Draft:La Tahzan Verse
 | |
| Verse's Information | |
|---|---|
| Name | La Tahzan Verse |
| Sura | al-Tawba (Qur'an 9) |
| Verse | 40 |
| Juz' | 10 |
| Content Information | |
| Cause of Revelation | Sluggishness of some Muslims in accompanying the Prophet (s) in the Battle of Tabuk |
| About | Assistance of the Prophet (s) by God |
Qur'an 9:40, known as the Lā Taḥzan Verse (Arabic: آیه لا تَحْزَنْ) or the Verse of the Cave, refers to the concealment of Prophet Muhammad (s) and Abu Bakr within the Cave of Thawr during the Migration of the Prophet (s) from Mecca to Medina.[1] 'Allama Tabataba'i posits that, based on narrations, these verses correspond to events surrounding the Battle of Tabuk.[2] According to both Shi'a and Sunni exegetes, the Verse of the Cave and the two preceding verses were revealed when a faction of Muslims hesitated to participate in the war. The revelation admonished them, stating that if they failed to aid the Prophet (s) in this war and Jihad, God would assist him, just as He had previously supported him during the Migration to Medina in the confines of the cave—at a time when he had no helper or supporter, and his sole companion was overcome by fear and grief.[3]
| “ | إِلَّا تَنصُرُوهُ فَقَدْ نَصَرَهُ اللَّـهُ إِذْ أَخْرَجَهُ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا ثَانِيَ اثْنَيْنِ إِذْ هُمَا فِي الْغَارِ إِذْ يَقُولُ لِصَاحِبِهِ لَا تَحْزَنْ إِنَّ اللَّـهَ مَعَنَا ۖ فَأَنزَلَ اللَّـهُ سَكِينَتَهُ عَلَيْهِ وَأَيَّدَهُ بِجُنُودٍ لَّمْ تَرَوْهَا وَجَعَلَ كَلِمَةَ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا السُّفْلَىٰ ۗ وَكَلِمَةُ اللَّـهِ هِيَ الْعُلْيَا ۗ وَاللَّـهُ عَزِيزٌ حَكِيمٌ
|
” |
| “ | If you do not help him, then Allah certainly helped him when the faithless expelled him, as one of two [when they were] in the cave, when he said to his companion, ‘Do not grieve; Allah is indeed with us.’ Then Allah sent down His composure upon him, and strengthened him with hosts you did not see, and made the word of the faithless the lowest; and the word of Allah is the highest; and Allah is All-mighty, All-wise.
|
” |
| — Qur'an 9:40 | ||
Shi'a exegetes and certain Sunni scholars interpret the phrase "la tahzan" as "do not be afraid," noting that when the Quraysh discovered the Prophet's (s) departure, they tracked him with the assistance of Kurz b. 'Alqama b. Hilal al-Khuza'i, a skilled tracker. Upon reaching the mouth of the cave, the pursuers discussed the likelihood of finding the Prophet (s) and Abu Bakr. Overcome with fear, Abu Bakr remarked that if the pursuers merely looked down at their feet, they would be discovered. The Prophet responded, "What do you think of two, the third of whom is God?"[4] Sunni sources, such as Tarikh al-Tabari, also explicitly document Abu Bakr's fear and anxiety.[5] Regarding the referent of the pronoun "'alayhi" (upon him) in the phrase "fa-anzala Allahu sakinatahu 'alayhi" (Then Allah sent down His composure upon him), these exegetes maintain that the pronouns preceding and following this segment—in "tansuruhu" (help him), "nasarahu" (helped him), "akhrajahu" (expelled him), "yaqulu" (he said), "li-sahibihi" (to his companion), and "ayyadahu" (strengthened him)—all refer exclusively to the Prophet (s).[6]
In contrast, some Sunni scholars count the Verse of the Cave among the virtues of Abu Bakr[7] and view the phrase "thaniya ithnayn idh huma fi l-ghar" (as one of two [when they were] in the cave) as evidence of his qualification for the Caliphate.[8] Some also interpret the phrase "la tahzan" (do not grieve)—the Prophet's (s) address to Abu Bakr—as indicating the Prophet's own sadness, arguing that based on certain verses,[9] this prohibition does not imply disobedience on Abu Bakr's part but rather signifies obedience to the Lord.[10] Furthermore, they attribute the pronoun "hu" in "'alayhi" to Abu Bakr, interpreting "fa-anzala Allahu sakinatahu 'alayhi" as a manifestation of God's attention and grace toward him.[11]
Notes
- ↑ Ibn Hishām, Al-Sīra al-nabawiyya, 1355 AH, vol. 2, pp. 126-129; Ibn Saʿd, Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā, 1968, vol. 1, pp. 227-229.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 9, p. 279.
