Days of God

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Ayyāmullāh (Arabic: ایام الله), literally meaning "Days of God", refer to occasions when important events took place in which God's power became more apparent. In the interpretation of some verses from the Qur'an in which this expression is mentioned, commentators have considered the days of God referring to the days when God relieved and blessed the believers, the days of punishment of the polytheists and also the days of blessings and torment; and the purpose of reminding them is taking lessons from them.

According to a hadith from Imam al-Baqir (a), the days of the coming of Imam al-Mahdi (a), Raj'a and the Day of Resurrection are examples of the days of God. In some narrations, the day of 'Ashura is also known as one of the days of God.

According to Imam Khomeini, the events that took place in the days of God are instructive and awakening for human beings throughout history; and that is why they must be commemorated.

Meaning

The days of God refer to the days in which important events took place,[1] when God's power became more apparent.[2] This expression is used twice in the Qur'an.[3] In Qur'an 14, Prophet Moses (a) is asked to remind the people of the days of God, because there are lessons in this reminder.[4] Also in Qur'an 45, those who believe are asked to forgive those who do not have hope in the days of God, so that God punishes every nation for what they have done.[5]

In Tafsir-i Nimuna of the Qur'an, the purpose of remembering the days of God and recounting their related events is considered to be the enlightenment and vigilance of the nations.[6] Imam Ali (a), in a letter to Qutham b. 'Abbas, who was his governor in Mecca, asked him to remind people of the days of God during the hajj.[7]

Interpretation

Commentators of the Qur'an have expressed different views in interpreting "the days of God":

  • Days of torment: Days that divine torment was brought upon the rebellious tribes such as 'Ad and Thamud.[9]
  • Days of torment and days of blessings: Every day in which one of God's commandments was manifest so brightly that it overshadows other issues.[10] The Tafsir-i Nimuna of the Qur'an states that every day in which a new chapter in human life has been opened and a lesson has been taught to them, such as the coming of a prophet or the destruction of an oppressive and polytheistic king, is among the days of God.[11] Also, according to a hadith narrated in al-Shaykh al-Tusi's al-Amali from the Prophet (s), the days of God are the days when God's blessings and punishments are given.[12]

According to Fayd Kashani, there is no disagreement between these views, because giving blessings to a believer is tantamount to punishing an infidel, and these days are a blessing for one nation and a punishment for another nation.[13]

Examples

Examples for the days of God are mentioned in hadiths. According to a hadith narrated from Imam al-Baqir (a), the days of God are three days: the day of the uprising of Imam al-Mahdi (a), the day of Raj'a and the Day of Resurrection.[14] However, Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi has mentioned the day of one's death instead of the day of Raj'a.[15] In some narrations, the day of 'Ashura is also mentioned among the days of God.[16]

Imam Khomeini also considered the day of the Prophet's emigration, the day of the conquest of Mecca, the day of the battle of Siffin, and the days when earthquakes, floods, etc. occur to bring awareness for human beings as the days of God.[17] However, it has been said that the days of God are not limited to these cases and there are other examples as well.[18] Imam Khomeini, the founder of the Islamic Republic of Iran, referred to some days in the history of the Islamic Republic of Iran as the days of God. These days were the February 11, 1979, when the Islamic Revolution of Iran achieved victory,[19] the September 8, 1978, which led to the Revolution of Iran, and the June 5, 1963, when the 15th-of-Khordad uprising took place.[20] According to Imam Khomeini, the events that took place in the days of God are instructive and awakening for human beings throughout history. Hence, he believed that the days of God should be commemorated.[21]

Notes

  1. ↑ Shaʾrānī, Nathr-i ṭūba, vol. 2, p. 604.
  2. ↑ Qurashī Bunābī, Qāmūs-i Qurān, vol. 7, p. 281.
  3. ↑ Qur'an 14:5; Qur'an 45:14.
  4. ↑ Qur'an 14:25.
  5. ↑ Qur'an 45:14.
  6. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 10, p. 275.
  7. ↑ Nahj al-balāgha. Edited by Ṣubḥī Ṣaliḥ, vol. 1, p. 457.
  8. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʾ al-bayān, vol. 13, p. 239; Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 6, p. 274.
  9. ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʾ al-bayān, vol. 11, p. 227; Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 209.
  10. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 6, p. 467; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 12, p. 18.
  11. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 10, p. 272.
  12. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Amālī, p. 491.
  13. ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī, vol. 3, p. 80.
  14. ↑ Ṣadūq, al-Khiṣāl, vol. 1, p. 108, Hadith 75.
  15. ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 1, p. 397.
  16. ↑ Ibn Abi al-Jumhūr, ʿAwālī al-liʾālī, vol. 1, p. 138.
  17. ↑ Imām Khomeinī, Ṣaḥīfa-yi nūr, vol. 9, p. 63.
  18. ↑ Qurashī Bunābī, Qāmūs-i Qurān, vol. 7, p. 281.
  19. ↑ Imām Khomeinī, Ṣaḥīfa-yi nūr, vol. 19, p. 101.
  20. ↑ Imām Khomeinī, Ṣaḥīfa-yi nūr, vol. 9, p. 65.
  21. ↑ Imām Khomeinī, Ṣaḥīfa-yi nūr, vol. 17, p. 11.

References

  • Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Muḥammad b. al-Murtaḍā al-. Tafsīr al-Ṣāfī. Tehran: Maktabat al-Ṣadr, 1373 Sh.
  • Imām Khomeinī, Sayyid Rūḥ Allāh. Ṣaḥīfa-yi nūr. Tehran: Intishārāt-i Surūsh, 1369 Sh.
  • Ibn Abi al-Jumhūr, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. ʿAwālī al-liʾālī al-ʿazīzīyya fī al-aḥādīth al-dīnīyya. Edited by Mujtabā Irāqī. Qom: Dār Sayyid al-Shuhadāʾ, 1405 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1373 Sh.
  • Qurashī Bunābī, ʿAlī Akbar. Qāmūs-i Qurān. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1412 AH.
  • Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-. Tafsīr al-Qummī. Qom: Dār al-Kitāb, 1404 AH.
  • Sayyid Raḍī, Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Nahj al-balāgha. Edited by Ṣubḥī Ṣaliḥ. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-Lubnānī, 1414 AH.
  • Shaʾrānī, Abu l-Ḥasan. Nathr-i ṭūba. Collected by Qarīb, Muḥammad. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1380 Sh.
  • Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Al-Khiṣāl. Qom: Jāmiʿat al-Mudarrisīn, 1362 Sh.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Amālī. [n.p], [n.d].
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, [n.d].
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1406 AH.
  • Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-. Jāmiʾ al-bayān fi tafsīr al-Qurʾān. [n.p]: Dār al-Risāla, 1420 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī, 1439 AH.
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