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Al (family)

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Āl (Arabic: آل) means family, household, clan, tribe, people, followers and dependents. The meaning of "Al-Muḥammad" is his Infallible Ahl al-Bayt (a), just as the meaning of "Al-Ibrāhīm" in Verse 124 of Sura al-Baqara is the Infallible progeny of Prophet Abraham (a).

Usage in the Jahiliyya Period

This word was known to have carry most of the mentioned lexical meanings since the Jahiliyya period. Since the Quraysh were responsible for protecting the Ka'ba and its belongings, they called themselves "Al Allah" (Family of God), and others would address them in times of seeking justice by saying: "Ya Al Allah" meaning "O Quraysh".[1]

Root of the Word

The root of the word is not very clear and a similar form has not been found in Semitic languages. If we consider the concept of "attribution to a person or place" or "population and power", then the word becomes cognate with the word "Awwal" (first) which then leads to the concept of power. On the other hand, the root with 'y' (ya'i) can be considered the origin, which means "ally". Furthermore, the justification of Muslim philologists who considered it derived from "Ahl" is not baseless (although their reliance on the diminutive form of the word cannot be considered valid), because the word 'ahl (Canaanite Hebrew 'ahel; Aramaic 'ahl; Nabataean 'hlt') in Ugaritic means tent and in Akkadian means city. The poet of the Jahiliyya period, Abu Dhu'ayb, used it to mean tent poles.[2]

Evolution of the Word

Perhaps the evolution of the word was from particular to general: family (dwellers of a tent), clan, large clan and tribe, tribe, followers (political or religious). In the Qur'an, "Al" can be found in the meaning of religious-political-geographical followers (Al-Ibrahim, Al-Imran, Al-Fir'awn, Al-Lut).[3]

In explaining the meaning of "Al-Muḥammad, Al-Nabi", Sunni scholars generally had the general concept of "Banu Hashim" in mind. Ibn Abi l-Hadid, in the commentary of the words of Imam Ali (a) "No one from this Umma can be compared to the Al of Muhammad (s), and those who have been saved by their guidance cannot be equated with them", interprets Al-Muḥammad (a) as those close to the Prophet (s) from Banu Hashim, especially Imam Ali (a), and explicitly emphasizes that if it were not for Imam Ali (a) and his father Abu Talib, there would be no trace of Islam.[4][5] Sometimes they have interpreted it as the "Umma of Muhammad" (some have also considered the concept of that combination to be the wives of the Prophet (s). Al-Raghib al-Isfahani in Al-Mufradat considers Al-Nabi to be the special individuals and followers of the Prophet (s) in terms of knowledge, he also refers to a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a) in this regard.[6]

The general tendency of the Shia is to consider Al-Muhammad and Al-Nabi as identical with "'Itra", i.e. the children of Imam Ali (a) and Lady Fatima (a). The basis of this understanding can be found in Quran 3:33, in addition to the lexicon, according to which "Al-Ibrahim" and "Al-Imran" who were chosen by God were not all the families of those two prophets, and according to the ruling of Verse 124 of Sura al-Baqara, only the Infallible worthy ones from their family and progeny had this merit.

Al-Irbili separates the concepts of Al, Ahl, and 'Itra[7] and Rayyan b. al-Salt al-Qummi wrote a book in which he collected the words of Imam al-Rida (a) on "The Difference between Al and Umma".[8]

Usages of Al and Ahl

The two words "Al" and "Ahl" have each gradually found their own specific usages. In dictionaries, much has been said about distinguishing the concepts of these two terms. The usage of the word "Al" is more restricted than the word "Ahl", because "Al" is not added to time, place, profession and the like and is exclusive to humans. When referring to human beings, it is only applied to those who have a special status, whether positive or negative, such as: Al-Ibrahīm, Al-Imran, Al-Fir'awn.[9] "Al" in the sense of "dynasty and descendants" became very common from the first century AH and is now also used for the families of kings and emirs. This combination is also common in the Persian language, and even some noble Iranian families are identified with the word Al: "Al-Buyeh" is much more famous than "Buyids".

Notes

  1. ↑ Irbilī, Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 1, p. 40.
  2. ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, under the word 'Awl'.
  3. ↑ Irbilī, Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 1, p. 40.
  4. ↑ Sharīf al-Raḍī, Nahj al-balāgha, vol. 1, pp. 140-141.
  5. ↑ There is no doubt that the benefactor is higher and nobler than the beneficiary, and there is no doubt that Muhammad (s) and his close relatives from Banu Hashim, especially Ali (a), bestowed a blessing upon all creation the value of which cannot be estimated, and that is the invitation to Islam and guidance towards it... However, Ali (a) also has a share in guidance, even if he is second to the first and follows the predecessor, which cannot be denied. Even if it were only his jihad with the sword in the first and second stages and what was between the two jihads of spreading sciences, interpreting the Qur'an, and guiding the Arabs to what they could not understand or imagine, it would be enough for the obligation of his right and the abundance of his blessing (a).
  6. ↑ Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, Al-Mufradāt, pp. 30-31.
  7. ↑ Irbilī, Kashf al-ghumma, vol. 1, p. 42.
  8. ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Fihrist, p. 140.
  9. ↑ Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, Al-Mufradāt, p. 30.

References

  • Ibn Manẓūr, Jamāl al-Dīn. Lisān al-ʿArab. Beirut, Dār Ṣādir, 1414 AH.
  • Irbilī, Bahāʾ al-Dīn Abū l-Ḥasan al-. Kashf al-ghumma. Beirut, Dār al-Kitāb al-Islāmiyya, n.d.
  • Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Mufradāt fī gharīb al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār al-Qalam, 1412 AH.
  • Sharīf al-Raḍī, Muḥammad b. Ḥusayn. Nahj al-balāgha. Edited by Ṣubḥī Ṣāliḥ. Qom, Nashr-i Hijrat, 1st edition, 1414 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-. Al-Fihrist. Edited by Maḥmūd Rāmyār. Mashhad, Mashhad University, 1351 Sh.
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