Islam Academy

Mujahid ibn Jabr

مجاهد بن جبر

Abu al-Hajjaj

Abu al-Hajjaj Mujahid ibn Jabr al-Makki al-Makhzumi (21–103 AH / 642–721 CE) was one of the foremost Qurʾan commentators of the Successor generation and a central figure in the early Meccan school of tafsir. A client of Qays ibn al-Saib, he first learned Qurʾanic material from Qays and later studied with major Companions, above all Abd Allah ibn Abbas. Classical reports say that Mujahid recited the Qurʾan repeatedly before Ibn Abbas and went through the whole text with him while asking about its interpretation. After Ibn Abbas’s death, Mujahid became one of the leading authorities for Qurʾanic exegesis in Mecca. His students included Ata ibn Abi Rabah, Qatada, Amr ibn Dinar and others, while later readers also transmitted qiraʾa from him. His exegesis drew on the Qurʾan itself, Prophetic reports, Companion learning, pre-Islamic poetry, occasions of revelation, Israelite material, legal inference and reasoned or figurative interpretation. Some interpretations were criticized by other early scholars, and later scholars also debated his use of Israelite material and raʾy. The work now published as Tafsir Mujahid should not be treated as a securely preserved single authorial book: the surviving textual tradition appears to have been compiled through students and later transmission, and modern scholars have questioned the attribution of parts of the manuscript and editorial supplements. He died in Mecca in 103 AH / 721 CE.

642 — 721

Names and variants

Mujahid ibn Jabr· canonicalMujahid ibn Jabr· canonicalمجاهد بن جبر· canonicalMujahid ibn Jabr· birth nameمجاهد بن جبر· birth nameAbu al-Hajjaj· kunyaأبو الحجاج· kunyaal-Makki· nisbaالمكي· nisbaal-Makhzumi· nisbaالمخزومي· nisbaMujahid ibn Jubayr· variantMücâhid b. Cebr· transliterationAbu al-Hajjaj Mujahid ibn Jabr al-Makki al-Makhzumi· variant

Mujahid ibn Jabr

Mujahid ibn Jabr was one of the foremost Qurʾan commentators of the Successor generation and a foundational authority in the early Meccan tradition of tafsir.

Sources: [2] Identity, chronology and early life, [3] Identity, chronology and early life, [5] Identity, chronology and early life, [9] Identity, chronology and early life

Full name

His name is commonly given as Abu al-Hajjaj Mujahid ibn Jabr al-Makki al-Makhzumi.

Sources: [2] Identity, chronology and early life, [3] Identity, chronology and early life, [5] Identity, chronology and early life, [9] Identity, chronology and early life

Kunya: Abu al-Hajjaj

His established kunya was Abu al-Hajjaj.

Sources: [2] Identity, chronology and early life, [3] Identity, chronology and early life, [5] Identity, chronology and early life, [9] Identity, chronology and early life

A Meccan client of the Makhzum

Mujahid was a Meccan mawla associated with the Makhzum. Biographical sources identify him as a client of Qays ibn al-Saib rather than as a Qurashi by blood.

Sources: [2] Identity, chronology and early life, [3] Identity, chronology and early life, [5] Identity, chronology and early life, [9] Identity, chronology and early life

Birth in Mecca

The standard biographical chronology places his birth in Mecca in 21 AH / 642 CE.

Sources: [2] Identity, chronology and early life, [3] Identity, chronology and early life, [5] Identity, chronology and early life, [9] Identity, chronology and early life

Qays ibn al-Saib

Qays ibn al-Saib is presented as Mujahid’s patron and his first source of Qurʾanic learning. This early relationship preceded Mujahid’s study with major Companions.

Sources: [2] Identity, chronology and early life, [3] Identity, chronology and early life, [5] Identity, chronology and early life, [9] Identity, chronology and early life

Early Qurʾanic formation

Mujahid’s scholarly identity developed around the Qurʾan from an early stage. His later career would be dominated by recitation, interpretation and legal or linguistic reflection on the text.

