Qur'an 33:4
 | |
| Verse's Information | |
|---|---|
| Name | Verse 4 |
| Sura | Sura al-Ahzab |
| Verse | 4 |
| Juz' | 21 |
| About | Absence of two hearts in one body ● Zihar does not make a wife a mother ● Adopted sons do not have the rulings of real sons. |
Verse 4 of Sura al-Ahzab (Arabic: آیة ۴ من سورة الأحزاب) (Qur'an 33:4) addresses the rejection of three beliefs prevalent in the era of revelation: First, by stating that God has not placed two hearts inside a man, it invalidates any claim of the possibility of combining contradictory beliefs (such as faith and hypocrisy) or loving two opposite poles simultaneously. Second, it declares Zihar (likening one's wife to one's mother) void and states that Zihar does not transform a wife into a mother. Third, by distinguishing an adopted son from a real child, it abolishes the Jahiliyya tradition regarding the prohibition of marriage with the ex-wife of an adopted son (such as the Marriage of the Prophet (s) with Zaynab bt. Jahsh).
Introduction
Verse 4 of Sura al-Ahzab deals with three topics: the negation of the existence of two hearts inside a human being, the invalidation of Zihar (likening a wife to a mother), and the separation of the rulings of an adopted son from a real child. According to exegetes, this verse shows the consequences of following disbelievers and hypocrites,[1] as in the preceding verses, God commanded the Prophet (s) not to obey them and to follow only the Revelation.[2]
No Two Hearts in One Body
Exegetes consider the phrase "God has not made for any man two hearts in his inside" as a metaphor for the impossibility of combining contradictory beliefs such as Faith and hypocrisy.[3] In line with this explanation, some have considered it a refutation of the hypocrites.[4] In some narrations of the Ahl al-Bayt (a), the impossibility of combining the love for the Ahl al-Bayt and their enemies inside humans is pointed out, and this verse is cited as evidence.[5]
In Tafsir-i Nimuna, this verse is considered a negation of polytheism and believing in multiple gods, because the human heart has the capacity to love only one God.[6] Fakhr al-Razi, a Sunni exegete, connects this part of the verse to Qur'an 33:1 and considers it a sign of true Taqwa (God-wariness); a Taqwa in which nothing but the love of God resides in the heart.[7] Muhammad Jawad Mughniyya, a Shi'a exegete, mentions believing in Islam and Christianity on the one hand, and considering injustice permissible on the other, as examples for this verse.[8]
Occasion of Revelation
Multiple narrations have been reported regarding the occasion of revelation of the first part of the verse. According to one narration, this verse was revealed in response to the claim of Abi Ma'mar, who claimed to have two hearts and to understand more with one of them than the Prophet (s).[9] In another narration quoted from Ibn Abbas in Tafsir al-Tabari, when the Prophet (s) suffered from distraction (Waswasa) in prayer, the hypocrites said he had two hearts, and this verse was revealed to refute this statement.[10] It is also reported that this verse was in response to a person who claimed to have two souls, one commanding and the other forbidding.[11]
Wives Will Not Be Like Mothers through Zihar
The phrase "Tuẓāhirūn" (Arabic: تُظاهِرُون) in the verse refers to Zihar,[12] which was common in the Jahiliyya era. According to this tradition, men likened their wives to their mothers,[13] and thought that by doing so, the matrimonial bond would be permanently severed.[14] Islam declared this custom void, and this verse states that a woman cannot be placed in the position of a wife and a mother simultaneously;[15] because wives cannot be considered real mothers.[16]
According to the Qur'an, Divorce does not take place with Zihar, and only the expiation for this act must be paid.[17] Some exegetes have shown the semantic connection of this part with the beginning of the verse by stating that just as a human cannot have two hearts, he cannot have two mothers either.[18]
Adopted Son and Real Son
The phrase "Adʿiyāʾakum" (Arabic: أَدْعِیاءَکُمْ) in Verse 4 of Sura al-Ahzab refers to an adopted son. This verse was revealed following the marriage of the Prophet (s) with Zaynab bt. Jahsh, who was previously the wife of Zayd b. Haritha, the adopted son of the Prophet (s).[19] Contrary to the Jahiliyya tradition which considered marriage with the ex-wife of an adopted son forbidden,[20] in the view of Islam, an adopted son does not have the rulings of a real son,[21] and marriage with his ex-wife is permissible. Al-Tabrisi, a Shi'a exegete, connects this part of the verse with its beginning, stating that just as a human cannot have two hearts, he cannot attribute two paternal lineages to one person.[22]
Notes
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 17, p. 192.
