The short surahs of the Quran are often committed to memory by many Muslims and recited in their daily prayers. This is performed by most without an understanding of the surahs they are reading. The tasfīr of surahs 96 to 114 are to be covered over two modules. In explaining each surah focus will be on the following areas. This module will cover 96 – 104.
I. Each surah’s period and chronology of revelation II. The Prophetic statements and scholarly explanations that inform the broader context at the time of revelation. III. The interrelationship of themes and concepts elsewhere in the Quran. And how a concept gets elaborated upon throughout the Quran. IV. A closer look at the linguistical features of word order and the overall rhetorical effect of the Quran. Considered by many scholars the proof of the Quran’s inimitability.
Module Text The course draws on works that came to inform Islam’s traditional pedagogy and represent its’ normative expression. These works are cited below for reference followed by brief biography authors:
Al-jāmʻi li-ahkām al-Quran by al-Qurtūbī, Abū ‘Abdullah.More info Tafsir Ibn Ashur : At-Tahrir wa at-Tanwir by Shaykh Muhammad at-Tahir Ibn ‘Ashur, Sheikh of Az-Zaytouna University in TunisMore info
Biographies are taken from: Keller, N. (2021). The Quran Beheld. Stanchion Press
Module Outline
Below is the weekly outline for this module.
Week 1 – Surah 96. Al-‘Alaq
Week 2 – Surah 97. Al-‘Qadr
Week 3 – Surah 98. Al-Bayyinah
Week 4 – Surah 98. Al-Bayyinah
Week 5 – Surah 99. Al-Zalzalah
Week 6 – Surah 100. Al-‘Adiyat
Week 7 – Surah 101. Al-Qari’ah
Week 8 – Surah 102. Al-Takathur
Week 9 – Surah 103. Al-‘Asr
Week 10 – Surah 104. Al-Humazah
Shaykh Thaqib Mahmood
Shaykh Thaqib Mahmood’s educational journey in the Islamic disciplines comprises a rich tapestry of experiences from the late 90s to 2007. He sought knowledge in many locations, benefiting from and receiving licenses in general and specific areas from scholars in Yemen, Syria, Morocco, Turkey, Mauritania, Makkah and Madinah.~
All our Saturday classes are available both in person and online. As an institute, we strongly encourage students to attend in person, as the benefits of in-person learning far exceed those of online attendance. The Friday sessions are conducted online via Zoom.
Location
Inperson: Challney High School for Boys, Stoneygate Rd, Luton LU4 9TJ. OnlineZoom: links will be provided via email
Date/Time
Starting – 3rd October 2026 for 10 weeks Saturday – 9.30am to 10.30am
Course Content
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Please find below the workbook to be used for this subject.
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Knowledge
Knowledge is understanding that every choice and view one forms is framed in the guidance presented in the Quran and the Prophetic way as understood by Ahle Sunnah wa al-Jama’ah.
Practice
Practice seeks to implement that knowledge in all aspects of our lives. Sincerely applying knowledge facilitates the soul to acquire virtuous characteristics and move beyond its vices and capricious element
Realisation
The soul becomes receptive to realisations concerning God’s oneness, majesty, beauty, and how creation is an ongoing sign of Divine favour. This witnessing is highlighted in the Prophetic statement,‘Excellence is to worship Allah as though you see Him. If you do not see Him, He sees you.
Al-Qurtūbī, Abū ‘Abdullah
al-Qurtūbī, Abū ‘Abdullah
QURTUBI is Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Abu Bakr ibn Farah, Abu ‘Abdullah al -Ansari alQurtubi, born in Cordova, Spain, in the carly 6005/1200s. His father was killed in a raid by Spaniards in the Reconquista. At another attack he was chased down by two enemy horsemen on an open plain, so he recited “And whenever you recite the Quran, We put between you and those who believe not in the afterlife a covering veil of incomprehension” (17.45), and the first nine verses of surat Ya Sin, and Allah made him seem to disappear to the Spaniards, who were so close behind him he heard one of them say to the other, “Diablo (A devil)!” He escaped to Egypt, where he authored works on the sciences of hadith and tenets of faith,
Though his greatest achievement was his twenty-volume al-Jami’li ahkam al-Qur’an (The compendium of the rulings of the Quran]. In his foreword, a marvelous introduction in itself to tafsir and studying the Quran, he notes that he was engaged in it for his entire life, and expended his whole stamina to complete it: “I wrote it as a reminder to myself, a provision laid up for the day I perish, and a good deed to remain after my death.” It stands at the summit of tafsirs that show how rulings and meta-principles of Sacred Law derive from the verses of the Quran, and which verses abrogate others (nasikh wa mansukh), with exhaustive treatment of exegesis, lexicology, and Arabic grammar and inflections, all with a superb and logical order of presentation of the issues. Though a Maliki, he discusses the positions of other schools of jurisprudence impartially, and sometimes finds the rulings of other schools stronger. He is scrupulously fair.His tafsir, like that of his fellow Maliki Ibn ‘Atiyya before him, does not stress rhetoric (balagha) as much as that farther east who followed the lead of scholars such as Zamakhshari, Razi, and Badawi. He was an ascetic who disdained airs, and after living for a space in Alexandria, moved to the village of Munya Abi al-Khusayb in upper Egypt, where he divided his days between worship and writing, and would walk about appareled in a simple caftan and cloth cap, more concerned with matters that would benefit him in the next world. He died there in 671/1273 (al-A’lam (67), 5-322; al-Dibaj almudhahhab (16), 2.308-9; al-Jamiliahkam al-Qur an (38), 1.3, 10.270; and Sheikh Shu’ayb alArna’ut).
