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Draft:Verse 4 of Sura al-Tahrim

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Verse 4 of Sura al-Tahrim
Verse's Information
Suraal-Tahrim (Qur'an 66)
Verse4
Juz'28
Content Information
Cause of
Revelation		Recommendation of repentance to the Prophet's (s) wives for revealing his secret
Place of
Revelation		Medina
Related VersesQur'an 66:1, Qur'an 66:2, Qur'an 66:3, Qur'an 66:5


Qur'an 66:4 admonishes two of the wives of the Prophet (s) for disclosing a confidential matter entrusted to them by the Prophet (s), urging them to repent. The verse subsequently warns them that if they conspire against the Prophet (s), he will be aided and defended by God, Gabriel, the righteous among the believers (Salih al-Mu'minin), and the angels. According to Sunni commentaries, the two wives addressed by the phrase "in tatuba" (if you two repent) are Hafsa and A'isha, while "Salih al-Mu'minin" explicitly denotes Imam 'Ali (a).
Regarding the specific nature of the Prophet's (s) secret, exegetical sources diverge. Some identify it as his oath to abstain from eating honey, while others suggest it was his vow to cease marital relations with his wife Mariya al-Qibtiyya. Additional accounts assert that the secret involved a confidential prophecy regarding the future caliphates of Abu Bakr and 'Umar.

General Points

Classified among the Madani verses,[1] Qur'an 66:4 reproaches two of the wives of the Prophet (s), commanding them to repent for their indiscretion—specifically, for revealing the Prophet's secret as mentioned in Qur'an 66:3.[2] It proceeds to warn them that should they unite against the Prophet (s), he will receive the unwavering support of God, Gabriel, Salih al-Mu'minin, and the angels.[3] The prominent Sunni scholar Haskani records in Shawahid al-tanzil, on the authority of Ibn 'Abbas, that the phrase "in tatuba" is directed at Hafsa and A'isha, and that Salih al-Mu'minin refers to 'Ali (a).[4]

Cause of Revelation

Exegetical literature universally attributes the verse's call for repentance to the wives of the Prophet having disclosed a secret entrusted to them by the Prophet (s).[5] However, accounts vary significantly across Shi'a and Sunni commentaries concerning the exact content of this secret.[6] 'Allama Tabataba'i notes that many of these historical reports do not align seamlessly with the opening verses of the Sura.[7]

Abandoning Honey

Several commentaries propose that the Prophet's secret was his oath to refrain from consuming honey. According to Majma' al-bayan, Hafsa had received a jar of honey, which she would serve to the Prophet to prolong his visits. Displeased by this, A'isha conspired with other wives of the Prophet, agreeing that whenever he approached them, they would remark, "We smell the scent of Maghafir" (a foul-smelling tree sap). Consequently, whichever wife the Prophet visited, he encountered the same complaint. Being highly sensitive to unpleasant odors, the Prophet swore an oath to A'isha that he would never eat honey again,[8] instructing her to keep the matter strictly confidential.[9] Other exegetes assert that the honey was consumed in the home of Zaynab bt. Jahsh, Umm Salama, or Sawda bt. Zam'a, and that A'isha and Hafsa orchestrated the plot, resulting in the Prophet swearing the oath to Hafsa instead.[10] The contemporary exegesis Tafsir-i namuna evaluates this version of events as the most well-known and contextually plausible.[11]

Abandoning Intercourse with Mariya

Alternative reports indicate that the Prophet's secret was a vow to abstain from intimacy with Mariya al-Qibtiyya. Shaykh Tabrisi recounts an incident where the Prophet (s) was intimate with Mariya in Hafsa's quarters during her absence. Upon discovering this, Hafsa protested vehemently. To placate her, the Prophet swore an oath that he would no longer engage in relations with Mariya, strictly forbidding Hafsa from sharing this information.[12] Related accounts suggest that the Prophet (s) made intimacy with Mariya haram (forbidden) for himself either at Hafsa's direct insistence or following a threat from A'isha that she would never look at him again.[13]

Caliphate of Abu Bakr and Umar

Other historical sources assert that the Prophet's secret was a confidential prophecy regarding the caliphates of Abu Bakr and 'Umar. 'Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi, a prominent Shi'a hadith scholar and exegete, records in his commentary book that after swearing to cease relations with Mariya al-Qibtiyya, the Prophet confided another secret to Hafsa: that Abu Bakr, followed by 'Umar, would succeed him in the caliphate. He implored Hafsa to conceal this revelation. However, she immediately relayed it to A'isha. Consequently, Abu Bakr and 'Umar learned of the prophecy and allegedly conspired to poison the Prophet, an event that precipitated the revelation of these verses.[14]