- ↑ Najjārzādagān, Tafsīr-i taṭbīqī, 1383 Sh, vol. 1, p. 249.
- ↑ Al-Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1408 AH, vol. 5, pp. 48-49; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1374 Sh, vol. 9, p. 279.
- ↑ Al-Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, 1387 AH, vol. 10, p. 95.
- ↑ See: Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 9, pp. 279-280.
- ↑ Al-Bukhārī, Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī, 1315 AH, vol. 5, p. 204; Maybudī, Kashf al-asrār, 1371 Sh, vol. 4, pp. 134, 138, 139; Al-Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-arab, vol. 19, pp. 14-15.
- ↑ Ibn Sallām, Badʾ al-Islām, 1406 AH, p. 70.
- ↑ Qur'an 10:65; Qur'an 5:41.
- ↑ Maybudī, Kashf al-asrār, 1371 Sh, vol. 4, p. 139.
- ↑ Maybudī, Kashf al-asrār, 1371 Sh, vol. 4, pp. 134, 138; Al-Nuwayrī, Nihāyat al-arab, vol. 19, p. 14.
References
- Al-Baṣīr, ʿAlāʾ al-Dīn. Al-Radd al-shāfī ʿalā l-Najāḥ al-Ṭāʾī fī kitābihi Ṣāḥib al-ghār Abū Bakr am rajul ākhar. Markaz al-Tanwīr li-l-Dirāsāt al-Insāniyya, 2007.
- Al-Bukhārī, Muḥammad b. Ismāʿīl. Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī. Cairo, n.p., 1315 AH.
- Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawiyya. Edited by Muḥammad Abū l-Faḍl Ibrāhīm. Cairo, n.p., 1355 AH.
- Ibn Saʿd, Muḥammad b. Manīʿ al-Baṣrī. Al-Ṭabaqāt al-kubrā. Beirut, Dār Ṣādir, 1968.
- Ibn Sallām al-Ibāḍī, Lawwāb. Badʾ al-Islām wa sharāʾiʿ al-dīn. Edited by Werner Schwartz & Sālim b. Yaʿqūb. Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner, 1406 AH/1986.
- Maybudī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. Kashf al-asrār wa ʿuddat al-abrār. Edited by ʿAlī Aṣghar Ḥikmat. Tehran, Amīr Kabīr, 1371 Sh.
- Najjārzādagān, Fatḥ Allāh. Tafsīr-i taṭbīqī. Qom, Markaz-i Jahānī-yi ʿUlūm-i Islāmī, 1383 Sh.
- Al-Nuwayrī, Aḥmad b. ʿAbd al-Wahhāb. Nihāyat al-arab fī funūn al-adab. Cairo, Dār al-Kutub wa l-Wathāʾiq al-Qawmiyya, n.d.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom, Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1417 AH.
- Al-Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr. Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. Edited by Muḥammad Abū l-Faḍl Ibrāhīm. Beirut, Dār al-Turāth, 2nd ed., 1387 AH/1967.
- Al-Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Edited by Hāshim Rasūlī Maḥallātī & Faḍl Allāh Yazdī. Beirut, n.p., 1408 AH/1988.