Qur'an 4:1
 | |
| Verse's Information | |
|---|---|
| Sura | al-Nisāʾ |
| Verse | 1 |
| Juz' | 4 |
| Topic | Observance of Taqwa regarding the rights of relatives • Origin of the creation of human society |
| Related Verses | Verse 21 of Sura al-Rum • Verse 72 of Sura al-Nahl • Verse 11 of Sura al-Shura • Verse 6 of Sura al-Zumar |
Verse 1 of Sura al-Nisa (Arabic:الآية 1 من سورة النساء) (Qur'an 4:1), emphasizing the creation of all humans from a "Single Soul" (Nafs Wāḥida), calls people to Taqwa, brotherhood, equality, and the observance of the rights of relatives. Most Shi'a and Sunni exegetes have considered the "Single Soul" to be Adam (a), while others, such as Abdullah Jawadi Amuli, the author of Tafsir Tasnim, interpret it as the shared human reality. Sayyid Abd al-Karim Musawi Ardabili considers this verse the most fundamental verse regarding the family, which negates any gender superiority.
Regarding the Creation of Eve, various views have been proposed; ranging from creation from the human reality of Adam to the theory of creation from Adam's rib, which many exegetes have rejected. Regarding the issue of the marriage of Adam's children, there are three major theories, the most common of which is the permissibility of sibling marriage at the beginning of creation. This verse has also been cited in the critique of the Theory of Evolution and in jurisprudential discussions such as Silat al-Rahim (maintaining kinship ties), the obligation of disbelievers (kuffar) to follow laws, and human cloning.
General Command of Taqwa and Reminder of the Unity of Creation
Verse 1 of Sura al-Nisa (Qur'an 4:1) calls all people to observe Taqwa by pointing to the oneness of the Creator and the creation of all people from a single soul, so that they organize human relations based on brotherhood and equality.[1] After emphasizing the greatness of God, the verse once again commands Taqwa and, by pointing to the kinship bond of all human beings, counts the preservation of this bond and the observance of the rights of relatives among the instances of Taqwa.[2]
According to Sayyid Abd al-Karim Musawi Ardabili, Shi'a and Sunni exegetes agree that the meaning of "Nafs Wāḥida" (Single Soul) is Adam (a).[3] Abdullah Jawadi Amuli considers the expression "Nafs Wāḥida" to mean essence and reality. Therefore, the verse states that all men and women, even Adam and Eve, are from a shared human reality. He considers Adam (a) as the first instance of this reality.[4]
Musawi Ardabili considers this verse the most appropriate verse regarding the family, which, by emphasizing the creation and shared origin of man and woman from one soul, negates any superiority-seeking and violation of women's rights by men.[5]
Creation of Eve
Shi'a exegetes have addressed the subject of how Adam's spouse was created, focusing on the phrase "and He created from it its mate" (Arabic: وَ خَلَقَ مِنْها زَوْجَها) under Verse 1 of Sura al-Nisa. Among them:
- Naser Makarem Shirazi, an exegete and Quranic scholar, says that considering Qur'an 30:21 and Qur'an 16:72, the meaning of the verse is that God created Adam's spouse from his species, i.e., the human species.[6] According to another exegete, Abdullah Jawadi Amuli, the feminine pronoun in the phrase (wa khalaqa minhā) refers back to "Nafs Wāḥida" (meaning human reality), not to the remainder of Adam's clay or a limb from his limbs or his left rib. In addition to the mentioned verses, he adds Qur'an 42:11 and Qur'an 39:6 to the Quranic evidence for this view.[7]
- In the belief of al-Shaykh al-Saduq, Eve was created from the remainder of the same clay and material from which Adam's rib was created.[8]
- According to the report of al-Shaykh al-Tusi, a Shi'a exegete of the 4th/10th century, some believe that Eve was created from the body and rib of Adam;[9] as it is said that the second chapter of the Book of Genesis in the Torah also explicitly states this meaning. Makārim Shīrāzī considers this theory incorrect.[10] Al-Shaykh al-Saduq also rejects this view, arguing that if Eve were created from Adam's ribs after his creation was complete, skeptics would say that Adam married a part of himself, while this is a false notion.[11]
Marriage of Adam's Children
Regarding the marriage of Adam's (a) children, three main views have been raised in exegetical and narrative sources:
- Marriage of Brother and Sister: At the beginning of creation, marriage between the children of Adam and Eve was permitted and not forbidden; some narrations confirm this view. Commentaries such as al-Mizan , Tafsiri-i Namuna, and Tafsir Tasnim have chosen this possibility and consider these narrations consistent and in agreement with the appearance of the verse.[12]
- Marriage with Non-Human Beings: Sayyid Abdullah Shubbar, the author of Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Karim, has cited narrations under this verse indicating the marriage of Adam's children with Houries.[13] In addition, there are narrations in hadith sources indicating the marriage of Adam's children with Houri or Jinn.[14]
