividing the Quran into
Makkah and Medina and we can actually call that a precursor to dematic tafsir because essentially
		

			how is the division of the Quran into Makkah and Medina and then it's done
		

			By showing the themes of makansutra and the themes of Medina and sutras and how they differ from
each other. So from the very beginning, it's very clear that stories of the prophets is a Moroccan
theme. The Sharia is a Medina and theme. A jihad is a Medina team. The monasticon is a Medina team.
So the teams are there from the beginning. And they are recognized by early scholars that they would
mention that this surah discusses jihad. So it must be Medina, this surah focuses on stories of the
Prophet so it must be must be makan. So you can see elements of automatic Tafseer. In early
writings, it's just not the core focus of the book, because this need for it didn't exist yet. The
		

			need for it came about in our times. Now in our times, focusing on the themes of the Quran is
really, really beneficial. Because even when we are trying to teach young people up, see a lot of
them. They want to know what's the link, they want to know, why is this coming up to that? Why is
the surah talking about that? Why is the steward jumping from discussing the story of Musa alayhis
salam to talking about marriage and divorce. So to be able to identify the links and to discuss the
links, this is very, very beneficial. So this is something that scholars in recent times have taken
up the methodology of automatic Tafseer. Unfortunately, most of the books in this field have not
		

			been translated into English. Many of the great works in this field have been written in Urdu, some
of them in Arabic, one there has been translated into English.
		

			My personal favorite is the dramatic commentary on the kuranda, Mohammed Al ghazali. I do have a
copy somewhere here, but I'm not too sure where so I want to reach out for it now. But Mohammed Al
ghazali, his book on this topic is excellent. But again, his book is 700 pages. And knowing that
most people are not going to read a 700 page book on the topic, I went ahead and wrote my own
summary of it. themes of the Quran is only about 80 to 90 pages long. I've written it in this way so
that people can read an entire summary of the of the Quran meanings dramatically in less than a
week. That's really the goal of this book. And if you haven't read the end of the Quran yet, you can
		

			get a copy, I'm actually going to put the link
		

			in the chat box right now.
		

			So
		

			Okay, there you go. The link is up in the chat box. So this book of mine themes of the Quran, I
actually wrote this during the month of Ramadan. And what happened was, this was about six or seven
years ago, I had really fallen in love with this concept of automatic Tafseer. And I wanted to do
something similar for my senior day in Ramadan. So every day during the month of Ramadan, I wrote a
summarize the magic of seal of one sheet of the Quran. And by the end of the month I had the entire
Quran summarized in 30 chapters, put it together as an E book. And it's been available ever since
Alhamdulillah. Many people have benefited from it and I hope that you all will benefit from it too.
		

			Now if you get it from the link attached to the video, you will get it at half price with a bonus
feature with a bonus book. Right? You'll get it at half price with a bonus book. So that's a
		

			that's a Tafseer of the Quran summarized at half price with a bonus dropseed book written a few
years earlier. This is something which I believe everyone can benefit from a hamdulillah whoever has
read it has really thanked me for writing it and ask Allah to accept it from us. And to add it to
our scale of good deeds. The month of Ramadan is less than two months away. And really the thing
that I want all of us to do with this upcoming Ramadan is to connect to the Quran and a deeper
level. Most of us most of us are still on lockdown, right? I mean, one year ago when the when this
lockdown thing started you're always wondering how are we going to get through Ramadan in lockdown
		

			and Subhanallah we are approaching a second Ramadan in lockdown. And it's become almost like a
normal thing for many of us. Many people we love have not made it to see this upcoming Ramadan we
might not make it to see the upcoming yamagami Allah grant us life as long as life is good for us
and grant us or get upon a man when death is better for us. But the reality is we don't know how
many Ramadan's we have left, especially with the rate at which people are leaving this world. And so
for this upcoming Ramadan, I highly recommend that each of us take time to understand the Quran. Not
just to recite it but to understand it, how number one, recite it everyday. Number two, follow a
		

			lecture series about it everyday Dr. Enough lecture series coming up every day in the month of
Ramadan and inshallah I will be involved with one as well this year. I hope so as well and
		

			Number three, and this is where a lot of us fail to do right many of us are reading Quran, many of
us are listening to the lecture series. But number three is so important. The double reflect on the
meanings of the Quran. This is so important. Take time every day. I mean we are in lockdown, we are
at home anyway, take time to just sit and think about the Quran to reflect on it to reflect on how
it relates to you to reflect on how you can can move forward with understanding the Quran and
practicing it and how you can benefit from it. This reflection on the Quran is one of the most
powerful forms of meditation that you can ever do, it can completely transform your life. So make
		

			sure that we all take time everyday in this upcoming Ramadan to reflect on the meanings of the
Quran. So I'm going to take a few questions now if anyone has any questions related to Ramadan, or
tafsir, automatic seal, or any of these topics, you can post in the chat box and I will take it now.
But while waiting for questions, I just want to read the story about how I got involved in this
field. So it goes back to when I was 15 years old. And it was 14 or 15 years old. And I was watching
the latest Medina Rahim Allah has lectured on the Quran, the miracle of miracles. And in this
lecture, Medina Rahim Allah He mentioned how Muslims don't read the Quran, and they don't understand
		

			the Quran. So how are they ever going to live by the Quran? And he mentioned this over and over
again that why are we not understanding the Quran? Why are we not living by the Quran. And at that
point in time, I mean, I was 15 years old, I was in my third year of the program, I was studying
Islam, but I realized I've been studying Vic, I've been studying Hadees I've been studying
		

			all these other subjects. I've never read the Quran understanding from cover to cover. And I found
that to be troublesome. So that Ramadan, I remember was at my grandparents house that Ramadan, my
mother was going for O'Meara. But I took it upon myself I got hold of the translation of the Quran.
And the only translation I could get hold of at that time was the Abdullah Yusuf Ali Translation, I
still have the same copy with me today.
		

