Ali in the Quran

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Part of a series on
Ali
Ali
Views
Life
Legacy
Perspectives
Burial places
Related articles

Ali in the Quran collects the verses of the

walaya
) as Muhammad, according to the Shia.

Verses linked to Ali

Ali regularly represented Muhammad in missions that were preceded or followed by Quranic injunctions.[1][2] Nevertheless, the mainstream view in Islam is that he is not mentioned by name in the Quran,[3][4] although some have interpreted certain occurrences of the words aliyyan, aliyyun, alayya in the Quran in reference to Ali.[1] One such instance is verse 19:50, which some have interpreted as, "We appointed for them Ali as a voice of truth."[1] Independent of such views, Shia tradition connects Ali and other Shia imams with many ambiguous (mutashabih) verses of the Quran, cf. verse 3:7.[5] For instance, a tradition ascribed to Ali suggests that a fourth of the Quran is about the House of Muhammad, or the Ahl al-Bayt, while another fourth is about their enemies. The extant Quran certainly does not meet this description but the inconsistency can be explained by another Shia tradition, which states that the verses of the Quran about the virtuous are primarily directed at the Ahl al-Bayt, while those verses about the evildoers are directed first at their enemies.[6] Beyond these, certain verses of the Quran were directly revealed about Ali, according to some Shia and Sunni authorities,[1] a few of which are listed below.

Verse 2:207

Main article: Laylat al-mabit

Laylat al-mabit (lit. 'the overnight stay') refers to the night in 622

Mu'tazilite scholar Ibn Abi'l-Hadid (d. 1258).[18]

Verse 3:61

Main article:
Mubahala with the Najrani Christians

A

Hakim al-Nishapuri (d. 1014),[27] and Ibn Kathir (d. 1373).[28] The inclusion of these four by Muhammad in the mubahala ritual, as his witnesses and guarantors,[29][30] must have raised their religious rank within the community.[21][31] If the word 'ourselves' in the verse is a reference to Ali and Muhammad, as Shia authors argue, then the former naturally enjoys a similar religious authority in the Quran as the latter.[32][33]

Verse 5:3

Chronology of Ancient Nations, illustrated by Ibn al-Kutbi
Main article: Verse of ikmal al-din

Also known as the verse of ikmal al-din, verse 5:3 of the Quran includes the passage, "This day those who disbelieve have despaired of your religion. So fear them not, but fear Me! This day I have perfected for you your religion, and completed My blessing upon you, and have approved for you as religion, submission [to God] (islam)."

Ghadir Khumm, after his Farewell Pilgrimage and shortly before his death in 632.[35] In Shia sources, Muhammad received this revelation following his designation of Ali at the Ghadir Khumm to guide the nascent Muslim community after him.[36] Some Sunni sources also associate the verse of ikmal with the Ghadir Khumm but reject its Shia significance.[35]

Verse 5:55

Main article: Verse of walaya

Known in Shia Islam as the verse of walaya (or wilaya),[37] verse 5:55 of the Quran is translated by The Study Quran as, "Your protector (wali) is only (innama) God, and His Messenger, and those who believe, who perform the prayer and give alms (zakat) while (waw) bowing down."[37] This matches the Shia translation,[38][39] while the Sunni translation of the verse is, "Your (real) friends are (no less than) God, His Messenger, and the believers—those who establish prayers and pay zakat and (waw) they bow down humbly (in worship)."[38] Responsible for their difference is the Arabic conjunction waw, which can mean 'while', as in the Shia translation, or may mean 'and', as in the Sunni translation.[40] As for the occasion of its revelation, the verse is considered a specific reference to Ali by Shia and some Sunni commentators, that is, a reference to when Ali reputedly gave his ring to a beggar while he was bowing in worship in the mosque.[37] The frequent association of this verse with Ali in early Sunni sources may support the authenticity of this claim.[41][42]

Verse 5:67

Main article: Verse of tabligh

Also known as the verse of tabligh (lit. 'proclamation'), verse of 5:67 of the Quran reads,

O Messenger! Convey that which has been sent down unto thee from thy Lord, and if thou dost not, thou wilt not have conveyed His message. And God will protect thee from mankind. Surely God guides not disbelieving people.[43]

In Shia Islam, this verse spurred Muhammad to deliver his announcement at the Ghadir Khumm about Ali,[44] which in Shia signifies the divine investiture of Ali with the spiritual authority (walaya) over Muslims.[45][46] A few Sunni authors have similarly linked this verse to Ali's merits.[47] Other Sunni exegetes forward different views, one of which connects this verse to Muhammad's criticism of Jews and Christians.[48]

Verse 33:33

Verse of purification, inscribed in the shrine of Husayn in Karbala, Iraq
Main article: Verse of purification

Known as the verse of purification, verse 33:33 of the Quran concerns the status of purity of the Ahl al-Bayt, the last passage of which reads, "God only desires (innama yuridu llahu) to remove defilement (rijs) from you, O Ahl al-Bayt, and to purify you completely."[49] Pointing to authentic traditions in Sunni and Shia sources,[50][51][24] Shia Islam limits the Ahl al-Bayt to Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, and their two sons, Hasan and Husayn.[50][51] There are various views in Sunni Islam, though a typical compromise is to include also Muhammad's wives in the Ahl al-Bayt,[52] perhaps because the earlier injunctions in the verse of purification are addressed at Muhammad's wives.[53] The verse of purification is regarded by the Shia as evidence of the infallibility of the Ahl al-Bayt.[54]

