Journal of Imamiyyah Studies

Journal of Imamiyyah Studies

An Analysis on the Interpretative Narratives of the Shiite and Sunni in Determining the Denotation of the Fifteenth Verse of the Quranic Chapter al-Ahqaf

Document Type : Original Article

Authors
1 Assistant Professor, Department of Quran and Hadith Sciences, Kharazmi University, Tehran, Iran
2 Ph.D. student in Comparative Interpretation, Rafi Al-Mustafa, Tehran, Iran
Abstract
The fifteenth verse of the Quranic chapter al-Ahqaf is a general commandment to all the righteous people and its denotation is universal.  According to this verse, the reason for God’s command for man to be more dutiful and kinder to his mother is due to her suffering during the period of pregnancy and childbirth. Nevertheless, based on some narrations, some Shiite and Sunni exegetes have denoted this verse to a specific person. According to the Sunni exegetes, this holy verse was revealed in honor of Abu Bakr; this is because he was the only one among the immigrants whose parents were Muslims. Likewise, at the age of 40, he asked for the blessings that Allah the Almighty had bestowed upon his parents. On one hand, such a comparison is contrary to the historical evidence and the narratives cited are also weak. On the other hand, according to some authentic hadiths in the Shiite sources, this verse was revealed in honor of Imam Hossein. Several peaces of evidence suggest that this verse is in the honor of the Imam as a superior denotation. For instance, the difference between the reference of the pronoun in this verse and the previous verses, the specific situation of pregnancy and childbirth that is described here, the manner of the prayer in the verse, and its appraisal with the life of Imam Hossein. Owing to this reason, when Lady Fatima became aware of the martyrdom of Imam Hossein, she endured internal suffering during her pregnancy and delivery; this was in spite of the fact that she was fully satisfied with the continuation of imamate and guardianship from the generation of Imam Hossein.
Keywords

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