Statements at the Meeting of Organizers of the International Conference on the Interpretation of Tasnim

In the Name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Welcome, esteemed gentlemen; and thank you very much for the good explanations provided by both Mr. A'arafi and Mr. Hajj Agha Saeed [Jawadi] regarding this noble book, from which we have benefited. What needs to be said in introducing this book is precisely what you have mentioned; we do not have much more to add.

I will present a few points: one topic is the personality of Ayatollah Mr. Jawadi; another topic is the interpretation of Tasnim; and a third topic is the promotion of the interpretation of the Quran — now beyond Quranic sciences; the very interpretation of the Quran — in the religious seminaries.

Regarding Ayatollah Mr. Jawadi, in my opinion, the seminary truly owes him a debt; he has accomplished a great task. The fact that a person starts interpreting the Quran from a small place and continues it for forty years is not an easy task; when one thinks about it, they will see that it is a very significant endeavor to persist in this work, not to become weary in this work, not to doubt in continuing this work, and perhaps — I have not had the opportunity to observe this to understand — it is likely that the enthusiasm and zeal of the esteemed interpreter regarding the verses has increased over time; it must be so. And for a person to be joyful about this work — working on the Quran — is very valuable. It was mentioned in discussions with him regarding his interpretative work; he himself was joyful about this work and said that this is a "Mizan" (Balance) for today; that was his expression; he said this is the Mizan, but the Mizan for today. When one looks, they see that this is indeed the case. Therefore, his work is truly valuable. Of course, his scientific activities in the fields of rational and transmitted sciences are important and deserve appreciation, but none of them, in my opinion, can be compared to this interpretative work with this detail; that is to say, in my view, this work is more important and superior than his philosophical works, his mystical works, and his jurisprudential works. May God, God willing, grant him reward, prolong his life, and preserve this enthusiasm that has enabled him to continue this work for such a long time. Perhaps he may want to refer back; it happens that sometimes a person refers back, their opinion on a certain issue changes, they add something; God willing, this enthusiasm continues in him.

As for the topic of the interpretation of Tasnim; in my opinion, this interpretation is one of the honors of Shia. I can truly express that it is one of the honors of Shia. The interpretation, in its specific sense, has been very well executed in this book, meaning the verse has been elucidated, and the strength of the author's rational thought has helped to understand some of the subtle, delicate, and elusive concepts in the verses. Of course, I have not had much opportunity to refer to this interpretation; sometimes yes, but last night and today, in order to be prepared, I asked for a volume of that interpretation to be brought to me to look at; coincidentally, it was the fortieth volume, Surah Yusuf. One looks at it, and it is truly filled with knowledge that one could overlook; for example, consider what "dream" is; the reality of dreams, the discussion about the reality of dreams. The same style of work that the late Mr. Tabatabai did in Mizan under the title of philosophical discussion or social discussion; however, this is at the grand scale of this great interpretation, it is extensive; that is to say, if we assume that the work done regarding Mizan is to extract and compile non-interpretative discussions from this book, it would itself become an encyclopedia; a large collection of knowledge that is usable in various subjects, for example, consider the occasion of a word in a verse.

And in order for this use to be effective, in my opinion, this interpretation needs a complete technical index. I do not know if any work has been done in this regard or not. An interpretation requires an index; this interpretation needs a technical index so that both the subjects are stated and the alphabetical order is observed so that if a person wants to know what is in this interpretation regarding a certain topic, they can quickly find and use them. Therefore, it is both an interpretation and, in a sense, an encyclopedia. Thus, honestly, the interpretation of Tasnim is among the honors of Shia, among the honors of the seminary, and we thank God for this work being accomplished.

I have heard that some are complaining about the length of the interpretation — being eighty volumes — and say that it would be good to shorten this interpretation, to summarize it. In my opinion, this work is neither possible nor permissible. That is to say, this work would strip the interpretation of its identity. A book of interpretation — especially with this detail — is not a book that one would want to sit down and read from beginning to end to say it is eighty volumes, it is long, we cannot read it; it is a reference book; if a person wants to understand a verse, a surah, or a topic, they refer to it; whether it is eighty volumes, one hundred volumes, or one hundred eighty volumes, it does not matter. Therefore, shortening the interpretation is not permissible. Now today, it seems to me they told me that they intend to collect those summary parts of the interpretation that were mentioned at the beginning of each verse; well, something will come of it, but no, in my opinion, we should not diminish the name of Mr. Jawadi and the name of the interpretation of Tasnim with these works; let the interpretation remain as it is. However, it needs an index; it must have an index; an interpretation without an index will be less utilized; it must be indexed. This is also regarding the issue of Tasnim.

And as for the topic of the interpretation of the Quran in the seminaries. Honestly, the seminaries have been lax in this regard; our various seminaries have had very little activity in this area over time. The great struggle was undertaken by the late Mr. Tabatabai, who, although it was not common, came and started a course on interpretation, and this became the starting point for attention to the Quran and Quranic concepts and such in the seminary. He taught interpretation at the Hojjatiyeh School. Of course, I did not have the opportunity to attend that class, but Mr. Jawadi was at that time at the Hojjatiyeh School, I think he attended. A number of people went to his class, but it was a small class; that is to say, in the mosque of the Hojjatiyeh School, a group — perhaps forty or fifty or I think thirty or forty people — would sit, but it was an important beginning; Mr. Tabatabai (may God’s peace be upon him) initiated and laid the foundation for a great task. Before him, there was no news in the Qom seminary, and in the Najaf seminary, there was even less news. In Najaf, you know, the late Balaghi had a little something, and some other gentlemen had a little something in this regard; but the work that is expected from a seminary that wants to express Islamic sciences is far from that.