Sources: [2] Identity, chronology and early life, [3] Identity, chronology and early life, [5] Identity, chronology and early life, [9] Identity, chronology and early life

A scholar of the Successor generation

Mujahid belonged to the tabiʿin. He did not meet Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, but he learned from a wide network of Companions and became one of the most influential transmitters of their Qurʾanic learning.

Sources: [2] Identity, chronology and early life, [3] Identity, chronology and early life, [5] Identity, chronology and early life, [9] Identity, chronology and early life

Learning from major Companions

Biographical sources name Abd Allah ibn Masud, Ali ibn Abi Talib, Sad ibn Abi Waqqas, Abu Hurayra, Aisha, Abd Allah ibn Umar, Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr and especially Abd Allah ibn Abbas among the authorities from whom Mujahid learned.

Sources: [2] Teachers and early learning, [3] Teachers and early learning, [5] Teachers and early learning, [6] Teachers and early learning, [9] Teachers and early learning

Ibn Abbas as his principal teacher

Among these teachers, Ibn Abbas occupied the central place in Mujahid’s formation as a Qurʾan commentator. Later scholars repeatedly linked the Meccan tafsir tradition to this teacher-student relationship.

Sources: [2] Teachers and early learning, [3] Teachers and early learning, [5] Teachers and early learning, [6] Teachers and early learning, [9] Teachers and early learning

The report of thirty complete recitations

Classical reports say that Mujahid completed the Qurʾan before Ibn Abbas thirty times. The number belongs to transmitted biographical tradition and should be presented as a report rather than as an independently verifiable statistic.

Sources: [2] Teachers and early learning, [3] Teachers and early learning, [5] Teachers and early learning, [6] Teachers and early learning, [9] Teachers and early learning

Three reported full interpretive readings

A further report says that on three occasions Mujahid went through the whole Qurʾan with Ibn Abbas while stopping at each verse to ask about its interpretation. This tradition became central to later claims about his authority in tafsir.

Sources: [2] Teachers and early learning, [3] Teachers and early learning, [5] Teachers and early learning, [6] Teachers and early learning, [9] Teachers and early learning

Beyond Ibn Abbas

Mujahid’s learning was not limited to one teacher. His broader Companion network linked his tafsir, hadith and legal material to several strands of first-generation Muslim learning.

Sources: [2] Teachers and early learning, [3] Teachers and early learning, [5] Teachers and early learning, [6] Teachers and early learning, [9] Teachers and early learning

Hadith and legal learning

Although best known for tafsir, Mujahid also transmitted hadith and legal material. Classical biographical works therefore describe him not only as a commentator but also as a reliable transmitter and jurist.

Sources: [2] Teachers and early learning, [3] Teachers and early learning, [5] Teachers and early learning, [6] Teachers and early learning, [9] Teachers and early learning

The early Meccan school of tafsir

After Ibn Abbas, Mujahid became one of the central figures of the Meccan exegetical tradition. Later histories of tafsir regularly place him among the most important early representatives of that school.

Sources: [2] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [3] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [5] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [9] Meccan school, students and fatwa

Teaching after Ibn Abbas

Biographical tradition reports that after Ibn Abbas’s death, Mujahid assumed a leading role in teaching tafsir in Mecca. The claim describes scholarly succession rather than an official institutional appointment.

Sources: [2] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [3] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [5] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [9] Meccan school, students and fatwa

Students and transmitters

A wide circle of younger scholars learned from Mujahid, including Ikrima, Ata ibn Abi Rabah, Qatada, Amr ibn Dinar and al-Amash. Their transmission carried his material into later tafsir, hadith and legal collections.

Sources: [2] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [3] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [5] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [9] Meccan school, students and fatwa

Ata ibn Abi Rabah

Ata ibn Abi Rabah was among the prominent Meccan scholars who learned from Mujahid. Their connection illustrates the continuity of early Meccan Qurʾanic and legal learning.

Sources: [2] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [3] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [5] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [9] Meccan school, students and fatwa

Qatada and Amr ibn Dinar

Qatada ibn Diama and Amr ibn Dinar are likewise named among those who benefited from Mujahid’s teaching. They transmitted elements of his interpretive and scholarly legacy into later regional traditions.