Verse 42:23

Main article:
Verse of mawadda

Known as the verse of mawadda (lit. 'affection' or 'love'), verse 42:23 of the Quran includes the passage, "[O Mohammad!] Say, 'I ask not of you any reward for it, save affection among kinsfolk.'"[55] The Shia-leaning Ibn Ishaq narrates that Muhammad specified al-qurba in this verse as Ali, Fatima, and their two sons, Hasan and Husayn.[56] This is also the view of some Sunni scholars, including al-Razi (d. 1209), Baydawi (d. 1319),[57] and Ibn al-Maghazili.[56] Most Sunni authors, however, reject the Shia view and offer various alternatives,[55] chief among them is that this verse enjoins love for kinsfolk in general.[58][59] In Twelver Shia, the love in the verse of mawadda also entails obedience to the Ahl al-Bayt as the source of exoteric and esoteric religious guidance.[60][61]

Verses 76:5–22

Verses 76:5-22 are connected to Ali in most Shia and some Sunni sources, including the works of the Shia al-Tabarsi, and the Sunni scholars al-Qurtubi (d. 1273) and al-Alusi (d. 1854).[62] According to these authors, verses 76:5–22 were revealed to Muhammad after Ali, Fatima, Hasan, Husayn, and their maidservant Fidda gave away their only meal of the day to beggars who visited their home, for three consecutive days.[63][32] In particular, verses 76:7–12 read,

They fulfill their vows and fear a day whose evil is widespread, and give food, despite loving it, to the indigent, the orphan, and the captive. "We feed you only for the Face of God. We do not desire any recompense or thanks from you. Truly we fear from our Lord a grim, calamitous day." So God has shielded them from the evil of that Day, bestowed upon them radiance and joy, and rewarded them for having been patient with a Garden and with silk.[64]

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d Lalani 2006.
  2. ^ Momen 1985, pp. 11–12.
  3. ^ Abbas 2021, p. 86.
  4. ^ Modarressi 1993.
  5. ^ Momen 1985, p. 150.
  6. ^ Modarressi 1993, p. 29.
  7. ^ Watt 1953, p. 150.
  8. ^ Lings 1991, p. 116.
  9. ^ Huart 2012.
  10. ^ Momen 1985, p. 12.
  11. ^ Tabatabai 1975, pp. 35, 170.
  12. ^ Lings 1991, p. 117.
  13. ^ Nasr & Afsaruddin 2022.
  14. ^ a b Nasr et al. 2015, p. 257.
  15. ^ a b c Mavani 2013, p. 71.
  16. ^ a b Abbas 2021, pp. 46, 206.
  17. ^ a b Mavani 2013, pp. 71, 98.
  18. ^ a b c d Shah-Kazemi 2015.
  19. ^ Momen 1985, pp. 13–14.
  20. ^ a b Schmucker 2012.
  21. ^ a b Madelung 1997, p. 16.
  22. ^ Nasr et al. 2015, pp. 378–379.
  23. ^ a b Nasr et al. 2015, p. 379.
  24. ^ a b Haider 2014, p. 35.
  25. ^ Osman 2015, p. 110.
  26. ^ Haider 2014, p. 36.
  27. ^ Osman 2015, p. 140n42.
  28. ^ Nasr et al. 2015, p. 380.
  29. ^ McAuliffe.
  30. ^ Fedele 2018, p. 56.
  31. ^ Lalani 2006, p. 29.
  32. ^ a b Mavani 2013, p. 72.
  33. ^ Bill & Williams 2002, p. 29.
  34. ^ Nasr et al. 2015, p. 648.
  35. ^ a b Abbas 2021, p. 210.
  36. ^ Mavani 2013, pp. 70–71.
  37. ^ a b c Nasr et al. 2015, p. 706.
  38. ^ a b Mavani 2013, p. 46.
  39. ^ Tabatabai 1975, p. 153.
  40. ^ Lalani 2000, p. 59.
  41. ^ Nasr et al. 2015, p. 707.
  42. ^ Lalani 2000, p. 60.
  43. ^ Nasr et al. 2015, p. 717.
  44. ^ Nasr et al. 2015, p. 718.
  45. ^ Mavani 2013, p. 2.
  46. ^ Dakake 2007, p. 47.
  47. ^ Nasr et al. 2015, pp. 718–719.
  48. ^ Lalani 2000, pp. 61, 145n15.
  49. ^ Nasr et al. 2015, p. 2331.
  50. ^ a b Momen 1985, pp. 16, 17.
  51. ^ a b Leaman 2006.
  52. ^ Goldziher, Arendonk & Tritton 2022.
  53. ^ Brunner 2014.
  54. ^ Howard 1984.
  55. ^ a b Nasr et al. 2015, p. 2691.
  56. ^ a b Mavani 2013, pp. 41, 60.
  57. ^ Momen 1985, p. 152.
  58. ^ Madelung 1997, p. 13.
  59. ^ Gril.
  60. ^ Mavani 2013, p. 41.
  61. ^ Lalani 2000, p. 66.
  62. ^ Nasr et al. 2015, p. 3331.
  63. ^ Abbas 2021, pp. 57, 58.
  64. ^ Nasr et al. 2015, pp. 3332–3333.

References

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ali_in_the_Quran&oldid=1218197653"