Al-Ihsan Verse

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Al-Ihsan Verse
Verse's Information
SuraSura al-Nahl
Verse90
Juz'14
Content Information
Place of
Revelation		Mecca
TopicIhsan
Aboutjustice, kindness, donation to one's relatives, and forbiding immortality, bad conduct, and oppression


Al-Iḥsān Verse or Āyat al-Iḥsān (Arabic: آیة الإحسان) is the verse ninety of Qur'an 16, in which God orders justice, kindness (ihsan), and donation to one's relatives, and forbids immortality, bad conduct, and oppression. The verse has been described as the most comprehensive social plan in Islam. Imam al-Baqir (a) recited this verse at the end of his sermons in Friday Prayers.

There have been many exegetical debates over the meaning of each principle in this verse. For example, justice is said to mean monotheism, fairness, or avoiding both extremes of excess and deficiency. "Kindness" (ihsan) is interpreted as doing one's religious obligations and helping others, and Amir al-Mu'minin (a) is introduced as an exemplary of kindness. "Dhu l-qurba" is interpreted as helping one's relatives as well as having relationships with them. It has also been interpreted as Lady Fatima (a) and her progeny.

Indecency is interpreted as committing sins such as meanness and adultery. And prime examples of bad conduct (munkar) are said to be lies, polytheism, and disbelief. Oppression (baghy) is interpreted by some exegetes as the desire for unjust dominance over others. A variety of social and cultural messages were inferred from the verse.

Text and Translation

Brief Introduction

The Qur'an 16:90 is known as Ayat al-Ihsan (al-Ihsan Verse).[1] The verse points to six principles, three of which command justice, kindness and donation to relatives, while the remaining three principles forbid immorality, bad conduct, and oppression.[2]

According to some Shiite exegetes of the Qur'an, al-Ihsan Verse is an example of the most comprehensive plan offered by Islam for social and moral issues.[3] Imam al-Baqir (a) frequently recited the verse at the end of his sermons for Friday Prayers.[4] During his caliphate, Umar b. Abd al-Aziz (reign: 99/717-8 -101/719-20) ordered preachers of Friday Prayers to stop cursing Amir al-Mu'minin in their sermons and recite the Verse of Ihsan instead.[5]

Abd Allah b. Mas'ud, one of the Prophet's (s) Companions and a memorizer and an exegete of the Qur'an, described the Verse of Ihsan as the most comprehensive Qur'anic verse,[6] which covers all the good and all the bad.[7] It is believed by others that this verse could adequately express all there is to know about religious norms even if there were no other verses in the Qur'an.[8] Thus, some exegetes of the Qur'an take al-Ihsan Verse to be the most comprehensive plan for happiness in the Afterlife.[9]

According to a hadith from Uthman b. Maz'un (d. 2/623-4), he became fond of Islam after the revelation of this verse.[10] He shared the verse with Abu Talib, as well as Walid b. Mughira (d. 2/623-4), and the verse attracted their great admiration.[11]

Exegesis

Meanings of each of the six keywords in the verse have been extensively debated by Qur'anic exegetes.

Justice, Kindness, and Relatives

  • Kindness (ihsan) has also been variously interpreted as doing one's religious obligations,[19] sincerity in testifying for the oneness of God,[20] and helping people[21] in the best way.[22] Some people extend the scope of ihsan to any good action[23] or to doing any action in a good way.[24] In some hadiths from Ahl al-Bayt (a), "ihsan" has been interpreted as testifying for the prophethood of the Prophet (s)[25] or the wilaya of Amir al-Mu'minin (a).[26] It is even interpreted as Amir al-Mu'minin (a) himself.[27]
  • Dhu l-qurba (relatives) in the verse is interpreted as both paternal and maternal relatives,[28] and the verse is said to command financial help to one's relatives,[29] having relationships with them,[30] and doing what is required for kinship.[31] However, some people extend the scope of "relatives" to one's friends and neighbors as well.[32] Some other exegetes have interpreted the verse as helping other people in general.[33]

In some Shiite sources of Qur'anic exegesis, the phrase ("ita' dhi l-qurba", literally: giving to relatives) is interpreted as giving khums to the Imams (a).[34] In some hadiths, the verse is interpreted as constant belief in Imamate and the Imams (a).[35] Thus, "dhu l-qurba" is interpreted as referring to Fatima al-Zahra (a)[36] and her children[37] and Ahl al-Bayt (a).[38]

