Egyptian writer and writer Tawfiq Al-Hakim (Getty)
The great writer Tawfiq al-Hakim was known for his literary writings and novels in which he made great strides, and he became one of the most famous writers in the Arab world. His writings were not devoid of political and intellectual aspects, between seriousness and sarcasm, and between political and intellectual criticism of our conditions.
Most of Egypt's great writers had insight and knowledge of the Holy Qur’an and its interpretation, and they had views and reflections, and their favorite field of writing was: the biography of the Prophet, as it is a talk about stories, and it is easy to unleash their pen and literary imagination in how to present the event from the biography. Although many of them were not devoid of writing on the Holy Qur’an and their reflections on Qur’anic topics, as we saw with Abbas Al-Aqqad, Taha Hussein, Muhammad Hussein Heikal, and other famous writers.
Al-Hakim believes that Islam’s corporal punishments, especially the death penalty, remain and will not be abolished, as they are a just punishment related to the rights of society. Al-Hakim, the jurist, does not see that the punishment of imprisonment is an appropriate or useful punishment.
To help Al-Hakim, there are selections that he selected from the interpretation of Imam Al-Qurtubi. Al-Hakim called them: (Selected Interpretation of Al-Qurtubi, which brings together the rulings of the Qur’an). His interpretation is not an ordinary interpretation, nor is it intended for the general readership. Rather, the book is very specialized, as its author is an interpreter, jurist, and linguist from among the ancient imams, and Al-Hakim’s approach to this This step indicates his urgent desire and extensive knowledge of Al-Qurtubi’s interpretation. Whoever selects parts of a particular interpretation has undoubtedly gone through it all, and is very confused about what to leave and choose.
Al-Hakim’s Motives for Al-Qurtubi’s Selections
Al-Hakim’s motives behind this work were two important motives that he mentioned:
The first: He saw that Imam Al-Razi, the author of the book (Mukhtar Al-Sihah), had summarized a very large work, in one volume, making it easy for people to refer to it, with ease, ease, and useful brevity, and whoever wanted lengthy works went to them, as he had summarized it from a lengthy work by Imam Al-Jawhari. Al-Hakim wanted to follow his example in this, so Al-Qurtubi summarized it in a way that would benefit the general public, benefit the elite, and bring the book closer to the people, as it contains enormous benefits, which no seeker of knowledge or lover of interpretation can do without.
His second motive: He saw a demand for reading religious books, and he published the book in 1977 AD, which was called the period of Islamic awakening and the spread of Islamic books, which were the best-selling books, and the demand for them was unparalleled, according to statistics from all book fairs in Egypt and the Arab world. And the Islamic world, Al-Hakim decided to present a book that would contribute to making readers aware of the Book of God Almighty.
Why did Al-Hakim choose Al-Qurtubi’s interpretation?
Al-Hakim explained the secret of his choice of Al-Qurtubi’s interpretation from among the rest of the interpretations, because he saw that this interpretation was devoid of myths and illusions, which some other interpretations were not devoid of, and Al-Hakim is right in that, as Al-Qurtubi is one of the farthest interpretations from the Israelites, and he is concerned with other issues that he focuses on addressing. And he is not fond of the oddities found in previous and subsequent interpretations of it.
But there is a third reason that Al-Hakim did not mention about the secret behind his choice of Al-Qurtubi’s interpretation. It is a reason due to Al-Hakim’s literary and scientific inclinations. He meets Al-Qurtubi in the intellectual path in areas that are only understood by those who closely examine the biography and scientific and intellectual path of Al-Qurtubi and Al-Hakim. Al-Qurtubi is a great linguist and jurist, and a scholar of readings. Also, this path coincides with Tawfiq Al-Hakim in his literary and linguistic tendencies, in which Al-Hakim excelled in all his writings. When he writes about politics, he writes in a literary language as well, and not only in literary novels and short stories.
