Document Type : Academicm and Research

Authors

• Ali Deris ¹
• MuhammadAli Heydari ²
• Amir Joudavi ²
• Bmanali Dehghan ³

¹ Ph.D. Candidate, Comparative Exegesis, Yazd University, Yazd, Iran

² Associate Professor, Quran and Hadith Sciences Department, Yazd University, Yazd Iran

³ Associate Professor, Quran and Hadith Sciences Department, Yazd University, Yazd Iran.

Abstract

Highlights

Introduction

The main disagreement between the exegetes in the interpretation of the verse “that you may be witnesses to the people, and that the Apostle may be a witness to you” [al-Baqarah: 143] is in determining the meaning of “shuhadāʾ.” By examining the views of two hundred exegetes, it was found that most of them interpreted the word shuhadāʾ as witnesses on the Day of Judgment and a handful of them considered it to mean role model and example. The advocates of the first point of view have interpreted shuhadāʾ as follows:

1. The nation of the Prophet as witnesses over the nations of previous prophets
2. The Ahlulbayt as witnesses over all other people
3. The propagators of Islam as witnesses over other people, and
4. The prophets and successors of prophets of each nation as witnesses over the people of their time.

However, the exegetes who have considered the word in question to mean role model and example have interpreted it as follows:

1. This nation is a role model for all other nations
2. The Ahlulbayt are role models for all others

This range of differences among the exegetes is often due to disregard of the phrases in verse 143 of the al-Baqarah Chapter and related verses, and disregard for the multi-dimensionality of the word shuhadāʾ, and they usually take it to mean witnesses, and sometimes they also interpret the meaning of shuhadāʾ as those who were killed in the way of God.

The present study, using the method of comparative exegesis, aims to answer the following questions:

1. What interpretation have exegetes provided for verse 143 of al-Baqarah, and especially the word shuhadāʾ?
2. Is the meaning of the word shuhadāʾ in other verses the same as its meaning in the verse in question?

The meaning of the word shuhadāʾ in verse 143 of the al-Baqarah Chapter

Considering the context, it can be seen that in verses 142, 143, 144, and 145 of the al-Baqarah Chapter, the issue of changing the Qiblah is discussed, not the question of the Day of Judgment. In verse 141 of this chapter, a state from among the states of the Day of Judgment is also addressed, which is inconsistent with the view of the exegetes who take the word shuhadāʾ to mean that the Muslim nation is a witness on the Day of Judgment because God clearly states in verse 141 of the al-Baqarah Chapter that every nation is responsible for its own actions, and the Muslim nation will not questioned about the actions of other nations as well. Similarly, by paying close attention to verse 143 itself, for two reasons the meaning of role model not witness can be adopted from the word shuhadāʾ. First, at the beginning of the verse, God says: “Thus We have made you a middle (moderate) nation”; the middle nation means a nation that is moderate and does not have either ends of extreme. Thus, the moderation of this nation is an example for nations that are extreme. Second, this verse talks about changing the Qiblah, and one of the purposes of changing the Qiblah is testing (the believers), and this is only meaningful in this world, not in the Hereafter; that too, it is a test to identify those who follow the Messenger of God

It goes without saying that although the opinion of the exegetes who considered the word shuhadāʾ to mean that the Prophet’s nation is a role model and example for other nations is correct; however, their view is an early and veiled meaning for the meaning mentioned by Qarashi, in which he has considered only the Infallibles to be role models of this nation. Thus, the verse has two dimensions: the first dimension is that this nation is a role model and example for other nations and the Prophet is a model for this nation. The second dimension means that the Ahlulbayt are role models for people and the Prophet is also a role model for the Ahlulbayt. The second dimension of verse 143 of the al-Baqarah Chapter is clearer in verse seventy-eight of the al-Hajj Chapter. In this verse, due to the phrase “the faith of your father, Abraham”, naturally Prophet Abraham is not the father of the entire nation. Therefore, this verse also confirms our view in verse 143 of the al-Baqarah Chapter that shuhadāʾ refers to extraordinary people who are role models for others. These are the same people who accompanied the Messenger of God in the Event of Mubahila [Aal-Imran: 61] and the Prophet did not take anyone except Imam Ali, Lady Fatima, Imam Hasan, and Imam Husayn to accompany him to perform the Mubahila (Baghwi, 1999, vol. 1, p. 450). Similarly, under the commentary of verse 143 of the al-Baqarah Chapter, a narration has been quoted from Imam Baqir who says: “Those who exaggerate (the ghālī who raise their status to that of divinity) should return to us and those who fall short (the muqaṣṣir who do believe in the status they truly hold and lower them from this) should join us. Therefore, in this narration as well, the Ahlulbayt have been presented as role models.

Conclusion

Based on the mentioned points, the following conclusions were made:

1. According to the verse in question, which states that the change of Qiblah is a test to determine the people who follow the Prophet, as well as the verses before and after, which discuss the topic of changing the Qiblah, it is understood that the word “shuhadāʾ” in verse 143 of the al-Baqarah Chapter does not refer to witnesses on the Day of Judgment.
2. By examining the meaning of the word shuhadāʾ in other verses, it was concluded that the word in question means role model and example.
3. The phrase “that you may be witnesses to the people, and that the Apostle may be a witness to you” is two-dimensional and the first dimension is a veil for the second dimension. The first aspect is that this nation is a role model for other nations and the Prophet is a model for this nation. The second aspect means that the Ahlulbayt are role models for people and the Prophet is a role model for the Ahlulbayt as well.

References

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Keywords

• : verse 143 of the al-Baqarah Chapter
• role models in the Quran
• the Ahlulbayt in the Quran
• shuhadāʾ
• witnesses over actions

Main Subjects

• Islamic