- ↑ See: Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, vol. 16, p. 274; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 17, p. 192.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Al-Mīzān, vol. 16, p. 274.
- ↑ Qurṭubī, Al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān, vol. 14, p. 117.
- ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 171; Mufīd, Al-Amālī, p. 233.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 17, p. 193.
- ↑ Fakhr al-Rāzī, Al-Tafsīr al-kabīr, vol. 25, p. 155.
- ↑ Mughniyya, Al-Tafsīr al-kāshif, vol. 6, p. 190.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 8, p. 526; Fakhr al-Rāzī, Al-Tafsīr al-kabīr, vol. 25, p. 155.
- ↑ Ṭabarī, Jāmiʿ al-bayān, vol. 21, p. 74.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Tibyān, vol. 8, p. 314.
- ↑ Faḍl Allāh, Min waḥy al-Qurʾān, vol. 18, p. 254.
- ↑ Mughniyya, Al-Tafsīr al-kāshif, vol. 6, p. 191.
- ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-ṣāfī, vol. 4, p. 162.
- ↑ Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-ṣāfī, vol. 4, p. 162.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān, vol. 8, p. 315.
- ↑ Ibn Abī Zamanīn, Tafsīr Ibn Abī Zamanīn, p. 157.
- ↑ Thaʿlabī, Al-Kashf wa l-bayān, vol. 8, p. 6.
- ↑ Qurṭubī, Al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān, vol. 14, p. 118.
- ↑ Mubārakfūrī, Al-Raḥīq al-makhtūm, p. 265.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 8, p. 527.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 8, p. 526.
References
- Faḍl Allāh, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Tafsīr min waḥy al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār al-Malāk, 2nd ed, 1419 AH.
- Fakhr al-Rāzī, Muḥammad b. ʿUmar. Mafātīḥ al-ghayb. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 3rd ed, 1420 AH.
- Fayḍ al-Kāshānī, Mullā Muḥsin. Tafsīr al-ṣāfī. Edited by Ḥusayn Aʿlamī. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Al-Ṣadr, 2nd ed, 1415 AH.
- Ibn Abī Zamanīn, Yaḥyā b. Salām. Tafsīr Ibn Abī Zamanīn. Edited by Muḥammad Ḥasan Ismāʿīl Shāfiʿī & Aḥmad Farīd Mazīdī. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 2003.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1st ed, 1374 Sh.
- Mubārakfūrī, Ṣafī al-Raḥmān al-. Al-Raḥīq al-makhtūm. Damascus, Dār al-ʿAṣmāʾ, 1427 AH.
- Mufīd, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad b. Nuʿmān al-Shaykh al-. Al-Amālī. Edited by Ḥusayn Ustād Walī & ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Qom, Kangira-yi Shaykh Mufīd, 1st ed, 1413 AH.
- Mughniyya, Muḥammad Jawād. Al-Tafsīr al-kāshif. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1st ed, 1424 AH.
- Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm. Tafsīr al-Qummī. Edited by Sayyid Ṭayyib Mūsawī Jazāʾirī. Qom, Dār al-Kitāb, 3rd ed, 1404 AH.
- Qurṭubī, Muḥammad b. Aḥmad al-. Al-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-Qurʾān. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Nāṣir Khusraw, 1st ed, 1364 Sh.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom, Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 5th ed, 1417 AH.
- Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr al-. Jāmiʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1st ed, 1412 AH.
- Ṭabrisī, al-Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Introduction by Muḥammad Jawād Balāghī. Tehran, Nāṣir Khusraw, 3rd ed, 1372 Sh.
- Ṭayyib, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Ḥusayn. Aṭyab al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Tehran, Intishārāt-i Islām, 2nd ed, 1378 Sh.
- Thaʿlabī, Abū Isḥāq Aḥmad b. Ibrāhīm al-. Al-Kashf wa l-bayān ʿan tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1st ed, 1422 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-Shaykh al-. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Introduction by Āghā Buzurg Tihrānī. Edited by Aḥmad Qaṣīr ʿĀmilī. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.