Dhawi l-Qurba: Difference between revisions

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The word, "qurb" ({{ia|قُرب}}), is an infinitive meaning closeness; an antonym of "bu'd" ({{ia|بُعد}}) which means remoteness. "Qirāba" ({{ia|قِرابة}}) and "qurbā" ({{ia|قُربی}}) mean kinship by blood. According to [[al-Zamakhshari]], "qurba" is an infinitive like "zulfa" and "bushra", which means closeness. According to many Arabic dictionaries, "qurba" means kinship or relation by blood.

* The [[Verse of Mawadda]]: "Say: I do not ask of you any reward for it but love for my near relatives (al-qurba); and whoever earns good, We give him more of good therein; surely Allah is Forgiving, Grateful."

* The [[Verse of Khums]]: "And know that whatever thing you gain, a fifth of it is for Allah and for the Messenger and for the near of kin (dhi l-qurba) and the orphans and the needy and the wayfarer."

* The [[Verse of Fay']]: "What Allah has bestowed on His Messenger from the people of the townships, belongs to Allah, to His Messenger and to kindred (dhi l-qurba) and orphans, the needy and the wayfarer; In order that it may not (merely) make a circuit between the wealthy among you. So take what the Messenger assigns to you, and deny yourselves that which he withholds from you."

* "Then give to the near of kin (dha al-qurba) his due."

* Relatives by marriage, that is, polytheists of the Quraysh: the majority of [[Sunni]] exegetes have appealed to some hadiths and interpreted "dhi al-qurba" as referring to [[polytheists]] of the [[Quraysh]] who were relatives of the Prophet (s) by marriage. Thus, the verse should mean that the reward for the Prophet's (s) mission was the love for Quraysh polytheists. This interpretation is propounded by al-Tabari, Ibn Kathir, and al-Alusi. They support the interpretation with the fact that the [[Sura]] in which this verse occurs was [[Makki]]. They have ignored other hadiths from the Prophet (s) in which "dhi l-qurba" is interpreted in a different way because they take them to be unreliable.

* Closeness to God: according to others, "qurba" here means closeness to God, and "al-mawadda fi l-qurba" means closeness to God by obeying Him. Thus, the verse means: I do not ask for any reward except your love for God by being close to Him. Shi'a exegetes have responded to, and rejected, the above four possible interpretations.

* Ahl al-Bayt (a): according to the majority of Shi'a scholars which is close to consensus, "dhi l-qurba" in the Verse of Mawadda refers to [[Infallible Imams (a)]], and according to others, it also includes [[Fatima (a)]]. However, there are many Sunni exegetes and scholars of hadiths who, in spite the efforts by other Sunni scholars to interpret "dhi l-qurba" as referring to Quraysh polytheists, have appealed to some hadiths to interpret it as referring to [[Ahl al-Bayt]] and close relatives of the Prophet (s), especially [['Ali b. Abi Talib (a)]], [[Fatima (a)]], their children, and so on. Such scholars include [[Ahmad b. Hanbal]], [[al-Bukhari]], [[Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari|al-Tabari]], al-Hakim al-Nishaburi, al-Zamakhshari, [[al-Shafi'i]], Ibn Sabbagh, al-Maliki, al-Hafiz al-Kunji, Ibn Hajar, al-Haythami, Shablanji, [[al-Suyuti]], [[Muhyi l-Din al-'Arabi]], Ibn Kathir, and al-Qurtubi. For example, in his interpretation of the verse, "Then give to the near of kin his due", al-Alusi says: "it refers to Fatima." And al-Zamakhshari says in his ''al-Kashshaf'': "when the verse was revealed, the Prophet (s) was asked about his relatives the love for whom was obligatory for people. He said: 'Ali, Fatima, and their two sons". [[Al-Fakhr al-Razi]] takes "dhi l-qurba" to refer to the household of the Prophet (s) and says: "the household of Muhammad (s) are those whose affair goes back to that of Muhammad (s). He who has a better, more perfect, and firmer relation with the Prophet (s) counts as his household. And undoubtedly, Fatima, 'Ali, [[Imam al-Hasan (a)|al-Hasan]], [[Imam al-Husayn (a)|al-Husayn]] have the firmest relation with the Prophet (s). This is an obvious fact which comes from [[mutawatir]] hadiths."