Opinions In Classical Literature On Where The Garden Of Adam Was Located?
Thank you. I understand that and I don’t want to know the location either. That wasn’t the purpose of my question. I am only interested, for my study, to know which exegetes of the Quran have implied that it is a place on Earth. After having posted my question, I was able to look through the tafsir of Imam Razi. Imam Razi quotes 4 opinions on the matter but in this list the first opinion he has mentioned is this one (i.e. that it was a place on Earth). For this he has quoted two scholars: Abu al-Qasim Balkhi and Abu Muslim Isfahani. Both of these are Mu’tazili scholars which seems to explain why later books of tafsir seem to imply that this opinion is a Mu’tazili opinion. As per my understanding, Imam Razi has not explicitly expressed his own inclination towards any particular opinion, but the 3rd opinion in the list he has mentioned is the one that he states is the opinion of the majority of Ahl-us-Sunnah i.e. that it was Jannah. If i were to take a guess I would say Imam Razi probably favors the first opinion (i.e. on Earth) because that opinion is the one that he goes the most in detail about, and enlists various arguments for, and the other 3 opinions he merely mentions. To reiterate, my endeavor here is purely academic i.e. to find out which exegetes of the Quran have said that the garden in this ayah refers to a garden on Earth.