Sources: [2] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [3] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [5] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [9] Meccan school, students and fatwa

Students in Qurʾanic recitation

Biographical sources also connect Mujahid with important early Qurʾan readers, including Ibn Kathir al-Makki and Abu Amr ibn al-Ala, who benefited from him in qiraʾa.

Sources: [2] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [3] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [5] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [9] Meccan school, students and fatwa

A source of fatwa in Mecca

Mujahid eventually became a recognized authority to whom people turned for legal answers. His juristic role grew out of the same transmitted learning that informed his Qurʾanic exegesis.

Sources: [2] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [3] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [5] Meccan school, students and fatwa, [9] Meccan school, students and fatwa

Reputation as an exegete

Classical and later scholars repeatedly praised Mujahid’s breadth of tafsir knowledge. Such superlatives are evaluations by later authorities, but they reflect the unusually dense survival of material attributed to him.

Sources: [2] Later scholarly evaluations, [5] Later scholarly evaluations, [6] Later scholarly evaluations, [8] Later scholarly evaluations, [9] Later scholarly evaluations

Praise from later scholars

Sufyan al-Thawri and Qatada are among the scholars quoted as praising Mujahid’s exegetical knowledge. Later biographers such as al-Dhahabi and Ibn Hajar also treated him as a major early authority.

Sources: [2] Later scholarly evaluations, [5] Later scholarly evaluations, [6] Later scholarly evaluations, [8] Later scholarly evaluations, [9] Later scholarly evaluations

Reception by al-Shafii and al-Bukhari

Later tradition notes that al-Shafii and al-Bukhari made use of material transmitted from Mujahid. This reception helped secure his place across both legal and hadith-oriented scholarly traditions.

Sources: [2] Later scholarly evaluations, [5] Later scholarly evaluations, [6] Later scholarly evaluations, [8] Later scholarly evaluations, [9] Later scholarly evaluations

A layered exegetical method

The material attributed to Mujahid shows no single mechanical method. It combines scriptural cross-reference, transmitted reports, language, context, legal inference and reasoned interpretation.

Sources: [1] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [8] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [9] Exegetical method and transmitted examples

Interpreting the Qurʾan by the Qurʾan

Later descriptions of Mujahid’s method emphasize his use of one Qurʾanic passage to illuminate another. This approach became a standard element in later Muslim descriptions of sound exegesis.

Sources: [1] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [8] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [9] Exegetical method and transmitted examples

Use of Prophetic reports

Mujahid also drew on Prophetic reports transmitted through the Companion generation. These reports formed one layer of his wider interpretive archive.

Sources: [1] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [8] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [9] Exegetical method and transmitted examples

Pre-Islamic poetry

Material attributed to Mujahid sometimes uses pre-Islamic Arabic poetry to clarify vocabulary or expression. This reflects the early exegetical use of linguistic and poetic evidence.

Sources: [1] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [8] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [9] Exegetical method and transmitted examples

Occasions of revelation

Mujahid transmitted and used reports concerning occasions of revelation. Such reports could provide historical framing for particular verses, though their individual chains still require source-specific evaluation.

Sources: [1] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [8] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [9] Exegetical method and transmitted examples

Use of Israelite material

Sources report that Mujahid made significant use of Israelite narrative material, particularly in explaining stories. Later scholars criticized some of this material, so individual reports should not be assigned the same evidentiary status as securely transmitted Prophetic reports.

Sources: [1] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [7] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [8] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [9] Criticism and debated exegetical material

Reasoned interpretation

Mujahid sometimes interpreted verses through reasoned analysis rather than merely repeating a transmitted gloss. This feature contributed both to his originality and to later criticism of some of his interpretations.

Sources: [1] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [8] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [9] Exegetical method and transmitted examples

Figurative interpretation

Some interpretations attributed to Mujahid read Qurʾanic expressions figuratively or ethically rather than in the most literal sense. Later sources use such examples to illustrate the breadth of his exegetical reasoning.

