The Shaykh حفظه الله began in the Name of Allaah and by praising Allaah سبحانه و تعالى and sending the salaat and salaam upon our Prophet Muhammad صلى الله عليه و سلم, his family members and all his Companions رضي الله عنهم أجمعين.

This subject consists of clarifying the stages which one must traverse in order to gain a thorough understanding of the Book of Allaah سبحانه وتعالى. It also entails a discussion of the various books which an individual must utilize in order to aid his understanding the Book of Allaah, as well as the other sciences which will contribute to a better understanding.


FIRST STAGE – SELECT A TOPIC AND IDENTIFY THE AAYAAT DEALING WITH THAT TOPIC

One must specify a group of aayaat on a particular topic. For example, if you look at Suratul-Baqarah, you will find that it deals with many topics. It contains statements on: eemaan (belief), kufr (disbelief), nifaaq (hypocrisy), likewise ahlul Kitaab (the People of the Book), Hajj (pilgrimage to Makkah), siyaam (fasting), talaaq (divorce), ribaa (interest), mudaayanaat (blood money and debts) and other subjects.

The individual must identify the aayaat which discuss one topic. This is the first phase. It is possible to seek help from some of the books of Tafseer and likewise some of the masaahif. There are some masaahif in which the topics are identified; and some books of Tafseer which specify the aayaat which discuss a particular subject e.g. Tafseer ibn Katheer which identifies the aayaat which speak about a single topic, and there are many books of Tafseer which do this.

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