Immorality, Bad Conduct, and Oppression

  • Immorality ("fahsha'") is interpreted as sins in general,[39] or excessive sins.[40] Thus, it has been interpreted as meanness[41] and adultery as well.[42] However, bad conduct ("munkar") refers to sins that are not known in the society[43] and are denied by the Shari'a and the Sunna[44] or the reason.[45] Thus, things contrary to the human innate nature,[46] or sins about which God has warned of the Hell,[47] such as lies, polytheism,[48] and disbelief,[49] are considered as instances of "munkar". It has also been interpreted as sins that do not have jurisprudential punishments (hadd) in the world, but will be punished in the Afterlife.[50]
  • "Baghy" (oppression) implies the desire for dominance over others.[51] Thus, it has been interpreted as oppressive dominance over others or the oppression itself.[52] It has also been interpreted as injustice,[53] selfishness[54] or viciousness.[55]

Cultural and Social Messages

Muhsin Qara'ati, a contemporary exegete of the Qur'an in his Tafsir-i nur, points to certain messages implied by the verse, such as:

  • God's justice,
  • The attractiveness of justice and kindness when they come together
  • God as the forerunner in enjoining the good and forbidding the evil (al-amr bi l-ma'ruf wa l-nahy an al-munkar)
  • The priority of one's relatives in having relationships
  • The priority of enjoining the right and forbidding the wrong as well as justice over kindness
  • Being kind and merciful in enjoining the right
  • Not expecting one hundred percent of acceptance
  • The human innate inclination to justice and kindness and the human instinctive aversion of immorality and bad conduct.
  • The necessity of preventing grave sins in the first place
  • God's eternal tradition of commanding justice and forbidding immorality.[56]

