Allah Ta’ala says in the Qur’an Shareef:

“Move not your tongue concerning (The Qur’an, Oh Muhammad (SAW) to make haste here with. It is for Us to collect it and to give you (O’ Muhammad (SAW) the ability to recite it. And when We have recited it to You O’ (SAW), through Jibrael) then follow its (the Quran’s) recital.”
(78:16-19)

In these verses not only words and recitation of the Qur’an Shareef is guar-anteed but also its meaning. For this reason ‘Ilm-u-Tafseer’ (knowledge of meaning of the Qur’an Shareef) has remained topmost priority amongst the Muslim Ummah ever since the Qur’an Shareef was revealed. The Muslim Ulema of all ages have always remained extremely vigilant and have ensured that the Qur’an Shareef is never misinterpreted. The first law in this regard which got established in the Ummah, right from the time of Sahabah-Al-Kiram, was that the Qur'an Shareef should be interpreted only as per those interpretations which was made by Rasulullah (SAW) and his companions. For this purpose, the Hadith Shareef of Rasulullah (SAW) worked as the guiding principle’ which stated:

“One who interprets the Qur’an Shareef as per his own opinion, should consider his abode in hell.”

In view of this Hadith Shareef, the Sahabah-Al-Kiram remained very cautious in interpreting the Qur’an Shareef and it became a routine practice for them to strive very hard in order to know those interpreta-tions of the Qur’an Shareef which were made by Rasulullah (SAW). A group of Sahabah, who are called Ashab-e-Sufa never left the company of Rasulullah (SAW) to achieve this objective Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (RA). was one of them. Their main purpose was to listen to and note all that which was uttered from the blessed tongue of Rasulullah (SAW). The other Sahabah(RA) who remained busy with other purpose and had less time to spend in the company of Rasulullah (SAW) made it a point to learn the Qur’an Shareef from these Sahabah (RA)who remained in the company of Rasulullah (SAW) for a long time.

In this way a practice got established in the Ummah that for the interpretation of the Qur’an Shareef, it was necessary to know how Rasulullah (SAW) and his Sahabah (RA) had interpreted it, and the Ulema-Haq of all ages have been in agreement that no other interpretation should be relied upon but should rather be strongly rejected with full might.

This point has already been discussed that for sustaining of any ideology or system, not only books but men of excellence are needed. For the Qur’an Shareef we have seen that Allah Ta’ala made it easy for people to memorise it as a result of which thousands of Hufaaz have always been there at any given point of time. For the safety of the meaning of the Qur’an Shareef Allah Ta’ala created marvelous scholars of the Qur’an Shareef , scholars who dedicated their lives for learning and teaching the interpretations of the Qur’an Shareef, strictly following the principles set by Rasulullah (SAW) and his esteemed Sahabah (RA). Allama Sayooti has compiled a book in four volumes named “Tarjimanul Qur’an” in which he has collected over ten thousand Hadith Shareef which are related to interpretations of the Qur’an Shareef by Rasulul-lah (SAW) and his Sahabah (RA) (Al-Itqan). He says that while compiling that book he saw Rasulullah (SAW) in a dream and in that dream there were glad tid-ings for him.

The First generation of Mufassireen from Sahabah-Al-Kiram (RA)

1. Hadhrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA)
2. Hadhrat Umar (RA)
3. Hadhrat Uthman (RA)
4. Hadhrat Ali (RA)
5. Hadhrat Ibne Abbas (RA)
6. Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Masood (RA)
7. Hadhrat Ubi Bin K’ab (RA)
8. Hadhrat Zayd Bin Thabit (RA)
9. Hadhrat Abu Musa Ash’ari (RA)
10. Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Zubair (RA)
11. Hadhrat Aisha (RA)

Hadhrat Ali (RA)

Amongst the Khulfa-e-Rashideen the maximum number of narrations are quoted from Hadhrat Ali (RA) and the least from Hadhrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA), this is because of the fact that Hadhrat Abu Bakr (RA) lived for less time after Rasulullah (SAW) whereas Hadhrat Ali (RA) lived for a greater length of time afterwards.

