Abstract:

This study includes an examination about the scholar “Sharaf al-Din Ibn Abi'l-Fadl al-Mursī” one of the prominent names that come to mind when discussing scientific exegesis (‌التفسير ‌العلمي). Regrettably, there is a lack of detailed biographical information about Mursī, despite the numerous virtues mentioned about him in Islamic sources and the immense importance attributed to him. Nevertheless, various brief pieces of information can be found in historical, tabaqat and tarajeem-type works, especially regarding his life. Therefore, in this article, available information has been gathered and integrated with a comprehensive perspective through an exploration of relevant literature resources. Mursī was born in 569 or 570 in Andalusia/Mursiya, initiated his journey of knowledge in his hometown at a young age. Later, he continued advanced studies in the Maghreb region. In 603 Hijri, when he was 33-34 years old, he went to Egypt, the easternmost part of the Maghreb; Almost all of his subsequent life was spent traveling. During these travels, he received ijazah from hadith scholars, held scientific discussions, benefited from scientific mans, and gave lectures and trained students. Mursī, who traveled for long years to scientific centers such as Hamadan, Nishapur, Khorasan, Isfahan, Shahijan (Today's Iran), Herat (Today's Afghanistan) and Merv (Today's Turkmenistan) and especially studied hadith there are; spent most of his life in Egypt, Damascus, Iraq and Hejaz axis. Mursī who also worked as a proffessor (mudarris) at the famous Nizamiye Madrasa in Baghdad; Throughout his life, he was a student of many famous scholars and a master of many other famous scholars. There are even female scholars among them. Initially belonging to the Maliki madhhab due to his Andalusian background, it is understood that Mursī later adopted of the Shafiʻi madhhab. It is understood that he is extremely competent and has written works in fields such as firstly tafsir and hadith, next fiqh, usul al-fiqh, usul al-din, qiraah, balagha, nahw (syntax of Arabic), Arabic literature and Arab poetry. Like other works attributed to him, his work “Rayy al-Ẓam'ān fī Tafsīr al-Qur'ān”, which is stated to be in 20 volumes, has not survived to the present day. Moreover, it is not clear whether a small-scale manuscript, which is said to be a part of this tafsir, belongs to it. Among the mufassirs of the classical period, references to Mursī’s mentioned tafsir can only be found in Abu Hayyan's al-Bahr al-Muhit. This situation seems to indicate that the work is mostly known in the Andalusia region and that it has not become widespread in other geographies. On the other hand, according to the information given by Suyuti in el-Itqan, Mursī is one of the pioneers of scientific tafsir and believes that all sciences are present in the Quran. This information provided by Suyuti is the reference source regarding Mursī's relationship with scientific tafsir. Among the more than thirty references Abu Hayyan made to Mursī in al-Bahr al-Muhit, there is no example confirming her connection with scientific tafsir. Interestingly, in the light of the available information we tried to present in this article; It has been understood that Mursī's hadith side predominates rather than his tafsir, fiqh, aqaid and linguist aspects. As a matter of fact, as a result of our literature review, the most emphasized thing is the scholars from whom Mursī learning hadith and the students who learned hadith from him. So he is at the same time a great muhaddith. Mursī, the great scholar, whom we can describe as a traveler-scholar, died on way from Egypt to Damascus during a travel in 655 Hijri.

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