IBN 'ASHUR is Muhammad Tahir ibn 'Ashur
IBN ‘ASHUR is Muhammad Tahir ibn ‘Ashur, born in Tunis in 1296/1879. He lived a very active life, serving as a Maliki judge, professor, and rector of the renowned Zaytuna University. His professional commitments did not hinder his prolific pen from producing over forty works on Arabic rhetoric (balagha), oratory, jurisprudence, history, hadith commentary, Sufism, and ancient medicine; all of them eclipsed by his tremendous thirtyvolume Quranic exegesis Tahrir al-ma’na al-sadid wa tanwir al-‘aql al-Jadid min Tafsir alKitab al-Majid [Verifying the true meaning and illuminating the modern mind through expositing the Glorious Book], which reflects its author’s wide familiarity with modern science and addresses deep questions of exegesis unanswered by others before.
It has the most sustained and comprehensive application of the rules of rhetoric to the Quran of any work of tafsir, verse by verse; with special emphasis on the ways that coordinating conjunctions affect the sense of the text, distinguishing between the meanings yielded by disjunction and conjunction (fasl wa wasl) everywhere. His lexical investigation of derivations and meanings of terms is painstaking, accurate, and thorough; while his sense of the arrangement and interrelation of suras, verses, and thematic components is surpassed by few. Though he cites some twenty-five exegetical authorities regularly throughout his tafsir, his command of Zamakhshari and Baydawi and all their key commentaries is especially deft, and spends upon the magisterial authority of his work, upon the correctness of his choices between valid interpretive possibilities of the Arabic raised by his predecessors, and upon his critiques of those he finds weak. The work imposes itself on anyone who hopes to understand the Quran after him. His public service brought him into contact with heads of state, and it is related that when President Bourguiba proposed that Tunisians abandon fasting the month of Ramadan in the name of national productivity and asked him to speak to the populace to reassure them, he agreed, and gave a live address over the airwaves citing some verses on the matter, concluding that “Allah has told the truth, and Bourguiba a falsehood.” He was summarily dismissed from office, but gained time to finish his tafsir, which he completed in 1960 after a total of thirty-nine years, at the age of eighty-three. He died thirteen years later and was laid to rest in Tunis in 1393/1973 (al-A’lam (67), 6.174; A’lam Tunisiyyun (66), 361- 67; Tafsir al-Tahrir wa al-tanwir (15), 30.636; and Tarajim al-mu’allifin al-Tunisiyyin (32), 3.304-9).
Shaykh Thaqib Mahmood
Shaykh Thaqib Mahmood’s educational journey in the Islamic disciplines comprises a rich tapestry of experiences from the late 90s to 2007. He sought knowledge in many locations, benefiting from and receiving licenses in general and specific areas from scholars in Yemen, Syria, Morocco, Turkey, Mauritania, Makkah and Madinah.
The central place of studying abroad unfolded in Damascus, where Shaykh Thaqib Mahmood immersed himself in a traditional curriculum. He received one-on-one tutoring for particular subjects or was part of a small group of students. Over time, he studied various subjects to their advanced levels with various scholars. This led to a comprehensive study of the well-known and established scholarly works, showcasing the depth of arguments and positions representing the mainstream understandings of this Ummah.
Since his return to the UK in the last 17 years, Shaykh Thaqib Mahmood has been actively involved in teaching a broad spectrum of Islamic disciplines, from Sirah to Tafsir. In addition developing educational programmes at the various institutions he’s been serving. His significant contributions include a 9-year tenure as a Quranic Arabic tutor at the University of Oxford, where he designed and developed the Quranic Arabic programme, which was previously neglected, bringing it up to par with the other languages taught at the Faculty of Theology and Religion. He also played a crucial role in creating the first approved BSL (British Sign Language) Adhan, providing essential knowledge of the Arabic phrases that BSL can best capture. His academic achievements include a PGDip in teaching communicative Arabic and an MA in linguistics; he completed both postgraduate programmes at SOAS, which have further enriched his understanding and teaching of Islamic disciplines.
The following are the names of some of the scholars he studied under, each of whom played a meaningful role during his time away studying.
In Yemen: Habib Umar b. Hafidh In Damascus: Shaykh Abdulah Siraj ud-Din, Shaykh Shukri al-Luhafī, Shaykh Ramadhan al-Buṭī, Shaykh Muhammad Darwish, Shaykh Abdul Wahaab, Shaykh Muhammad al Yaqoubi, Shaykh Adnan al Majd, Shaykh Maree al Rashid and Shaykh Khalil al Sabbagh, In Mauritania: Murabit al-Hajj, Murabit Ahmad Fāl and Murabit Hadamīn. In Turkey: Shaykh Mahmud Effendi, Shaykh Muhammed Ameen Siraj, Shaykh Ehsaan Hojah. In Makkah: Shaykh Khalid, Shaykh Abdul-Qadir al-Dhabwān, Shaykh Ahmad al-Ruqaymi, Shaykh Ahmad al-Kāf, and Shaykh ‘Abbas al-Maliki In Madinah: Shaykh Abdur Rahman And in the UK: Shaykh Siraj and Shaykh Muhammad Ba Shuayb.
May Allah preserve those who are alive and grant them the best in this world and the hereafter. And may Allah shower His mercy on those who have returned to their creator and, forgive their shortcomings, and raise their ranks. He continues his learning under both local and international scholars. Shaykh Thaqib has been part of the Fountain for over 25 years.