It is quoted from Ibne Tufail,

“I saw Hadhrat Ali (RA) when he was addressing us in a Khutba and he was saying, ‘Ask me and by Allah Ta'ala you will not ask me any question which I won’t answer. And ask me about the book of Allah Ta'ala and I swear by Allah Ta'ala that there is no Ayat but I know about it, whether it has been revealed during the night or during the day.’ ”
(Al-Itqan)

Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Masood (RA)

Rasulullah (SAW) said,

“Obtain the Qur’an Shareef from four; from Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Masood (RA), Salim(RA), Muadh(RA) and Ubi Bin Ka’b(RA).”
(Bukhari)

Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Masood (RA) was one of the close asso-ciates of Rasulullah (SAW) and a distin-guished Mufassir of the Qur’an Shareef. Sahih Bukhari has narrated on the authority of Masrooq that Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Masood (RA) said:

“By Allah Ta'ala, without Whom there is no one worth worshiping, there is no (such) Surah from book of Allah Ta'ala which has been revealed but I know about it as to where it has been revealed and about what it has been revealed and if I come to know that anybody is more knowl-edgeable in the Qur’an than myself, I will ride my camel up to him.”

Bukhari has also quoted Abdullah Bin Masood (RA) as saying,

“I have learnt over seventy Surahs (directly) from the blessed tongue of Rasulullah (SAW).”

He later shifted to Kofa and died during the Caliphate of Hadhrat Uthman (RA). He dedicated himself to the teaching of the Qur’an Shareef and Hadith Shareef. The chain of scholars of Hanafite school of thought reaches us from Rasulullah (SAW) through Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Masood (RA). Alqama was one of his main students, who happens to be amongst the grand teachers of Imam Abu Haniefa.

Hadhrat Ibne Abbas (RA)

When we talk about the Mufassireen of the Qur’an Shareef from the group of Sahabah(RA), the name of Hadhrat Ibne Abbas (RA) stan Shareefds out with distinction. This was because of the special dua made in his favour by Rasulullah (SAW) in following words:

“Oh! Allah Ta'ala; give him the right understanding of Deen and teach him the meaning (Tafseer) of the Qur’an Shareef.”

Due to this dua Allah Ta’ala bestowed him with an extraordinary understanding of the Qur’an Shareef and he earned the title of Imam-ul-Mufassireen. Despite his young age, other senior Sahabah(RA) used to consult him about meanings of the Qur’an Shareef. Hadhrat Umar (RA) used to invite him to the consultative meetings in which he alone used to be the youngest and all others were senior Sahabah(RA). This was because of his special capability as Mufassir of the Qur’an Shareef.

Ibne Abbas says:

“Rasulullah (SAW) told me:

‘Yes, you are spokesman of the Qur’an’ ”
(Al-Itqan)
Students of Ibne Abbas

The role of Ibne Abbas as Mufassir of the Qur’an Shareef is not only remem-bered because of his own Tafseer but also because of the fact that he was able to produce a distinguished galaxy of Mufassireen like Mujahid, Atah Bin Rabah, Ikramah Maula Ibne Abbas, Saeed Ibne Jubair and Taauoo etc. Mujahid, who was a distinguished scholar of the Qur'an Shareef, says that he read the Qur'an Shareef in front of Ibne Abbas (RA) three times and for every Ayat he used to ask him as to when and how that Ayat was revealed. Hadhrat Ibne Abbas took great pains in teaching his servant Ikramah, who later on contributed a lot to the Tafseer of the Qur'an Shareef. These people in turn prepared hundreds of scholars of the Qur'an Shareef and this chain continued up to us without any break. Muslims have the distinction of creating a unique branch of science called Fun-e-Asmaa-e-Rijal, this branch deals with the biographies of those people who have quoted the Qur’an and Hadith Shareef at every step, of which the Sahabah (RA) being the first step, the Tabaeen the second and the like down the chain. The quota-tions of Ibne Abbas about the Qur’anic Tafseer have reached us through different such chains of narrators and the authenticity of each one has been evaluated in the Fun-e-Asma-e-Rijal. To name a few chains which have narrated quotations of Ibne Abbas are:

i. Abu Sahiha from Muaawiya Bin Saliha from Ali Bin Abi Talha from Ibne Abbas.

