Imam Suyuti mentioned in his compendium on the sciences of the Qur’an, al-Itqan fi Ulum al-Qur’an, that there are 15 disciplines that a person must master in order to be qualified to interpret the Qur’an. They are:
- Knowledge of Arabic language and its vocabulary
- Knowledge of Arabic grammar (nahu)
- Knowledge of Arabic morphology (sarf)
- Knowledge of Arabic words and word structure (ishtiqaq)
- Knowledge of Arabic rhetoric
- Eloquence
- Manners of oratory
- Knowledge of qira’at
- Knowledge of the principles of fiqh (usul al-fiqh)
- Knowledge of fiqh
- Knowledge of asbab an-nuzul
- Knowledge of naskh and mansukh (abrogation)
- Knowledge of hadith
- Knowledge of ulum al-Qur’an
- Divine endowment (divinely endowed talent). This is a type of gift from Allah to whomever He chooses. This type of intellect was what the Prophet ﷺ prayed for when he prayed for Ibn ‘Abbâs: “O Allah, grant him an understanding of interpretation.”
Based on this criteria, tafsir is not a simple affair. It requires a great deal of expertise, skills, and knowledge, with years of requisite study. It typically requires one to go through a full-time alimiyyah program (about five years of study) and then specialize in ulum al-Qur’an for about another two years. Commenting on the Qur’an is a specialized art that should only be done by those who have the requisite qualifications to do so.
Further Reading
Al-Itqan: https://archive.org/details/waq105939/page/n762/mode/2up
