Ibn Kathir

Imam Isma'il ibn Umar ibn Kathir (700–774 AH) was among the imams of Ahl as-Sunnah who followed the way of the Salaf as-Salih — a master of tafsir, hadith, and Islamic history whose works remain in daily use across the Muslim world more than six centuries after his death. Born in Busra in Syria and raised in Damascus, he studied under the greatest scholars of his era, foremost among them Shaykhul-Islam Ibn Taymiyyah, alongside al-Hafiz al-Mizzi and Imam adh-Dhahabi.

His Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim is the most widely accepted explanation of the Qur'an in the Muslim world, and the one scholars most consistently recommend to students beginning serious Quranic study. Its distinction is methodological: Ibn Kathir explains the Qur'an first by the Qur'an, then by the authentic Sunnah, then by the statements of the Companions and those who followed them — and he was careful throughout to distinguish what is established from what came through the Isra'iliyyat or through weak chains. His monumental history, al-Bidayah wan-Nihayah, applies the same rigour to the record of the Prophets and the early ummah, and is the source from which his Stories of the Prophets is drawn.

Below is our full collection of Ibn Kathir's works translated into English, available at The Islamic Book Cafe.