ii. Qais from Attah Bin Saaib, from Saeed Bin Jubair from Ibne Abbas.
(Al-Itqan)

These chains are authentic and there are other chains but their authenticity has been questioned. Why have I highlighted all this? It is because by this you can understand the miracle of the Qur’an Shareef as to how its meaning has also been safeguarded and even the life histories of its narrators has been thoroughly evaluated and recorded.

Hadhrat Ubi Bin Ka’b (RA)

He is one of those four distinguished Sahabah(RA)about whom Rasulullah (SAW) said:

“Obtain the Qur’an Shareef from four”
Rasulullah (SAW) also said about him,

“Amongst them (Sahabah), Ubi Bin Ka’b is the best Qari.”

It is because of this that even senior Sahabah (RA) used to consult him about Tafseer of the Qur’an Shareef.

It has been reported by some that Ubi Bin Ka’b is the first such Mufassir of the Qur’an Shareef whose Tafseer was given the shape of a book. Great Mufassireen like Imam Ibne Jareer, Ibne Abi Hatam, Imam Ahmad Bin Hambal and Imam Hakim have quoted narrations from him.

Hadhrat Zayd Bin Thabit (RA)

Hadhrat Zayd Bin Thabit was Kaatib-e-Wahy. When any verse of the Qur’an Shareef was being revealed to Rasulullah (SAW), he used to call someone for writing those verses. Hadhrat Zayd (RA) mostly did this job. He played a great role in compilation of the Qur’an Shareef at one place in book form. This job was entrusted to him by Hadhrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (RA) during his Caliphate as already mentioned.

The Second generation Mufassireen

As we have seen that the Sahabah-al-Kiram (RA)dedicated their lives to learning and teaching of the Qur’an Shareef, and as such they produced a large number of marvelous Mufassireen of the Qur’an Shareef from their second generation called Taabaeen. These are often quoted in any Tafseer of the Qur’an Shareef. Some distinguished Mufassireen from this generation are:

Hadhrat Mujahid (RA)

He was one of the distinguished students of Hadhrat Ibne Abbas (RA). He was born in 21 Hijra and died in 103 Hijra. He says that he read the Qur’an Shareef in front of Hadhrat Ibne Abbas three times and for every Ayat he used to ask him as to when and how that the Ayat was revealed.

Imam Nawwawi said,

“If theTafseer of Mujahid comes to you, it is enough for you.”
(Al-Itiqan)
Ibne Taymiya said,

“Scholars like Imam Shafae and Imam Bukhari relied on his Ta-fseer.”

Qatada said,

“Amongst the Ulema who have remained, Mujahid is the best.”

Khaseef said,

“Mujahid is the best Aalim of Tafseer.”
(Al-Itiqan)

Mujahid himself says,

“I stayed in the company of Hadhrat Ibne Umar (RA), I wanted to serve him but he used to serve me.”
(Uloom-ul-Qur’an)

Hadhrat Saeed Bin Jubair (RA)

Hadhrat Saeed Bin Jubair (RA) was a famous Tabaee who learnt the Qur’an Shareef from great Mufassireen of the first generation like Hadhrat Ibne Abbas, Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Umar, Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Zubair and Hadhrat Anas (RA) etc.

Hadhrat Sufiyan Thouri said about him,

“Learn the Qur’an Shareef from four, Saeed Bin Jubair, Mujahid, Ikramah and Zuhak.”

