Jump to content

Draft:Verse of Permission for Jihad

Add links
From wikishia
Verse of Permission for Jihad
Verse's Information
NameVerse of Permission for Jihad
SuraSura al-Hajj
Verse39
Content Information
Cause of
Revelation		Muhajirun, Ahl al-Bayt (a)
Place of
Revelation		Medina
TopicJurisprudential
AboutPermission to fight polytheists
Related VersesVerse of Sayf


The Verse of Permission for Jihad (Arabic: آية إذن الجهاد) (Qur'an 22: 39) is the first verse that issued permission to Muslims for Jihad against polytheists. This verse is considered among the Muhkam verses[1] of the Qur'an, which abrogates the verses regarding tolerance towards polytheists. Following the relentless persecution of Muslims by the Meccan polytheists, this verse was revealed after the Migration to Medina. It marked a significant shift from the previous period, during which Prophet Muhammad (s) and the early Muslim community were commanded to exercise forbearance and patient restraint.

Relying on this verse, Shi'a and Sunni exegetes have articulated conditions for the obligation of Jihad, including that this verse concerns Defensive Jihad, and this type of Jihad does not require the Permission of the Imam. Some also consider this verse as an indicator of the limits of Jihad and a refutation of the accusation that Islam seeks violence, as fighting is permitted only after oppression and the expulsion of Muslims.

In Shi'a narrations, this verse has been applied to the Ahl al-Bayt (a) and Imam al-Mahdi (a). Furthermore, Sahaba and Tabi'un have used it to legitimize their actions or argued based on it; such as Uthman b. Affan during the siege of his house, Imam Ali (a) in the Battle of Siffin or Jamal, and Ibrahim al-Imam in the Uprising of Abu Muslim al-Khurasani.

Issuance of Permission for Jihad against Polytheists

Verse 39 of Sura al-Hajj has been named the Verse of Permission for Jihad.[2] It is also famous as the Verse of Qital (Fighting)[3] or Permission in Qital.[4] In this verse, permission was granted to Muslims to undertake Jihad against polytheists who oppressed them. This verse is considered one of the Muhkam verses of the Qur'an[5] which, for the first time, issued the permission for Jihad to Muslims against polytheists in the context of self-defense and the invitation of the Prophet (s).[6]

The Verse of Permission for Jihad is considered an abrogator (Nasikh) of verses such as Verse 48 of Sura al-Ahzab, which emphasize tolerance towards polytheists.[7] It is said that more than seventy verses were revealed in the Qur'an regarding the tolerance of Prophet Muhammad (s) and Muslims towards polytheists.[8] This verse is also considered an abrogator of Verse 14 of Sura al-Jathiya.[9]

﴾أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا ۚ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ﴿
Permission is given to those who fight because they have been wronged. Surely, God is able to give them victory.


Quran 4: 34


Exegetes have interpreted the phrase "Permission is given to those who fight" (Arabic: أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ) in the Verse of Permission for Jihad as indicating that the Prophet (s)[10] and Muslims were prohibited from Jihad against polytheists prior to its revelation,[11] and with the revelation of this verse, Jihad against polytheists was declared permissible.[12] It is also stated that the permission for Jihad, combined with the Migration (Hijra), led to the victory of Islam.[13]

Occasion of Revelation

Regarding the occasion of revelation of the Verse of Permission for Jihad, it is said that the polytheists of Mecca used to persecute and harass the Companions of the Prophet (s). Consequently, they would complain to the Prophet (s), and he, while advising the Companions to patience and tolerance, would say that he had not yet been commanded to undertake Jihad. After the Migration to Medina, this verse was revealed.[14] According to a narration from Imam al-Sadiq (a), the addressees of this verse were the Emigrants who were expelled from Mecca by the Quraysh tribe.[15]

The Verse of Permission for Jihad was revealed seven months after the Migration to Medina.[16] This verse is located in Sura al-Hajj, which is among the Madani Suras. Some exegetes believe that only certain verses of this Sura were revealed in Mecca,[17] while conversely, some believe that Sura al-Hajj is Makki and only five verses, including the Verse of Permission for Jihad, were revealed in Medina.[18]

