The Family of Muhammad in the Qur'an pt 2

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Talib Ali
مشترك في مجالس آل محمد
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اشترك في: الاثنين يونيو 26, 2006 6:17 am

The Family of Muhammad in the Qur'an pt 2

مشاركة بواسطة Talib Ali »

salaamz!

Hello everyone! I have attempted to translate this posting: http://www.al-majalis.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3789

Let me know what you think! Please correct any mistakes you see

Student Ali

The Almighty says: “Say: I ask you for no reward but only affection toward the kin. If anyone earns good, We will increase him in good for Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Grateful (42:23).”

The significance of the verse is derived from the view that the messengers did not ask people for a mundane reward for their deeds. The statements in the Noble Qur’an support the prophets in that in several instances like {And I do not ask you for any reward. Verily, my reward is with the Lord of the Worlds} (26:109, 127, 145, 164, 180). Yes, there are things sought by the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, from his people. One may imagine it as him seeking something as a reward, but the Qur’an informs His Messenger , peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, to show them {Say: I do not ask you for any reward. Verily, my reward is upon none but God. He is a Witness over all things} (34:47).

The Noble Qur’an also requests that all that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, seeks for it (i.e. the reward) is to connect them to God, the Powerful, the Majestic. And this is the meaning of the Almighty’s statement: {Say: I do not ask you for any reward except that one submits his will to the way of his Lord} (25:57).

Whether the exception relates to the meaning that the Messenger , peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, seeks an apparent reward or the exception prevents the meaning that he never sought a reward, nonetheless, he seeks another type of reward, specifically one in the interest of the people.

According to the statement of the Almighty {Say: I ask you for no reward but only affection toward the kin.} in the context of an exception, a similar exception exists in the Almighty’s statement {And you ask them for no reward for verily, is only a reminder for the worlds} (12:104). It (i.e. the reward) is taken as the way to God. It is as the Powerful, the Majestic says {Say: I do not ask you for any reward except that one submits his will to the way of his Lord.} (25:57). Since the affection for the People of the House is the result of restricting them for guidance, it is from these things (i.e. the aforementioned verses) that the people are promised its benefits and it is a “reminder to the worlds” and it is definitely taken as the way to God.

Being that the indication of the noble verse is very obvious, some tried, as usual, to question the meaning of the verse referring to the Five People of his House. We say:

Ibn Kathir stated in his exegesis on the authority of many Followers (tabi’in) like, Imam Ali Bin al-Hussein , upon them be peace, Said bin Jubayr, and Amr Bin Shu’ayb that its revelation was about the People of the House. Like what stated regarding them by Ibn Kathir when he said: “The third statement, which opposed al-Bukhari and other narrations, was from Said Bin Jubayr in which he said something to the effect that the meaning of affection towards the kinship related to performing good deeds and righteousness towards them.”

In addition to that, al-Hakim in al-Mustadrak reports Imam Al-Hassan (as) as saying:

“I am of the People of the House that God, the Blessed, the Almighty, made affection for obligatory on all Muslims by saying {Say: I ask you for no reward but only affection toward the kin. If anyone earns good, We will increase him in good.} This ‘earning of good’ is affection towards the People of the House.”

Ibn Kathir reports in his exegesis the statements of as-Sadi from Abi ad-Daylam as saying:

“When I came to Ali Bin Al-Hussein (ra) he walked then stood still when approaching Damascus. Then, men from the people of Syria stood still. He said to them, ‘Thank God, who killed and uprooted you and cut off the horn of sedition!’ They said to him: ‘Ali Bin Al-Hussein (ra), do you recite the Qur’an?’ He replied: ‘Yes.’ They said: ‘Do you recite from divine inspiration?’ He replied: ‘I recite the Qur’an, and I do not recite from divine inspiration.’ They said: ‘Does the recitation {Say: I ask you for no reward but only affection toward the kin.} refer to you?’ He said: ‘Yes.’

Abu Ishaq said Al-Sabi'i asked Amr Ibn al-Shuayb of the Blessed, Almighty’s words: {Say: I ask you for no reward but only affection toward the kin.} He said ‘the kin of the Prophet’. This was related by Ibn Jarir al-Tabari .

Some of the generality holds to the view that the verse means: to show affection toward the kin from among you. They base it the account narrated in Saheeh al-Bukhari in the book that deals with the interpretation of Surat Al-Shura. Ibn Abbas (ra) relates when he was asked about the statement: {only affection towards the kin} Said bin Jubayr said that it is the Family of Muhammad , peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny,. Ibn Abbas said, “You have rushed in giving your answer! There was no branch of the Quraish that he (i.e. the Prophet) didn’t have a relative in. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, said (to the Quraish), ‘I don’t want any thing from you but that you show me kindness due to the kinship between you and I.’”

