Qur'an 9:55
 | |
| Verse's Information | |
|---|---|
| Sura | Sura al-Tawba (Qur'an 9) |
| Verse | 55 |
| Juz' | 10 |
| Content Information | |
| Place of Revelation | Medina |
| Topic | Prohibition of being impressed by the abundance of wealth and children of hypocrites |
| Related Verses | Qur'an 20:131, Qur'an 9:85 |
Qur'an 9:55 instructs the Prophet (s) not to be impressed by the wealth and children of hypocrites, presenting these blessings as means of their misery and punishmen.[1] The verse also states that they will die in a state of disbelief.[2] The lack of blessing (baraka) in their wealth and the unrighteousness of their children are also described as punishments that hypocrites suffer in this world.[3]
| “ | فَلَا تُعْجِبْكَ أَمْوَالُهُمْ وَلَا أَوْلَادُهُمْ ۚ إِنَّمَا يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ لِيُعَذِّبَهُمْ بِهَا فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَتَزْهَقَ أَنْفُسُهُمْ وَهُمْ كَافِرُونَ
|
” |
| — Qur'an 9:55 | ||
According to Shi'a exegetes, although the verse addresses the Prophet (s),[4] it actually addresses all believers and serves as an admonition for the Islamic Umma and an implicit threat to hypocrites.[5] Abdullah Jawadi Amuli holds that Qur'an 9:55 indicates that the wealth of hypocrites does not benefit them, even when it is acquired through lawful (halal) means and spent on charitable causes, because their actions are not based on belief in God.[6] According to him, the fact that wealth is mentioned before children in this verse reflects the intensity of people's attachment to wealth. This attachment could be so strong that people sometimes killed their own children out of fear of poverty and in an effort to preserve their wealth.[7]
Scholars of Ethics have deduced contentment (qana'a) and the avoidance of hoarding from Qur'an 9:55.[8] Al-Kulayni transmitted a hadith in which Imam al-Sadiq (a), citing this verse, dissuaded one of his companions from regret and wishing for the position of those with higher financial status.[9]
Theologians[10] and exegetes[11] have also cited this verse in certain theological discussions. Mulla Salih Mazandarani, a Shi'a Muhaddith, citing a hadith from Imam al-Sadiq (a),[12] deduced the concept of Istidraj (gradual punishment disguised as blessing) from verse 55 of Qur'an 9.
Qur'an 9:55 closely resembles Qur'an 9:85 in wording and is regarded as one of the Qur'anic verses that repeat a similar message.[13] According to exegetes, Qur'an 9:55 also resembles Qur'an 20:131 in its emphasis on detachment from worldly life.[14]
Notes
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 9, p. 308.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 9, p. 308.
- ↑ Riḍāʾī Iṣfahānī, Tafsīr-i Qurʾān-i Mihr, vol. 8, p. 225.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 60.
- ↑ Jawādī Āmulī, Tafsīr-i Tasnīm, vol. 34, p. 240.
- ↑ Jawādī Āmulī, Tafsīr-i Tasnīm, vol. 34, p. 242.
- ↑ Jawādī Āmulī, Tafsīr-i Tasnīm, vol. 34, p. 244.
- ↑ Narāqī, Jāmiʿ al-saʿādāt, vol. 2, p. 105; Īzadī, Akhlāq-i Īzadī, p. 197.
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, vol. 8, p. 168.
- ↑ Āmidī, Abkār al-afkār, vol. 2, p. 186; Akbarī, Mashīyyat-i Ilāhī, p. 152.
- ↑ Fayḍ Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-ṣāfī, vol. 2, p. 349; Qummī Mashhadī, Tafsīr kanz al-daqāʾiq, vol. 5, p. 474.
- ↑ Māzandarānī, Sharḥ al-Kāfī, vol. 12, p. 38.
- ↑ Khāzin, Tafsīr al-Khāzin, vol. 2, p. 393.
- ↑ Abū Ḥayyān, al-Baḥr al-muḥīṭ, vol. 5, p. 435; Māturīdī, Tafsīr al-Māturīdī, vol. 7, p. 321.
References
- Abū Ḥayyān, Muḥammad b. Yūsuf. Al-Baḥr al-muḥīṭ fī l-tafsīr. Ed. Ṣidqī Muḥammad Jamīl. Beirut, Dār al-Fikr, 1st ed, 1420 AH.
- Akbarī, Maḥmūd. Mashīyyat-i Ilāhī dar sabab sāzī wa sabab sūzī. Qom, Fatyān, 1389 Sh.
- Āmidī, Sayf al-Dīn. Abkār al-afkār fī uṣūl al-dīn. Ed. Aḥmad Muḥammad Mahdī. Cairo, Dār al-Kutub, 1423 AH.
- Fayḍ Kāshānī, Muḥammad b. Shāh Murtaḍā. Al-Tafsīr al-ṣāfī. Ed. Ḥusayn Aʿlamī. Tehran, Maktabat al-Ṣadr, 2nd ed, 1415 AH.
- Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl b. ʿUmar. Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīm. Ed. Muḥammad Ḥusayn Shams al-Dīn. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1st ed, 1419 AH.
- Īzadī, ʿAbbās. Akhlāq-i Īzadī: bīst guftār-i akhlāqī - ʿirfānī. Qom, Ajr, 1384 Sh.
- Jawādī Āmulī, ʿAbd Allāh. Tafsīr-i Tasnīm. Qom, Isrāʾ, 1st ed, 1393 Sh.
- Khāzin, ʿAlī b. Muḥammad. Tafsīr al-Khāzin al-musammā lubāb al-taʾwīl fī maʿānī l-tanzīl. Ed. Muḥammad ʿAlī Shāhīn ʿAbd al-Salām. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1st ed, 1415 AH.
- Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. Al-Kāfī. Ed. ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī & Muḥammad Ākhūndī. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 4th ed, 1407 AH.
- Māturīdī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad. Taʾwīlāt ahl al-sunna (Tafsīr al-Māturīdī). Ed. Majdī Bāslūm. Beirut, Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyya, 1st ed, 1426 AH.
- Māzandarānī, Muḥammad Ṣāliḥ b. Aḥmad. Sharḥ al-Kāfī: al-uṣūl wa l-rawḍa. Ed. Abū l-Ḥasan Shaʿrānī. Tehran, Al-Maktaba al-Islāmiyya, 1st ed, 1382 Sh.
- Narāqī, Mahdī b. Abī Dhar. Jāmiʿ al-saʿādāt. Ed. Muḥammad Kalāntar. Beirut, Muʾassasat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, n.d.
- Qummī Mashhadī, Muḥammad b. Muḥammad Riḍā. Tafsīr kanz al-daqāʾiq wa baḥr al-gharāʾib. Ed. Ḥusayn Dargāhī. Tehran, Wizārat-i Farhang wa Irshād-i Islāmī, 1st ed, 1368 Sh.
- Riḍāʾī Iṣfahānī, Muḥammad ʿAlī. Tafsīr-i Qurʾān-i Mihr. Qom, Pazhūhish-hā-yi Tafsīr wa ʿUlūm-i Qurʾān, 1st ed, 1387 Sh.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. Al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Beirut, Muʾassasat al-Aʿlamī li-l-Maṭbūʿāt, 2nd ed, 1390 AH.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Ed. Faḍl Allāh Yazdī Ṭabāṭabāʾī & Hāshim Rasūlī. Tehran, Nāṣir Khusraw, 3rd ed, 1372 Sh.