			I sat with it.
		

			And every day, for the month of Ramadan when I was 15 years old, I recited one sheet of the Quran
and I read the translation of the entire Jews as well and I read the commentary as well. And by the
end of that Ramadan, I was transformed, I was completely transformed by what I had read it just it
just completely blew me away, you know, to realize that we have this Quran with us and and we've
never truly really understood it. It was a awakening for me at the age of 15. And every Ramadan
since I have made it a mission for myself to recite the Quran to understand the Quran deeper, and to
share that understanding with others. And these ebooks that I've put together these video series
		

			that I put together, they're all just a continuation of that it started back with a one Ramadan with
a one copy of the of the Quran and reciting it. And this has now become an annual thing that we do
every Ramadan inshallah. And big dog, Allah gives the reward of that to Medina for him a whole lot
because it was really his lecture that inspired me to start reading the Quran with understanding.
And Allah knows best what direction my life would have headed in if I hadn't done that at the age of
15. So Allah have mercy on him and accept his good deeds and overlook his mistakes. So we come to
the end of this video. Again, a reminder, if you click the link, you can get a copy of themes of the
		

			Quran with a free second ebook at half price. And I hope that you find it beneficial.
		

			As we don't have any questions I will close off now I really hope you all found this feature
beneficial, and all understand now what is the magic seal, how it works, how it fits into the
broader scheme of things, and how it doesn't really contradict the the methodology of the seal.
Right. So I actually a couple of questions coming through now. The first question is that can we
make new seals in the 21st century? Isn't all Tafseer already done and complete? Well, that's
actually a very good question. Right? So the question is, can we bring up new seals in the 21st
century? Aren't all of seals complete? Well, islamically it's not the 21st century yet it's still
		

			the 14th century. So inshallah we still got six more centuries between before the 21st. But I get
what you're saying.
		

			Understand that the Quran is Allah speech and the depth of Allah speech is infinite. And therefore,
I don't think it's possible to ever, ever stop having YouTube series because Ally's speech is so
miraculous in nature. They really believe anything.
		

			here until the end of time, Allah will inspire people with deeper and deeper meanings of the Quran.
That
		

			this is just the nature of the Quran, that one verse can have 1000s of pages of Tafseer. And every
generation is discovering new meanings to that verse, because of the infinite nature of Alaska law.
So, it is perfectly plausible in our times to have a new depth see the deeper depth see, that does
not this is the point it does not contradicted the things that came before it simply builds upon it.
And even a short book is the best example of this right? If you if you look at the shelf behind me,
at the very top shelf, on one hand, it's good to be on the other side is even assured, even assured
step scene was written less than a century ago, right in the 20th century of the of the Gregorian
		

			calendar. And it is considered by everybody I know in the field of Tafseer, as one of the greatest
seals ever written. But this was written in the 20th century. This is a modern book, a modern work,
right? It's 30 volumes long, it covers the entire Quran, it brings new new in depth explanation of
verses that people didn't think about before. It is completely possible for every generation, for
whomever Allah wills to bless with a deeper understanding of the Quran, or perhaps simply with an
understanding that is relevant to their times. So perhaps their topics in our times that people
before us did not write about, and our sins can reflect on that as well. Right. The second question
		

			that came through is,
		

			what are the limits of automatic deposit? How does the author know that they are staying within the
limits of what is orthodox? Again? Excellent question. The limits of of any form of Tafseer Okay, is
is that obscene binarization. So I mentioned this at the beginning of the video, that our foundation
of subsea is to proceed by integration. This is the foundation, what has been narrated to us from
the practice of law, so many sahaabah this forms the foundation, the base, any Tafseer we do beyond
that is HD heart, and the heart cannot contradict the narrations, they can simply build upon them.
So as long as the Tafseer by opinion, or the ficky tafsir, or the automatic Tafseer, or the
		

			scientific Pepsi or whatever other methodology of Tafseer, as long as it is following a correct HD
hardy methodology proper tool, as long as it's not contradicting generated tafsir as long as you're
not changing the religion, it is acceptable, it is acceptable because scholars understand that the
Quran is that deep, that people can just keep deriving deeper and deeper meanings from it. And so,
it is completely acceptable to today to write a dramatic deceit of the Quran, autopsy by opinion or
based on fake or any of these other methods of Tafseer as long as you are not contradicting the
foundations, as long as you're not going against that which has been repeated about that verse about
		

			that surah and as long as you're not using a methodology that is an Islamic, so this is kinetic
tafsir and to thank you all again, for your time and for your questions. May Allah accept this from
us Jazakallah Pharaoh until next time, was Salaam Alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh