Ibn Kathir

Born around 1300 in Bostra in what is now Syria, Ibn Kathir studied under Ibn Taymiyya and al-Dhahabi, absorbing a strict textualist theology that rejected speculative reasoning. He became an expert in Quranic exegesis, history, and Islamic law, writing a fourteen-volume universal history titled al-Bidaya wa'l-Nihaya. His tafsir stood apart for its critical stance toward Israʼiliyyat — narratives borrowed from Jewish, Christian, or Zoroastrian sources that had crept into earlier commentaries. Where exegetes like al-Tabari had woven in varied traditions, Ibn Kathir insisted on hadith and script…