The tafsīr of al-Qurṭubī is perhaps one of the most compendious of them all and is certainly among the most famous. As its title, al-Jāmi‘ li Aḥkām al-Qur’ān – The General Judgments of the Qur’an, suggests, its main focus is on the rulings and judgments to be found in the Qur’ān. However, in the course of doing that, al-Qurṭubī examines all the relevant sciences necessary, such as the ḥadīth pertaining to the āyahs, events in the sīrah, what the Companions, their Followers and other noted people of knowledge said about the āyahs, essential aspects of Arabic etymology, syntax and usage, copiously illustrated by examples, and much more.
This volume covers Sūrat al-An‘ām – Cattle & Sūrat al-A‘rāf – The Ramparts. Sūrat al-An‘ām was revealed all at once except for six āyats – because it constitutes a single argument – and it was accompanied by seventy thousand angels. It provides the basic premises for arguing against many false positions. Uṣūl ad-dīn is founded on it because it contains clear āyats that refute the Qadariyyah proponents of free will who deny the Decree.
Sūrat al-A‘rāf tells the stories of many of the Prophets and then treats the account of Mūsā and Hārūn with Fir‘awn and the Egyptians and then with Bani Israel at some length.
