Sūrah Al-Muʾminūn The Believers: Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī The Source Commentary

Surah Overview

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahالمؤمنونMakkī 118 versesOpens with the seven qualities of successful believers

Key DisagreementWhat is "khāshiʿūn fī ṣalātihim"?Inner worship qualityAl-Ṭabarī: physical humility (lowered gaze, body stillness) based on Companion practice narrations

Competing OpinionsWhen does the soul enter the embryo?Embryology / eschatologyAl-Ṭabarī: after the muḍghah stage, based on the ḥadīth of ʿAbdullāh ibn Masʿūd (40 days each stage)

MethodologyUsing prophetic ḥadīth to decode embryological stagesScience-text integrationAl-Ṭabarī places the 40-day ḥadīth as the definitive commentary on 23:12–14

Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī

The embryology verses (23:12–14) nutfah, ʿalaqah, muḍghah, ʿiẓām, laḥm, then the creation of another being are treated by al-Ṭabarī through the lens of the prophetic ḥadīth. He presents the famous ḥadīth of Ibn Masʿūd (in Bukhārī and Muslim): "Each of you is collected in the womb of his mother for forty days, then becomes an ʿalaqah for a like period, then a muḍghah for a like period, then Allah sends an angel and commands four things: his provision, his lifespan, his deeds, and whether he will be fortunate or wretched." Al-Ṭabarī uses this ḥadīth to establish the sequence and timing of Quranic embryological stages.

The opening seven qualities (23:1–9) are traced individually: (1) khushūʿ in prayer = lowered gaze, body stillness (from ʿAlī and ʿĀʾishah chains); (2) avoiding laghw = idle talk and sin (from Ibn ʿAbbās); (3) giving zakāh (from Companion consensus); (4) guarding private parts except with spouses/slave-wives (from Ibn ʿAbbās and Mujāhid); (5) honoring trusts and covenants (from ʿĀʾishah); (6) guarding prayers (from general Companion consensus). Al-Ṭabarī's systematic chain-by-quality approach is characteristic of his method.

ثُمَّ خَلَقْنَا النُّطْفَةَ عَلَقَةً فَخَلَقْنَا الْعَلَقَةَ مُضْغَةً Thumma khalaqnā n-nuṭfata ʿalaqatan fa-khalaqnā l-ʿalaqata muḍghah "Then We created the sperm-drop into a clinging clot, and We created the clot into a lump of flesh" (23:14) Al-Ṭabarī: the stages are decoded by the Ibn Masʿūd ḥadīth 40 days each; soul enters after the muḍghah stage when the angel is sent.

قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ ۝ الَّذِينَ هُمْ فِي صَلَاتِهِمْ خَاشِعُونَ Qad aflaḥa l-muʾminūn alladhīna hum fī ṣalātihim khāshiʿūn "The believers have succeeded those who are humble in their prayers" (23:1–2) Al-Ṭabarī: khushūʿ = lowered gaze to the place of prostration, stillness of body, absence of distraction from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib's practice and narration.

Embryological sequence: Al-Ṭabarī uses Ibn Masʿūd's ḥadīth to establish the 40-day stages of embryonic development the prophetic text decodes the Quranic embryology.
Khushūʿ defined: Physical humility (gaze, stillness) combined with inner focus al-Ṭabarī's definition comes from Companion practice chains, not just lexical analysis.
Seven qualities analyzed: Each of the seven opening qualities receives individual chain analysis al-Ṭabarī traces each to specific Companions who explained or embodied it.
Soul entry timing: The soul enters after 120 days according to the ḥadīth this is al-Ṭabarī's position, establishing a prophetic answer to the philosophical question.
Divine singularity: 23:91–92 on Allah's singularity is connected by al-Ṭabarī to the same anti-trinitarian argument applied to Maryam consistent theological position across sūrahs.

Surah Overview

Key Themes from Al-Ṭabarī

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