Determining Conditions for the Obligation of Jihad

A number of Shi'a and Sunni jurists have articulated conditions for the obligation of Defensive Jihad by relying on the Verse of Permission for Jihad. For instance, Husayn Ali Montazeri, a Shi'a marja' (authority to which one refers), citing this verse, considered defensive Jihad as not requiring the Permission of the Imam.[19] Al-Sarakhsi, a Hanafi jurist, also relying on the aforementioned verse, believes that Muslims are permitted to fight only if the polytheists initiate an attack against Muslims;[20] however, al-Shafi'i, a Sunni jurist, believes that God granted Muslims permission for Primary Jihad (offensive Jihad) against polytheists by revealing the Verse of Permission for Jihad.[21]

Hassan Jawahiri, a jurist of the Najaf Seminary, considers the Verse of Permission for Jihad not only as stating the legislation of Jihad but also as expressing its limits, requirements, and conditions.[22] Some Shi'a scholars have also conditioned the permission for fighting in this verse on two conditions: first, that the individuals have been oppressed, and second, considering the phrase in the following verse "those who have been expelled from their homes without right..." (Arabic: الَّذِينَ أُخْرِجُوا مِنْ دِيَارِهِمْ بِغَيْرِ حَقٍّ), that they have been unjustly expelled from their land.[23]

According to Jawahiri, some have introduced Islam as the "religion of the sword" by citing this verse; whereas in response to this claim, it must be said that Islam, before ordering war, spoke to its audience through proof and "good disputation" (Arabic: مجادلة أحسن) and tried to prevent war; but when it was subjected to oppression, the permission for war was issued.[24]

Application to Ahl al-Bayt (a)

According to a narration from Imam Musa al-Kazim (a), the Verse of Permission for Jihad was revealed regarding the Family of Muhammad (s).[25] Zayd b. Ali also considers the revelation of this verse to be about the Prophet's Ahl al-Bayt.[26] Also, according to a narration from Imam al-Sadiq (a), the phrase "Permission is given to those who fight" in this verse refers to Imam Ali (a), Ja'far b. Abi Talib, and Hamza b. Abd al-Muttalib.[27] In another narration, the intended audience of the verse is considered to be Ali (a), Imam al-Hasan (a), and Imam al-Husayn (a).[28]

Some Shi'a scholars, relying on a narration, have identified the audience of the verse to whom permission for Jihad is given,[29] as well as the meaning of the oppressed in the verse, as Imam al-Mahdi (a) and his companions.[30] It is also narrated from Imam al-Sadiq (a) that the 'Amma (Sunnis) assume this verse was revealed about the Prophet (s) when he migrated from Mecca, whereas [the interpretation of the verse] and its audience is the Imam of the Time (a) when he rises to avenge the blood of Imam al-Husayn (a).[31]

The Verse of Permission for Jihad has also been cited to legitimize the Raj'a (Return) of the Ahl al-Bayt (a). Based on this, it is said that Raj'a is among the most evident signs in Shi'a Islam[32] and according to a narration, it is God's promise regarding the Ahl al-Bayt; therefore, the Ahl al-Bayt (a) must return so that God may assist them.[33]

Argumentation based on the Verse in Historical Events

According to some historical reports, a number of Companions and Tabi'un cited the Verse of Permission for Jihad to prove their legitimacy and advance their goals. For instance, it is said that when the house of Uthman b. Affan was besieged in the final days of his caliphate, Sa'sa'a b. Sawhan was chosen to speak with him. Sa'sa'a recited the Verse of Permission for Jihad before Uthman, and Uthman, while rejecting that the verse was revealed about Sa'sa'a and his companions, said: "This verse was revealed about me and my companions;[34] when we were expelled from Mecca."[35]

In another report, it is stated that during the Battle of Siffin[36] or the Battle of Jamal, Imam Ali (a) headed to the battlefield for single combat disguised in the clothes of Abbas b. Rabi'a so as not to be recognized, and by reciting the verse "Permission is given to those who fight...", he fought with some of those who challenged him.[37]

