Exegetes’ Interpretations On Insects Mentioned In The Quran: Comparison Between Tafsir Ibn Kathir And Tafsir Al-Azhar

Insects are very well studied organism regarding their role in the ecosystem either as prey, predator, parasitic, or decomposer. They also play important role in fulfilling human needs such as bee providing honey or becoming pollinator for some fruits. Some insects are already mentioned in the Quran such as bees, ants, flies, mosquitoes, locusts, and weevil beetles. Therefore, this study is made to analyse the interpretations of insects in two exegeses in order to see how much facts can be extracted regarding the topic of insects in Quran. For this study, Tafsir Quran al-A’zim by Ibn Kathir and Tafsir al-Azhari by Hamka are chosen as reference for the interpretations. Based on both exegeses, some verses gave a detailed explanation of the insect’s role such as the interpretation of bees, locusts, and qummal. Some insects are mentioned as metaphorical value such as flies to show the complexity of Allah’s creation. Both exegeses gave the same interpretation for some insects but Hamka have more interpretation as a contemporary scholar regarding the scientific value. This shows that Quran is filled with scientific knowledge especially if the interpretation is from the contemporary exegesis.