Dhawi l-Qurba: Difference between revisions

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.<ref>Ibn Manẓūr, ''Lisān al-ʿarab'', under the word "قرب"; </ref> According to [[al-Zamakhshari]], "qurba" is an infinitive like "zulfa" and "bushra", which means closeness.<ref>Rāghib, ''al-Mufradāt fī gharīb al-Qurʾān'', p. 663.</ref> According to many Arabic dictionaries, "qurba" means kinship or relation by blood.<ref>Ibn Fāris, ''Muʿjam maqāyīs al-lugha'', vol. 5, p. 80.</ref>

* 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)]],<ref>Qummī, ''Jāmiʿ al-khalāf wa l-wifāq'', p. 234; Najafī, ''Jawāhir al-kalām'', vol. 16, p. 86-87.</ref> and according to others, it also includes [[Fatima (a)]].<ref>Khoei, ''Mustanad al-ʿUrwa'', vol. 3, p. 307-308.</ref> 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]]<ref>Aḥmad b. Ḥanbal, ''Faḍāʾil al-ṣaḥāba'', vol. 2, p. 833.</ref>, [[al-Bukhari]]<ref>Bukhārī, ''Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī'', vol. 6, p. 129.</ref>, [[Muhammad b. Jarir al-Tabari|al-Tabari]]<ref>Ṭabarī, ''Tafsīr al-Ṭabarī'', vol. 25, p. 14-15.</ref>, al-Hakim al-Nishaburi,<ref>Ḥākim al-Nayshābūrī, ''Mustadrak ʿala l-ṣaḥīḥayn'', vol. 3, p. 172.</ref> al-Zamakhshari,<ref>Zamakhsharī, ''Tafsīr al-kashshāf'', vol. 3, p. 402.</ref> [[al-Shafi'i]],<ref>Shāfʿī, ''Maṭālib al-suʿūl'', p. 40.</ref> Ibn Sabbagh al-Maliki,<ref>Ibn Ṣabbāgh al-mālikī, ''al-Fuṣūl al-muhimma'', p. 11-12.</ref> al-Hafiz al-Kunji,<ref>Kunjī, ''Kifāyat al-ṭālib'', p. 313.</ref> Ibn Hajar al-Haythami,<ref>Ibn Ḥajar al-Haythamī, ''al-Ṣawāʿiq al-muḥriqa'', p. 200-201.</ref> Shablanji,<ref>Shablanjī, ''Nūr al-abṣār'', p. 227.</ref> [[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."

In his ''Sharh ihqaq al-haqq'', [[Sayyid Shahab al-Din Mar'ashi Najafi]] mentions about 50 great Sunni scholars who have cited the hadiths regarding the [[Verse of Mawadda]] in their books. [[Al-Sayyid Hashim al-Bahrani]] has cited 17 Sunni hadiths and 22 Shi'a hadiths in his ''Ghayat al-maram wa hujjat al-khisam''.