Al-Qurtubi was also concerned with jurisprudence and rulings, and therefore the title of his book was: Al-Jami’ li-Ahkam Al-Qur’an. This is a scientific path that coincides with the path of Al-Hakim, who studied law. He had worked in his early life as a prosecutor and investigating crimes, and so one of his first novels was: “The Diary of a Deputy The countryside" talks about the countryside, its life, its social pattern, and crime therein. Therefore, we find Al-Hakim's legal fingerprints becoming clear and prominent in his book: (Mukhtar Tafsir Al-Qurtubi).
Al-Hakim’s opinion on corporal punishment in Islam
Because the choices that Al-Hakim chose, he did not comment on them with any comment in which he recorded his opinion, he put in the introduction that he wrote, his jurisprudential and legislative position on the issues dealt with in the interpretation, and it is an issue worthy of being recorded by Al-Hakim.
Because it represents the position of a legal jurist in the contemporary legal sense, in his position on punishments in Islam, especially those related to corporal punishment, in which the guilty person, or criminal, is flogged.
The wise man believes that the corporal punishments of Islam, especially the death penalty, remain and will not be abolished. They are a just punishment related to the rights of society. The wise man of the law does not see the punishment of imprisonment as an appropriate or useful punishment. Rather, he sees the punishment of flogging stipulated by Islam and Islamic jurisprudence as the most effective and beneficial.
Because it is an immediate punishment, the criminal is punished, his situation is over, and he returns to practicing life and production, while imprisonment disrupts society by imprisoning a number of its members inside cells.
What Al-Hakim concluded with regard to corporal punishment in Islam is the same as what another legal jurist, Counselor Ali Ali Mansour, who was a famous legal figure in Egypt and the Arab world, did and called for. Former Libyan President Muammar Gaddafi requested him to draw up the penal code for them, quoting Of Islamic law, and Mansour wrote an article - stating the same opinion as Tawfiq Al-Hakim - in Al-Azhar magazine.
In combining religion and the world
Al-Hakim pointed out in his introduction, in which he mentioned a summary of what he extracted from the selections of Al-Qurtubi’s interpretation, including: that the Holy Qur’an, in its speech and teachings, combines religion and the world, because it is the last of heaven’s messages to earth, so it was a gathering of all the previous messages, including those that were authentic, and correcting those that were distorted. Among them, what the materialistic idea was based on in Judaism was not approved before, nor what the idea of spirituality and isolation was based on as in Christianity, so the Holy Qur’an came in its verses and texts calling for the reform of the world and the establishment of religion, through its orders for worship, such as prayer, fasting, and zakat. Hajj, and other costs.
Al-Hakim’s approach to the chosen interpretation
Al-Hakim’s selections of Al-Qurtubi’s interpretation were not a summary of the interpretation, but rather were selections of places, to interpret verses from the Holy Qur’an, and he did not include all the surahs of the Qur’an in his interpretation. Rather, he chose a number of surahs, and through each surah, he chose specific verses that address topics through which the sage sees A vision of Qur’anic topics that addresses issues related to faith, worship, behavior, and international relations.
So he used to write Al-Qurtubi’s words for selected verses in their entirety, without taking into account everything that Al-Qurtubi said in the verse. He did nothing more than give it a suitable and contemporary title, indicating what Al-Hakim understood from the interpretation, as an indication that Al-Hakim’s titles show the method of his choice of passages from the interpretation. This is what was criticized for not stating a specific approach to selection, which is what Dr. Ibrahim Awad criticized him for, and he has the right to do so, even though it appears from Al-Hakim’s selections his plan for selection, and that is through the ideas that Al-Hakim addressed in his introduction, and through the headings of the paragraphs.
The work is not devoid of benefits that are consistent with Al-Hakim’s goal, and it is not devoid of flaws either, as his pen did not work on any refinement, clarification, or explanation, except titles for paragraphs, but it is a good effort from a writer of the caliber of Tawfiq Al-Hakim. His work indicates the value and importance of interpretation. In the culture of the writer and thinker, he presents a book like Al-Qurtubi’s interpretation to a segment of readers who will read a book with the name Al-Hakim on it. Perhaps they are not fans of Islamic culture, but rather they are fans of Al-Hakim. This is a step calculated to benefit the Islamic heritage, especially since it has not been repeated by other writers of the caliber of Al-Hakim.
The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the editorial position of Al Jazeera.