Qur'an 8:61
| Verse's Information | |
|---|---|
| Name | Verse of Peace |
| Sura | The Qur'an 8 (Sura al-Anfal) |
| Verse | 61 |
| Juz' | 10 |
| Page | 184 |
| Content Information | |
| Place of Revelation | Medina |
| Topic | Moral-Juristic |
| About | Peacemaking |
| Related Verses | Qur'an 2:208 |
Qur'an 8:61 also known as Al-Ṣulḥ Verse (Arabic: آیة الصلح) or the Verse of Peace, is the verse sixty one of the Qur'an 8, in which the Prophet (s) is commanded to accept requests for peace and compromise from those who have broken their pledges and fought with Muslims in his capacity as the leader of the Islamic community, and not to waver out of the fear from its consequences and to trust in God. The verse is taken as evidence for the peaceful nature of Islam.
Text and Translation
| “ | ” | |
| — the Qur'an 8:61 | ||
Introduction
The Qur'an 8:61 is known as "al-Sulh Verse" or the "Verse of Peace".[1] Since the verse occurs after verses of jihad and in connection with some other verses such as verses 190-193 of the Qur'an 2 and the verse ninety of the Qur'an 4, it is taken to show that Islam does not seek wars and it seeks the peace as much as possible, because it is obligatory for Muslims to accept peace proposals from adversaries.[2]
Contents of the Verse
In this verse, God tells the Prophet (s) that if groups of unbelievers or others such as Banu Qurayza and Banu Nadir, who have broken their peace deals and fought with Muslims, tended to make peace and compromise with Muslims, then the Prophet (s) must make peace with them in his capacity as the leader of the Islamic community.[3] The preceding verse emphasizes on the preparation of Muslims for defense and their military reinforcement, and this verse insists upon the acceptance of peace proposals on part of adversaries.[4]
In this verse, God commands the Prophet (s) not to waver about the acceptance of peace proposals if conditions are logical and fair,[5] and to trust God and not fear because of the lack of preparation for facing up to unexpected events. For the Knowing and Hearing God will help and suffice him.[6]
The word, "silm", in the verse is taken to involve a range of meanings, from ceasefire to the payment of jizya and conversion to Islam.[7] In his al-Kashif, Muhammad Jawad Mughniya suggests that it is obligatory to make peace with anyone who asks for peace except if it is a deception or preparation for an attack or assassination. He extends the peace in the verse to peace with everyone, be it at the time of war or not.[8]
Permissibility of Peace
In sections of peace in sources of jurisprudence, Muslim jurists appeal to this verse, as well as the Prophet's (s) practice in the Hudaybiyya Peace Treaty, to argue for the permissibility and legitimacy of peace and ceasefire with people who are fighting Muslims[9] in accordance with the judgment of the ruler of the Islamic community. Jurists believe that, after the peace treaty, Muslims should peacefully coexist with them and respect their rights and dignity, and they can have political and economic relationships with them.[10]
Abrogation of the Verse
Some exegetes of the Qur'an have appealed to hadiths from ibn Abbas, ibn Mundhir, and ibn Mardawayh to show that the Verse of Peace was abrogated by other verses such as verses five and twenty nine of the Qur'an 9[11] and the verse thirty five of the Qur'an 47.[12]
Allama Tabataba'i argues that the Verse of Peace itself hints at the temporality of its ruling, that is, the verse legislates the ruling for a certain period of time and is not intended to legislate an eternal ruling.[13] However, in his Majma' al-bayan, al-Tabrisi believes that the Verse of Peace was revealed about the People of the Book, while verses in the Qur'an 9 were revealed about idol-worshipers. Thus, the Verse of Peace was not abrogated. Moreover, after the revelation of the verses of the Qur'an 9 in 9/630-1, the Prophet (s) made a peace treaty with Christians in Najran.[14]
See Also
Notes
- ↑ Maʿrifat, al-Tamhīd fī ʿulūm-i Qurʾān, vol. 2, p. 355.
- ↑ Qurashī, Aḥsan al-ḥadīth, vol. 4, p. 160.
- ↑ Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-Jinān, vol. 9, p. 143; Ṣādiqī Tihrānī, al-Furqān, vol. 12, p. 278.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 7, p. 229.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 7, p. 230.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 9, p. 117.
- ↑ Mughnīya, Tafsīr al-Kāshif, vol. 3, p. 771.
- ↑ Mughnīya, Tafsīr al-Kāshif, vol. 3, p. 771.
- ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Mabsūṭ, vol. 2, p. 50; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 21, p. 293.
- ↑ Muntazarī, Mabānī-yi fiqhī-yi ḥukūmat-i Islāmī, vol. 5, p. 243.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 9, p. 131.
- ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr Qummī, vol. 1, p. 279.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 9, p. 131.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 4, p. 853.
References
- Abū l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Ḥusayn b. 'Alī. Rawḍ al-Jinān wa Rawḥ al-Janān fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Edited by Yāḥiqī wa Naṣiḥ . Mashhad: Āstān-i Quds-i Raḍawī, 1408 Sh.
- Muntazarī, Ḥusayn ʿAlī. Mabānī-yi fiqhī-yi ḥukūmat-i Islāmī. Translated by Maḥmūd Ṣalawātī and Abu l-Faḍl Shakūrī. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Keyhān, 1409 AH.
- Maʿrifat, Muḥammad Hādī. Al-Tamhīd fī ʿulūm-i Qurʾān. Qom: Muʾassisa-yi Nashr-i Islāmī, 1411 AH.
- Mughnīya, Muḥammad Jawād al-. Tafsīr al-Kāshif. Qom: Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmīyya, 1424 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmīyya, 1371 Sh.
- Najafī, Muḥammad al-Ḥasan al-. Jawāhir al-kalām fī sharḥ sharāʾiʿ al-Islām. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1404 AH.
- Qurashī, Sayyid ʿAlī Akbar. Tafsīr-i aḥsan al-ḥadīth. Tehran: Bunyād-i Biʿthat, 1375 Sh.
- Ṣādiqī Tihrānī, Muḥammad. Al-Furqān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom: Farhang-i Islāmī, 1406 AH.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn al-. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 1390 AH.
- Ṭūsī, Muḥammad b. al-Ḥasan al-. Al-Mabsūṭ fī fiqh al-imāmīyya. Tehran: al-Maktaba al-Murtaḍawīyya li Iḥyāʾ al-Āthār al-Jaʿfarīyya, 1387 AH.