Summary of the exegesis of Ibn Kathir

Authentication based on the works of Shaykh Ahmad Shakir & Shaykh Muhammad Nasir Ad-Din Al-Albani

Ibn Kathîr's exegesis occupies a unique and uncontested place among Koranic commentaries. Over the centuries, Muslims have adopted it as their main reference, perhaps even surpassing the exegesis of At-Tabarî, considered the Mother of exegesis but less accessible to common believers. The singularity of Ibn Kathîr's work lies in its original methodology, placing it at the top of the references in this field.

The Summary of the Exegesis of Ibn Kathir is more than a summary, in the sense that we have sought to present a synthetic and structured formulation of the work of Ibn Kathir, relying on solid scientific bases and the works of recognized scholars. We can summarize the methodology in a few points;

1- We based ourselves on the Authenticity of the Exegesis of Ibn Kathir which resembles the authentication works of Shaykh Ahmad Shakir, Shaykh Muhammad Nasir Ad-Din Al-Albani and Shaykh Muqbil Ibn Hadi Al-Wadri'i .

2 - From this established basis, we have extracted the most concise and complete formulation of the meaning retained by Ibn Kathir for each verse. Whether this is based on his explanation of the verse or on what he reports from the words of the Companions and their successors. The work which served as a basis for this work - which we consider to be the best work in the field - is Taysir ar-Rahman ar-Rahim fi Ikhtisar Tafsir Ibn Kathir. This generally avoids the trap of being too concise and that of “superfluous” development.

3 — We have only retained from the verses and hadiths mentioned by Ibn Kathir what is necessary to understand the meaning of the verse, and we have removed everything that relates to exemplification.

4- Ibn Kathir's exegesis is not based on the reading of Hafs but of Abdu 'Amr. We have therefore indicated the verses where the reading was different and could induce a meaning other than that for which Ibn Kathir opted.

5- There are a few rare verses that Ibn Kathir did not explain. In this situation, we have offered the reader a concise formulation of Ibn Jarir al-Tabari's exegesis.