Usool at-Tafseer

Usool at-Tafseer by Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips explains the basic principles of Qur’anic interpretation — the discipline a reader needs before trusting any tafseer, including their own reading of a verse.

What the Book Covers

Philips introduces the science of tafseer and the scholars most associated with it, then works through how the Qur’an was revealed and later collected into the single text Muslims read today. From there, the book gives a working, behind-the-scenes account of how sound interpretation is actually done — the sources a mufassir draws on, in the order classical scholarship gives them priority, and the safeguards that keep interpretation from sliding into opinion.

Who This Book Is For

Anyone who wants to understand the Qur’an in more depth needs this groundwork first — before working through a full tafseer such as Usool Al-Hadeeth’s companion volume or a specific commentary like Tafseer Soorah al-Hujurat, a reader benefits from knowing how tafseer itself works.

Also by Dr. Bilal Philips

• Usool at-Tafseer — the basic principles of Qur’anic interpretation
• Usool Al-Hadeeth — the science of hadith terminology and authentication
• Tafseer Soorah al-Hujurat — a verse-by-verse commentary on Surah 49
• The Fundamentals of Tawheed — the first English-language (not translated) study of Islamic monotheism