Appearance
Verses 72–75
These verses wrap up the chapter. They refer to some of what was said at the outset of the chapter. They affirm the ties of loyalty between the faithful—apart from those who declined to migrate—and sever ties of loyalty with the faithless.
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَهَاجَرُوا وَجَاهَدُوا بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنْفُسِهِمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ آوَوْا وَنَصَرُوا أُولَٰئِكَ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ ۚ وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَلَمْ يُهَاجِرُوا مَا لَكُمْ مِنْ وَلَايَتِهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ حَتَّىٰ يُهَاجِرُوا ۚ وَإِنِ اسْتَنْصَرُوكُمْ فِي الدِّينِ فَعَلَيْكُمُ النَّصْرُ إِلَّا عَلَىٰ قَوْمٍ بَيْنَكُمْ وَبَيْنَهُمْ مِيثَاقٌ ۗ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ بَصِيرٌ ٧٢
(8:72) Those who believed and migrated and strove with their wealth and their selves in the way of Allah, and those who gave shelter and aid are guardians of each other. Those who believed but did not migrate are not under your guardianship in any way until they migrate. If they ask you for help for the sake of religion, you must help them unless it is against a people whom you have a treaty with. Allah sees what you do.
Those who believed and migrated refers to the first group of the Migrants, who left before the revelation of this chapter, as indicated by what is mentioned in the last verse. Those who gave shelter and aid refers to the Helpers, who sheltered the Prophet and the faithful who migrated, and aided God and His Messenger. In those days, those two groups comprised all the Muslims, apart from a handful who accepted Islam in Mecca but had not migrated.
God placed loyalty between them by saying: [they] are guardians of each other (awliyāʾ). Wilāyah (“alliance”, “guardianship”, “loyalty”) as used here is more expansive than wilāyah in the sense of authority over matters of inheritance, mutual aid pacts, or non-aggression pacts. Here, it means that if just one Muslim gave a pledge of security to a single member of the faithless, all the Muslims would have to respect that. Therefore, all Muslims share authority and guardianship over each other: a single Migrant or a single Helper could do this on behalf of all the Migrants and Helpers. This is evinced by the fact that the statement about guardianship in the verse is unconditional.
Refuting a view: There is no evidence in the verse to suggest that the verse is speaking about the decree that the Prophet passed at the outset of the migration. At that time, he made pacts of brotherhood between the Migrants and the Helpers and declared that they would inherit from each other; this continued for a time, until that decree was rescinded.
Those who believed but did not migrate are not under your guardianship in any way until they migrate. If they ask you for help for the sake of religion, you must help them unless it is against a people whom you have a treaty with. Allah sees what you do: The meaning of this is clear: the faithful who did not migrate are not under the formal protection of the Migrants or the Helpers. However, if they ask for aid for the sake of religion, then that aid must be given, unless it involves violating a pact made between the Muslims and a group of the non-believers.
وَالَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلِيَاءُ بَعْضٍ ۚ إِلَّا تَفْعَلُوهُ تَكُنْ فِتْنَةٌ فِي الْأَرْضِ وَفَسَادٌ كَبِيرٌ ٧٣
(8:73) The faithless are guardians of each other. If you do not do this, chaos and great corruption shall spread throughout the land.
Meaning, the faithless look after each other, and do not extend this protection to the faithful. Therefore, the faithful may not take them as allies, since God says that they are guardians of each other. This is a legislation and command expressed in the form of a declarative sentence. Legislating loyalty between the faithless may not have any other meaning except that their allegiance do not extend to the faithful. Therefore, the faithful must not take them as allies.
If you do not do this, chaos and great corruption shall spread throughout the land: This explains the wisdom behind assigning loyalties in this way. Every human society must have some sort of system of alliances with other societies. This is particularly important for the Islamic society, which is founded upon following the truth and spreading divine justice. On the other hand, alliances with the faithless (kuffār), who are the enemies of such a society, leads to intermixing between them and Muslims, causing their beliefs and customs to leak into their society, spoiling the clear Islamic path towards the truth through their clear march towards vain desires and servitude towards Satan. Historical events from that time testify to what is referred to in this verse.
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَهَاجَرُوا وَجَاهَدُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَالَّذِينَ آوَوْا وَنَصَرُوا أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ حَقًّا ۚ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ وَرِزْقٌ كَرِيمٌ ٧٤
(8:74) Those who believed and migrated and strove in Allah’s way, and those who gave shelter and aid are the true faithful. They have forgiveness and a generous sustenance.
These are the effects of true faith. A person who exhibits these effects can be described as a true believer. It promises those who have this type of faith forgiveness and a generous sustenance.
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْ بَعْدُ وَهَاجَرُوا وَجَاهَدُوا مَعَكُمْ فَأُولَٰئِكَ مِنْكُمْ ۚ وَأُولُو الْأَرْحَامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلَىٰ بِبَعْضٍ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ ۗ إِنَّ اللَّهَ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ ٧٥
(8:75) Those who believed afterwards, and migrated and strove with you are one of you. Blood relatives have a greater claim on each other in the Book of Allah. Allah knows all things.
This addresses the first group of Migrants and the Helpers, and extends to anyone who believed, then migrated, then strove with them; all of them are guardians of each other.
