Jump to content

Draft:Verse 190 of Sura al-Baqara

Add links
From wikishia
Verse 190 of Sura al-Baqara
Verse's Information
SuraSura al-Baqara (Qur'an 2)
Verse190
Juz'2
Content Information
Cause of
Revelation		Treaty of al-Hudaybiya
Place of
Revelation		Medina
TopicDefensive War
Related VersesQur'an 2:191, Qur'an 2:192, Qur'an 2:193, Verse of I'tida', Qur'an 2:195, Verse of Sayf.


Qur'an 2:190 emphasizes the imperative of defense and resistance by Muslims against aggression, while strictly adhering to divine limits during warfare. Exegetes identify this as the initial verse concerning combat against polytheists revealed following the Prophet's (s) migration to Medina.

A primary occasion of revelation cited for this verse is the Treaty of al-Hudaybiya. In his work al-Jihad, Qutb al-Din al-Rawandi discusses this verse within the context of Defensive Jihad, noting that divine favor does not extend to those who transgress the boundaries of war. Deriving legal principles from this text, scholars have delineated specific limits that Muslims must observe, including prohibitions against initiating hostilities; harming non-combatants such as women, children, and the elderly; and destroying environmental resources like orchards and crops.

Naser Makarem Shirazi further asserts that the objective of Islamic warfare is neither vengeance, expansionism, nor conquest, but rather the establishment of justice and the elimination of oppression.

Necessity of Defense against Enemy Aggression

Qur'an 2:190 calls upon Muslims to engage in Jihad solely against those who actively fight them.[1] Scholarly consensus often views this as the first revelation sanctioning combat against polytheists.[2] 'Allama Tabataba'i regards it as the inaugural command for war in Islam,[3] whereas al-Shaykh al-Tusi associates it with Qur'an 22:39.[4]

Muqatil b. Sulayman posits that because the polytheists initiated hostilities, God permitted the Prophet to fight even within the sacred month and the Sacred House (Bayt Allah al-Haram).[5] This ruling is further elaborated in Qur'an 2:191, which addresses the engagement with polytheists and the prohibition of war within the sanctuary (Haram).[6]

Qutb al-Din al-Rawandi categorizes this verse under the discussion of Defensive Jihad.[7] Similarly, 'Allama Tabataba'i views warfare in Islam as fundamentally defensive in nature,[8] suggesting that the passage from Qur'an 2:190 to Qur'an 2:195 was revealed as a single unit.[9] In contrast, al-Tabrisi interprets the verse as a general injunction for jihad against polytheists, rather than being restricted to the polytheists of Mecca.[10]

Occasion of Revelation

Exegetes generally describe two distinct occasions of revelation for Qur'an 2:190.[11]

  • First Occasion of Revelation: Al-Tabrisi identifies this as the initial legislative verse regarding war. It indicates that the Prophet (s) restricted combat to active aggressors and refrained from engaging those who did not seek war. This policy remained in effect until the revelation of verse 5 of Sura al-Tawba, which altered the approach toward the polytheists.[12]
  • Second Occasion of Revelation: Scholars such as al-Tabrisi, Abu l-Futuh Razi, and Qurtubi link the verse to the events surrounding the Treaty of al-Hudaybiya.[13] In this historical context, the Prophet (s) traveled to Mecca with 1,400 companions to perform Umrah. When the polytheists blocked their entry, resulting in a peace treaty, concerns arose regarding potential treaty violations by the polytheists and the prospect of fighting during the Sacred Months. Consequently, verse 190 was revealed to authorize defensive action.[14] This perspective is supported by Naser Makarem Shirazi.[15]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majma' al-bayān, 1408 AH, vol. 2, p. 510.
  2. ↑ Jaṣṣāṣ, Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, 1405 AH, vol. 1, p. 320; Abū l-Futūḥ Rāzī, Rawḍ al-jinān, 1371 Sh, vol. 3, p. 68.
  3. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 2, p. 60.
  4. ↑ Al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-'Arabī, vol. 7, p. 123.
  5. ↑ Muqātil b. Sulaymān, Tafsīr Muqātil, 1423 AH, vol. 1, p. 167.
  6. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i Nemūneh, 1373 Sh, vol. 2, p. 21.
  7. ↑ Quṭb al-Rāwandī, Fiqh al-Qurʾān, 1405 AH, vol. 1, pp. 328-329.
  8. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 2, p. 61.
  9. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 2, pp. 60-61.
  10. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majma' al-bayān, 1408 AH, vol. 2, p. 510.
  11. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Shaʾn-i nuzūl-i āyāt-i Qurʾān, 1385 Sh, p. 52.
  12. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majma' al-bayān, 1408 AH, vol. 2, p. 510.
  13. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majma' al-bayān, 1408 AH, vol. 2, p. 510; Abū l-Futūḥ Rāzī, Rawḍ al-jinān, 1371 Sh, vol. 3, p. 68; Qurṭubī, al-Jāmi' li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān, 1364 Sh, vol. 2, p. 347.
  14. ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majma' al-bayān, 1408 AH, vol. 2, p. 510; Abū l-Futūḥ Rāzī, Rawḍ al-jinān, 1371 Sh, vol. 3, p. 68; Qurṭubī, al-Jāmi' li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān, 1364 Sh, vol. 2, p. 347.
  15. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Shaʾn-i nuzūl-i āyāt-i Qurʾān, 1385 Sh, p. 52.

References

  • Abū l-Futūḥ Rāzī, Ḥusayn b. 'Alī, Rawḍ al-jinān wa rūḥ al-janān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Mashhad, Āstān Quds Raḍawī, 1371 Sh.
  • Jaṣṣāṣ, Aḥmad b. 'Alī, Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-'Arabī, 1405 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Beirut, Muʾassisat al-A'lamī lil-Maṭbū'āt, 1393 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Qom, Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1417 AH.
  • Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan, Majma' al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Beirut, Dār al-Ma'rifa, 1408 AH.
  • Al-Shaykh al-Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan, al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-'Arabī, n.d.
  • Qarāʾatī, Muḥsin, Tafsīr-i Nūr, Tehran, Markaz-i Farhangī-yi Dars-hāyī az Qurʾān, 1388 Sh.
  • Qurṭubī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad, al-Jāmi' li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān, Tehran, Nāsir Khusraw, 1364 Sh.
  • Quṭb al-Rāwandī, Sa'īd b. Hibat Allāh, Fiqh al-Qurʾān, Qom, Kitābkhāna-yi Āyatullāh Mar'ashī Najafī, 1405 AH.
  • Muqātil b. Sulaymān, Tafsīr Muqātil b. Sulaymān, Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-'Arabī, 1423 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir, Tafsīr-i Nemūneh, Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1373 Sh.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir, Shaʾn-i nuzūl-i āyāt-i Qurʾān, Qom, Madrasat al-Imām 'Alī b. Abī Ṭālib (a), 1385 Sh.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikishia.net/w/index.php?title=Draft:Verse_190_of_Sura_al-Baqara&oldid=205254"