Tafsir Compare

Tafsir al-Mizan is one voice in a long conversation. Tafsir Compare, the sister project of this site, puts that conversation on one page. It takes a single verse at a time and sets ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī's reading beside other great exegetes of the Qur'an, Sunni and Shia, classical and modern, so that a reader can see where they agree, where they part ways, and why.

The exegetes compared are:

• Al-Ṭabarsī (d. 1154), Majmaʿ al-Bayān
• Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 1210), Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb (al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr)
• Al-Qurṭubī (d. 1273), al-Jāmiʿ li-Aḥkām al-Qurʾān
• Ibn Kathīr (d. 1373), Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm
• Abul Aʿlā Mawdūdī (d. 1979), Tafhīm al-Qurʾān
• ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī (d. 1981), al-Mīzān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān

What each study offers

• The verse in Arabic with an English translation, and its context and significance.
• Each exegete's reading, with its source, shown one at a time or two side by side.
• At a glance: the central question the verse raises, and each exegete's answer in a line.
• Our reflection on what the comparison shows, and an invitation to add your own.

The studies concentrate on verses where the schools of thought read the Qur'an differently: leadership and Imamah, the Ahl al-Bayt, the infallibility of the prophets, the Companions, and questions of knowledge, creation and practice.

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The studies and their place in al-Mizan

Each study below opens on Tafsir Compare. The link after it goes to the section of al-Mizan where ʿAllāmah Ṭabāṭabāʾī discusses the verse. Those sections also carry a "Compare with other exegetes" note at the top that leads back to the study.

Leadership and Imamah

• Qur’an 2:124 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 2:124
• Qur’an 4:59 — set beside 4 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 4:59–70
• Qur’an 5:3 — set beside 4 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 5:1–3
• Qur’an 5:55 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 5:55–56
• Qur’an 5:67 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 5:67
• Qur’an 17:71 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 17:66–72

Ahl al-Bayt

• Qur’an 2:207 — set beside 4 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 2:204–207
• Qur’an 3:61 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 3:61–63
• Qur’an 33:33 — set beside 4 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 33:28–35
• Qur’an 42:23 — set beside 5 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 42:17–26

Prophets and their infallibility

• Qur’an 20:121 — set beside 2 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 20:115–126
• Story of Prophet Yūnus (21:87–88 and 37:139–148) — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 21:78–91 · 37:133–148
• Qur’an 48:1–3 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 48:1–7
• Qur’an 66:1–2 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 66:1–9
• Qur’an 80:1–4 — set beside 4 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 80:1–16

The Companions

• Qur’an 2:143 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 2:142–151
• Qur’an 9:40 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 9:38–48
• Qur’an 9:100 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 9:97–106

Knowledge and the Book

• Qur’an 3:7 — set beside 4 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 3:7–9
• Qur’an 13:43 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 13:43
• Qur’an 33:72–73 — set beside 4 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 33:63–73
• Qur’an 56:77–79 — set beside 4 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 56:57–96

God, creation and the Hereafter

• Qur’an 7:172 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 7:172–174
• Qur’an 24:35–36 — set beside 4 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 24:35–46
• Qur’an 75:22–24 — set beside 2 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 75:16–40

Worship and practice

• Qur’an 5:6 — set beside 2 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 5:6–7
• Qur’an 5:35 — set beside 3 other exegetes · al-Mizan on 5:33–40