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Al-Mawadda Verse

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Al-Mawadda verse (Arabic: آية المودة) (the Love Verse) is a part of verse 23 of Chapter 42 of the Holy Qur'an (Sura al-Shura) which shows the high status of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) and considers the reward for the mission of the Prophet (s) nothing except for the love of the Ahl al-Bayt (a).

Al-Mawadda Verse
Verse's Information
Nameal-Mawadda Verse
Suraal-Shura
Verse23
Juz'25
Page486
Content Information
Cause of
Revelation		Introducing the love of Ahl al-Bayt (a) as the reward of the Prophetic mission
Place of
Revelation		Medina
TopicReward of prophethood of the Prophet (s)
AboutAhl al-Bayt

Imam 'Ali (a)
First Imam of Shi'a

Life
Event of Ghadir • Laylat al-Mabit • Yawm al-Dar • Caliphate • Timeline

Heritage
Nahj al-Balagha • Ghurar al-hikam • Al-Shiqshiqiyya Sermon

Excellences
Excellences of Ahl al-Bayt (a) • Al-Wilaya Verse • Ahl al-Dhikr Verse • Ulu l-Amr Verse • Al-Tathir Verse • Al-Mubahala Verse • Al-Mawadda Verse • Al-Sadiqin Verse • Hadith Madinat al-'Ilm • Hadith al-Thaqalayn • Hadith al-Raya • Hadith al-Safina • Hadith al-Kisa' • Al-Ghadir Sermon • Hadith al-Manzila • Hadith Yawm al-Dar • Hadith Sadd al-Abwab • Hadith al-Wisaya • La Fata Illa Ali • The First Muslim

Companions
'Ammar b. Yasir • Malik al-Ashtar • Abu Dhar al-Ghifari • 'Ubayd Allah b. Abi Rafi' • Hujr b. 'Adi • others

Related Topics
Holy Shrine


Text and Translation

Meaning of Keywords

"Mawadda" means "to love" [1]and "Qurba" means blood relatives[2].

Occasion of Revelation

All Shi'a and most of Sunni exegetes have narrated from Ibn 'Abbas that after the Prophet's (s) migration to Medina, Helpers had discussions about the Islamic government. They decided to go the Prophet (s) and say, "We will submit to you all our small wealth and facilities if you have any financial needs for the progress of Islam and the management of the newly-established Islamic society. In any way you take and use it would be our honor."[3] That was when the al-Mawadda verse was revealed to the Prophet (s) to mention the love of the Ahl al-Bayt (a) as the reward for the Prophet's (s) mission, not any material or worldly reward.

Relatives

There are different exegetical views about who or what "Qurbā" refers to:

  • Some exegetes, or allegedly most of them, hold that the verse is addressed to the Quraysh. Since the Prophet (s) fought the gods (idols) of the Quraysh, God ordered the Prophet (s) to ask them at least not to be hostile to him because they are his relatives.[4] Thus, "qurbā" is a gerund which means being a relative, rather than relatives themselves,[5] and the phrase, "al-mawadda fi l-qurbā", means kindness (to the Prophet) because of being relatives.
  • According to other exegetes, the verse is addressed to Helpers. They gave some money to the Prophet (s) as a reward, but he refused the offer. Thus, the verse tells them that the Prophet (s) did not want any money from them; his only reward being their kindness to his relatives among them (through his mother, Amina).[6]
  • Others maintain that the verse is addressed to the Quraysh or all people, and "relatives" in the verse refers to their own relatives. Thus, the verse means that the Prophet (s) did not want any rewards except their kindness to their own relatives (Silat al-Rahim).[7]
  • Others suggest that "qurbā" refers to closeness to God, and "al-mawadda fi l-qurbā" consists in loving God through closeness to Him (by obedience). Thus, the verse means that the Prophet (s) did not want any rewards except loving God by being close to Him.[8]

Shia scholars have responded to and rejected these four suggestions. (See sources below for more details.)

  • Others hold that "al-mawadda fi l-qurbā" means love of the Prophet's (s) relatives, that is, his Ahl al-Bayt (a). There are many hadiths in Sunni and Shia sources in which the verse is interpreted in this way. Such mutawatir hadiths in both sources support this view.[9]

Based on several reasons, Shi'a scholars believe that the intended meaning of "relatives" in this verse is "the Ahl al-Bayt (a)" i.e. 'Ali (a), Fatima (a), al-Hasan (a) and al-Husayn (a) and the nine Imams (a) of al-Husayn's (a) progeny.[10]

Also, al-'Allama al-Hilli considers al-Mawadda verse, the fourth verse proving the Imamate of 'Ali (a) and quotes from Ibn 'Abbas that when al-Mawadda verse was revealed, the Prophet (s) was asked, "O the Messenger of God (s)! Who are the relatives, whose love is incumbent upon us?" and the Prophet (s) answered, "'Ali (a), Fatima (a), al-Hasan (a) and al-Husayn (a)".[11] Ibn Hanbal (the Sunni founder of Hanbali School) has narrated this hadith from Ibn 'Abbas, too.[12]

Related Hadiths

Imam al-Sajjad (a) was asked about the meaning of the al-Mawadda verse, and Imam (a) answered, "The intended meaning of the verse is loving us, the Ahl al-Bayt (a)."[13]

It is narrated from Imam al-Baqir (a) that the intended reference of al-Mawadda verse is the Infallible Imams (a)."[14]