Sources: [1] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [8] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [9] Exegetical method and transmitted examples

Deriving legal implications from verses

Mujahid also drew legal conclusions from Qurʾanic verses. This aspect of his work helps explain why biographical sources remember him both as a mufassir and as a faqih.

Sources: [1] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [8] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [9] Exegetical method and transmitted examples

Attention to textual coherence

Reports attributed to Mujahid show attention to relationships among nearby verses and expressions. Later descriptions therefore present him as using textual coherence as one clue among several in interpretation.

Sources: [1] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [8] Exegetical method and transmitted examples, [9] Exegetical method and transmitted examples

The reported journey to Babylon

Biographical sources report that Mujahid travelled to Babylon to investigate the setting associated with the story of Harut and Marut. The journey belongs to transmitted scholarly biography and its precise details are not independently verifiable.

Sources: [4] Reported scholarly travel, [8] Reported scholarly travel, [9] Reported scholarly travel

The reported journey to Hadramawt

A similar report says that he travelled as far as Hadramawt to see the well of Barhut. These stories portray an exegete interested in the geographical settings of Qurʾanic and traditional narratives.

Sources: [4] Reported scholarly travel, [8] Reported scholarly travel, [9] Reported scholarly travel

How to read the travel stories

The reported journeys are useful evidence for how later scholars remembered Mujahid’s investigative curiosity, but they should remain marked as reported biography rather than treated as securely documented itineraries.

Sources: [4] Reported scholarly travel, [8] Reported scholarly travel, [9] Reported scholarly travel

Criticism of some interpretations

Mujahid’s authority did not make every attributed interpretation immune from criticism. Early and later scholars sometimes rejected particular explanations as mistaken or overly dependent on personal reasoning.

Sources: [1] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [7] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [8] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [9] Criticism and debated exegetical material

A critique attributed to Said ibn Jubayr

One reported example concerns Mujahid’s identification of the person described as possessing knowledge of the Book in Qurʾan 13:43 with Abd Allah ibn Salam. Said ibn Jubayr reportedly objected that the sura was Meccan, whereas Ibn Salam converted in Medina.

Sources: [1] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [7] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [8] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [9] Criticism and debated exegetical material

Criticism over raʾy

Some later sources accused Mujahid of relying too heavily on personal opinion in certain interpretations. This criticism concerns particular exegetical judgments and should not be generalized to his whole corpus.

Sources: [1] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [7] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [8] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [9] Criticism and debated exegetical material

His appeal to Companion learning

A report attributes to Mujahid the response that his exegetical views were learned from numerous Companions of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ. Whether every individual interpretation can be traced in this way must still be assessed report by report.

Sources: [1] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [7] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [8] Criticism and debated exegetical material, [9] Criticism and debated exegetical material

Writing down Ibn Abbas’s tafsir

Biographical tradition says that Mujahid wrote down the exegetical material he learned from Ibn Abbas. This places him within an early environment where oral teaching and writing interacted.

Sources: [1] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [7] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [8] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [9] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus

Dictating tafsir to students

Sources also say that Mujahid dictated his own tafsir teaching to students. This helps explain how multiple later transmission lines could preserve material attributed to him.

Sources: [1] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [7] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [8] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [9] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus

Compilation through students

The tafsir associated with Mujahid is generally understood to have been compiled through students and transmitters rather than preserved as a single autograph manuscript produced by Mujahid himself.

Sources: [1] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [7] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [8] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [9] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus

Major transmitters of his tafsir

Among the best-known transmitters of Mujahid’s exegetical material were Abd Allah ibn Abi Najih, al-Amash and Ibn Jurayj. Their chains became important routes into later tafsir literature.

Sources: [1] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [7] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [8] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [9] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus

The manuscript behind modern editions

Modern editions called Tafsir Mujahid rely on a manuscript in Dar al-Kutub al-Misriyya and on additional material collected from later tafsir works. The printed text therefore reflects more than a simple reproduction of one early codex.

