A Traditional Mu'tazilite Qur'an Commentary: The Kashshaf of Jar Allah Al-Zamakhshari (D. 538/1144) (Book Review‪)‬

A Traditional Mu'tazilite Qur'an Commentary: The Kashshaf of Jar Allah al-Zamakhshari (d. 538/1144). By ANDREW LANE. Texts and Studies in the Qur'an, vol. 2. Leiden: BRILL, 2006. Pp. xxiv + 418. $183. One of the problems facing scholars of tafsir and theology is that al-Zamakhshari's acknowledged Mu'tazilism does not seem to have diminished the popularity of his Qur'anic commentary among non-Mu'tazilite scholars. The demand for al-Kashshaf remained high, despite vehement attacks on it by influential Sunnites such as Ibn Taymiya and Ibn Hajar, and today libraries around the world contain hundreds of manuscripts and many printed editions of the work. Andrew Lane's thorough study aims to explain this mystery, among other aspects of al-Zamakhshari's life and work.