The Source of Al-Nasikh and Al-Mansukh (Abrogater and Abrogated) in Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan: An Intertextuality Study

Abstract

Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan is the second interpretation after Tarjuman al-Mustafid written in the Malay language in the 19th century AD by Omar (1970). The main objective of this study is to identify the influence of the external source in the text of Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan about Al-Nasikh and Al-Mansukh (Abrogater and Abrogated). Intertextual reading method is used in the process of analyzing Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan founded by Bakhtin and descriptions, developed and analyzed by Krestiva (1980). This study employs library research and field work using the subjective approach which are descriptive and qualitative data. The study found three works which have influenced the essence of Al-Nasikh and Al-Mansukh (Abrogater and Abrogated), which are Tafsir al-Jalalyn, Tafsir al-Jamal and Tafsir alKhazin. The finding analysis also shows that Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan is mostly influenced by Tafsir alJalalyn. Keyword: Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan; Al-Nasikh and Al-Mansukh; Intertextuality Study; intertextuality principle Introduction The writings of Islamic works and translations into Malay language have grown tremendously since the coming of Islam to Nusantara regions (Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei and Indonesia), which have covered various fields and branches of knowledge such as fiqh, aqidah, tafsir, hadith and sufism, among others. The writings and translations by previous Islamic scholars remain as important sources of reference and are still used by contemporary scholars for academic purposes. It proves the success of previous scholars who produced writings which have not only atrracted the interest of the public International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 8 , No. 10, Oct. 2018, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2018 HRMARS 815 but also have benefited them. One of the scholars is Omar, M. S. who produced a book in the field of tafsir in Malay language entitled Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan in 1970 . Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan has been used as a reference in understanding Qur’anic verses not only by public but also contemporary scholars who have used it as a teaching material. This invaluable piece of work have given contribution to knowledge of the public at large so much so that scholars are attracted to study and examine this work from various aspects such as history, language, the influence and stature of the author. Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan is also one of the books on tafsir al-Qur’an which is still being used as a teaching material and reference today especially at pondok institutions, mosques and musollas. Pondok institutions such as Pondok Tuan Guru Haji Bakar at Parit Panjang, Baling, Kedah, Malaysia and Pondok Tuan Guru Haji Soleh Musa at Sik, Kedah, Malaysia have been using the book as the teaching material for their weekly teaching. However, there have been criticisms on the content of Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan by certain sections of the public. Some of them opined that this book has its shortcomings because in the writing of this book, the author does not mention any citation and uses many unjustified opinion in his tafsir (Zaim, 2010), so much so that Muhammad Ismi stressed that the public should be careful when reading Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan (Mat Taib, 2003). The motivation of this study is to make effort to help overcome the shortcoming of this invaluable piece of work by refining sources of reference and interconnections between the original text and other tafsir texts using intertextual reading. Since Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan has been used as a teaching material in the tafsir al-Qur’an and a reference by public at large in understanding verses of al-Qur’an, then efforts to refine this piece of work should be made. This will answer the aforementioned problem statement. The objective of this study is to examine Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan in order to examine whether there exists influence of other texts on the text of Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan using intertextual reading. This study focuses on Al-Nasikh and Al-Mansukh (Abrogater and Abrogated) on the text of Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan as an early effort towards refinement of the text which contributes to improve the invaluable work. Since the author of Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan mentioned that he referred to works in the field of tafsir while in the proces of writing (Omar, 1970), this study focuses only on tafsir works. This study employs library research and field study using subjective approach to examine data descriptively and qualitatively. The contribution of this study to shed some lights on the shortcomings of Tafsir Nur al-Ihsan so that teachers and students using this book as a reference are made aware of it and able to find the truth by referring to the