The Position of Interpretative Narratives in Al-tafser al-waset by Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy

The current paper examines the position of interpretative narratives by descriptive-analytic method in the newest contemporary interpretation of Sunni tradition, i.e., " Al-tafser al-waset " by Muhammad Sayyid Tantawy. Although his interpretation method is "ijtihadi", this method had not prevented his use of narratives in better understanding of verses. The current paper is organized in three sections. The first section addresses the interpretative narratives source in which the reviews indicate that the interpreter has a particular tendency to use Sunni sources with the least reference to Ahl al-Bayt (PBUH). He has used main commentaries in addition to “The Kutub al-Sittah”, that is, the narrations are indirectly reported. The second section reviews the types of interpretive narratives which are explained in ten categories. The third section includes the critique of interpretive narratives that indicates the presence of both documentary and textual critiques. The documentary critique is not based on the Biographical evaluation information of the commentator, but expresses the view of others and the narratives are without citing the source and often mention the last narratorhere.