The Linguistic Tendency in the Exegesis of Muqatil Ibn Sulayman Al-Balkhi (d. 150 AH) in the Eyes of the Arabists

This research seeks to clarify the opinion of the Arabists, especially the opinion of the Dutch Arabist Kees Versteegh, regarding the presence of a linguistic tedency in the Exegesis of Muqatil ibn Sulaiman al-Balkhi (d. 150 AH), which is an Exegesis that deserves attention and study. It is the oldest Exegesis of the Qur’an that has reached us so far, and it predates Sibawayhi’s book by many years. This research presents us with Muqatil’s method and approach in this Exegesis, and the relationship of his Exegesis to the early Exegeses, and traces the Arab languages and dialects mentioned in it. It also cites foreign languages and Qur’anic readings, and extracts the grammatical terms that Muqatil used in his Exegesis, which are Kufan terms that indicate the precedence of Kufan grammar and Basran grammar In existence, however, the rules and terminology of the Kufans have not reached us in a written trace, as the book of Sibawayhi has reached us in written form. It is known that Basran grammar preceded Kufan grammar, and that it was founded in Basra, and its books have reached us in full. As for Kufan grammar, it did not have special books, but rather its rules and terminology were extracted from the writings of the Kufan Grammarians, such as the book Meanings of the Qur’an by Al-Farra’ and other books related to the Qur’an, poetry, and literature written by later Kufans.