Sources: [1] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [7] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [8] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [9] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus

The first modern edition

The first major modern edition edited the surviving manuscript and supplemented missing or incomplete material with reports attributed to Mujahid in al-Tabari and other tafsir collections.

Sources: [1] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [7] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [8] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [9] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus

A later critical edition

A later edition prepared from doctoral research attempted to improve on the earlier publication while again enriching the manuscript text with externally transmitted material attributed to Mujahid.

Sources: [1] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [7] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [8] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [9] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus

Debate over the attributed Tafsir Mujahid

Modern scholarship has questioned whether all the material in the surviving manuscript and printed editions can securely be attributed to Mujahid. This uncertainty concerns the textual corpus, not Mujahid’s historical importance as an early exegete.

Sources: [1] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [7] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [8] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [9] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus

Cerrahoglu’s attribution critique

İsmail Cerrahoğlu argued that the attribution of the manuscript’s tafsir reports to Mujahid is weak and that the supplementary material added by modern editors presents a similar attribution problem. His position is an important modern source-critical caution.

Sources: [1] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [7] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [8] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [9] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus

Not a securely preserved single-author book

For historical accuracy, the surviving Tafsir Mujahid should not be described simply as a complete book written and preserved directly from Mujahid. It is better understood as a transmitted corpus whose individual layers require source criticism.

Sources: [1] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [7] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [8] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus, [9] Formation and attribution of the Mujahid tafsir corpus

Role in Qurʾanic recitation

Mujahid also occupied a place in early qiraʾa transmission. Later reading authorities benefited from him, showing that his Qurʾanic activity extended beyond interpretive commentary alone.

Sources: [2] Qiraat, hadith and fiqh, [5] Qiraat, hadith and fiqh, [6] Qiraat, hadith and fiqh, [9] Qiraat, hadith and fiqh

Hadith and fiqh beyond tafsir

Hadith critics and biographers also remembered Mujahid as trustworthy, devout and learned in law. His historical profile is therefore broader than the modern label of Qurʾan commentator alone.

Sources: [2] Qiraat, hadith and fiqh, [5] Qiraat, hadith and fiqh, [6] Qiraat, hadith and fiqh, [9] Qiraat, hadith and fiqh

Death in Mecca

Mujahid died in Mecca in 103 AH / 721 CE. Biographical tradition gives his age as approximately eighty-two, consistent with the standard birth and death chronology.

Sources: [1] Death and legacy, [2] Death and legacy, [3] Death and legacy, [5] Death and legacy, [7] Death and legacy, [9] Death and legacy

Legacy in the Meccan tafsir tradition

Mujahid became one of the defining names of early Meccan exegesis. Later histories of tafsir repeatedly treated his transmission from Ibn Abbas and his own teaching circle as a major route in the development of Qurʾanic interpretation.

Sources: [1] Death and legacy, [2] Death and legacy, [3] Death and legacy, [5] Death and legacy, [7] Death and legacy, [9] Death and legacy

Presence in al-Tabari’s tafsir

A large amount of material attributed to Mujahid survives through later compilations, especially al-Tabari’s Jami al-bayan. This makes al-Tabari both a major witness to Mujahid’s reception and a later layer in the transmission history.

Sources: [1] Death and legacy, [2] Death and legacy, [3] Death and legacy, [5] Death and legacy, [7] Death and legacy, [9] Death and legacy

Influence on later Qurʾanic sciences

Mujahid’s interpretations, linguistic explanations, legal inferences and transmitted reports continued to circulate in tafsir and Qurʾanic sciences. His authority influenced later exegetes even when they disagreed with particular readings.

Sources: [1] Death and legacy, [2] Death and legacy, [3] Death and legacy, [5] Death and legacy, [7] Death and legacy, [9] Death and legacy

A legacy requiring source criticism

Mujahid’s importance is clearest when historical person and transmitted corpus are kept distinct. His status as an early exegete is well established, while individual sayings, numerical study traditions, travel anecdotes and the exact contents of the printed Tafsir Mujahid require different levels of source criticism.

