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Draft:Verse 31 of Sura al-Isra

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Verse 31 of Sura al-Isra
Verse's Information
NameVerse of Imlaq
Suraal-Isra' (Qur'an 17)
Verse31
Juz'15
Content Information
Place of
Revelation		Mecca
TopicTheological
AboutKilling children out of fear of Poverty
Related VersesQur'an 17:23-Qur'an 17:39 • Qur'an 6:151 • Qur'an 6:140


Qur'an 17:31 explicitly prohibits the killing of children out of fear of poverty (imlāq), classifying such an act as a grave sin. While a group of exegetes interprets this prohibition as encompassing both sons and daughters, others restrict its scope specifically to daughters. In light of Qur'an 17:39, the prohibition against infanticide in this verse is regarded as an instance of divine wisdom (ḥikma) revealed by God to His Prophet.

Jurists have cited this verse to establish the obligation of providing maintenance (nafaqa) for children and the prohibition of abortion motivated by economic fear. Alongside Qur'an 6:151, Qur'an 17:31 is also referred to as the Verse of Imlaq due to the inclusion of the term imlāq.

General Points

According to exegetes, Qur'an 17:31 strictly forbids infanticide driven by the fear of poverty, designating it a major sin (khiṭʾ).[1] The verse dismisses poverty or the inability to provide economically as valid justifications, asserting that God is the sole provider of sustenance for both the children and the parents.[2]

Tafsir-i nimuna suggests that this verse reflects the severe economic hardships prevalent among the Arabs during the Age of Ignorance.[3] Similarly, Lady Amin, in her exegesis Makhzan al-ʿirfān, relies on this verse to categorize infanticide due to poverty as a major sin.[4] Drawing from Qur'an 17:39, the prohibition constitutes a manifestation of wisdom revealed by God to His Prophet.[5] The thematic and lexical similarities between Qur'an 17:31 and Qur'an 6:151—specifically the use of the term imlāq—have led to both verses being termed the Verse of Imlaq.[6] Lexically and in Hadith literature, imlāq denotes poverty.[7] In Al-Mufradat, Al-Raghib al-Isfahani defines khiṭʾ (error/sin) in this context as the commission of a blameworthy act.[8]

Prohibition of Killing Daughters or Sons?

According to Nasir Makarim Shirazi, exegetes differ on whether the prohibition of infanticide in the Age of Ignorance applied exclusively to daughters or extended to sons as well:

  • One group argues that the prohibition pertains specifically to daughters, as families feared both the economic burden and the potential for their daughters' captivity in future conflicts. Conversely, sons were viewed as economic assets and productive members of society, despite the costs associated with their upbringing.[9]
  • Another group, including Makarem Shirazi, contends that two distinct motives for infanticide existed in the Age of Ignorance: the preservation of honor, which exclusively targeted daughters, and the fear of poverty, which affected both sons and daughters. Makarem Shirazi notes that the masculine plural pronoun (hum) in qatlahum (killing them) is grammatically inclusive of both genders, making it unlikely that the verse refers solely to daughters. He further observes that raising sons also imposed significant financial strain on families of that era.[10] Abd Allah Jawadi Amuli similarly asserts that pre-Islamic Arabs killed both sons and daughters out of fear of destitution.[11]

Shi'a jurists have derived several legal rulings from Qur'an 17:31, including:

Notes

  1. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 13, p. 85; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 12, p. 100.
  2. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 13, p. 85; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 12, p. 100.
  3. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 12, p. 100.
  4. ↑ Bānū Amīn, Makhzan al-ʿirfān, 1361 Sh, vol. 7, p. 301.
  5. ↑ Bānū Amīn, Makhzan al-ʿirfān, 1361 Sh, vol. 7, p. 310; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 13, p. 97; Faḍl Allāh, Min waḥy al-Qurʾān, 1419 AH, vol. 14, p. 124.
  6. ↑ "Imlāq", Farhang-nāma-yi ʿulūm-i Qurʾānī, p. 117.
  7. ↑ "Imlāq", Farhang-nāma-yi ʿulūm-i Qurʾānī, p. 117; Al-Baḥrānī, Al-Burhān, 1416 AH, vol. 3, p. 526.
  8. ↑ Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, Mufradāt alfāẓ al-Qurʾān, 1992, p. 287.
  9. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 12, pp. 100-101.
  10. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 12, pp. 100-101.
  11. ↑ Jawādī Āmulī, "Tafsīr-i āyāt-i 30 va 31 sūra-yi Isrāʾ", Iranseda.
  12. ↑ Al-Ḥakīm, Minhāj al-ṣāliḥīn, 1415 AH, vol. 3, p. 19.
  13. ↑ Fāḍil al-Hindī, Kashf al-lithām, 1416 AH, vol. 7, p. 595; Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn, Īḍāḥ al-fawāʾid, 1387 AH, vol. 3, p. 282; Al-Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Kitāb al-manāhil, p. 573.
  14. ↑ Al-Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1404 AH, vol. 31, p. 367; Fāḍil Lankarānī, Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa, 1421 AH, p. 605.

References

  • Al-Baḥrānī, Hāshim b. Sulaymān. Al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Tehran: Bunyād-i Biʿthat, 1416 AH.
  • Bānū Amīn, Sayyida Nuṣrat Bēgum. Makhzan al-ʿirfān dar tafsīr-i Qurʾān. Tehran: Nahḍat-i Zanān-i Musalmān, 1361 Sh.
  • Fāḍil al-Hindī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Kashf al-lithām wa l-ibhām ʿan qawāʿid al-aḥkām. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1416 AH.
  • Fāḍil Lankarānī, Muḥammad. Tafṣīl al-sharīʿa fī sharḥ Taḥrīr al-wasīla. Qom: Markaz-i Fiqhī-yi Aʾimma-yi Aṭhār, 1421 AH.
  • Faḍl Allāh, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Min waḥy al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār al-Malāk, 1419 AH.
  • Fakhr al-Muḥaqqiqīn, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan. Īḍāḥ al-fawāʾid fī sharḥ mushkilāt al-qawāʿid. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Ismāʿīlīyān, 1387 AH.
  • Al-Ḥakīm, Sayyid Muḥammad Saʿīd. Minhāj al-ṣāliḥīn. Beirut: Dār al-Ṣafwa, 1415 AH.
  • "Imlāq". In Farhang-nāma-yi ʿulūm-i Qurʾānī. Qom: Pzhūhishgāh-i ʿUlūm va Farhang-i Islāmī, 1394 Sh.
  • Jawādī Āmulī, ʿAbd Allāh. "Tafsīr-i āyāt-i 30 va 31 sūra-yi Isrāʾ". Pāygāh-i Sukhanrānī-yi Madhhabī-yi Iranseda. Accessed: 8 Khurdād 1403 Sh.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
  • Al-Najafī, Muḥammad Ḥasan. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-islām. Edited by ʿAbbās Qūchānī & ʿAlī Ākhūndī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1404 AH.
  • Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, Ḥusayn b. Muḥammad. Mufradāt alfāẓ al-Qurʾān. Edited by Ṣafwān ʿAdnān Dāwūdī. Beirut: Dār al-Shāmiyya, 1992.
  • Al-Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad. Kitāb al-manāhil. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Āl al-Bayt, n.d.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1417 AH.
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