Notes

  1. ↑ Markaz-i Farhang wa Maʿārif-i Qurʾān, Dāʾirat al-maʿārif-i Qurʾān-i karīm, vol. 1, p. 367.
  2. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 11, p. 366.
  3. ↑ See: Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 11, p. 366.
  4. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 3, p. 422-424; Ḥuwayzī, Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 77.
  5. ↑ Ibn Athīr, al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh, vol. 5, p. 42-43; Ibn al-Ṭiqṭaqī, al-Fakhrī, p. 129; Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, vol. 2, p. 630.
  6. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʾ al-bayān, vol. 14, p. 109; Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 6, p. 37.
  7. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʾ al-bayān, vol. 14, p. 109; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 6, p. 587; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 259.
  8. ↑ Bayḍāwi, Anwār al-tanzīl, vol. 3, p. 238; Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī, vol. 3, p. 152; Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 7, p. 456.
  9. ↑ Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 262.
  10. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 6, p. 587; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 258-259.
  11. ↑ Ibn Sulaymān, Tafsīr Muqātil Ibn sulaymān, vol. 2, p. 483-484; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 6, p. 587; See: Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 6, p. 38; Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-Jinān wa Rawḥ al-Janān, vol. 12, p. 83-84; Ḥuwayzī, Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 78.
  12. ↑ ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, vol. 2, p. 267; Ṭabarī, Jāmiʾ al-bayān, vol. 14, p. 108; Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 6, p. 37; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 3, p. 448, 449; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 6, p. 586.
  13. ↑ Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 261; Bayḍāwi, Anwār al-tanzīl, vol. 3, p. 238; Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 7, p. 454.
  14. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 12, p. 331; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 11, p. 366-367.
  15. ↑ Ibn Sulaymān, Tafsīr muqātil Ibn sulaymān, vol. 2, p. 483; Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 6, p. 37; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 6, p. 589.
  16. ↑ ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, vol. 2, p. 267-268; Ṭabarī, Jāmiʾ al-bayān, vol. 14, p. 108-109; Ṭabarānī, Tafsīr al-kabīr, vol. 7, p. 2299; Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 6, p. 37; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 3, p. 448-449; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20; p. 258, 259.
  17. ↑ Furāt al-Kūfī, Tafsīr furāt al-kūfī, p. 236-237; ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, p. 267, 268; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 3, p. 448, 449; Ḥuwayzī, Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 79, 80.
  18. ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 1, p. 388; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 3, p. 447-448, 449.
  19. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʾ al-bayān, vol. 14, p. 109; Ṭabarānī, Tafsīr al-kabīr, vol. 7, p. 2299; Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 6, p. 37; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 258, 259; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 6, p. 586.
  20. ↑ Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 6, p. 37; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 259.
  21. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 6, p. 418.
  22. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 12, p. 332.
  23. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 6, p. 586; Sayyid Quṭb, Fī ẓilāl al-Qurʾān, vol. 4, p. 2190.
  24. ↑ Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 259; Bayḍāwi, Anwār al-tanzīl, vol. 3, p. 238; Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 7, p. 454.
  25. ↑ Ḥuwayzī, Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 79; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 3, p. 448-449.
  26. ↑ ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, vol. 2, p. 267-268; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 3, p. 449; Ḥuwayzī, Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 80.
  27. ↑ Furāt al-Kūfī, Tafsīr furāt al-kūfī, p. 236-237; Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 1, p. 388; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 3, p. 447-448; ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, vol. 2, p. 267, 268.
  28. ↑ Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 7, p. 454-455.
  29. ↑ Ibn Sulaymān, Tafsīr muqātil Ibn sulaymān, vol. 2, p. 483.
  30. ↑ Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 6, p. 37, Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-Jinān, vol. 12, p. 82; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 258, 261; Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 7, p. 454.
  31. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʾ al-bayān, vol. 14, p. 109; Ṭabarānī, Tafsīr al-kabīr, vol. 7, p. 2299.
  32. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 11, p. 369-370.
  33. ↑ Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 259.
  34. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 6, p. 586; Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-Jinān wa Rawḥ al-Janān, vol. 12, p. 84; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 12, p. 332-333.
  35. ↑ ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, vol. 2, p. 267; Ḥuwayzī, Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 79-80; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 3, p. 448-449.
  36. ↑ Furāt al-Kūfī, Tafsīr furāt al-kūfī, p. 236.
  37. ↑ Furāt al-Kūfī, Tafsīr furāt al-kūfī, p. 236-237.
  38. ↑ ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, vol. 2, p. 267; Ḥuwayzī, Tafsīr nūr al-thaqalayn, vol. 3, p. 79, 80; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 3, p. 448, 449.
  39. ↑ Ibn Sulaymān, Tafsīr muqātil Ibn sulaymān, vol. 2, p. 483; Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 6, p. 37; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 259.
  40. ↑ Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, vol. 2, p. 629; Sayyid Quṭb, Fī ẓilāl al-Qurʾān, vol. 4, p. 2191; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 12, p. 333.
  41. ↑ Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 259.
  42. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʾ al-bayān, vol. 14, p. 109; Ṭabarānī, Tafsīr al-kabīr, vol. 7, p. 2299; Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, p. 37; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 258, 259.
  43. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 12, p. 333.
  44. ↑ Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 6, p. 37; Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-Jinān, vol. 12, p. 82; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 258, 259.
  45. ↑ Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, vol. 2, p. 629.
  46. ↑ Sayyid Quṭb, Fī ẓilāl al-Qurʾān, vol. 4, p. 2191.
  47. ↑ Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 7, p. 455.
  48. ↑ Ibn Sulaymān, Tafsīr muqātil Ibn sulaymān, vol. 2, p. 483; Ṭabarānī, Tafsīr al-kabīr, vol. 7, p. 2299.
  49. ↑ Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 259.
  50. ↑ Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 7, p. 455.
  51. ↑ Fakhr al-Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 20, p. 258, 259.
  52. ↑ Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, vol. 2, p. 629.
  53. ↑ Ibn Sulaymān, Tafsīr muqātil Ibn sulaymān, vol. 2, p. 483; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 6, p. 587; Sayyid Quṭb, Fī ẓilāl al-Qurʾān, vol. 4, p. 2191; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 12, p. 333.
  54. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʾ al-bayān, vol. 14, p. 109; Ṭabarānī, Tafsīr al-kabīr, vol. 7, p. 2299.
  55. ↑ Thaʿlabī, al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 6, p. 37.
  56. ↑ Qirāʾatī, Tafsīr-i nūr, vol. 4, p. 571-572.

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