About
The beta version of our website offers users the contents of al-Ṭabarī's commentary in 11+1 main topics divided into two types of paragraphs: Hadith and Nothadith. In the final version, the hadiths will be further classified into two types: Hadith-matn and Hadith-sanad. The text basis of our database is the al-Turkī edition (26 volumes) in Jawami’ al-Kalim.
The available topics are as follows – click each topic to read the details and corresponding subtopics:
Law - فقه
This category contains most of the subtopics. These subtopics are based on the classic structure of the fiqh books and are listed alphabetically below:
(see subtopics list)Theology - كلام
This main category contains content related to theological topics. The designations are based on classic Kalam books:
(see subtopics list)Linguistics - لغة
This category collects linguistically relevant information in the following subtopics
(see subtopics list)At a later point in time, the lexical entries will be extracted and transferred to a dynamic table, so that a historical Koran dictionary will be created through additions based on other works.
Descent - نزول
This category is made up of the following subtopics related to the descent of the Qur'an:
(see subtopics list)Another subtopic “Allusions – تلميحات “ is being worked on for the final version. In addition, the existing annotations are specified in the trial phase. The information about the time of revelation of individual verses or groups of verses will be transferred to a dynamic table at a later point in time and additional information from other sources will be added to visualize the information on the chronology of the Qur’an that has been handed down.
Abrogation - نسخ
This category is made up of the following subtopics:
(see subtopics list)The information about abrogated and abrogating verses will be transferred to a dynamic table at a later point in time, so that the abrogation relationships of the verses become clear and further information from other sources can be added.
Readings - قراءات
This main topic contains the following subtopics, which are based on the categorization of al-Tabari.
(see subtopics list)For the final version, these subtopics will be brought together under the corresponding main categories. It is also planned to transfer the reading deviations to a dynamic table and to enrich them with data from other sources.
Sciences - علوم
This category is a by-product of the project. As part of the annotation work, content related to natural sciences was tagged as such. Therefore, it does not claim to be complete, but it is planned to make this category more precise for the final version. The following subtopics are included in the beta version:
(see subtopics list)سيرة - Prophetic biography
This main category contains content related to the life and work of the Prophet and important events in the emergence of Islam.
(see subtopics list)The entries in the beta version are to be seen as provisional and will be supplemented with further entries relating to the Sira for the final version.
Asceticism - زهد
This topic captures the content with reference to piety and mysticism and is based on the classic structure of mystical sources.
(see subtopics list)Religious groups - جماعات دينية
This main category contains the information about religious groups in the context of revelation and consists of the following subtopics:
(see subtopics list)This category, which is temporarily under the main heading of “Religious Groups“ due to a technical difficulty, contains information about the period immediately following the revelation and consists of the following subheadings:
Isra’iliyyat - إسرائيليات
This category contains 2282 entries in the beta version, 2257 of them are narrations with isnads. Since the decision on which content is to be recognized as isrāʾīliyyāt took a long time, the subcategories that make it up could not be finally defined. The isrāʾīliyyāt narrations were thus created in this beta version based on various research works on the subject. Essentially, the selection was made based on isnāds, which these works called “typical“ and “current'' for isrāʾīliyyāt narrations. In a broader sense, however, in these as isrāʾīliyyāt categorized narrations, we find traditions, and additions not mentioned in the Quran, which in a certain way show parallels to the biblical context (canonical and apocryphal texts). In this version of the database, the isrāʾīliyyāt tradition has not been annotated from a methodical-critical perspective. A definition and explanation of the term follows as well as a further analytical presentation of the isrāʾīliyyāt traditions. For the final version, these entries will be classified according to their references to Qur'anic narratives. It is also planned to arrange the isrāʾīliyyāt reports according to their possible non-Islamic sources or intertexts and it will be questioned, how useful it is, to categorize these reports as isrāʾīliyyāt.
For the final version it is planned to process these entries to reconstruct the Qur’anic theology.
If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please contact us at [email protected]