Studying 'Ilm Al-Munaasabaat fil-Quran

2-1-2018 | IslamWeb

Question:

As-salaamu alaykum, what is the ruling on 'Ilm Al-Munaasabaat Fil-Quran (the science of how verses and surahs are related)? Is it permissible to study it? If so, which are the best books for it? May Allah bless you.

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allah and that Muhammad, sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam, is His slave and Messenger.

‘Ilm Al-Munaasabaat is a noble science which early scholars acknowledged and assigned care to, and they penned books about it. As-Suyooti wrote, “‘Ilm Al-Munaasabaat is a noble science which scholars of Tafseer (exegesis) did not address sufficiently, given its delicate nature.” [Mu‘tarak Al-Aqraan]

Al-Biqaa‘i wrote, “It (‘Ilm Al-Munaasabaat) is the secret of eloquence because it leads to achieving the compatibility between the meanings and what the occasion entails. The seekers of knowledge receive their Ijaazah (authorization or permission) in ‘Ilm Al-Munaasabaat by means of identifying the intended objective of the soorah and the intended objective of all its verses. For this reason, this science is quite valuable. Its relation to the science of Tafseer is like the relation of the science of rhetoric to grammar...” [Nathm Ad-Durar]

Al-‘Izz ibn ‘Abd As-Salaam said about this science, “Al-Munaasabah is a good field of knowledge; however, the condition for the eloquence of speech is that it falls in a coherent matter whose beginning is connected to its end.”

Some of the most important books penned in this field of knowledge are Nathm Ad-Durar fi Tanaasub Al-Aayaat wa As-Suwar by Al-Biqaa‘i and Maraasid Al-Mataali' fi Tanaasub Al-Maqaati‘ wa Al-Mataali‘ by As-Suyooti. Other books that touched upon ‘Ilm Al-Munaasabaat are Al-Itqaan fi ‘Uloom Al-Quran by As-Suyooti, An-Naba' Al-‘Atheem by Muhammad Diraaz, Tafseer Al-Manaar, and Fi Thilaal Al-Quran.

The author of Nathm Ad-Durar fi Tanaasub Al-Aayaat wa As-Suwar extensively discussed the different aspects of the relations between the chapters and verses of the Quran.

Allah knows best.