wikishia:Featured Article/2017/37

Dhawi l-Qurbā (Arabic: ذَوي القُربی) literally means close relatives. It has been used in 11 verses of the Qur'an, including the Verse of Khums and the Verse of Mawadda in which the love for "dhawi l-qurba" is considered as the reward for Prophet Muhammad's (s) mission. Although there are disagreements between Shi'a and Sunni scholars about the instances of "dhawi l-qurba", Shi'a hadiths and some Sunni ones show that definite instances of "dhawi l-qurba" include 'Ali b. Abi Talib (a), Fatima (a), and their children.

There are different views about the instances of "dhi l-qurba" especially in the Verse of Mawadda.

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.

Relatives by marriage in Medina (and Ansar): some exegetes of the Qur'an believe that Ansar brought a lot of money and property for the Prophet (s), because they were his relatives through Salma bt. Zayd al-Najjar ('Abd al-Muttalib's mother) and Amina bt. Wahab.

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, al-Tabari, al-Hakim al-Nishaburi, al-Zamakhshari, al-Shafi'i and many others.