Athar al-Balaghah fi al-Tarjih inda al-Mufassirin أثر البلاغة في الترجيح عند المفسرين

"Athar al-Balaghah fi al-Tarjih inda al-Mufassirin" (أثر البلاغة في الترجيح عند المفسرين “The Impact of Rhetoric (Balaghah) on Weighted Preferences (Tarjih) Among Quranic Exegetes (Mufassirin)”—is a highly regarded contemporary academic work in the field of Quranic sciences ('Ulum al-Qur’an) and exegesis (Tafsir). When classical Quranic commentators encountered verses with multiple plausible meanings, grammatical structures, or interpretive possibilities, they employed specific rules of preference (Qawa’id al-Tarjih) to determine which meaning was most accurate or strongest (al-Rajih). Among the most critical tools used for this weighing process is Balaghah (Arabic Rhetoric), which consists of three main branches: •

Ilm al-Ma’ani (Semantics): Understanding word order, sentence structure, and context.

Ilm al-Bayan (Figures of Speech): Analyzing metaphors, similes, and metonymy.

Ilm al-Badi’ (Embellishments): Studying the artistic beauty and harmony of the text.

Dr. Ajaj Auda’s book systematically analyzes how these rhetorical elements are not just aesthetic ornaments, but decisive legal, linguistic, and theological tools used by three major scholars—Al-Zamakhshari in his Al-Kashshaf (الكشاف), Sharaf al-Din al-Tibi in his Futuh al-Ghaib (فتوح الغيب) [his celebrated rhetorical super-commentary on Al-Kashshaf], and Abu al-Su’ud al-Imadi in his Irshad al-Aql al-Salim ila Mazaya al-Kitab al-Karim (إرشاد العقل السليم إلى مزايا الكتاب الكريم)—to resolve interpretive differences.

For researchers, students of Tafsir, and lovers of the Arabic language, Dr. Ajaj Auda’s work provides a clear methodology on how the miraculous linguistic nature of the Quran (I’jaz al-Qur’an) acts as an objective arbiter in understanding the Divine Speech. It bridges the gap between pure Arabic grammar/rhetoric and the practical derivation of meaning in Quranic exegesis.