Al-Shawkānī’s Approach to Qirāʼāts in the Fatḥ al-Qadir Tafsir

Among the Qur’anic sciences that serve the purpose of understanding and interpreting the Qur’anic text, the science of qirāʼāts occupies a prominent position. It is difficult to find an analytical tafsir of the Qur’an without its author using qirāʼāts (Qur’anic readings) for the purpose of elucidating the linguistic, semantic or legal aspect of certain Qur’anic words, phrases or sentences. One of the mufassirs who permanently relied on qirāʼat traditions in his commentaries was Imam al-Shawkānī (1173–1229 AH). His work Fatḥ al-qadīr al-ǧāmiʻ bayna fannay ar-riwāya wa ad-dirāya min ʻilm at-tafsīr encompasses numerous quotations from authentic and non-authentic qirāʼāts. This paper aims at analyzing the methodological approach to qirāʼāts in the mentioned work and at presenting ways of using qirāʼāts for tafsir purposes through appropriate examples.