It is also said that Ibrahim al-Imam (a descendant of Abd Allah b. al-Abbas and the brother of al-Saffah and al-Mansur, the Abbasid Caliphs), when he endorsed Abu Muslim al-Khurasani for the uprising, tied a flag for him and wrote the verse "Permission is given to those who fight..." upon it;[38] although in other sources, it is reported that Ibrahim recited the Verse of Permission for Jihad after tying the flag.[39]

Notes

  1. ↑ Muhkam refers to verses of the Qur'an whose meanings are so clear that no other meaning can be assigned to them, and "mutashabih" is a verse which might have a variety of possible apparent meanings.
  2. ↑ Khurāsānī, "Āyāt-i nāmdār", p. 368.
  3. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1362 Sh, vol. 21, p. 57; Sabziwārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, 1416 AH, vol. 15, p. 119.
  4. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, 1412 AH, vol. 14, p. 384.
  5. ↑ Ibn al-Jawzī, Nawāsikh al-Qurʾān, p. 225.
  6. ↑ Ṣanʿānī, Al-Muṣannaf, vol. 5, p. 397; Ṭūsī, Al-Tibyān, 1409 AH, vol. 7, p. 321; Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī, Al-Mustadrak, vol. 2, p. 246; Sayyid Sābiq, Fiqh al-sunna, 1397 AH, vol. 2, p. 620; Ḥasanī, Tārīkh al-fiqh al-Jaʿfarī, p. 56.
  7. ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, 1362 Sh, vol. 21, p. 57; Sabziwārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, 1416 AH, vol. 15, p. 119; Qurṭubī, Al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān, 1405 AH, vol. 12, p. 68.
  8. ↑ Bayḍāwī, Anwār al-tanzīl, 1418 AH, vol. 4, p. 73.
  9. ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Tibyān, 1409 AH, vol. 9, p. 252; Ibn al-Jawzī, Nawāsikh al-Qurʾān, p. 225.
  10. ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Tibyān, 1409 AH, vol. 1, p. 407.
  11. ↑ Saʿdī, Taysīr al-karīm, 1421 AH, p. 539.
  12. ↑ Ibn al-Jawzī, Nawāsikh al-Qurʾān, p. 225.
  13. ↑ ʿAynī, ʿUmdat al-qārī, vol. 1, p. 17.
  14. ↑ Wāḥidī Naysābūrī, Asbāb nuzūl al-āyāt, 1388 AH, p. 208; Ibn Ḥanbal, Musnad Aḥmad, vol. 1, p. 216; Tirmidhī, Sunan al-Tirmidhī, 1403 AH, vol. 5, p. 7.
  15. ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, 1403 AH, vol. 19, p. 183.
  16. ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, 1376 AH, vol. 1, p. 161.
  17. ↑ Samʿānī, Tafsīr al-Samʿānī, 1418 AH, vol. 3, p. 416.
  18. ↑ Fīrūzābādī, Tanwīr al-miqbās, p. 276.
  19. ↑ Muntaẓarī, Dirāsāt fī wilāyat al-faqīh, 1408 AH, vol. 1, p. 121.
  20. ↑ Sarakhsī, Al-Mabsūṭ, 1406 AH, vol. 10, p. 2.
  21. ↑ Shāfiʿī, Al-Umm, 1403 AH, p. 169.
  22. ↑ Jawāhirī, Buḥūth fī l-fiqh al-muʿāṣir, 1429 AH, vol. 6, p. 232.
  23. ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Al-Wāfī, 1411 AH, vol. 15, p. 70; Majlisī, Rawḍat al-muttaqīn, vol. 3, p. 164.
  24. ↑ Jawāhirī, Buḥūth fī l-fiqh al-muʿāṣir, 1429 AH, vol. 6, p. 239.
  25. ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr kanz al-daqāʾiq, 1411 AH, vol. 9, p. 102.
  26. ↑ Ḥaskānī, Shawāhid al-tanzīl, 1411 AH, vol. 1, p. 520.
  27. ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, 1387 AH, vol. 2, p. 84.
  28. ↑ Ibn Qūlawayh, Kāmil al-ziyārāt, 1417 AH, p. 135.
  29. ↑ Nuʿmānī, Al-Ghayba, 1422 AH, p. 248; Nūrī, Khātimat al-mustadrak, 1415 AH, vol. 1, p. 125.
  30. ↑ Kūrānī, Muʿjam aḥādīth al-Imām al-Mahdī, 1411 AH, vol. 5, p. 264.
  31. ↑ Al-Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, 1387 AH, vol. 2, p. 84.
  32. ↑ Gulpāyigānī, Irshād al-sāʾil, 1403 AH, p. 203.
  33. ↑ Qaṭīfī, Rasāʾil Āl Ṭawq, 1422 AH, vol. 1, p. 126.
  34. ↑ Ibn Abī Shayba, Al-Muṣannaf, 1409 AH, vol. 8, pp. 585, 681.
  35. ↑ Muttaqī Hindī, Kanz al-ʿummāl, 1409 AH, vol. 2, pp. 470-471; Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh Madīnat Dimashq, 1415 AH, vol. 24, p. 88.
  36. ↑ ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, vol. 2, pp. 79-82.
  37. ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, 1376 AH, vol. 2, p. 359.
  38. ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, 1376 AH, vol. 3, p. 86; Nūrī, Mustadrak al-wasāʾil, 1408 AH, vol. 3, p. 328.
  39. ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, vol. 6, p. 25; Ibn al-Athīr, Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh, 1386 AH, vol. 5, p. 358.