Blood relatives have a greater claim on each other in the Book of Allah. Allah knows all things: This sentence places authority (wilāyah) between kinsfolk with respect to inheritance, even though other aspects of mutual guardianship (wilāyah) are not limited to kinsfolk.
This verse () abrogates the decree about inheritance that the Prophet made at the outset of the Migration. [That is, that those Migrants and Helpers who took a pact of brotherhood at the hand of the Prophet would inherit from each other.] It establishes that blood relatives inherit from each other, whether they are specifically named as inheritors (as part of the sahm) or are paternal relatives (ʿaṣabah), or not. The decree in the verse is absolute, as is apparent.
Examining Narrations
- In Majmaʿ al-Bayān, it is related from [Imām] al-Bāqir:
Those who had taken a pact of brotherhood used to inherit from each other.
Author’s comments: However, this narration does not prove that this verse was revealed about the pact of brotherhood.
- In al-Kāfī, via a chain of narration from Abū Baṣīr, it is related that Abū Jaʿfar [Imām al-Bāqir] said:
Maternal uncles and aunts inherit if there is no one else. God says: Blood relatives have a greater claim on each other in the Book of Allah ().
Author’s comments: Al-ʿAyyāshi relates this from Abū Baṣīr from him [Imām al-Bāqir], without a chain of narration.
- In Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, it is related from Zurārah that Abū Jaʿfar [Imām al-Bāqir] said regarding Blood relatives have a greater claim on each other in the Book of Allah ():
Some relatives have a greater right to inheritance than others, since they are closer to the deceased.
The nearest to the deceased are his mother, his half-brother and sister from the mother’s side, and his father. They are the closest to him. Is not the mother closer to the deceased than his brothers and sisters?
- In Tafsīr al-ʿAyyāshī, it is related from Ibn Sinān that Abū ʿAbd Allāh [Imām al-Ṣādiq] said:
When ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib and ʿUthman ibn ʿAffān disagreed over a man who had died and did not have any relatives who were part of the group who were allocated inheritance, but who had other kinsfolk who were not meant to inherit him, he [ʿUthmān] said, “They do not have any consideration in this matter.”
ʿAlī replied, “The inheritance goes to his kinsfolk, since God said: Blood relatives have a greater claim on each other in the Book of Allah ().”
ʿUthmān said, “I will put the inheritance into the Muslim treasury, and none of his kinsfolk will inherit from him.”
Author’s comments: There are many Shiʿi narrations recanting the idea [found in Sunni fiqh] that when the inheritance is bigger than the shares, the remnant goes to the male relatives from the father’s side, and which cite this verse as evidence.
- In al-Durr al-Manthūr, it is related from al-Ṭayālisī, al-Ṭabarānī, Abū al-Shaykh, and Ibn Mardawayh that Ibn ʿAbbās said:
The Messenger of God made brothers of his companions and had them inherit from each other, until this verse was revealed: Blood relatives have a greater claim on each other in the Book of Allah (). Then, they stopped doing that and inherited in accordance with kin ties.
- In Maʿānī al-Akhbār, via an incomplete chain of narration, it is related from Mūsā ibn Jaʿfar [Imām al-Kāẓim] regarding what transpired between himself and Hārūn [al-Rashīd]:
Hārūn said, “How can you claim that you inherit from the Messenger of God, while the uncle supersedes the nephew in inheriting? When the Messenger of God died, Abu Ṭālib had predeceased him, whereas his uncle al-ʿAbbās was alive.”
The discussion continued, until I replied, “The Prophet did not leave any inheritance to anyone who did not migrate. They did not have any tie of allegiance to him until they migrated.”
He asked, “What is your evidence for that?”
I said, “The word of God, the Blessed and Exalted: Those who believed but did not migrate are not under your guardianship in any way until they migrate (). My [forefather’s] uncle al-ʿAbbās had not migrated.”
He said, “I ask you, O Mūsā, have you given any of our opponents a fatwa based on that line of argumentation, or have you told any of the jurists anything regarding this matter?”
I said, “By God, no—no one asked me about it except the Commander of the Faithful.”
Author’s comments: Al-Mufīd also relates this in al-Ikhtiṣāṣ.
Wilāyah, as a technical term, can refer to various forms of authority, such as governorship and legal representation. In this set of verses, it is used first in a sociopolitical manner, and here to refer to legal authority over inheritance. ʿAllāmah is distinguishing between these types of authority denoted by the same word. [Trans.] ↩︎
The nearest to the deceased are his mother, his half brother and sister from the mother side, and his father. The nearest to the deceased are his mother, and his full brother and sister. [Ed.] ↩︎
The translator did not find this narration in Maʿānī al-Akhbār, but it is present in ʿUyūn Akhbār al-Riḍā which is by the same compiler. [Trans.] ↩︎
Therefore, ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, as a nephew, would not have inherited from him. The ʿAbbasids traced their lineage to al-ʿAbbās, and therefore Hārūn al-Rashīd is arguing they have a greater claim to inherited rule from the Prophet than the Imams. [Trans.] ↩︎
That is, there is more dialogue here that was not reproduced in the exegesis but which can be found in the books of narration, such as ʿUyūn Akhbār al-Riḍā. [Trans.] ↩︎