I was recently gifted a few volumes of Tehfeem ul Quran by Mualana Maududi (tafseer). Would you be able to advise if it’s appropriate for me to read them or what to watch out for?
Bismillahi Ta’ala
Walaikum Assalam Warahmatullah
Without going into too much detail, an exegesis can be approached from multiple angles. Many tafaseer are exceptionally articulated but very difficult for general people to read. Similarly, at times the tafseer maybe easy to read but does not reach up to the same academic standards as more well grounded works. Sometime, there are factual errors or bias in some works which scholars may retain for their own referential work, but would not like to disseminate for general populous. At the same time some tafaseer are written with the right academic research, readibility and well-rounded presentation.
Looking at all such factors Scholars may not recommend a particular tafseer for general people. Tafheem al Quran is one such tafseer, which has some good passages and explanations in them, but falls short in other areas where an untrained person may not benefit or even be negatively affected due to his inexperience. A scholar who is well grounded in his knowledge may benefit from it, sifting out areas which either go contrary to general principles of tafseer, or can be problematic.
There are other well rounded tafaseer in our times which have been translated into English for all general readers.
- Consider Tafseer ibn Kathir (abridged or full)
- Tafseer al Jalalayn (Short and concize)
- Qur’an Made Easy (Again short and to the point)
- Ma’riful Qur’an (Detailed and academic)
- Illuminating Discourses of Qur’an (Very well laid our and explained)
Wallahu A’lam
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Mufti Faisal al-Mahmudi