Al-Shajara al-Mal'una
Al-Shajara al-Malʿūna (Arabic: الشجرة الملعونة) is a Qur'anic title meaning "the cursed tree". It is mentioned in the Qur'an once. According to exegetes, God showed this tree to the Prophet (s) and mentioned it a cause of trouble, trial, and threat for people. Exegetical references have mentioned different referents for it such as al-Zaqqum, Banu Umayya, Jews, and Taghut.
Verse
"Al-Shajara al-Mal'una" is mentioned in verse 60 of Qur'an 17:
| “ | "When We said to you, 'Indeed your Lord encircles those people,' We did not appoint the vision that We showed you except as a tribulation for the people and the tree cursed in the Quran. We warn them, but it only increases them in their outrageous rebellion." | ” |
| — Quran 17:60 | ||
Al-Tabrisi considered the goal of mentioning the "al-Shajara al-Mal'una", a reference to divine test in trials.[1] " 'Allama Tabataba'i" believed that in this verse, the meaning of threat is also hidden; meaning that by "al-Shajara al-Mal'una", God has threatened people.[2]
Referents
Shi'a and Sunni exegetes have mentioned some examples for "al-Shajara al-Mal'una":
Al-Zaqqum Tree
Many Shi'a and Sunni exegetes consider "al-Shajara al-Mal'una" referring to al-Zaqqum tree.[3] Al-Zaqqum is a tree which grows at the bottom of the hell[4] and wrongdoers eat from it.[5]
Banu Umayya
Some Shi'a exegetes considered it referring to Banu Umayya.[6] 'Allama Tabataba'i said that, it refers to a dream the Prophet (a) had about Banu Umayya and God showed him some of their actions.[7] Some Sunni exegetes too referred to a hadith and mentioned Banu Umayya as the referent for "al-Shajara al-Mal'una";[8] however, some others considered this hadith weak.[9]
In some hadiths, Banu Umayya is mentioned as the referent for "al-Shajara al-Mal'una".[10] According to a hadith mentioned in Tafsir al-Qummi, this verse was revealed when the Prophet (s) saw in a dream that some people were crawling up the pulpit like monkeys.[11] In the hadith, Banu Umayya is introduced as the referent for "al-Shajara al-Mal'una". This hadith with little differences is mentioned in Sunni sources as well.[12]
According to a hadith, Imam al-Hasan (a) referred to verse 60 of Qur'an 17 and addressed Marwan b. al-Hakam, "In the tongue of His Prophet (s), God cursed you, your father, your lineage, and descendants and any descendant of your father until the "Day of Judgement".[13]
Others
Jews,[14] polytheists and Taghut[15] are among other referents mentioned for "al-Shajara al-Mal'una".
Notes
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 654.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāyī, Al-Mīzān, vol. 13, p. 139.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 654; Bayḍāwī, Anwār al-tanzīl, vol. 3, p. 454.
- ↑ Qurʾān, 37:64.
- ↑ Qurʾān, 37:66.
- ↑ See: Ṭabrisī, Jawāmiʿ al-jāmiʿ, vol. 2, p. 381; Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 6, p. 494.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāyī, al-Mīzān, vol. 13, p. 139-140.
- ↑ Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 15, p. 107.
- ↑ Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 3, p. 52.
- ↑ ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, vol. 2, p. 320.
- ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 1, p. 411.
- ↑ Suyūṭī, Al-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 5, p. 309-310; Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān, vol. 15, p. 112-113.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, al-Iḥtijāj, p. 416.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 654.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 12, p. 172.
References
- Ālūsī, Maḥmūd al-. Rūḥ al-maʿānī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1405 AH.
- ʿAyyāshī, Muḥammad b. Masʿūd al-. Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī. Tehran: al-ʿIlmīyya al-Islāmīyya, 1363 Sh.
- Bayḍāwī, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar al-. Anwār al-tanzīl. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr, [n.d].
- Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar. Tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1409 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1374 Sh.
- Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-. Tafsīr al-Qummī. Beirut: Aʿlamī, 1412 AH.
- Suyūṭī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Abī Bakr al-. Al-Durr al-manthūr fī tafsīr al-maʾthūr. [n.p]: al-Maktaba al-Islāmīyya, 1377 AH.
- Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-. Jāmiʿ al-bayān. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, [n.d].
- Ṭabāṭabāyī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Translated to Farsi by Mūsawī Hamidānī. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt Islāmī, 1374 Sh.
- Ṭabrisī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Al-Iḥtijāj. Najaf: Dār al-Nuʿmān, 1386 AH.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Jawāmiʿ al-jāmiʿ. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1420 AH.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1408 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. [n.p]: Maktabat al-Aʿlām al-Islāmī, 1409 AH.