Hadhrat Qatada said,

“There were four most knowledgeable amongst the Tabaeen, out of them Atah Bin Abi Rabah was in Manaasik, Saeed Bin Jubair in Tafseer, Ikramah in Seer and Hassan in Halal and Haram.”
(Al-Itiqan)

Hadhrat Saeed Bin Jubair wrote a Tafseer on the request of Caliph Abdul Maalik Bin Marwan. The Caliph kept that Tafseer in the Royal Treasury which later on came in the possession of Hadhrat Atar Bin Deenar who has quoted from this Tafseer quite frequently.
(Uloom-ul-Qur’an)
Hadhrat Ikramah (RA)

He was a distinguished Mufassir of the Qur’an Shareef from the Tabaeen group. He was a slave who was presented to Hadhrat Ibne Abbas by Hussain Bin Abi-Al-Har Al-Anbri. Hadhrat Ibne Abbas took great pains in teaching him. In addition to Ibne Abbas, Ikramah has quoted narrations from Hadhrat Ali, Hadhrat Hasan Bin Ali, Hadhrat Abu Hurairah, Hadhrat Ibne Umar, Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Umar, Hadhrat Abu Saeed Khudri, Hadhrat Uqbah Bin Aamir, Hadhrat Jabir, Hadhrat Muawiya and many other Sahabah(RA).

Hadhrat Atah Bin Abi Rabah(RA)

He was born in the last years of the Caliphate of Hadhrat Uthman(RA) and died in 144 Hijra. He is also amongst the distinguished students of Hadhrat Ibne Abbas. He was particularly known for his knowledge of Manaasik of Haj.

Ibne Jareer says that for twenty years his bedding was the matting of the mosque.

Hadhrat Saeed Bin-Al-Musaib (RA)

He was the son in law of Hadhrat Abu Hurairah(RA) and most of the narrations of Hadhrat Abu Hurairah(RA) have been quoted through Saeed Bin-Al-Musaib only. He performed Haj 40 times. He attained a distinguished status amongst Tabaeen and is a well known Mufassir of the Qur’an Shareef.

Hadhrat Hasan Basri (RA)

He is an extraordinary shinning star amongst the second generation Mufassireen. His mother Khairah was the freed Kaneez of Ummul-Mumineen Hadhrat Ummi-Salmah and it is also reported that she has at times breast fed him. He was born two years before the martyrdom of Hadhrat Umar. He learnt the Qur’an Shareef and Hadith Shareef from a number of Sahabah.
The Role of Hasan Basri as a great reformer

After the death of Caliph Umar Bin Abdul Aziz (RA), Islamic principles and its moral values started declining fast. People started living luxurious lives and where infected by the poisonous germs of materialism, hypocrisy and negligence of the Aakhirah. Spirituality and the heat of Iman in the hearts of Muslims started freezing. Negligence of the people about the Qur’an Shareef was on the rise. It is under these circumstances that Hadhrat Hassan Basri played his criti-cal role in rekindling the lamp of Iman, not only saving it from getting extinguished but also helping in increasing its bright-ness. He had all those qualities which were needed at that time for safeguarding Islam. He was having knowledge of Islam with great depth, he was a great Mufassir of the Qur’an Shareef and a great Muhaddith. His lectures would melt the hearts of the listeners. In this way he succeeded in checking the declining trend of Islamic principles.

Islam has this distinction of producing such men of excel-lence from time to time and this kept its candle aflame.

Hadhrat Tauoos (RA)

He was from Yemen and was a student of Hadhrat Ibne Abbas, Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Masood, Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Umar, Hadhrat Zayd Bin Thabit, Hadhrat Zayd Bin Arqam and many other Sahabah(RA). He became very famous during his life time as well as known Mufassir of the Qur’an Shareef. He performed Haj 40 times during his life time.

Urwah Bin-Al-Zubair (RA)

He is the son of a famous Sahabi Hadhrat Urwah Bin-Al-Zubair (RA) and nephew of Hadhrat Aisha (RA). He is amongst the seven famous Fuqha of Madinah. He has quoted most of the narrations of Hadhrat Aisha RA).

