Qur'an 46:15
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| Verse's Information | |
|---|---|
| Sura | Sura al-Ahqaf (Qur'an 46) |
| Verse | 15 |
| Juz' | 26 |
| Content Information | |
| Place of Revelation | Mecca |
| About | Kindness to Parents / Hardships of Pregnancy and breastfeeding |
| Related Verses | Verse of Rida' • Verse of Kindness to Parents |
Qur'an 46:15 underscores the importance of kindness to parents and accords a special status to the mother in recognition of the hardships she endures during pregnancy and breastfeeding.[1] Drawing upon this verse, exegetes regard dutiful conduct toward parents as obligatory,[2] considering gratitude toward them a prerequisite for thanking God.[3] The verse also highlights the performance of righteous deeds, supplication, and seeking divine succor (tawfiq) for gratitude.[4] In Tafsir al-Qummi, the phrase "and righteously dispose my progeny for me" (أَصْلِحْ لي في ذُرِّیتی) is interpreted as a granted prayer attributed to Imam al-Husayn (a).[5]
Tafsir Majma' al-bayan interprets the phrase "comes of age and reaches forty years" (بَلَغَ أَرْبَعینَ سَنَةً) as an indication of human intellectual and rational maturity.[6] It is noted that prophets were frequently chosen for their mission at the age of forty.[7] Citing a narration from Imam al-Baqir (a), al-Shaykh al-Saduq states that beyond the age of forty, excuses for committing sin are no longer accepted.[8]
| “ | وَوَصَّيْنَا الْإِنسَانَ بِوَالِدَيْهِ إِحْسَانًا ۖ حَمَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ كُرْهًا وَوَضَعَتْهُ كُرْهًا ۖ وَحَمْلُهُ وَفِصَالُهُ ثَلَاثُونَ شَهْرًا ۚ حَتَّىٰ إِذَا بَلَغَ أَشُدَّهُ وَبَلَغَ أَرْبَعِينَ سَنَةً قَالَ رَبِّ أَوْزِعْنِي أَنْ أَشْكُرَ نِعْمَتَكَ الَّتِي أَنْعَمْتَ عَلَيَّ وَعَلَىٰ وَالِدَيَّ وَأَنْ أَعْمَلَ صَالِحًا تَرْضَاهُ وَأَصْلِحْ لِي فِي ذُرِّيَّتِي ۖ إِنِّي تُبْتُ إِلَيْكَ وَإِنِّي مِنَ الْمُسْلِمِينَ
We have enjoined man to be kind to his parents. His mother has carried him in travail, and bore him in travail, and his gestation and weaning take thirty months. When he comes of age and reaches forty years, he says, 'My Lord! Inspire me to give thanks for Your blessing with which You have blessed me and my parents, and that I may do righteous deeds which please You, and invest my descendants with righteousness for my sake. I have indeed turned to You in penitence, and I am indeed one of the Muslims.'
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” |
| — Qur'an 46:15 | ||
By combining this verse with the verse of Rida', exegetes have deduced that the minimum gestation period for a viable pregnancy is six months.[9] According to Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani, Imam Ali (a) cited this verse to save a woman who had given birth at six months from the punishment of stoning.[10]
Certain narrations link the verse to the birth of Imam al-Husayn (a) and the prophecy of his martyrdom.[11] Another narration suggests that Fatima (a) initially felt reluctance regarding her son's birth until Gabriel conveyed the glad tidings that Imamate would continue through Husayn's progeny.[12] However, 'Allama Tabataba'i rejects this as the direct occasion of revelation, classifying it instead as an instance of "Tatbiq" (application).[13]
Verse 15 of Qur'an 46 is included in the list of jurisprudential verses. Shi'a jurists utilize it to examine obligations related to kindness toward parents and to determine the duration of breastfeeding.[14]
Notes
- ↑ Mughniyya, al-Kāshif, 1424 AH, vol. 7, p. 45.
- ↑ Īrawānī, Durūs tamhīdiyya, 1428 AH, vol. 2, p. 901.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 21, p. 325.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 18, p. 202.
- ↑ Qummī, Tafsīr al-Qummī, 1367 Sh, vol. 2, p. 298.
- ↑ Ṭabrisī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, 1372 Sh, vol. 9, p. 130.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, 1374 Sh, vol. 21, p. 328.
- ↑ Ṣadūq, al-Khiṣāl, 1362 Sh, vol. 2, p. 545.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 18, p. 201.
- ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, 1416 AH, vol. 5, pp. 42-43.
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 1, p. 464, hadith 3.
- ↑ Kulaynī, al-Kāfī, 1407 AH, vol. 1, p. 464, hadith 4.
- ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, 1417 AH, vol. 18, p. 208.
- ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Kitāb al-nikāḥ, 1380-1381 Sh, vol. 7, p. 147.
References
- Amīn, Sayyida Nuṣrat Begum. Makhzan al-ʿirfān dar tafsīr-i Qurʾān. Tehran, Nahdat-i Zanan-i Musalman, 1361 Sh.
- Baḥrānī, Sayyid Hāshim al-. al-Burhān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Tehran, Bonyad-i Be'that, 1st ed., 1416 AH.
- Īrawānī, Bāqir. Durūs tamhīdiyya fī tafsīr āyāt al-aḥkām. Qom, Dār al-Fiqh li-l-Ṭibāʿa wa al-Nashr, 1428 AH.
- Kulaynī, Muḥammad b. Yaʿqūb al-. al-Kāfī. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 4th ed., 1407 AH.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Kitāb al-nikāḥ. Qom, Madrasat al-Imām ʿAlī b. Abī Ṭālib, 1380-1381 Sh.
- Makārim Shīrāzī, Nāṣir. Tafsīr-i nimūna. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1st ed., 1374 Sh.
- Mughniyya, Muḥammad Jawād. al-Tafsīr al-kāshif. Tehran, Dār al-Kutub al-Islāmiyya, 1st ed., 1424 AH.
- Qummī, ʿAlī b. Ibrāhīm al-. Tafsīr al-Qummī. Qom, Dār al-Kitāb, 4th ed., 1367 Sh.
- Ṣadūq, Muḥammad b. ʿAlī al-. al-Khiṣāl. Edited by ʿAlī Akbar Ghaffārī. Qom, Jāmiʿat al-Mudarrisīn, 1st ed., 1362 Sh.
- Ṭabāṭabāʾī, Sayyid Muḥammad Ḥusayn. al-Mīzān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Qom, Jāmiʿat al-Mudarrisīn, 5th ed., 1417 AH.
- Ṭabrisī, Faḍl b. al-Ḥasan al-. Majmaʿ al-bayān fī tafsīr al-Qurʾān. Tehran, Nasir Khosrow, 3rd ed., 1372 Sh.