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Prıncıples of Hamîduddîn al-Farâhî’s Exegesıs of the Qur’an and Interpretatıon of Surah al-Fil
  
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Islamic resources consider the elephant incidence a miracle. Ibn Abbas states that 
the skins of the soldiers who were injured by the stones thrown by the birds would 
start itching and their flesh would disintegrate after their skins burst.
53
 
Some historian-glossators refer to Ikrima, who is one of the scholars at “Tâbiîn” 
time (Tâbiîn are the people who have seen the people who have seen the prophet 
Muhammad), to have said “anyone stricken by those stones, developed pox disease”.
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Rumour is that upon the incidence, it was the first time measles appeared around 
Hicaz.
55
 Muhammad Abduh, Farid Vacdi, Cavad Ali and Muhammad Esed
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 and 
some other researchers take this rumor as a basis, and consider the incidence to be an 
epidemic. According to Abduh, what is meant in surah by mentioned birds can be 
birds or other germ-carrier creatures as well i.e. mosquitos.
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 However most glossators 
of recent epoch disagree with this judgment and express severe criticism.
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Besides, 
another interpretation of this incidence suggests that a volcanic explosion exposes 
Abraha’s soldiers to lava-dust hence burn them then the birds come to pull apart the 
bodies, throwing the pieces of flesh onto the lava.
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 However, this interpretation was 
rejected saying that a volcanic eruption would affect Mecca as well, but it didn’t, and 
the birds cannot be strong enough to carry the dead but maybe only to eat them hence 
claiming that this scenario is invalid.
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Apart from above interpretations, Indian scholar Hamîd al-Dîn al-Farâhî brings 
in a different interpretation to Surah of al-Fil (The Elephant). To start with, we will 
introduce Farâhî’s interpretation of Surah of al-Fil (The Elephant) to express our 
criticism about it. 
 
III. Farâhî’s Interpretation of Surah of al-Fil (The Elephant):  
We can address Farâhî’s interpretation of Surah of al-Fil (The Elephant) under 
four titles: 
                                                 
495; (Beyrut, 1987, IV, pp. 526, 528); al-Andulusî, İbn Atiyye Ebî Muhammad Abdu’l-Hak, al-
Muharraru’l-Vacîz fî Tafsîri’l-Kitâbi’l-Azîz, Katar, 1404/1984, XV, 571; (Beyrut, 1993, V, p. 523); İbn 
Kathîr, İmâduddîn Ebu’l-Fidâ İsmail b. Ömer, Tafsîru’l-Kur’âni’l-Azîm, Dâr Sâdır, 1. edition, Beyrut, 
1999, V, 256-257.; ( Beyrut, 1969, IV, p. 550); Râzî, Fahraddîn Ebû Abdillah Muhammed b. Ömer, et-
Tafsîru’l-Kebîr, 32 cilt, Mısır: el-Matbatü’l-Behiyyetü’l-Mısrıyye, 1353-1382/ 1934-1962, XXXII, 96-
100; ez-Zamahşeri, Mahmud b. Ömer, el-Keşşâf an Hakâikı’t-Tenzîl and Uyûni’l-Akâvîl fî Vücûhi’t-
Te’vîl, Dâru İhyâi’t-Türâsi’l-Arabî, Beyrut, nd., IV, 803, 804 
53
 al-Mavdûdî, Tafhîmu’l-Qur’ân, VII, p. 240 
. 
54
 al-Mavdûdî, Tafhîmu’l-Qur’ân, VII, p. 240.  
55
 at-Taberî, Jâmi ‘al-Beyân fî Tafsîr al-Qur’ân, XXX, p. 196. 
56
 Ateş, Süleyman, Yüce Kur’ân’ın Çağdaş Tefsiri, İstanbul, 1988, XI, p. 99. 
57
 Heyet, Kur’ân yolu, Diyanet İşleri Başkanlığı Yayınları, Ankara 2007, IV, p. 690 
58
 Heyet, Kur’ân yolu, IV, p. 690. 
59
 Bayram, Mikail, “Fil Olayı ve Fil Sûresi Hakkında Yeni bir Yorum”, 1.Kur’ân Sempozyumu, Bilgi 
Vakfı, Ankara 1994, pp.171-180. 
60
 Bayram, op.cit., p. 180. 