Muhammad Bin Seereen (RA)

Muhammad Bin Seereen was a great Mufassir of the Qur’an Shareef, a Muhaddith and a Faqih. His listening and learning of the Qur’an Shareef and Hadith Shareef from the Sahabah like Hadhrat Anas (RA), Hadhrat Abu Hurairah (RA), Hadhrat Imran Bin Hussain, Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Umar and Hadhrat Zayd Bin Thabit, is authentic. His father Seereen was a freed slave and had six sons and all of whom were authentic narrators of Hadith Shareef and amongst them Muhammad Bin Seereen was the most outstanding.

His status can be appreciated by the fact that a Sahabi like Hadhrat Anas (RA) had made the Wasiyat that only Muhammad Bin Seereen should give him ghusl after his death.
(Uloom-ul-Qur’an)

Hadhrat Qatada (RA)

He was born blind but had extraordinary (of memory) power.

Imam Ahmad says,

“Qatada is a very great Aalim of Tafseer.”
(Uloom-ul-Qur’an)

His name is also often quoted in the books of Tafseer.

Hadhrat Alqama (RA)

Hadhrat Alqama is a famous student of Hadhrat Abdullah Bin Masood (RA). He was from Kofa and was born during the life time of Rasulullah (SAW). Hadhrat Alqama is consid-ered very excellent particularly in Fiqh. He is among the grand teachers of Imam Abu Haniefa (RA).

Hadhrat Naafea (RA)

He was in Neeshapur and was thefreed slave of Hadhrat Abdul-lah Bin Umar(RA). There were two students of Hadhrat Ibne Umar who became famous, one was his son Hadhrat Saalim Bin Abdullah and the other was his slave Hadhrat Naafea.

According to Imam Bukhari, the most authentic chain of narrators is “from Maalik from Naafea from Abdullah Bin Umar.”

Hadhrat Ibne Umar himself says,

“Allah Ta’ala has done a great favour to us by giving us Naafea.”

Alama Ibne Hajar says,

“We don’t see any mistake in all that which has been quoted by Naafea.”

Imam Maalik was the distinguished student of Hadhrat Naafea.
(Uloom-ul-Qur’an)

The Third generation Mufassireen

The second generation of Mufassireen -Tabaeen- prepared a large galaxy of Mufassireen from their students, who wrote many Ta-fseers in which they collected all the quotations of the Sahabah (RA) and Taabaeen about Tafseer of the Qur’an Shareef. In this way, you can see quite clearly, that how the meaning of the Qur’an Shareef was also safeguarded and how it reached to us from generation to generation without any chanc-es of fallacies creeping in. The most important Mufassireen of the third generation include:-

1. Sufiyan Bin Uyainiya (RA)
2. Wak'ee Bin Jarah (RA)
3. Souba Bin Hujaj (RA)
4. Yazid Bin Haroon (RA)
5. Abdul Razak (RA)
6. Adam Bin Abi Iyas (RA)
7. Ishaq Bin Rahowiya (RA)
8. Roh Bin Ubaadah (RA) etc.
(Al-Itiqan)

The Mufassireen of the Fourth generation

The Fourth generation of Mufassireen wrote great Tafseers, they include:-

1. Ibne Jareer Tabri (RA)
2. Ibne Abi Hatam (RA)
3. Ibne Majah (RA)
4. Haakim (RA)
5. Ibne Haban (RA)
6. Ibne-Munzir (RA)
(Al-Ithqan)

All of them have continuity upto the Sahabah (RA). All later Mufassireen have quoted from these earlier sources.
The Other men of excellence other than Mufassireen

In addition to the group of 'Mufassireen' mentioned above who ensured the safe transmission of the Qur'an Shareef to us without any alteration and protected it from any sort of misinterpretations, Allah Ta’ala created other men of excellence from time to time to safeguard Islam from socio-political and cultural onslaughts and thus did not allow the dark clouds of these hurdles to obscure the bright shinning light of the Qur'an Shareef. A Few of them are mentioned here briefly:

Umar Bin Abdul Aziz (RA)

When the caliphate of the Khulfa-e-Raashideen (the first four cal-iphs of Islam) was over, the Muslims started getting absorbed in a materialistic life forgetting the lofty teachings of the Qur'an Shareef.

