The College of Islamic Sciences at the University of Karbala held the defense of a master’s thesis submitted by the student Enas Abdul Nabi Khudair, entitled “Tafsir Dafi‘ al-Baliyya by Shaykh Muhammad Mohsin ibn Muhammad Rafi‘ al-Rashti al-Isfahani: Critical Edition and Study.” This comes as part of the college’s efforts to serve and revive the Qur’anic exegetical heritage in accordance with sound academic methodology.

This study is considered the first academic work to critically edit the manuscript Tafsir Dafi‘ al-Baliyya, representing a pioneering step in bringing this text from manuscript form into the field of peer-reviewed academic research after having remained inaccessible for a long period.

The researcher undertook the task of editing the section extending from verse (83) to verse (93) of Surah al-Baqarah, relying on the available manuscript sources and collating them according to established principles of manuscript verification. The work included accurate ضبط of the Qur’anic text, tracing of narrations, documentation of scholarly opinions, explanation of unfamiliar terms, and commentary on passages requiring clarification, while preserving the author’s style and maintaining fidelity to the original text.

This scholarly effort was crowned with the student being awarded a grade of Excellent, following a rigorous and well-founded academic defense before the specialized examination committee.