Al-Wāḥidī’s Jurisprudential Choices in Sūrat al-Ṭalāq

(A Compilation and Analytical Study Based on al-Tafsīr al-Basīṭ)

Abstract

This study aimed to comprehensively collect, through an exhaustive inductive approach, the jurisprudential choices of Imām Abū al-Ḥasan al-Wāḥidī as presented in his exegesis al-Tafsīr al-Basīṭ on Sūrat al-Ṭalāq. It further sought to examine the juristic issues derived from the verses of Sūrat al-Ṭalāq as expounded by al-Wāḥidī, to analyze his methodology in presenting juristic disagreement, and to clarify his approach to attributing and arranging scholarly opinions. The study also aimed to identify al-Wāḥidī’s juristic preferences—where present—and to elucidate the principles upon which his selections were based, as well as to compare his juristic choices with the views of the four Sunni schools of jurisprudence, highlighting points of agreement and divergence. In addition, the research investigated the extent to which al-Wāḥidī was influenced by his juristic school (the Shāfiʿī school) in the choices he articulated in his interpretation of Sūrat al-Ṭalāq.

To achieve these objectives, the researcher employed an inductive, analytical, and inferential methodology. The findings revealed that among the key factors contributing to Imām al-Wāḥidī’s distinction were his upbringing in the city of knowledge, Nīshāpūr, during a period when scholarly pursuits predominated and occupied the primary concern of its inhabitants. Al-Wāḥidī sought knowledge from an early age and demonstrated exceptional aptitude from his youth, earning the esteem and recognition of his teachers. Among his notable teachers were Abū Ṭāhir Muḥammad al-Ziyādī, Abū al-Ḥasan al-Ḍarīr, Abū al-Faḍl al-ʿArūḍī, Saʿīd ibn Muḥammad al-Ḥīrī, and al-Thaʿlabī. He adhered firmly to the Shāfiʿī school of jurisprudence and did not deviate from it. Moreover, he authored numerous works indicative of his scholarly stature, the majority of which pertain to Qurʾānic exegesis and Arabic language, most notably al-Tafsīr al-Basīṭ, al-Wasīṭ, and al-Wajīz.