The Prolegomena to the [Qur.sup.[contains]]an [Bayan fi tafsir al-[Qur.sup.[contains]]an].

• Author: AFSARUDDIN, ASMA
• Position: Review

The Prolegomena to the [Qur.sup.[contains]]an [Bay[bar{a}]n fi tafs[bar{i}]r al-[Qur.sup.[contains]][bar{a}]n]. By AL-SAYYID AB[bar{U}] AL-Q[bar{A}]SIM AL-M[bar{U}]SAW[bar{I}] AL-[KH[bar{U}].sup.[contains]][bar{I}]. Translated with an introduction by ABDULAZIZ A. SACHEDINA. New York: OXFORD UNIVERSITY PRESS, 1998. Pp. 280. $60.

Abu 'l-Q[bar{a}]sim al-M[bar{u}]saw[bar{i}] al-[Kh[bar{u}].sup.[contains]][bar{i}] was one of the most influential Im[bar{a}]m[bar{i}] [Sh[bar{i}].sup.[subset]][bar{i}] leaders of the twentieth century. His name is not, however, well known outside a restricted [Sh[bar{i}].sup.[subset]][bar{i}] circle of scholars and followers. Originally from Khoi in Azerbaijan, Iran, al-[Kh[bar{u}].sup.[contains]][bar{i}] lived and taught for the greater part of his life in Najaf, Iraq. Unlike his more famous contemporary, the Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini (d. 1989), he attempted to shun the political limelight but became embroiled, despite himself, in the volatile political events of the period. Although Khomeini, particularly in Western media perceptions, overshadowed any other [Sh[bar{i}].sup.[subset]][bar{i}] cleric, al-[Kh[bar{u}].sup.[contains]][bar{i}] had the largest following among the Im[bar{a}]m[bar{i}] (Twelver) [Sh[bar{i}].sup.[subset]]a outside of Iran.

Among al-[Kh[bar{u}].sup.[contains]][bar{i}]'s chief works are the Ajwad al-taqr[bar{i}]r[bar{a}]t, a book on the principles of jurisprudence, a multivolume work known as [Mu.sup.[subset]]jam rij[bar{a}]l al-hadith, and al-Bay[bar{a}]n fi tafs[bar{i}]r al-[Qur.sup.[contains]][bar{a}]n (lit., "Clarification regarding exegesis of the [Qur.sup.[contains]][bar{a}]n"). The last has now been translated under the title The Prolegomena to the [Qur.sup.[contains]][bar{a}]n by Professor Abdulaziz Sachedina, who was approached by al-[Kh[bar{u}].sup.[contains]][bar{i}] himself through his son, Sayyid Muhammad Taq[bar{i}], to undertake this project in 1991. As Sachedina points out in his introduction to the translation, the relevance of the work lies in the fact that it provides and elaborates upon "exegetic principles for searching for historical precedents and for extracting the doctrinal and juridical principles from precise references in the [Qur.sup.[contains]]an that are relevant to contemporary situations" and thus "stands within a long and creative history in the development of the [Qur.sup.[contains]]anic exegesis in Islam" (p. 20). In this introductory section, the translator provides a brief and useful sketch of...