Grammatical Analysis and Arabic Sciences

Al-Jamal's most substantive contribution in Al-Futuhat al-Ilahiyyah is its grammatical and linguistic analysis. Where Tafsir al-Jalalayn provides compressed notation of grammatical features — often using standard technical terms without full explanation — al-Jamal expands these into full grammatical analyses, explains disputed grammatical questions, and adds the linguistic evidence from Arabic poetry and the broader Arabic tradition that supports the chosen analysis.

His grammatical approach draws on the Basran grammatical tradition as transmitted through the works of Ibn Malik (author of the Alfiyya, the celebrated grammatical poem) and his commentators. Al-Jamal's familiarity with the major works of Arabic grammar allowed him to place al-Jalalayn's brief notations within the broader framework of classical Arabic grammatical theory and to explain where different grammatical schools might have analyzed a given construction differently.

For Quranic passages with unusual or disputed grammatical constructions, al-Jamal's commentary provides the most thorough available discussion within the hashiyah tradition. The compressed nature of Tafsir al-Jalalayn means that grammatically difficult passages are particularly in need of expanded explanation, and al-Jamal consistently meets this need.

His lexical contributions supplement the grammatical analysis. Where al-Jalalayn paraphrases rare Quranic vocabulary with a common synonym, al-Jamal often provides the full range of the rare word's usage in classical Arabic, including examples from pre-Islamic poetry. This lexical depth gives students a more complete picture of the semantic range of Quranic vocabulary than the parent text alone provides.

Al-Jamal also addresses the qira'at (variant readings) more systematically than al-Jalalayn, noting where different canonical readings affect the grammatical analysis or the meaning of a verse. This integration of qira'at analysis with grammatical commentary reflects his comprehensive scholarly formation. His engagement with variant readings is particularly valuable for students who are beginning to appreciate the depth of the Quranic text, since understanding how different canonical readings interact with the grammatical structure of a verse often illuminates the full semantic range of the passage. Al-Jamal's ability to synthesize grammar, rhetoric, and qira'at in a single unified commentary made Al-Futuhat al-Ilahiyyah the most comprehensive resource available for students working through Tafsir al-Jalalayn in a structured educational setting.