The Muslim empire had by then expanded greatlyand a lot of wealth was acquired by the Muslims. The Quranic spirit with which the Khulfa-e-Raashideen ruled was replaced by mundane lusts, materialism, nepotism and forgetfulness of the Aakhirah by later rulers.The Muslims became involved in regional and family conflicts. Moral values started declining fast and the rulers were going away from Qura-nic principles at a fast pace. At this critical juncture of Isla-mic history, Islam needed some miraculous help to come out of this hazardous situation. Allah Ta'ala sent this help in the form of Hadhrat Umar Bin Abdul Aziz (RA).

He was born in sixty one Hijra and his mother was the grand daughter of Hadhrat Umar Farooq (RA). In his early life he was not that strictly religious but as soon as he was appointed as the caliph of the Muslims (Ameer-ul-mumeen) his entire life style changed to such a dramatic extent that everyone around was surprised. He cleaned the administration of all corrupt people and forced the rulers to discard the luxurious princely life styles and adopt an extreme type of austerity.

He said to the people:

“Prophet Muhammad (SAW) was not sent as Tehsildar to the world but as (Haadi), the guide towards righteousness”
(Tarikh D.Azimat)
It is with this concept that he changed the entire set up and the very aims of the government. The aim of governing people till that time was just to grab money and power but now the aim was to please Allah Ta'ala and follow the Qur'an Shareef and sunnah strictly. He laid special stress on the moral upliftment of people, reviving the spirit of Islam and the Qur'an Shareef.

He issued a circular instructing:

“Wherever you see the Hadith Shareef of Rasulullah (SAW) collect that.”

In this way he exhorted the scholars to take necessary measures for keeping the treasures of the Qur'an Shareef and Hadith Shareef secure .

His role has always been written with golden letters in Islamic History. The Ummah can never afford to forget him.

The Four great Imams

Yet another great favour of Allah Ta’ala to this Ummah has been in the form of the birth of four such great men who had been bestowed with extraordinary intelligence, memory, knowledge, piousness and understanding of the Qur'an Shareef and Sunnah. These were Imam Abu Haniefa(150 Hij), Imam Maalik(179 Hij), Imam Shaafee(204 Hji) and Imam Ahmad Bin Hambal(241 Hij).

Islam was spreading fast and new countries and new people were coming under the flag of Islam. The Islamic empire was expanding at a very fast speed and newer and newer problems were being faced by the Muslims. To get the answer to all these problems from the Qur'an Shareef and Sunnah was not an easy task for a common man.

It needed a great command over various disciplines of Isla-mic sciences with a great depth in the knowledge of the Qur'an Shareef and Sunnah. The extraction of guidelines from the Qur'an Shareef and Sunnah, their exact application to day to day problems varying from very simple personal problems to great national and international socio-politico-economic problems was indeed a Herculean job which needed real men of excellence. The common man would have been lost, giving the enemies of Islam a chance to say that like other religions Islam was also unable to provide a complete code of conduct covering all aspects of life. Today even after fourteen centuries we proudly challenge others saying that Islam is a perfect system applicable to all people in any given circumstances and that there is no problem which doesn’t have its answer in Islam. Have we ever thought as to how it has been possible? It has been possible because of the relentless great work done on Islamic jurisprudence by these great souls of Islam viz., Imam Abu Haniefa, Imam Shafaee, Imam Maalik and Imam Ahmad Bin Hambal, may Allah Ta'ala elevate their status more and more (Aameen).

It is now admitted by many western writers as well that western and other non- Muslim countries succeeded in framing their penal codes only after copying from the laws of Islamic jurisprudence laid down by these great Islamic jurists. Unfor-tunately these days there are some Muslims, having very superfi-cial knowledge of Islam, who fail to appreciate the great work done by these great people and are trying to belittle their work.