References

  • ʿAynī, Maḥmūd al-. ʿUmdat al-qārī. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.
  • ʿAyyāshī, Muḥammad b. Masʿūd al-. Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī. Tehran, al-Maktabat al-ʿIlmiyya al-Islāmiyya, n.d.
  • Bayḍāwī, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar al-. Anwār al-tanzīl wa asrār al-taʾwīl. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr, 1418 AH.
  • Bayhaqī, Aḥmad b. al-Ḥusayn al-. Maʿrifat al-sunan wa l-āthār. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, n.d.
  • Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Muḥammad Muḥsin al-. Al-Wāfī. Isfahan, Maktabat al-Imām Amīr al-Muʾminīn, 1411 AH.
  • Fīrūzābādī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Tanwīr al-miqbās min tafsīr Ibn ʿAbbās. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, n.d.
  • Gulpāyigānī, Muḥammad Riḍā. Irshād al-sāʾil. Beirut, Dār al-Ṣafwa, 1403 AH.
  • Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh al-. Al-Mustadrak ʿalā l-ṣaḥīḥayn. Beirut, Dār al-Maʿrifa, n.d.
  • Ḥasanī, Hāshim Maʿrūf al-. Tārīkh al-fiqh al-Jaʿfarī. n.p, Dār al-Nashr lil-Jāmiʿiyyīn, n.d.
  • Ḥaskānī, ʿUbayd Allāh b. Aḥmad al-. Shawāhid al-tanzīl li-qawāʿid al-tafḍīl. Tehran, Muʾassisat al-Ṭabʿ wa l-Nashr, 1411 AH.
  • Ibn Abī Shayba, ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Muṣannaf fī l-aḥādīth wa l-āthār. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr, 1409 AH.
  • Ibn al-Athīr, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh. Beirut, Dār Ṣādir, 1386 AH.
  • Ibn al-Jawzī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Nawāsikh al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, n.d.
  • Ibn ʿArabī, Muḥammad b. ʿAbd Allāh. Aḥkām al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr, n.d.
  • Ibn ʿAsākir, ʿAlī b. al-Ḥasan. Tārīkh Madīnat Dimashq. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr, 1415 AH.
  • Ibn Ḥanbal, Aḥmad. Musnad Aḥmad. Beirut, Dār Ṣādir, n.d.
  • Ibn Qūlawayh, Jaʿfar b. Muḥammad. Kāmil al-ziyārāt. Qom, al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1417 AH.
  • Ibn Shahrāshūb, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī. Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib. Najaf, al-Ḥaydariyya, 1376 AH.
  • Jawāhirī, Ḥasan. Buḥūth fī l-fiqh al-muʿāṣir. Beirut, Dār al-Dhakhāʾir, 1429 AH.
  • Khurāsānī, ʿAlī. "Āyāt-i nāmdār". In Dāʾirat al-maʿārif-i Qurʾān-i karīm. Qom, Būstān-i Kitāb, 1382 Sh.
  • Kūrānī, ʿAlī. Muʿjam aḥādīth al-Imām al-Mahdī. Qom, Muʾassisat al-Maʿārif al-Islāmiyya, 1411 AH.
  • Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Uṣūl al-kāfī. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1367 Sh.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Bāqir al-. Biḥār al-anwār. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1403 AH.