- Marriage with Survivors of Previous Humans: According to the third view, the spouses of Adam's children were from the lineage of humans before him, but it is said that this possibility does not align with the appearance of Quranic verses and is only raised from a biological perspective.[15]
Critique of the Theory of Evolution
Musawi Ardabili[16] and Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Fadlallah, among Shi'a exegetes, reject the Theory of Evolution by citing the first verse of Qur'an 4 and similar verses. According to Darwin, the British biologist, humans were first created as animals and reached the stage of humanity through evolution. However, based on this verse, the Qur'an emphasizes the creation of Adam as complete and rational as the starting point of the current human society. Allama Fadlullah considers Darwin's theory merely a conjectural hypothesis based on limited experience, which lacks scientific validity in the face of the truth of Divine Revelation.[17]
Jurisprudential Citation
Qur'an 4:1 has been cited in the following jurisprudential discussions:
Some researchers, citing verses such as Qur'an 4:1 and their exegetical understanding, have considered human cloning probable. This view is based on the creation of Eve from Adam's body and rib. In contrast, Sayyid Ali Musawi Sabzawari, by combining all narrations cited on this subject, accepts the theory of Eve's creation from the remainder of Adam's clay and rejects the aforementioned view.[18]
Sayyid Abdullah Shubbar, a Shi'a exegete, explicitly states that the general address and command of the first verse of Qur'an 4 to all humans indicates that disbelievers (kuffar) are also obligated regarding subsidiary rulings.[19]
Al-Tabrisi has also inferred from the verse the command to observe Taqwa regarding relatives, deriving the prohibition of severing kinship ties (qaṭʿ al-raḥim). According to him, a narration from Imam al-Baqir (a) confirms this meaning. Ultimately, al-Tabrisi considers the verse one of the Quranic proofs for the obligation of Silat al-Rahim.[20]
Notes
- ↑ Jawādī Āmulī, Tafsīr-i Tasnīm, vol. 18, pp. 86-87; Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 134.
- ↑ Ṣādiqī Tihrānī, al-Furqān, vol. 6, p. 154; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i Nimūna, p. 247-248.
- ↑ Mūsawī Ardabīlī, Dar Partow-i Waḥy, vol. 2, p. 132.
- ↑ Jawādī Āmulī, Tafsīr-i Tasnīm, vol. 18, pp. 100, 105.
- ↑ Mūsawī Ardabīlī, Dar Partow-i Waḥy, vol. 2, pp. 131, 138.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i Nimūna, pp. 245-246.
- ↑ Jawādī Āmulī, Tafsīr-i Tasnīm, vol. 18, pp. 108-110.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruhu al-faqīh, vol. 4, p. 327.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 3, p. 99.
- ↑ Makarim Shirazi, Tafsīr-i Nimūna, pp. 245-246.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruhu al-faqīh, vol. 4, p. 327.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 4, pp. 136-137; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i Nimūna, vol. 3, pp. 246-247; Jawādī Āmulī, Tafsīr-i Tasnīm, vol. 18, pp. 203-204.
- ↑ Shubbar, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 1, p. 107.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, Man lā yaḥḍuruhu al-faqīh, vol. 3, pp. 381-382.
- ↑ Riḍāyī Iṣfahānī, Tafsīr-i Qurʾān-i Mihr, vol. 2, p. 305.
- ↑ Mūsawī Ardabīlī, Dar Partow-i Waḥy, vol. 2, p. 133.
- ↑ Faḍlallāh, Min Waḥy al-Qurʾān, vol. 4, pp. 24-25.
- ↑ Sabzwārī, al-Istinsākh bayn al-tiqniya wa al-tashrīʿ, p. 87.
- ↑ Shubbar, Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, vol. 1, p. 107.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 3, pp. 6-9.
References
- Faḍlallāh, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Min Waḥy al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār al-Malāk, 1439 AH.
- Jawādī Āmulī, ʿAbd Allāh. Tafsīr-i Tasnīm. Qom, Markaz-i Nashr-i Isrāʾ, 1389 Sh.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i Nimūna. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1374 Sh.
- Mūsawī Ardabīlī, Sayyid ʿAbd al-Karīm. Dar Partow-i Waḥy. Qom, Dānishgāh-i Mufīd, 1388 Sh.
- Riḍāyī Iṣfahānī, Muḥammad ʿAlī. Tafsīr-i Qurʾān-i Mihr. Qom, ʿAṣr-i Ẓuhūr, 1389 Sh.
- Sabzwārī, Sayyid ʿAlī. al-Istinsākh bayn al-tiqniya wa al-tashrīʿ. Qom, Daftār-i Āyatullāh Sabzwārī, 2nd ed., 1423 AH.
- Ṣādiqī Tihrānī, Muḥammad. al-Furqān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān bi-l-Qurʾān wa al-sunna. Lebanon, Muʾassisa al-Aʿlamī, 1406 AH.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. Man lā yaḥḍuruhu al-faqīh. Qom, Daftar-i Intishārāt-i Islāmī, 1413 AH.
- Shubbar, ʿAbd Allāh. Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Karīm. Qom, Muʾassisa Dār al-Hijra, n.d.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Muʾassisa al-Aʿlamī, 1352 Sh.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār al-Maʿrifa, 1367 Sh.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. Ḥasan al-. al-Tibyān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, n.d.