Lucas (Scott C.), The Form and Function of Legal Qurʾān Commentaries. Insights from a Yemeni Zaydī Tafsīr, Leiden, Brill, ("Texts and Studies on the Qurʾān, Volume; 25"), 2026, 320 p. ISBN 978-90-04-74758-6

Author

Dr. Lucas is an associate professor of Islamic Studies. His research explores the creative process by which Sunni and Zaydi scholars composed works in the genres of law, hadith, and Qur’anic commentary during the classical period of Islamic civilization. He recently published a two-volume, unabridged translation of thirty passages from al-Tabari’s Qur’an commentary, titled Selections from the Comprehensive Exposition of the Interpretation of the Verses of the Qur’an. Dr. Lucas was a member of the School of Historical Studies at the Institute for Advanced Studies in Princeton during Fall 2018 and received an ACLS Fellowship to pursue research on the relationship between the Qur’an and Islamic Law during the 2018-19 academic year. He currently is working on multiple book and article projects related to Zaydi law and theology in Yemen (Source : )

Presentation

This book is the first Western-language study of a legal Qurʾān commentary and the first examination of a Zaydī tafsīr. It proposes an original framework for classifying legal passages of the Qurʾān based on Sayyid Muḥammad b. al-Hādī’s (d. 720/1320) Qur’an commentary, The Garden and the Pool. It shows that the legal Qurʾān commentary format can serve both as a teaching tool and as a platform for a Muslim jurist to demonstrate his legal expertise. This book includes a critical edition of Muḥammad b. al-Hādī’s interpretation of the Sūra of Light based on a manuscript written by the author himself.

Content

Abbreviations
Introduction
Chapter 1: Muḥammad b. al-Hādī and his Place in the Zaydī Intellectual Tradition
Chapter 2: Muḥammad b. al-Hādī’s Legal Qurʾān Commentary: Method and Sources
Chapter 3: Muḥammad b. al-Hādī’s 199 Legal Passages in the Qurʾān: A Framework for Analysis
Chapter 4: Legal Passages in the Sūra of Light
Chapter 5: Prayer
Chapter 6: Divorce
Chapter 7: Warfare
Conclusion
Bibliography

Appendix A: Critical Edition of the Commentary on the Sūra of Light in The Garden and the Pool
Appendix B: English Translation of Muḥammad b. al-Hādī’s 199 Legal Passages in the Qurʾān