  • Majlisī, Muḥammad Taqī al-. Rawḍat al-muttaqīn fī sharḥ Man lā yaḥḍuruh al-faqīh. n.p, Bunyād-i Farhang-i Islāmī, n.d.
  • Muntaẓarī, Ḥusayn ʿAlī. Dirāsāt fī wilāyat al-faqīh. Qom, al-Markaz al-ʿĀlamī lil-Dirāsāt al-Islāmiyya, 1408 AH.
  • Muttaqī Hindī, ʿAlī b. Ḥusām al-Dīn al-. Kanz al-ʿummāl fī sunan al-aqwāl wa l-afʿāl. Beirut, Muʾassisat al-Risāla, 1409 AH.
  • Najafī, Muḥammad Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1366 Sh.
  • Nuʿmānī, Muḥammad b. Ibrāhīm al-. Al-Ghayba. Qom, Anwār al-Hudā, 1422 AH.
  • Nūrī, Ḥusayn. Khātimat al-mustadrak. Qom, Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt, 1415 AH.
  • Nūrī, Ḥusayn. Mustadrak al-wasāʾil wa mustanbaṭ al-masāʾil. Beirut, Muʾassisat Āl al-Bayt, 1408 AH.
  • Qaṭīfī, Aḥmad b. Ṣāliḥ al-. Rasāʾil Āl Ṭawq. Damascus, Sharikat Dār al-Muṣṭafā, 1422 AH.
  • Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-. Tafsīr al-Qummī. Qom, Dār al-Kitāb, 1387 AH.
  • Qummī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad Riḍā al-. Tafsīr kanz al-daqāʾiq wa baḥr al-gharāʾib. Tehran, Muʾassisat al-Ṭabʿ wa l-Nashr, 1411 AH.
  • Qurṭubī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad. Al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1405 AH.
  • Sabziwārī, ʿAbd al-Aʿlā. Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām fī bayān al-ḥalāl wa l-ḥarām. n.p, Maktab Āyatullāh al-Sayyid al-Sabziwārī, 1416 AH.
  • Saʿdī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān b. Nāṣir. Taysīr al-karīm al-raḥmān fī kalām al-mannān. Beirut, Muʾassisat al-Risāla, 1421 AH.
  • Samʿānī, Manṣūr b. Muḥammad al-. Tafsīr al-Samʿānī. Riyadh, Dār al-Waṭan, 1418 AH.
  • Ṣanʿānī, ʿAbd al-Razzāq al-. Al-Muṣannaf. n.p, al-Majlis al-ʿIlmī, n.d.
  • Sarakhsī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-. Al-Mabsūṭ. Beirut, Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1406 AH.
  • Sayyid Sābiq. Fiqh al-sunna. Beirut, Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 1397 AH.
  • Shāfiʿī, Muḥammad b. Idrīs al-. Al-Umm. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr, 1403 AH.
  • Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom, Muʾassisat al-Nashr al-Islāmī, 1412 AH.
  • Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-. Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk. Beirut, Muʾassisat al-Aʿlamī, n.d.
  • Tirmidhī, Muḥammad b. ʿĪsā al-. Sunan al-Tirmidhī. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr, 1403 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Maktab al-Iʿlām al-Islāmī, 1409 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Tahdhīb al-aḥkām fī sharḥ al-muqniʿa. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1365 Sh.
  • Wāḥidī Naysābūrī, ʿAlī b. Aḥmad al-. Asbāb nuzūl al-āyāt. Cairo, Muʾassisat al-Ḥalabī, 1388 AH.
Retrieved from "https://en.wikishia.net/w/index.php?title=Draft:Verse_of_Permission_for_Jihad&oldid=198847"