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Ass. Prof. Hayrettin Öztürk
  
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A) Addressee of The Surah: Farâhî, interprets the first verse of the Surah of al-
Fil (The Elephant) as follows: 
 
“Have you not considered how your Lord dealt with the companions of the 
elephant?” 
Address here, has singular conjugation. However, what is meant is general. 
Namely, the addressee is Quraysh.
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 In this verse, Quraysh is the addressee of the “a-
lam tara” and also the doer of the “tarmi” verb. Farâhî’s opinions in this regard are as 
follows: “Some words/sentences in Arabic start with singular conjugation and then 
plural pronoun follows. And sometimes the opposite is true; the sentence/word starts 
with plural and then singular pronoun follows.
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Address, is sometimes to the prophet 
but actually the society is meant. Sometimes the address is made with singular 
conjugation again, but the community is meant, this time without including the 
prophet.”
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 According to Farâhî, “‘a-lam tara” (haven’t you seen/considered?) is 
structurally singular but has plural meaning in Quran. Use of structurally singular 
structures with plural meaning is peculiar to this language. Farâhî thinks that the 
addressee here is Quraysh. Namely, the addressee here; is the people who witness or 
believe the incidence upon hearing the rumour of it. Hence it seems more convenient to 
attribute “a-lam tara” word with “haven’t you (plural) seen/considered?” meaning.
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B) “‘Amûd” (subject matter) of The Surah 
Adiyat (100), Qaria (101), Teqasoor (102), Humaza (104) are the surahs which 
come prior to Surah of al-Fil and they point out that people of Quraysh made it their 
passion to own/acquire goods. Quraysh, on one hand claiming that they are the 
successor of the Abraham (pbuh.) and Ismail’in (pbuh.) and that they are the servient 
owners of Beytullah, meanwhile betraying the Lord of Kaaba. Hence, they are warned 
on Surahs of al-Fil (The Elephant) and Quraysh that they are enjoying the peace and 
fertility thanks to Prophet Abraham’s prayer and holiness of the house he had built.
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Farâhî thinks that “‘amûd” (subject matter) for Surah of al-Fil (elephant) is Quraysh. 
One of the most important reasons behind this is its connection to the next surah: 
Surah of Quraysh.
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C) Companions of the Elephant Incidence on Quran: 
Farâhî, addresses the companions of the elephant issue in two aspects; collective 
vs respective. He claims that the collective explanation is made by Mighty Quran 
                                                 
61
 al-Farâhî, Mecmû’âyi Tefâsîr-i Farâhî, p. 369.  
62
 al-Farâhî, Tafsîr-i Sûre-i Fîl, pp. 13-14; al-Farâhî, Mecmû’âyi Tefâsîr-i Farâhî, p. 369. 
63
 al-Farâhî, Hamîd al-Dîn Ebu Ahmed Abd al-Hamîd al-Ansârî, Asâlîbu’l-Qur’ân, ed-Dâiretü’l-
Hamîdiye, Medresetü’l-Islâh, Saraymir, Azam Garh, 1389, pp. 15-17. 
64
 al-Farâhî, Macmû’âyi Tafâsîr-i Farâhî, p. 369; Islâhî, Tadabbur-i Qur’ân, IX, 564. For other examples 
see., al-Farâhî, Fil Suresi Tefsiri(Interpretation of Surah of Fil), pp. 398-401. 
65
 al-Farâhî, Macmû’ây-ı Tafâsîri Farâhî, pp. 372-373; Islâhî, Tadabbür-i Qur’ân, IX, Fil Sûresi 
Tefsîri(Interpretation of Surah of Fil). 
66
 al-Farâhî, Mecmû’ây-ı Tafâsîri Farâhî, p. 373. 

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