Surah Ash-Shura (42) — Ayah 23

(Ayah 23) ➊ { ذٰلِكَ الَّذِيْ يُبَشِّرُ اللّٰهُ عِبَادَهُ … :} This is the fifth reason. {’’ ذٰلِكَ ‘‘} The use of the distant demonstrative pronoun is to express the greatness of this reward. By referring again to the gardens of Paradise and their blessings, the purpose is to highlight their greatness, and mentioning faith and righteous deeds is because faith and righteous deeds are necessary to attain such great blessings.

➋ { قُلْ لَّاۤ اَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ اَجْرًا اِلَّا الْمَوَدَّةَ فِي الْقُرْبٰى:’’ قَرِبَ يَقْرَبُ قُرْبًا وَ قُرْبَانًا وَ قِرْبَانًا‘‘} (S, K) To be near. {’’ قُرْبٰي‘‘} and {’’قَرَابَةً ‘‘} are also verbal nouns, just as {’’ بُشْرٰي‘‘} and {’’ رُجْعٰي‘‘} are. Their meaning is kinship and closeness. For a relative or kin, the word "dhul-qurba" (possessor of kinship) is used, as He said: « وَ اٰتِ ذَا الْقُرْبٰى حَقَّهٗ » [ بنی إسرائیل : ۲۶ ] "And give the relative his right." In {’’ فِي الْقُرْبٰى ‘‘}, {’’ فِيْ‘‘} is for reasoning: {’’أَيْ مِنْ أَجْلِ الْقُرْبٰي‘‘} meaning because of kinship, as the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ عُذِّبَتِ امْرَأَةٌ فِيْ هِرَّةٍ حَبَسَتْهَا، حَتّٰی مَاتَتْ جُوْعًا، فَدَخَلَتْ فِيْهَا النَّارَ ] [ بخاري، المساقاۃ، باب فضل سقي الماء : ۲۳۶۵ ] "A woman was punished because of a cat. She tied it up until it died of hunger, so because of it she entered the Fire." That is, say: I do not ask you for any wage for this preaching of the religion, except for affection due to kinship—that if nothing else, at least because of the kinship and relationship between me and you, I have a right that you maintain friendship with me; I certainly demand this right from you. It would have been proper for you to accept my words, but if you do not, then at least do not show the greatest enmity among all the Arabs. At the very least, consider the kinship that exists between me and you. Just as Abu Talib, although he did not believe, yet due to kinship, supported and defended the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

This is the meaning of the verse as explained by the interpreter of the Qur'an, Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them). Thus, Tawus says that Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) was asked about {’’ اِلَّا الْمَوَدَّةَ فِي الْقُرْبٰى ‘‘}, so Sa'id bin Jubayr said that it means {’’ قُرْبٰي آلِ مُحَمَّدٍ صَلَّي اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ‘‘} (the kinship of the family of Muhammad, peace and blessings be upon him), so Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) said: [ عَجِلْتَ، إِنَّ النَّبِيَّ صَلَّی اللّٰهُ عَلَيْهِ وَسَلَّمَ لَمْ يَكُنْ بَطْنٌ مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ إِلاَّ كَانَ لَهُ فِيْهِمْ قَرَابَةٌ فَقَالَ إِلاَّ أَنْ تَصِلُوْا مَا بَيْنِيْ وَ بَيْنَكُمْ مِنَ الْقَرَابَةِ ] [ بخاري، التفسیر، باب قولہ : «إلا المودۃ فی القربٰی» : ۴۸۱۸ ] "You have been hasty; there was no clan of Quraysh in which the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) did not have kinship and relationship, so he (peace and blessings be upon him) said: '(I do not ask you for any wage for this) except that you maintain the kinship that is between me and you.'"

➌ Some people, especially the Shia, interpret this verse to mean that you should say: I do not ask you for any wage for this except affection for my relatives, that is, I ask nothing from you for this except that you maintain friendship with my relatives. Friendship with the believing relatives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is established by other evidence, but this verse does not mean what these people claim, because {’’ الْقُرْبٰى ‘‘} means kinship, not relatives. For relatives, the word {’’ذَوِي الْقُرْبٰي‘‘} is used. Even if {’’ الْقُرْبٰى ‘‘} is taken to mean relatives, the words of the verse should have been: {’’ إِلاَّ مَوَدَّةَ الْقُرْبٰي‘‘} "except for the friendship of the relatives." Whereas the words are: « اِلَّا الْمَوَدَّةَ فِي الْقُرْبٰى » These words cannot possibly mean what these people claim. Then see, to whom is the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) addressing this question? Clearly, it is to the disbelievers, who were his severe opponents, who were not even willing to be friends with him—how could it be possible that he would ask them to be friends with his relatives? Even if we accept that he is asking them to be friends with his relatives, then which relatives are these? Is he asking for friendship with his entire tribe of Quraysh or with his closest family, Banu Abd al-Muttalib? In both, apart from sincere Muslims, there were also his worst enemies like Abu Jahl and Abu Lahab, with whom friendship is out of the question. And if by this is meant Ali, Fatimah, Hasan, and Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them), as the Shia claim, then this surah is Makkan, and in Makkah, Fatimah and Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) were not even married, nor were Hasan and Husayn (may Allah be pleased with them) born, so these people cannot possibly be meant.

