Abstract
M.A.
By means of a conditional clause al-Tawbah 9:24 implicitly states that love for the Prophet (peace be upon him, hereinafter ‘pbuh’) alongside love for Allah and ‘jihad in His way’ must be greater than affection for family and relatives, and attachment to worldly property and possessions.
Various words and concepts, found in the said verse, have become the concern of commentaries (tafsīrs) on the Qur’an. For the purpose of the dissertation, ten consecutive classical tafsīrs are selected. They are those of al-Ṭabarī (d.310/922), al-Thaʿlabī (d.427/1035), al-Wāḥidī (d.468/1075), al-Baghawī (d.516/1122), al-Zamakhsharī (d.538/1143), Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d.606/1209), al-Qurṭubī (d.671/1272), al-Baiḍāwī (d.685/1286), Ibn Kathīr (d.774/1372) and Abū al-Suʿūd (d.982/1574). They cover a period spanning approximately seven centuries.
For each commentary an English translation is given as well as a general discussion of the content. Authorities referred to are chronologically specified. The commentaries are compared with regard to three foci, namely reason for revelation (sabab al-nuzūl), lexical contributions and the theme ‘Love for the Prophet (pbuh)’.When focusing on sabab al-nuzūl, the reason of revelation as expressed by each of the ten mufassirs receives attention. Common trends among all of them are also indicated such as the hijrah motif, the linking of 9:24 to 9:23 in a logical and chronological way, and the multiple mentioning of discussions with the Prophet and among the people as context within which the revelation took place.