It is reported that Imam Abu Haniefa (RA) extracted and put forward six hundred thousand Masail (laws). The collection of fatawa of Imam Maalik contained thirty six thousand Masail, Imam Shafaee compiled his Fatawa in seven voluminous books and Imam Ahmad Bin Hambal com-piled his fatawa in forty volumes.
(Tarikh-D.Azimat)

These great people did this great academic tast to prevent against all endeavours aimed at misinterpreting the shariah. Imam Maalik (RA) received lashes for not deviating from the truth. Imam Abu Haniefa (RA) was imprisoned, Imam Ahmad Bin Hambal's (RA) great re-sistance and valiant fight against the rulers is a famous incident, commonly known as Fitna-Khalqr-Qur'an, and is a golden chapter in Islamic history.

The PROTECTION OF the QUR'AN SHAREEF FROM THE ONSLAUGHTS OF FALSE SECTS LIKE The MAUTE- ZELHITIS, CARMAtHIAN SECTS(BAATINIYAS) AND VICTIMS OF GREEK PHOILOSOPHY, etc.,

As you know firstly the enemies of the Qur’an Shareef tried to destroy the Muslims by means of the sword and when they realised that it was impos-sible to do so they then changed their tactics. Now they tried to erode the solid base of the Qur'an Shareef from within.
The Mautezelhitis:-

This sect gained importance during the Caliphate of Maamoon Rashid who was influenced by the strange interpretations of this group. They tried to change some of the fundamental beliefs of Islam. They were using their intellect in those things which were beyond the limits of compre-hension of intellect. Their fictitous explanations appeared strange and wounderful for many people and in turn these people were becoming influenced by their arguments. To discuss these arguments became the fashion with youngsters and the problem assumed alarming dimensions.

Abu Al- Hassan Ash'ari:-

The credit of taking Muslims out of this menace goes to Hadhrat Abu-Al-Hassan Ash’ari, who himself was initially a Mautezellite. Later he realised the falsehood of this sect and devoted his whole life in preaching true Islam as per the real Quranic perspective. He made a fierce attack on the Mautezel-lits with such strong arguments which stunned his opponents and thus succeeded in restoring the real fundamental beliefs of the Qur'an Shareef.

The Carmathian Sect. (Firqa Baatiniya):-

From the second century Hijra right upto now this is the sect which has been engaged in distorting the meaning of the Qur'an Shareef and the shape of Islam. They claim that the Qur'an Shareef has one apparent (Zahir) meaning and one secret (Batin) meaning and that they have learnt the secret meaning directly from some Imam Masoom. In this way they try to dissociate Muslims from the teachings of the Qur'an Shareef and Sunnah.

The Greek Philosophers:-

Greek Philosophy was (the other thing) which tried to over shadow Quranic principles. This Greek philosophy again became popu-larised amongst the Muslims during the time of Mamoon Rashid. He got many Greek works translated into Arabic. This Greek philosophy included subjects related to mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology etc., These sciences had nothing to do with religious beliefs but this philosophy also contained a lot of confused material about metaphysics which made no head or tail. These philosophers had discussed metaphysics on the basis of baseless imaginations and in a very compli-cated and confusing manner. Muslims, who were straight forward people and quite simple in thinking, got stunned by these confusing arguments about metaphysics to which they were strangers.

As you know every new thing is tasty so to discuss this new philosophy became the fashion for youngsters. Muslims were feeling helpless against these strange arguments and this was a great challenge for the Qur'an Shareef and its followers. As I mentioned earlier on that Allah Ta’ala has always, sent the men of excellence who have nipped these evils in their buds. And this time it was!

Imam Al-Gazzali:-

He was the person who attacked both these sects viz., the car-mathian and Greek philosopher, in such a way that not only the inferiority complex of Muslims was removed but as per some western phi-losopher, Greek philosophy would have been buried for-ever by the fierce onslaught made on it by Imam Gazzali, if Ibne Rushd would have not come to its rescue and thereby allowed it to breathe for another century.

Imam Gazzali refuted all these baseless arguments and established the supremacy of the truth of Quranic teachings. Most of the western philosophers of his time as well as who came afterwards always felt brow beaten infront of Imam Gazzali's status.