Measuring the Haqa’iq al-Tafsir: From its Contentious Nature to the Formation of Sunnite Sufism

Abstract

This article discusses the Haqa’iq al-Tafsir by al-Sulami against the extant accusation of being Shi’ite. It is a certainly Sunnite commentary accumulated from their-own traditional sources as well as representing Sunnite theological principles. Despite its contentious title as well as the use of weak hadiths, the nature of Sulami’s tafsir was relatively free from either Shi’ite elements or mystico-philosophical notions contradictory to the spirit of Sunnite orthodoxy. Al-Sulami’s tafsir is to be classified ma’thur, but it conceives spiritual significances (haqa’iq) that might have been set beyond the common objectives of Qur’anic tafsir in general. It is not a general tafsir for laymen, but an esoteric interpretation of the Qur’anic verses for the elites of sufi readers.