Imam al-Sadiq (a) says, "al-Mawadda verse is revealed about us, the Ahl al-Bayt (a), Ashab al-Kisa'."[15]

Hakim al-Hasakani, one of the Sunni scholars has mentioned seven traditions in the commentary of the verse, suggesting that "al-Qurba" referred to 'Ali (a), Fatima (a), al-Hasan (a), and al-Husayn (a).[16]

Also Ahmad b. Hanbal narrated that, when "al-Mawadda verse" was revealed, companions of the Prophet (s) asked him, "O the Messenger of God (s)! Who are your relatives, whose love is incumbent upon us?" and the Prophet (s) answered, "'Ali (a), Fatima (a) and their two sons" and he (s) repeated this three times.[17]

In his commentary on Ihqaq al-haq, Mar'ashi Najafi has enumerated up to fifty great Sunni scholars who have included hadiths about al-Mawadda verse in their books through numerous chains of transmission.[18] Also, al-Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani has mentioned seventeen hadiths from Sunnis and twenty-two hadiths from Shias about this verse in his book Ghayat al-maram wa hujjat al-khisam.[19]

Reason for the Obligation of Loving Ahl al-Bayt

A careful consideration of hadiths from the Prophet (s) in Shia and Sunni sources to the effect that people should consult Ahl al-Bayt (a) to understand the Qur'an as well as the principles and ancillaries of Islam, such as Hadith al-Thaqalayn and Hadith al-Safina, leaves no doubt that love of Ahl al-Bayt (a) is obligatory as a reward for the Prophet (s) in order to make people consult them to understand the religion. Thus, the love of Ahl al-Bayt (a) is in continuity with prophethood, and thus, the verse is not contradictory to other verses according to which there is no reward for prophethood. Thus, although the love of Ahl al-Bayt (a) is taken to be a reward, it is indeed in the interest of people rather than Ahl al-Bayt (a).[20]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, under the word "ود".
  2. ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, under the word "قرب".
  3. ↑ See: Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 13, p. 30.
  4. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān, vol. 25, p. 15.
  5. ↑ Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, vol. 4, p. 219.
  6. ↑ Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 13, p. 30.
  7. ↑ Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 13, p. 31.
  8. ↑ Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 13, p. 31-32.
  9. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 9, p. 48.
  10. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 9, p. 48.
  11. ↑ ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Nahj al-Ḥaq, p. 175.
  12. ↑ Ibn Ḥanbal, Faḍāʾil Amīr al-Muʾminīn ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, p. 295.
  13. ↑ Kūfī, Tafsīr al-Furāt al-Kūfī, p. 392.
  14. ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 413.
  15. ↑ Ḥākim al-Ḥasakānī, Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 2, p. 213.
  16. ↑ Ḥākim al-Ḥasakānī, Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 2, p. 189-196.
  17. ↑ ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, Nahj al-Ḥaq, p. 175.
  18. ↑ Shūshtarī, Iḥqāq al-ḥaq, vol. 3, p. 2-18, footnote. 2.
  19. ↑ Baḥrānī, Ghāyat al-marām, vol. 3, p. 230-244.
  20. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 18, p. 46.

References

  • ʿAllāma al-Ḥillī, al-Ḥasan b. Yūsuf al-. Nahj al-ḥaq wa kashf al-ṣidq. Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-Lubnānī, n.d.
  • Ālūsī, Maḥmūd b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Rūḥ al-maʿānī fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm. Edited by ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Bārī ʿAṭīyya. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, n.d.
  • Baḥrānī, Hāshim b. Sulaymān al-. Ghāyat al-marām. Edited by ʿAlī ʿĀshūr. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Tārīkh al-ʿArabī, n.d.
  • Ḥākim al-Ḥasakānī, ʿUbayd Allāh b. ʿAbd Allāh. Shawāhid al-tanzīl l-qawāʿid al-tafṣīl. Edited by Muḥmmad Bāqir Maḥmaūdī. Tehran: Wizārat-i Irshād-i Islāmī, 1411 AH.
  • Ibn Ḥanbal, Aḥmad. Faḍāʾil Amīr al-Muʾminīn ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib. Edited by Sayyid ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz Ṭabāṭabāʾī. Qom: Dār al-Tafsīr, 1433 AH.
  • Ibn Manẓūr, Muḥammad b. Mukrim. Lisān al-ʿArab. Beirut: Dār al-Fikr l-l-Ṭibāʿa wa al-Nashr wa al-Tawzīʿ, n.d.
  • Kūfī, Furāt b. Ibrāhīm al-. Tafsīr al-Furāt al-Kūfī. Edited by Muyammad al-Kāẓim. Tehran: Wizārat-i Irshād-i Islāmī, 1410 AH.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, n.d.
  • Shūshtarī, Nūr Allāh b. Sharīf al-Dīn al-. Iḥqāq al-ḥaq wa izhāq al-bāṭil. Edited by Shahāb al-Dīn al-Marʿashī. Qom: al-Maktabat Āyat Allāh al-Marʿashī, 1409 AH.
  • Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-. Jāmiʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, n.d.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī l-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 1425 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī l-l-Maṭbūʿāt, n.d.
  • Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd b. ʿUmar al-. Al-Kashshāf. Edited Muṣṭafā Ḥusayn Aḥmad. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿArabī, n.d.
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