Sources: [1] Death and legacy, [2] Death and legacy, [3] Death and legacy, [5] Death and legacy, [7] Death and legacy, [9] Death and legacy

Source-sensitive points

established

Mujahid ibn Jabr was born in Mecca in 21 AH / 642 CE.

Sources: [3] Biographical chronology, [5] Hadith-biographical chronology, [9] Birth in Mecca in 21 AH

established

Mujahid belonged to the Successor generation and became a major transmitter of Companion Qurʾanic learning.

Sources: [3] Generation and biography, [5] Hadith-biographical classification, [9] Successor classification

established

Abd Allah ibn Abbas was Mujahid’s principal teacher in Qurʾanic exegesis.

Sources: [2] Classical biographical account, [3] Teacher relationship, [5] Teacher network, [9] Ibn Abbas as principal tafsir teacher

reported

Classical biographical tradition reports that Mujahid completed the Qurʾan before Ibn Abbas thirty times.

Sources: [2] Classical biographical report, [4] Early devotional-scholarly biography, [9] Report of thirty complete recitations

reported

A classical report says that Mujahid went through the whole Qurʾan with Ibn Abbas three times while asking about the interpretation of its verses.

Sources: [2] Classical biographical report, [4] Early scholarly biography, [9] Report of three full interpretive readings

established

After Ibn Abbas, Mujahid became one of the leading authorities of the early Meccan school of tafsir.

Sources: [3] Meccan scholarly biography, [8] Modern study of Mujahid as exegete, [9] Leadership in Meccan tafsir after Ibn Abbas

established

Biographical sources connect Mujahid with a broad network of Companion teachers including Ibn Masud, Ali, Sad ibn Abi Waqqas, Abu Hurayra, Aisha, Ibn Umar and Ibn al-Zubayr.

Sources: [2] Classical network, [3] Teacher notices, [5] Hadith-biographical teacher list, [9] Named Companion teachers

established

Mujahid taught a wide circle of later scholars including Ata ibn Abi Rabah, Qatada, Amr ibn Dinar and al-Amash.

Sources: [3] Students and transmitters, [5] Hadith-biographical student list, [9] Named students

established

Early qiraʾa authorities including Ibn Kathir al-Makki and Abu Amr ibn al-Ala are reported to have benefited from Mujahid in Qurʾanic recitation.

Sources: [2] Qurʾanic scholarly reputation, [8] Modern biographical study, [9] Ibn Kathir and Abu Amr benefiting in qiraat

established

Mujahid became an authority for legal questions and fatwa in Mecca.

Sources: [2] Classical scholarly reputation, [3] Juristic reputation, [9] Mujahid as a fatwa authority

established

Classical and later scholars consistently treated Mujahid as a major early authority in Qurʾanic exegesis.

Sources: [2] Classical scholarly evaluation, [6] Hadith and scholarly reputation, [8] Modern exegetical study, [9] Later praise of tafsir knowledge

established

The tafsir material attributed to Mujahid combines Qurʾanic cross-reference, transmitted reports, language and poetry, occasions of revelation, legal inference and reasoned or figurative interpretation.

Sources: [1] Large transmitted corpus of Mujahid interpretations, [8] Modern study of Mujahid’s method, [9] Description of exegetical methods

established

Sources report substantial use of Israelite narrative material in interpretations attributed to Mujahid, and later scholars criticized some of this material.

Sources: [1] Transmission of narrative material, [8] Modern treatment of exegetical method, [9] Use and criticism of Israiliyyat

reported

Some later sources criticized particular interpretations attributed to Mujahid as relying too heavily on personal reasoning or raʾy.

Sources: [7] Source-critical discussion, [8] Modern discussion of exegetical method, [9] Report of criticism for raʾy

reported

A report attributes to Said ibn Jubayr a criticism of Mujahid’s identification of Qurʾan 13:43 with Abd Allah ibn Salam on chronological grounds.

Sources: [1] Transmission context for Mujahid interpretations, [8] Modern biographical discussion, [9] Chronological criticism attributed to Said ibn Jubayr

reported

Biographical sources report that Mujahid travelled to Babylon to investigate the setting associated with Harut and Marut.