What is the result? The result is that our great and renowned scholars often were not familiar with Quranic concepts. I knew one very good scholar, a learned man, a very good person — during our youth — he said when we were in Najaf, we were busy with lessons and discussions and our work and writing and speaking and exchanging and debating and coming and going and such; when we came from Najaf to Iran, I accidentally found the Tafsir Safi — that gentleman said — I looked at Tafsir Safi, and I saw what amazing content is in this book! Now you see how much content exists in Tafsir Safi that could astonish a learned Mujtahid who has studied for years in Najaf; this was the state of our seminaries.

Before the revolution, I had a little connection with Quranic works; I would tell the students; I would say the state of our seminary is such that from "Badana Aydak Allah" (May God support you) that we start until we receive the permission for Ijtihad, during these years, we might not even need to get up once to take the Quran from the shelf and look at it! That is to say, our lessons have no connection with the Quran, except for the amount that is in the literature book, in Mughni or in Suyuti and such; otherwise, neither in our jurisprudence, nor in our literature, nor in our fundamental research do we find the need to get up and take the Quran and see what verse in the Quran can be found regarding this topic or what the Quran has said! This is a flaw of the seminary.

Well, now it has started — they say there are two hundred interpretation classes in the seminaries! This is very good; this is very good, meaning it is a good tidings; I did not know that there are now two hundred interpretation classes in the Qom seminary — but make sure that this reference to interpretation and interpretation classes becomes a stable culture; [this work] should not be considered a deficiency. That is to say, a cleric in jurisprudence, or now in the next degree, a cleric in philosophy, which is an honor, a cleric in interpretation should also mean becoming a cleric, at least like a cleric in jurisprudence; that is how it should be. Now, of course, since the system of human life depends on jurisprudence, one must express oneself more respectfully regarding jurisprudence; but now, for example, principles with this length and detail, a person who is a cleric in principles has a rank in the general mentality of the seminaries; does the one who has mastery in interpretation over the verses of the Quran and the meanings of the verses and the concepts of the verses and the indications of the verses have the same level of respect in the general mentality of the seminary? This needs to be corrected.

The references of our Sunni brothers to the Quran are good, but they too, now either more than interpretation or at least to the extent of interpretation, have dealt with less important peripheral issues of the Quran; how many books are there on "waqf and ibtida" in [recitation] of the Quran! For example, consider how many books are there on Tajweed! And such matters. These are not Quranic issues; the issue of the Quran is understanding the noble verses of the Quran, which, in this regard, we have honestly been lax, and this work has been done little in Shia; thanks be to God, today this work has been revived. Now we thank God that at this juncture, the interpretation of Tasnim has come into existence and has become a source of pride. The interpretation of Tasnim can be held high and shown to the Islamic world that we have this.

One of the tasks is the Arabic translation of the interpretation, which is also necessary. Now, the fact that the original work is written in Persian has a philosophy, and it is not a problem, it is good, but the Islamic world today is more familiar with Arabic, and we cannot have a good book and expect the Islamic world to understand it, to know it, to recognize it, but it not be in Arabic; this expectation is not correct. In my opinion, a group, an assembly of Arabic speakers whose mother tongue is Arabic and who are proficient in Arabic literature should gradually translate this book if it has not been done so far. Very good. Yes, this work is a necessary task. If the work turns out well, meaning the language is good for the Arabic audience and some of the characteristics that are psychologically important, the interpretation will spread quickly; that is to say, in the Arabic-speaking regions, it will gain popularity quickly. Thoughtful people will also benefit [from it].

The late Sheikh Hadi Fazli (may God have mercy on him), who was one of the scholars from Saudi Arabia, told me that now in the universities of Hijaz, the great professors of Hijaz are preparing and reading Shia jurisprudential books; that is to say, those that have been published. He expressed gratitude that [these works] have been done, corrected, and published. Because no one is inclined to open the last book of Riyadh [6] in its old form, but when Riyadh is presented in this new form, or Jawahir [7] is presented in this way, naturally, they become interested. He said they have become interested and have come to believe in Shia. The late Mr. Fazli also taught at the university and said that the great professors in the Sunni world in the area where he was teaching — in the universities of the Eastern region and others — are all captivated. This book will be like that; that is to say, if a good translation is done, and this reaches their hands, they will not let it go; it will be passed around; in the Islamic world, God willing, it will circulate.

We thank the Almighty God for granting this success to Mr. Jawadi (may his blessings be upon him) that he accomplished this work; we thank Ayatollah Mr. Jawadi for undertaking this effort; we thank you all for following up on this work, researching, and working. And God willing, we hope that all of you will receive your worldly and otherworldly rewards. Please convey our greetings and thanks to him.

Peace be upon you and God's mercy and blessings.