This statement is invalid because it is not a narration from the Messenger of God , peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny,, but a statement of a companion (Sahabi), or rather, one attributed to him. On the other hand, we find it countered by the words of al-Hassan (as), who is a companion (Sahabi) and supported by three of the Followers (tabi’in). This being the case, it is not incumbent to accept the narration of Ibn Abbas.

It also raises doubts over the statement attributed to Ibn Abbas because there is a narration recorded by Ibn Abi Hatim in his exegesis from Said bin Jubayr that Ibn Abbas said: “When this verse was revealed, {Say: I ask you for no reward but only affection toward the kin.}, they asked, ‘O Messenger of God, who are those that God commands us to have affection for?’ He said: ‘Fatima and her sons, upon them be peace.’”

It is for the reader to choose whether to accept an unlikely report from a companion (Sahabi), or the statement of another companion (Sahabi) and three other senior Followers (tabi’in)?

It is amazing that the sources of the generality report the narration of Ibn Abbas in the “authentic” books (Sihah). When it comes to the interpretation of the Almighty’s statement: {but whatever they attain, give a fifth to God, the Prophet, those of kinship,…} (8:41), you find them transmitting from Ibn Abbas the meaning of “kinship” going contrary to the statement made earlier regarding the verse of affection.

As Muslim narrates in his Saheeh in the book of Jihad in the chapter on captive women, Yazid Bin Hormuz said: Najdah Ben Amr al-Harori wrote to Ibn Abbas to ask him about “... and about their relatives?” He said to Yazid: “Write to him without that foolishness located in what I wrote to him. Write...and I wrote, ‘You ask me about the their relatives (al-qurba)? We assume that I am a father to them; they are our people.

This was denied to his people to be truthful concerning kinship. How does he say in that narration that all the Quraish are the kin of the Messenger of God , peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, in the Almighty’s statement: {Say: I ask you for no reward…}?

But Ibn Kathir relates in his exegesis the narration “The Quraish say that all of them are the kin”, indicating perhaps to give the Banu Hashim their right.

Some doubted the significance of that in terms of the Qur’an. It is usually relegated to mean any “holder of kinship” (dhil qurba), but now it (i.e. the verse) says “towards kin” (fil qurba). Al-Zamakhshari argues this in his exegesis with the statement:

“(It is said): Why does it not say ‘affection of kinship’ (mawada al-qurba) or ‘affection belonging to the kin’ (al mawada lil-qurba) and what is the meaning of saying ‘except affection toward the kin’ (ila al mawada fil qurba)? (I say: They have made the place of affection…: affection belonging to (li), towards (fi) the family of so-n-so; attraction and great love that one desires belonging to (li) towards them (fihum). It is the place of love and misplaced, and not “in” irrelevant affection. When one says ‘except the affection belonging to the kin’ it is related to something that is deleted attached to the circumstance like the statement ‘money in the bag’, and its appreciation is in nothing except affection established toward the kin and it is empowered by it. It is for the people of kinship”.

As is what’s reported from the prophets, they did not ask for reward in delivering the message of God, but their reward is with God. This is likely to break the exception in the verse; this becomes the meaning of never asking for reward because the Prophet does not seek reward for what he did. He only sought to take them to the way of God with the aforementioned kin, and this seeking is to convey the blessings that belongs to them, and it would be in your favor {Say: I ask you for no reward for it is in your interest} (34:47).

But with that is the likelihood of the exception being a strong one, and that he , peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, asked them for a reward that counts in the statement that it is not a true reward, as what is noted by Al-Zamakhshari in his exegesis: “It is permissible for an exception to be related to not asking for a reward except this; and it is related to loving the kin. And this can never be considered reward in reality.”

Yes, the reward is from God. It may be other-worldly. It may be this-worldly. Abraham (as) was given his reward in this life; as the Almighty says: {We gave him his reward in this life, and in the Hereafter, he will be amongst the righteous} (16:122). God had given him reward in this life and the minimum of this reward was in making him the leader (imam) of the people. The reality of this was that he sought that he and his descendents become imams of the people. This is in the Almighty’s statement: {And when we tested Abraham with commands that he fulfilled. He said “Verily, we shall make you an imam over the people.” (Abraham replied) “And my descendents?” He said, “My covenant will not reach the oppressors”} (2:124).

The Qur’an mentions the reward of Abraham (as) and it is likely that such reward be given to the best of prophets and the seal of them, but that the Qur’an explicitly that the his , peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, reward is the greatest reward as in the Almighty’s statement: {and to you belongs a reward that won’t fail}(68:3).

Consequently, the indication of the verse is not upon permanence of the exception of the rule. But, it is with the sectioning off of the indication that the indication is made full.

Then, verily the Messenger of God , peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, did not emphasize the consideration of affection toward his kin as selfless sympathy for himself. Rather it is unlikely that the speech of the Qur’an, which is the regulator of the lives of the believers by the essence of its expressions, seeks from the people; while the intention is merely emotions and feelings that do not affect the human spirit and movement toward his Lord. Can affection toward kin be considered mere sympathy or a matter at the heart of guidance?

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