Mujahid ibn Jabr


Abū l-Ḥajjāj Mujāhid ibn Jabr al-Qāriʾ was a Tabi' and one of the major early Islamic scholars.
According to some sources, Mujahid wrote a tafsīr of the Qur'an, although it is likely that a written work from his time never existed. The text that is called Tafsir Mujahid today was first compiled by Ādam ibn Abī Iyās, and Adam transmits traditions to Mujahid through the intermediary chain of transmission Warqāʾ — Ibn Abī Najīḥ. Adam's collection also does not survive, but rather, Ibn Shādhān's recension of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān's recension of Ibrāhīm's recension of Adam’s collection is what survives. Up to seven other versions of traditions attributed to Mujahid survive, some of which vary substantially with the Tafsir Mujahid.

Biography

His full nickname is often written as "Mujahid bin Jabir, Maula As-Saib bin Abi As-Saib, Al-Makhzumi, Al-Quraysh". The Nisba of al-Makhzumi were because he was a servant of someone from the Banu Makhzum tribe.
Mujahid is said to have studied under Amir al-Mu'minin 'Ali ibn Abi Talib until his martyrdom. At that point, he began to study under Ibn Abbas, a companion of Muhammad known as the father of Qur'anic exegesis. Mujahid ibn Jabr was known to be willing to go to great lengths to discover the true meaning of a verse in the Qur'an, and was considered to be a well-travelled man. However, there is no evidence he ever journeyed outside of the Arabian Peninsula.

Works

It is related by Ibn Sa'd in the Tabaqat and elsewhere that he went over the explanation of the Qur'an together with Ibn 'Abbas thirty times.
Mujahid ibn Jabr is said to be relied upon in terms of tafsir according to Sufyan al-Thawri, who said: "If you get Mujahid's tafsir, it is enough for you."
His exegesis in general followed these four principles:
  1. That the Qur'an can be explained by other parts of the Qur'an. For example, in his interpretation of Q 29:13, he refers to Q 16:25,
  2. Interpretation according to traditions,
  3. Reason,
  4. Literary comments.
Al-Tabari's Jami' al-bayan attributes a significant amount of exegetical material to Mujahid.

Legacy

The view of Islamic Scholarship

He has been classed as a Thiqah hadith narrator.
Al-A'mash said:
After praising him in similar terms al-Dhahabi said: "The Ummah is unanimous on Mujahid being an Imam who is worthy in Ihtijaj.