Sources: [4] Classical biographical report, [8] Modern biographical discussion, [9] Reported journey to Babylon

reported

Biographical sources report that Mujahid travelled to Hadramawt to investigate the well of Barhut.

Sources: [4] Classical biographical report, [8] Modern biographical discussion, [9] Reported journey to Hadramawt

probable

The tafsir corpus associated with Mujahid was probably compiled and transmitted through his students rather than preserved as a single autograph book by Mujahid.

Sources: [1] Independent later preservation of Mujahid reports, [7] Modern source-critical discussion of attributed tafsir, [9] Tafsir understood as student-compiled

disputed

The exact attribution of all material in the surviving manuscript and modern editions called Tafsir Mujahid is disputed; modern editors also supplemented the manuscript with later transmitted material.

Sources: [1] Later independent transmission of Mujahid material, [7] Argues attribution of manuscript reports and editorial additions is weak, [9] Modern editions and attribution problem

established

Mujahid ibn Jabr died in Mecca in 103 AH / 721 CE.

Sources: [2] Classical death chronology, [3] Death chronology, [5] Hadith-biographical chronology, [9] Death in Mecca in 103 AH

Relationships

ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿAbbas

teacher · established

ʿAbd Allah ibn Masʿud

teacher · established

ʿAli ibn Abi Talib

teacher · established

Saʿd ibn Abi Waqqas

teacher · established

Abu Hurayra

teacher · established

ʿAʾisha bint Abi Bakr

teacher · established

ʿAbd Allah ibn ʿUmar

teacher · established

ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr

teacher · established

Ata ibn Abi Rabah

student · established

Contributions

A foundational authority of the Meccan tafsir tradition

Mujahid became one of the principal early transmitters and interpreters through whom the Qurʾanic learning associated with Ibn Abbas entered later Meccan and wider tafsir traditions.

scholarly · established

Transmission of Ibn Abbas’s exegetical legacy

His sustained study with Ibn Abbas and later teaching circle made Mujahid a major link between Companion-era Qurʾanic interpretation and later scholarly transmission.

scholarly · established

A broad early exegetical toolkit

Material attributed to Mujahid preserves an early combination of scriptural cross-reference, transmitted reports, linguistic evidence, legal inference and reasoned interpretation that became important to later tafsir.

scholarly · established

A transmitted tafsir corpus preserved through students

Although no single autograph Tafsir Mujahid survives, students and later compilers preserved a large body of material attributed to him, making his corpus a major witness to early Qurʾanic interpretation.

scholarly · probable

Influence across tafsir, qiraʾa, hadith and fiqh

Mujahid’s authority extended beyond tafsir into Qurʾanic recitation, hadith transmission and legal reasoning, giving his scholarly legacy unusual breadth.

religious · established

Sources

  1. [1]
    Jāmiʿ al-bayān ʿan taʾwīl āy al-Qurʾān

    al-Ṭabarī · Classical tafsir

  2. [2]
    Siyar aʿlām al-nubalāʾ

    al-Dhahabī · Classical biographical source

  3. [3]
    al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā

    Ibn Saʿd · Classical biographical source

  4. [4]
    Ḥilyat al-awliyāʾ

    Abū Nuʿaym al-Iṣfahānī · Classical biographical source

  5. [5]
    Tahdhīb al-Tahdhīb

    Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī · Classical biographical source

  6. [6]
    Tadhkirat al-ḥuffāẓ

    al-Dhahabi · Classical hadith-biographical source

  7. [7]
    Tefsirde Mücâhid ve Ona İsnad Edilen Tefsir

    İsmail Cerrahoğlu · Ankara Üniversitesi İlahiyat Fakültesi Dergisi · 1978

  8. [8]
    Mücâhid: el-Müfessir ve't-tefsîr

    Ahmed İsmail Nevfel · 1990

  9. [9]
    MÜCÂHİD b. CEBR

    Muhammed Fatih Kesler · TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi · 2020

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