Al Allah
Āl Allāh (Arabic: آل الله) or the Household of God is an attribute of Ahl al-Bayt (a) cited in hadiths, which is also used by Shi'a orators and poets in reference to Ahl al-Bayt (a). The use is a metaphorical indication of the high status of Ahl al-Bayt (a) for God, without literally implying that they are God's household. Moreover, the Quraysh were also called Al Allah on account of their custodianship of the Ka'ba.
The Notion
Al Allah literally means a household which belongs to, or is otherwise attributed to, God.[1] “Al” (آل) is derived from the word “ahl” (اهل) which means family, household, followers, and relatives.[2] The word appears in the Qurʾan, such as Al ʿImran,[3] which means the family of ʿImran, including Mary (a) and Jesus (a).[4] “Al Lut”[5] means the family of Prophet Lot (a),[6] and “Al Firʿawn”[7] which means the followers and the army of the Pharaoh.[8] According to the rule of the Arabic language, “al” when used as a genitive modifier for “Allah” counts as an honorific genitive construction; that is, it implies the dignity or greatness of what modifies God as a genitive case, and by no means it implies any familial relation with God.[9]
Instances
There are hadiths according to which Imams of the Shi'a possess special knowledge in virtue of the fact that they are “Ahl sirr Allah” (people of God’s secrets), “Al Allah” (God’s household), and “warathat al-anbiyaʾ” (heirs of the prophets).[10] Accordingly, orators[11] and poets use the term “Al Allah” to refer to Ahl al-Bayt (a):
As to the attribution or association of Shiite Imams to God, it has been said that the use is indicative of their dignity and greatness, rather than their kinship with God.[12] They are associated with God in that they are at the highest degrees of proximity to God.[13] Moreover, the Quraysh tribe were characterized as “All Allah,” as well as “jiran Allah” (God’s neighbors), and “sukkan Allah” (residents of God).[14] According to Mansur b. Husayn Abi, a fifth/eleventh-century Shiite scholar, the event of Army of Elephants added dignity and honor to the Quraysh, which was why they came to be called “Ahl Allah.”[15]
Notes
- ↑ Why the Ahl al-Bayt (a) are called Al Allah? (Persian)
- ↑ Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt, p. 98.
- ↑ Qur'an 3:33.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 2, p. 518.
- ↑ Qur'an 27:56; Qur'an 15:61.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 15, p. 376.
- ↑ Qur'an 2:50; Qur'an 8:54.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 1, p. 251; Qurashī, Tafsīr-i aḥsan al-ḥadīth, vol. 1, p. 120.
- ↑ Why the Ahl al-Bayt (a) are called Al Allah? (Persian)
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 31, p. 592; vol. 44, p. 184.
- ↑ The answer of Ayatollah Wahid: why the Ahl al-Bayt (a) are called Al Allah? (Persian)
- ↑ Why the Ahl al-Bayt (a) are called Al Allah? (Persian)
- ↑ The answer of Ayatollah Wahid: why the Ahl al-Bayt (a) are called Al Allah? (Persian)
- ↑ Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih, al-ʿIqd al-farīd, vol. 3, p. 226; Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 15, p. 258; Ṣadūq, al-Amālī, p. 317.
- ↑ Ābī, Nathr al-durr, p. 373.
References
- Ābī, Manṣūr b. Ḥusayn. Nathr al-durr fī al-muḥāḍirāt. Edited by Maḥfūz Khālid ʿAbd al-Ghanī. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1424 AH.
- Ibn Ṭāwūs, ʿAlī b. Mūsā. Luhūf manzūm. Translated to Farsi by ʿAlī Maḥallātī. [n.p], Daftar-i Nashr-i Nawīd-i Islām, 1377 Sh.
- Ibn ʿAbd Rabbih, Aḥmad Muḥammad. Al-ʿIqd al-farīd. Edited by ʿAbd al-Majīd al-Tarḥīnī. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, [n.d].
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
- Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut: Intishārāt-i Muʾassisat al-Wafāʾ, 1403 AH.
- Qurashī, Sayyid ʿAlī Akbar. Tafsīr-i aḥsan al-ḥadīth. [n.p], Daftar-i Nashr-i Nawīd-i Islām, 1391 Sh.
- Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad al-. Al-Mufradāt fī qarīb al-Qurʾān. [n.p]: Dār al-Qalam, 1412 AH.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Amālī. Qom: Muʾassisat al-Biʿtha, 1417 AH.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1417 AH.
- چرا به اهل بیت علیهم السلام، آل الله می گویند؟ (Persian) (Why the Ahl al-Bayt (a) are called Al Allah?) The Website of Hawza.net. Accessed: 2022/05/21.
- پاسخ آیتالله العظمی وحید؛ چرا به اهلبیت پیامبر «آل الله» می گویند (Persian). (The answer of Ayatollah Wahid: why the Ahl al-Bayt (a) are called Al Allah?) Accessed: 2022/05/21.