➍ Some commentators have said that the statement of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) that I only ask you for affection due to kinship is not a wage or compensation for preaching the religion that he is asking from them, but rather he is demanding his right which is universally acknowledged, whether he preaches or not. In short, this verse also expresses the same thing that all the Prophets said to their people: I do not ask you for any wage for this preaching of the religion, because my wage is only upon Allah, as in Surah Ash-Shu'ara: « وَ مَاۤ اَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ مِنْ اَجْرٍ اِنْ اَجْرِيَ اِلَّا عَلٰى رَبِّ الْعٰلَمِيْنَ » [ الشعراء : ۱۰۹ ] "And I do not ask you for any reward for it; my reward is only with the Lord of the worlds." In grammatical terms, this would be stated as: here the exception is not connected but disconnected, meaning the question of maintaining kinship has no relation to the wage for preaching the religion.

➎ In { وَ مَنْ يَّقْتَرِفْ حَسَنَةً نَّزِدْ لَهٗ فِيْهَا حُسْنًا: ’’ حَسَنَةً ‘‘}, the tanween is for indefiniteness. Whoever does any good, no matter how small, We will increase it for him in its beauty and excellence. This increase is in several ways: first, as much good as he does, Allah will grant him the ability to do even more good. Second, all those who see him and do that good, he will also receive the reward for all of them, which will increase his good deeds. Third, Allah multiplies every good deed tenfold to seven hundred times, or even more without measure, as He said: « وَ اِنْ تَكُ حَسَنَةً يُّضٰعِفْهَا وَ يُؤْتِ مِنْ لَّدُنْهُ اَجْرًا عَظِيْمًا » [ النساء : ۴۰ ] "If there is a good deed, He will multiply it and give from Himself a great reward." Fourth, with good deeds, sins are forgiven, as He said: « اِنَّ الْحَسَنٰتِ يُذْهِبْنَ السَّيِّاٰتِ » [ ھود : ۱۱۴ ] "Indeed, good deeds remove bad deeds."

➏ {اِنَّ اللّٰهَ غَفُوْرٌ شَكُوْرٌ: ’’ اِنَّ ‘‘} is used for reasoning, meaning We increase the good deeds of the doer of good because Allah is very forgiving of sins and greatly appreciates good deeds.

23. 1 That is, He will increase the reward, or after a good deed, He will grant the ability to do more good deeds as a recompense, just as the recompense for evil is the commission of further evils.

23. 2 That is why He conceals and forgives, and grants the maximum reward.

That is the grace of which Allah gives glad tidings to His servants who believe and do righteous deeds. Say, "I do not ask you for any reward for this except the love of kinship [34]." And whoever earns a good deed, We will increase for him goodness [35] therein. Surely, Allah is Forgiving and Appreciative.

[34]
The Different Meanings of ﴿الا المودّة فى القربيٰ﴾:

Several interpretations of this phrase have been mentioned, but the best interpretation is the one narrated in the Sahihain from Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), and it is as follows: Someone asked Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), "What is the meaning of ﴿الَّا الْمَوَدَّةَ فِي الْقُرْبٰي﴾?" Sa'id bin Jubair (may Allah be pleased with him) immediately said that it refers to your family. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said, "You are being hasty. The fact is that there was no clan of the Quraysh with whom the Prophet ﷺ did not have some relation. So Allah Almighty said to His Prophet: Tell them, if you do nothing else (do not become Muslims), then at least consider the ties of kinship (and stop harming me)." [بخاري۔ كتاب التفسير]
Another interpretation is that here ﴿قُرْبٰي﴾ means nearness or closeness. In this sense, it means that I do not ask you for any reward for this work except that love for attaining closeness to Allah develops among you. That is, you become righteous and begin to love Allah. This alone is my reward. A third group takes ﴿قُرْبٰي﴾ in this verse to mean relatives. Then, one faction interprets this love as love for Banu Abd al-Muttalib, and another as love for Sayyidah Fatimah al-Zahra (may Allah be pleased with her), Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and their children. This interpretation is incorrect for the following reasons.

The Shi'a Argument from ﴿مودّة فى القربيٰ﴾ and Its Response:

1. Due to your ﷺ mother and your ﷺ wife Sayyidah Khadijah al-Kubra (may Allah be pleased with her), your ﷺ kinship was not limited to Banu Abd al-Muttalib alone, but was with almost all the clans of Quraysh. And among Banu Abd al-Muttalib, some were on your ﷺ side and some were severe enemies. Everyone knows about Abu Lahab's enmity towards you. The same was the case with the rest of the Quraysh clans. Therefore, there is no reason for such specification.
2. To take ﴿قُرْبٰي﴾ to mean Sayyidah Fatimah and Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with them) and their children is incorrect because this Surah is Makki, and the marriage of Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her) took place only after migrating to Madinah.
3. And the most important reason for the incorrectness of this interpretation is that to demand from people, "I do not ask you for any reward for this preaching except that you love my relatives," is extremely low and inferior compared to the lofty status of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, especially when such a demand is made from disbelievers. How could there be any question of demanding a reward from disbelievers? A reward can only be asked from someone who likes the work, and the disbelievers had become your enemies because of this preaching. Could such a demand be made from them? However, it should be clear that loving your Ahl al-Bayt, the pure wives (may Allah be pleased with them), your daughters, and all other relatives, including Sayyidah Fatimah (may Allah be pleased with her), Sayyiduna Ali (may Allah be pleased with him), and their children, is necessary for the believers in terms of love, respect, and recognition of the rights of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. And to love them in degrees is, in reality, a requirement of love for you ﷺ. Such love can be demanded from Muslims, not from disbelievers, whereas in this verse the address is to the disbelievers.

[35] That is, whoever wants to become righteous, Allah makes him even more righteous. If there are any shortcomings in his deeds, He forgives them, and whatever good deeds they perform, He appreciates and encourages them and grants them greater reward.