A Chronological Analysis on Riwayah-Interpretation Relation in Exegesis: The Qissat al-Gharaniq Example

In this article, a chronological analysis was made on the relationship between riwayah and interpretation in tafsir. Qissat al-Gharaniq was chosen in this study as an example and concentrated on it and tried to reach some conclusions about how it reflects the interpretation/tafsir. “Gharaniq” is a word meaning “long-necked swan birds”. According to the riwayahs mentioned with this name, Noble Prophet (s) was exposed to the devil’s intervention during his qiraah of the surah al-Najm and unintentionally praised their idols and read, “Those are the elevated long-necked swan birds and truly their intercession is dearly hoped!” Upon this incident, the Noble Prophet (s) was informed of the situation and then the 52nd verse of the surah al-Hajj was sent as a consolation to him and thus the devil’s intervention has been imposed. It is not possible for Muslims to accept such riwayahs that contradict the basic principles of Islam. In fact, the aforementioned riwayahs have not been considered authentic and acceptable by ulama/scholars. However, some of the mufassirs/authors did not see any disadvantage in the transfer of the riwayahs about gharaniq, they even believed that the incident really happened. It is also seen that some mufassirs try to evolve in a way that conforms to Islam, while accepting the facts. Some other mufassirs/authors have tried to interpret (ta’vil) this in a way that is appropriate to Islam. It is seen that some mufassirs/authors have clearly rejected these riwayahs. In this article, the interpretations of these mufassirs/authors, which are divided into three sections in general terms, their attitudes towards the riwayahs and the ideas they put forward, are examined in detail. Meantime, In the process extending from Muqatil bin Sulaiman (d. 150/767) to this day, more than thirty authors views are discussed on the subject. Apparently it is inevitable that the riwayahs, even if they are not authentic, affect the interpretation directly or indirectly. The general attitude has been to accept them without criticism or try to interpret them in accordance with Islam. On the contrary -when it is necessarythe rejection of such riwayahs by analyzes based on aqli (rational knowledge) and naqli (revealed knowledge) evidences is a method that is practiced by a much lesser mufassir/author