Book Review: Maʿrifat, Muḥammad Hādī, and Rustam Nizhād, Mahdī, Al-Tafsīr al-Atharī al-Jāmiʿ, Qum: Mu’assisah Farhangī Intishāratī al-Tamhīd, 1387Sh/2008. 17 vols. [in Arabic]

Al-Tafsīr al-Atharī al-Jāmiʿ, authored by Ayatullah Muḥammad Hādī Maʿrifat and Mahdī Rustam Nizhād, is a monumental 17-volume Quranic exegesis published in 1387Sh/2008 by Mu’assisah Farhangī Intishāratī al-Tamhīd in Qum. This work introduces a novel hadith-based (riwā’ī) and reason-based (ijtihādī) approach to Quranic interpretation, focusing on the exegetical traditions of both Shia and Sunni scholars from the first three Islamic centuries. The exegesis systematically collects, compares, and evaluates hadiths from the Infallibles, companions (ṣaḥābih), successors (tābi’īn), and their followers, drawing on over 60,000 index cards from sources like Nūr al-Thaqalayn (Shia) and Al-Durr al-Manthūr (Sunni). It critically examines the authenticity, reliability, and categorization of hadiths, distinguishing authentic exegetical narrations from weak or fabricated ones. The work highlights the superiority of Ahl al-Bayt’s exegetical hadiths, characterized by their systematic approach, conciseness, esoteric focus, coherence, and textual clarity, in contrast to other narrations that often emphasize literal explanations, historical accounts, or contradictory statements. By comparing hadiths across denominations, the exegesis reveals their alignment or deviation from Quranic meanings, using the Quran itself as a criterion. Initiated in 1379Sh/2000 and continued by Mahdi Rostamnejad after Ayatullah Maʿrifat’s passing, the project has published 11 volumes by 1402Sh/2023, with an estimated total of over 40 volumes upon completion. This work stands as a pioneering contribution to Quranic studies, offering a robust framework for inter-denominational exegesis and emphasizing the exegetical authority of the Ahl al-Bayt (a).