Qur'an 13:7

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Qur'an 13:7
Verse's Information
NameAl-Hadi Verse
Suraal-Ra'd
Verse7
Juz'13
Content Information
Cause of
Revelation		Polytheists' requests form Prophet (s) for miracles
Place of
Revelation		Mecca
AboutProphet (s) is a guide and warner
OthersEarth can never remain without a ‘hujja’


Al-Hādi Verse (Arabic: آية الهادي) or the Verse of Guide, is the verse seven of Qur'an 13, which refers to objections raised by polytheists to prophethood, and in response to requests for miracles made by polytheists, it suggests that the Prophet (s) is only a warner. Some Shiite exegetes of the Qur'an cite hadiths to show that the phrase, "and for every people is a guide," refers to Infallible Imams of the Shi'a. According to Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi, the verse implies that the Earth can never remain without a "hujja" (or an Imam or guide).

Text and Translation

Content

Al-Hadi Verse is about an objection raised by polytheists to prophethood. In its preceding verses, issues of monotheism and resurrection are pointed out.[1]

Polytheists Seeking Excuses

Exegetes take miracles to be evidence for the rightfulness of prophets in their claims of connections with divine revelations.[2] Thus, people who seek the truth have the right to ask prophets for miracles.[3] In Tafsir-i nimuna, people who ask the Prophet (s) for a miracle in this verse are characterized as not seriously seeking the truth. Instead, they make such a request to seek excuses and obstinately oppose the Prophet (s).[4]

Request Miracles

"Iqtirahi" or requested miracles are the ones prophets were asked by others to bring about.[5] Abd Allah b. Umar al-Baydawi (6/12 century) maintains that polytheists asked the Prophet (s) to bring about miracles like those of Moses (s) and Jesus (s).[6] According to Makarim Shirazi, polytheists thought that the Prophet (s) was able to do any extraordinary action as requested, whereas miracles were only to show the truthfulness of prophets. Prophets never did requested miracles.[7]

God's Response

In response to polytheists' requests, the verse says, "You [the Prophet] are only a warner, and for every people is a guide."[8] In fact, the Qur'an says that those disbelievers overlooked the main mission of the Prophet (s) which is to warn people and call them to God, and thought that his main mission was to bring about miracles.[9] The author of Anwar al-tanzil believes that the Prophet's miracle was sufficient to prove his prophethood; hence, the verse does not oblige the Prophet (s) to bring about requested miracles.[10] Al-Shaykh al-Tusi believes that the verse rejects that the Prophet (s) is the ultimate agent of miracles. In fact, miracles are done by God where it is in the interest of people.[11]

Meaning of Warner and Guide

According to exegetes, "mundhir" (warner) in this verse means a person who warns about sins and their consequences. And "hadi" (guide) means a person who guides to the truth.[12] The difference between "mundhir" and "hadi" is elaborated by saying that the former guides the misguided to the right path, whereas the latter leads those who are already on the right path, trying to prevent them from deviation.[13] According to Tafsir-i nimuna, the difference between warning and guiding is analogous to that between a prophet and an Imam. The prophet establishes a shari'a, whereas the Imam protects it from deviations.[14]

Five Accounts

There is a disagreement over who is referred to by "al-Hadi" (guide). Al-Shaykh al-Tusi (d. 460/1067) points out five accounts of the referent of "guide":

  • (1) Whoever guides people to the truth;
  • (2) The prophet of every people,;
  • (3) God;
  • (4) Prophet Muhammad (s);
  • (5) and the Imam of every period of time, who is infallible and immune from any errors or intentional wrongdoings. The last view is quoted from Imam al-Baqir (a) and Imam al-Sadiq (a).[15]

Imams being Guides

Shiite exegetes believe that "guide" in this verse refers to Imams of the Shi'a.[16] The account has been supported by a number of hadiths. According to a hadith from Imam al-Baqir (a), he told Burayd al-'Ijli that the "warner" is the Prophet (s), and in each period of time, one of us [i.e. Imams] guides people to what the Prophet (s) has brought with him.[17] He then said, "I swear to God that this position will always be with us until the day of resurrection".[18]

Need to a Guide in All Periods of Times

According to Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi, a Shiite exegete in the third/ninth century, the verse implies that the Earth can never be without an Imam (or hujja), rejecting the opposite view.[19] Al-Fayd al-Kashani (d. 1091/1680) espouses the same view in his al-Asfa fi tafsir al-Qur'an.[20] This is also supported by a number of hadiths according to which the Earth will never be without a hujja,[21] where the Earth can only be reformed by such a hujja.[22]

Notes

  1. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 10, p. 128.
  2. ↑ Bayḍāwi, Anwār al-tanzīl, vol. 3, p. 182.
  3. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 10, p. 128.
  4. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 10, p. 128.
  5. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 10, p. 129.
  6. ↑ Bayḍāwi, Anwār al-tanzīl, vol. 3, p. 182.
  7. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 10, p. 128-129.
  8. ↑ Qur'an 13:7
  9. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 10, p. 129-130.
  10. ↑ Bayḍāwi, Anwār al-tanzīl, vol. 3, p. 182.
  11. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 6, p. 222.
  12. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 6, p. 222.
  13. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 10, p. 130.
  14. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 10, p. 130-131.
  15. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 6, p. 223.
  16. ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 3, p. 226.
  17. ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 3, p. 228.
  18. ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 3, p. 229.
  19. ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 1, p. 359.
  20. ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Aṣfā, vol. 1, p. 596.
  21. ↑ Barqī, Kitāb al-maḥāsin, vol. 1, p. 334.
  22. ↑ Barqī, Kitāb al-maḥāsin, vol. 1, p. 335.

References

  • Baḥrānī, Hāshim b. Sulaymān al-. Al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Tehran: Bunyād-i Biʿthat, 1416 AH.
  • Barqī, Aḥmad b. Muḥammad. Kitāb al-maḥāsin. Qom: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIslāmīyya, 1371 AH.
  • Bayḍāwi, ʿAbd Allāh b. ʿUmar. Anwār al-tanzīl wa asrār al-taʾwīl. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1418 AH.
  • Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Mullā Muḥsin. Al-Aṣfā fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Intishārāt-i Daftar-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī, 1418 AH.
  • Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. 41st edition. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1374 Sh.
  • Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-. Tafsīr al-Qummī. Qom: Dār al-Kitāb, 1404 AH.
  • Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, [n.d].
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