Verse of Ridwan Pledge
 | |
| Verse's Information | |
|---|---|
| Name | Verse of al-Ridwan Pledge • Verse of Pledge • Verse of al-Shajara Pledge |
| Sura | Sura al-Fath |
| Verse | 18 |
| Juz' | 26 |
| Topic | Theological |
| About | Pledge of al-Ridwan |
| Related Verses | Qur'an 48:18 |
The Verse of Riḍwān Pledge (Arabic: آیَة بَيْعَة الرِضْوان) or the Verse of Pledge (Arabic: آيَة البَيْعَة) declares God's satisfaction with the believers participating in al-Ridwan Pledge. Sunni scholars use this verse to prove the theory of the Companions' justice, but the Shi'a exegetes of the Qur'an believe that God's satisfaction in this verse is conditioned on the Companions' adherence to the covenant and only includes the Companions who remained faithful to their covenant. According to the Shi'a exegetes, Qur'an 48:10 was revealed after this verse, and God placed in it the condition for the believers to obey the order of the Prophet (s) and avoid breaking the covenant.
According to the verse of the Ridwan pledge, God gave great rewards to self-sacrificing believers who pledged their allegiance to the Prophet (s) in Ridwan pledge: God's satisfaction of them, peace, and imminent victory. Also, the next verse promised them to get a lot of spoils of war, which according to exegetes they obtained in the Battle of Khaybar.
Naming and Importance
The eighteenth verse of Qur'an 48, in which the event of al-Ridwan Pledge is described, is called "the verse of Ridwan Pledge" or "the verse of Pledge".[1] Sunni scholars refer to this verse to prove the theory of the justice of all Companions.[2]
Text and Translation
| “ | لَقَدْ رَضِيَ اللهُ عَنِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ إِذْ يُبَايِعُونَكَ تَحْتَ الشَّجَرَةِ فَعَلِمَ مَا فِى قُلُوبِهِمْ فَأَنزَلَ السَّكِينَةَ عَلَيْهِمْ وَأَثَابَهُمْ فَتْحًا قَرِيبًا
Allah was certainly pleased with the faithful when they swore allegiance to you under the tree. He knew what was in their hearts,so He sent down composure on them, and requited them with a victory near at hand |
” |
| — Qur'an 48:18. | ||
Al-Ridwan's Pledge of Allegiance
Al-Ridwan Pledge or al-Shajara Pledge is a collective pledge of the Companions with the Prophet (s) that was made near Mecca in the 6/628. According to Ibn Hisham, a historian of the third/ninth century in al-Sira al-Nabawiyya, in this event, the Prophet (s) left Medina with a number of companions for 'Umra; but, the polytheists of Quraysh prevented them from entering Mecca. There were messengers between the Prophet (s) and the polytheists of Quraysh. The rumor that one of the messengers of the Prophet (s) was killed by the Quraysh caused the Prophet (s) to call the Companions to pledge their allegiance, and they pledged to defend the Prophet (s) with their lives. Finally, in that year, a peace treaty was signed between the Muslims and the polytheists of Mecca, which was called the Hudaybiyya peace treaty. It was agreed that Muslims would not perform Hajj that year, and they go to Mecca to visit the House of God the following year.[3]
Reward of those who Pledged their Allegiance
In this verse, God has expressed His satisfaction with the believers who pledged their allegiance to the Prophet (s) in the al-Ridwan Pledge.[4] According to this verse, God gave three great rewards to the self-sacrificing believers who pledged their allegiance to the Prophet (s) at a critical moment:
- God's satisfaction with them: "Allah was pleased…"
- Peace: "So He sent down composure on them": God sent down such peace on them that although being surrounded by the multitude of enemies in a distant place from their homeland, and by their ready weapons, they [the faithful] did not have fear in their hearts, and stood firm and upright like a mountain;
- Imminent victory: "requited them with a victory near at hand": According to most exegetes, this victory was the conquest of Khaybar, and the expression of "qariba" ["near at hand"] is a confirmation of this interpretation; because the conquest of Khaybar took place at the beginning of the seventh year AH (628 CE) and a few months after the Hudaybiyya peace treaty. Also, the phrase "… and abundant spoils that they will capture" in the next verse refers to spoils of war that the Muslims shortly obtained in the conquest of Khaybar.[5]
Reference to the Verse to prove the Justice of the Companions
Some Sunni scholars consider this verse to be a proof for the justice of all the Companions.[6] Sunni scholars have considered the fact that God was pleased with the Companions as proof for their justice and have said that God would never be angry with the one whom He is pleased with.[7] According to Shi'a scholars, this verse does not indicate the justice of all Companions; because in this verse, only those Companions are meant who were present at al-Ridwan pledge of allegiance and remained steadfast to their covenant, not all the Companions.[8] Also, the justice of all Companions is not in agreement with Qur'an 9:101; because the mentioned verse identifies some of the Companions as hypocrites.[9]
Shi'a exegetes consider divine approval in the verse to be conditioned on their perseverance in following the Prophet (s).[10] According to 'Ali b. Ibrahim al-Qummi, the author of Tafsir al-Qommi, Qur'an 48:10 was revealed after this verse, and there, God made His pleasure of the believers conditioned on their obedience from the order of the Prophet (s) and not breaking their covenants.[11]
Notes
- ↑ Daftar-i Tablīghāt-i Islāmī, Farhangnāma-yi ʿulūm-i Qurʾān, p. 347.
- ↑ See: Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, al-Iṣāba, vol. 1, p. 162-163.
- ↑ Ibn Hishām, al-Sīra al-nabawīyya, vol. 2, p. 308-316.
- ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 315.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 22, p. 66-68.
- ↑ Khaṭīb Baghdādī, al-Kifāya, vol. 1, p. 64; Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, al-Iṣāba, vol. 1, p. 162-163.
- ↑ Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, al-Istīʿāb, vol. 1, p. 4.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 9, p. 329.
- ↑ Qur'an 9:101.
- ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 315; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 18, p. 292.
- ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, vol. 2, p. 315.
References
- Ibn ʿAbd al-Barr, Yūsuf b. ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Istīʿāb fī maʿrifat al-aṣḥāb. Beirut: Dār al-Jīl, 1412 AH.
- Ibn Ḥajar al-ʿAsqalānī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Al-Iṣāba fī tamyīz al-ṣaḥāba. Edited by ʿĀdil Aḥmad ʿAbd al-Mawjūd and ʿAlī Muḥammad Muʿawwaḍ. Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1415 AH.
- Ibn Hishām, ʿAbd al-Malik. Al-Sīra al-nabawīyya. Edited by Muṣṭafā al-Saqā. Beirut: Dār al-Maʿrifa, [n.d].
- Khaṭīb Baghdādī, Aḥmad b. ʿAlī. Al-Kifāya fī ʿilm al-riwāya. Edited by Abū ʿAbd Allāh al-Suraqī and Ibrāhīm Ḥamdī al-Madanī. Medina: al-Maktabat al-ʿIlmīyya, [n.d].
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
- Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-. Tafsīr al-Qummī. Edited by Ṭayyib Mūsawī Jazāʾrī. Qom: Dār al-Kitāb, 1404 AH.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Ismāʿīlīyān, [n.d].
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Edited by Aḥmad Qaṣīr al-ʿĀmilī. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, [n.d].