Notes

  1. ↑ Maʿrifat, Āmūzish-i ʿulūm-i Qurʾān, 1371 Sh, vol. 2, p. 168.
  2. ↑ Wāḥidī, Asbāb al-nuzūl, 1383 Sh, p. 233; Fayḍ al-Islām, Tarjuma wa tafsīr-i Qurʾān, 1378 Sh, vol. 3, p. 1116.
  3. ↑ Fayḍ al-Islām, Tarjuma wa tafsīr-i Qurʾān, 1378 Sh, vol. 3, pp. 1116-1117.
  4. ↑ Ḥaskānī, Shawāhid al-tanzīl, 1411 AH, vol. 2, p. 351.
  5. ↑ For example, see Ibn Juzzī al-Gharnāṭī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad, Kitāb al-tashīl, 1416 AH, vol. 2, p. 391; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 24, p. 270.
  6. ↑ For example, see Ṭabrsī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1382 Sh, vol. 10, p. 471; Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, 1407 AH, vol. 4, pp. 562-563; Suyūṭī, al-Durr al-manthūr, 1404 AH, vol. 6, p. 239; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 24, p. 271.
  7. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 19, pp. 337-338.
  8. ↑ Ṭabrsī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1382 Sh, vol. 10, p. 471.
  9. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 24, p. 271.
  10. ↑ Ṭabrsī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1382 Sh, vol. 10, p. 471; Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, 1407 AH, vol. 4, p. 563; Suyūṭī, al-Durr al-manthūr, 1404 AH, vol. 6, p. 239; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 24, p. 271.
  11. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i namūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 24, p. 271.
  12. ↑ Ṭabrsī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1382 Sh, vol. 10, pp. 471-472.
  13. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, Manshūrāt Ismāʿīlīyān, vol. 19, p. 338.
  14. ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, 1404 AH, vol. 2, pp. 375-376.

References

  • Ibn Juzzī al-Gharnāṭī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad, al-Tashīl li-ʿulūm al-tanzīl, ed. ʿAbd Allāh Khālidī, Beirut, Sharikat Dār al-Arqam b. Abī l-Arqam, 1st edition, 1416 AH.
  • Ḥaskānī, ʿUbayd Allāh b. Aḥmad, Shawāhid al-tanzīl li-qawāʿid al-tafḍīl, ed. Muḥammad Bāqir Maḥmūdī, Tehran, Sāzmān-i Chāp wa Intishārāt-i Wizārat-i Irshād-i Islāmī, 1st edition, 1411 AH.
  • Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd, al-Kashshāf ʿan ḥaqāʾiq ghawāmiḍ al-tanzīl, Beirut, Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 3rd edition, 1407 AH.
  • Suyūṭī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, al-Durr al-manthūr fī l-tafsīr bi-l-maʾthūr, Qom, Kitābkhāna-yi ʿUmūmī-yi Ḥaḍrat-i Āyatullāh Marʿashī Najafī, 1st edition, 1404 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn, al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, Qom, Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 5th edition, 1417 AH.
  • Ṭabrsī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan, Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, intro. Muḥammad Jawād Balāghī, Tehran, Nāṣir Khusraw, 3rd edition, 1382 Sh.
  • Fayḍ al-Islām Iṣfahānī, Sayyid ʿAlī Naqī, Tarjuma wa tafsīr-i Qurʾān-i ʿaẓīm, Tehran, Faqīh, 1st edition, 1378 Sh.
  • Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm, Tafsīr al-Qummī, ed. Sayyid Ṭayyib Mūsawī Jazāyirī, Qom, Dār al-Kitāb, 3rd edition, 1404 AH.
  • Maʿrifat, Muḥammad Hādī, Āmūzish-i ʿulūm-i Qurʾān, Qom, Markaz-i Chāp wa Nashr-i Sāzmān-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī, 1st edition, 1371 Sh.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir, Tafsīr-i namūna, Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1st edition, 1374 Sh.
  • Wāḥidī Nīshābūrī, ʿAlī, Asbāb al-nuzūl, trans. ʿAlī Riḍā Dhakāwatī, Tehran, Nashr-i Nay, 1st edition, 1383 Sh.
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