A Criticism of al-Mīzān Answered

Introduction to al-Tasnim · On method

The question

Does ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī’s method of explaining the Qur’an by the Qur’an put others on a level with the Prophet and set him aside as the Qur’an’s teacher, as some critics claimed?

Views answered: critics of al-Mīzān (cited from Manāhij al-Bayān) · With: ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī

Jawādī Āmulī’s argument

Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī defends his teacher. A careful reading of al-Mīzān shows that the criticism targets the critics’ own misconceptions: the ʿAllāmah never claimed that others know the Qur’an as the Prophet does, or can reach it without him, or that he is removed from his role as its teacher. What should be noticed instead is the ʿAllāmah’s original account of interpretation by opinion, the circle in making every interpretation depend on reports from the Prophet, the difference between learning from a teacher and blind following, and his insight that only the purified Household reach the Qur’an’s hidden depths directly.

Views compared

The critics’ view is given as al-Tasnim reports it, with a link to the ʿAllāmah’s own discussion in al-Mizan. Each point opens al-Tasnim at that place.

The Prophet’s place in explaining the Qur’an Read →

Critics of al-Mīzān (Manāhij al-Bayān)

As they read him, the ʿAllāmah puts others on a level with the Prophet in knowing the Qur’an, lets them reach it without him, and sets him aside as its authoritative teacher. In al-Mizan ↗

Jawādī Āmulī

None of this is what al-Mīzān says; the critics are answering their own misreadings. What deserves attention is the ʿAllāmah’s original account of interpretation by opinion, and the circle in making every interpretation depend on reports from the Prophet.

Is the Qur’an then too easily available? Read →

Critics of al-Mīzān

Such a view would make the Qur’an’s teachings so readily available that its sanctity suffers.

Jawādī Āmulī

The ʿAllāmah distinguishes learning from a knowledgeable teacher from blindly following an authority, and he holds that the Qur’an’s hidden depths are reached directly only by the purified, the Prophet’s Household (56:79 with 33:33), so others need their guidance.

Reading guide

Each step opens al-Tasnim at that point.

1. Revelation, miracles and causality: the background
2. The criticism, and what al-Mīzān does not say
3. What deserves attention in al-Mīzān
4. The purified and the Qur’an’s hidden depths
5. An invitation to al-Mīzān

The whole chapter → · ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī on interpretation by opinion in al-Mizan ↗