original sources. Intertextual Reading Method Intertextual reading method was originally known as dialogic which was introduced by Bakhtin in the year 1926 because there were voluminious Russian art literatures which were difficult to comprehend at that time. As a consequence, this theory was introduced by Bakhtin in order to facilitate readers to understand the difficult literatures. This theory pictured that all literatures which International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 8 , No. 10, Oct. 2018, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2018 HRMARS 816 were written were based on dialogues between one text and another. In other words, this theory states that any text is influenced by other texts. This is supported by Harari (1979), who mentioned that “every text, being itself the intertext of another text, belong to the intertextual, which must not be confused with a text’s origins”. The basis of this dialogic theory is used to understand Dostoyevsky’s literatures such as The Gambler, The Idiot and The Brother’s Karamazovwhich were considered as difficult to be understood by public using theories of literature such as formalisme which were dominant during that time (Dostoyevsky, 1975). The Russian formalism approach which was on the rise during that time did not help the public to understand approach of Dostoyevsky’s literature. Bakhtin’s dialogisme emphasized external aspect which influenced reading or how an author approached art literatures and in turn would flow naturally into his own literature writing. However, Bakhtin did not deny the importance of internal elements such as theme, thought, plot, characters and other elements. In the theory of dialogisme, an author would have a dialogue with the text itself, himself and readers. This would create dialogues between a text and another text and as a consequence, it would trigger changes, conflicts and expansion in the literature which was being written by the author in terms of theme and problems, plot or characters and characterization. Therefore, connection between external and internal structures in a literature is important in this approach. According to Schmitz (2007), sentences used by someone in speech or writing interconnects among them and if there is no dependency among them, then any sentence or speech becomes gloomy and inexpendable. Schmitz (2007) mentioned; “Language always works within certain situations, and utterances produce their significance within thin context. The linguistic material alone is not enough to determine whether a word or a sound is enthusiastic, gloomy, ironical, threatening, or deferential; rather, this depends on a number of factors such as intonation, volume, the interlocutor, and prior utterances in the dialogue”(Schmitz 2007, 66-67). This theory was later discussed by Kristeva (1980) who did not name this theory as dialogic, instead, she termed it as intertextuality. Hawthorn (2000) mentioned that every text written is influenced by other texts and this influence is discussed in intertextual theory. Therefore, readers should not be confused with the original text which is the hipogram of a given text. Jeremy Hawthorn (2000) stated that “Kristeva defines the text as a permutation of texs, an intertext in the space of a given text...”. The development of this theory not only have taken place in Europe but also in the whole worldwide. In Southeast Asia, it has been discussed as one of modern literary theory in which one scholar in the field of literature named Partini Sardjono has developed this theory. He has not only stood on the principles of Kristeva, but has also introduced another principle termed as excerpt. This principle applies when a text incarnated in another text in an abstract form. Subsequently, there was the birth of new names in Indonesia such as Teeuw and Omar. Meanwhile, in Malaysia and Singapore, it became known after Napiah (1989) discussed in several books, particularly in his PhD thesis entitled International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences Vol. 8 , No. 10, Oct. 2018, E-ISSN: 2222-6990 © 2018 HRMARS 817 "Tuah Jebat in Malay Drama: A Study of intertextuality". In this thesis, he not only discussed this theory at length, but also applied it to the book entitled Hikayat Hang Tuah (Wan Nasyrudin, 2008). Principles in Intertextual Reading Method Based on Kristeva (1980) and Sardjono (1986), there are 10 intertextual principles which have often appeared in literature and manifestation reflected in a person’s style of writing, namely: a. Transformation. Transformation refers to either a formal or abstract transfer, transformation or conversion of a text to another text (Kristeva 1980, 80). b. Modification principle. Modification principle occurs when the author makes adjustments, changes or amendments on certain text in a given text. This principle occurs due to the desire of the author to retrieve or replicate a text into another text and adjusts it according to the wants of society, culture, politics and readers’ minds (Kristeva 1980, 90). c. Expansion. Expansion occurs when an author expands or develops a text. For example, a short story is developed by an author until it becomes a complete novel (Kristeva 1980, 90). d. Demitefication. Demitefication is a contradiction to the meaning of a text which appeared i