Qur'an 22:39
 | |
| Verse's Information | |
|---|---|
| Name | Verse of Permission for Jihad |
| Sura | Sura al-Hajj |
| Verse | 39 |
| Content Information | |
| Cause of Revelation | Muhajirun, Ahl al-Bayt (a) |
| Place of Revelation | Medina |
| Topic | Jurisprudential |
| About | Permission to fight Polytheists |
| Related Verses | Verse of Sayf |
The Verse of Permission for Jihad (Arabic: آية إذن الجهاد) or 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, Companions and Followers 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-defence and the invitation of the Prophet (s).[6]
The Verse of Permission for Jihad is considered an abrogator of verses such as Qur'an 33:48, 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 Qur'an 45:14.[9]
Text and Translation
﴾أُذِنَ لِلَّذِينَ يُقَاتَلُونَ بِأَنَّهُمْ ظُلِمُوا ۚ وَإِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلَىٰ نَصْرِهِمْ لَقَدِيرٌ﴿
Permission is given to those who fight because they have been wronged. Surely, God can give them victory.
Exegetes have interpreted the phrase "Permission is given to those who fight" 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, 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 Qur'an 22, 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 Qur'an 22 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 Muntaziri, 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 permitted Muslims 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...", 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" 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 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 Followers 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 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
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Khurāsānī, "Āyāt-i nāmdār", p. 368.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 21, p. 57; Sabziwārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, vol. 15, p. 119.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 14, p. 384.
- ↑ Ibn al-Jawzī, Nawāsikh al-Qurʾān, p. 225.
- ↑ Ṣanʿānī, al-Muṣannaf, vol. 5, p. 397; Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 7, p. 321; Ḥākim al-Naysābūrī, al-Mustadrak, vol. 2, p. 246; Sayyid Sābiq, Fiqh al-sunna, vol. 2, p. 620; Ḥasanī, Tārīkh al-fiqh al-Jaʿfarī, p. 56.
- ↑ Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 21, p. 57; Sabziwārī, Muhadhdhab al-aḥkām, vol. 15, p. 119; Qurṭubī, al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān, vol. 12, p. 68.
- ↑ Bayḍāwī, Anwār al-tanzīl, vol. 4, p. 73.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 9, p. 252; Ibn al-Jawzī, Nawāsikh al-Qurʾān, p. 225.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 1, p. 407.
- ↑ Saʿdī, Taysīr al-karīm, p. 539.
- ↑ Ibn al-Jawzī, Nawāsikh al-Qurʾān, p. 225.
- ↑ ʿAynī, ʿUmdat al-qārī, vol. 1, p. 17.
- ↑ Wāḥidī Naysābūrī, Asbāb nuzūl al-āyāt, p. 208; Ibn Ḥanbal, Musnad Aḥmad, vol. 1, p. 216; Tirmidhī, Sunan al-Tirmidhī, vol. 5, p. 7.
- ↑ Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 19, p. 183.
- ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, vol. 1, p. 161.
- ↑ Samʿānī, Tafsīr al-Samʿānī, vol. 3, p. 416.
- ↑ Fīrūzābādī, Tanwīr al-miqbās, p. 276.
- ↑ Muntaẓarī, Dirāsāt fī wilāyat al-faqīh, vol. 1, p. 121.
- ↑ Sarakhsī, al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 10, p. 2.
- ↑ Shāfiʿī, al-Umm, p. 169.
- ↑ Jawāhirī, Buḥūth fī l-fiqh al-muʿāṣir, vol. 6, p. 232.
- ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, al-Wāfī, vol. 15, p. 70; Majlisī, Rawḍat al-muttaqīn, vol. 3, p. 164.
- ↑ Jawāhirī, Buḥūth fī l-fiqh al-muʿāṣir, vol. 6, p. 239.
- ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr kanz al-daqāʾiq, vol. 9, p. 102.
- ↑ Ḥaskānī, Shawāhid al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 520.
- ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 84.
- ↑ Ibn Qūlawayh, Kāmil al-ziyārāt, p. 135.
- ↑ Nuʿmānī, al-Ghayba, p. 248; Nūrī, Khātimat al-mustadrak, vol. 1, p. 125.
- ↑ Kūrānī, Muʿjam aḥādīth al-Imām al-Mahdī, vol. 5, p. 264.
- ↑ Al-Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 84.
- ↑ Gulpāyigānī, Irshād al-sāʾil, p. 203.
- ↑ Qaṭīfī, Rasāʾil Āl Ṭawq, vol. 1, p. 126.
- ↑ Ibn Abī Shayba, al-Muṣannaf, vol. 8, pp. 585, 681.
- ↑ Muttaqī Hindī, Kanz al-ʿummāl, vol. 2, pp. 470-471; Ibn ʿAsākir, Tārīkh Madīnat Dimashq, vol. 24, p. 88.
- ↑ ʿAyyāshī, Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, vol. 2, pp. 79-82.
- ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, vol. 2, p. 359.
- ↑ Ibn Shahrāshūb, Manāqib Āl Abī Ṭālib, vol. 3, p. 86; Nūrī, Mustadrak al-wasāʾil, vol. 3, p. 328.
- ↑ Ṭabarī, Tārīkh al-umam wa l-mulūk, vol. 6, p. 25; Ibn al-Athīr, al-Kāmil fī l-tārīkh, vol. 5, p. 358.
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