Verse 5:67 and Ghadir

Reposted

---

Salaam Brother,

I hope you had a wonderful Eid. My question is regarding verse 5:67 and the Asbab al-nuzul for this specific verse. The Shia claim that it was revealed at Ghadir Khumm to tell the Prophet s.a.w. to announce the guardianship of Imam Ali (as). My contention is that the verse's context is referring to the people of the Book and it's made fairly clear if you look at 5:66, and 5:68.

I just wanted the Zaidi view regarding the tafsir of this certain verse, and if it was revealed at Ghadir Khumm, why does the context not fit into it? JazakAllah Khair,

Walakam as salaam

---

As salaamu alaykum, brother.

How are things on the facebook page?

Regarding your question, there is consensus amongst the Zaidi imams and scholars that the aforementioned verse was revealed about 'Ali bin Abi Talib (as) on The Day of Ghadeer Khumm. I'll just cite a couple of Zaidi sources to show this.

In the tafseer of Imam Zaid bin Ali (As) called Ghareeb al-Qur'aan, Imam Zayd (as) said: "This is about Ali bin Abi Talib (as) specifically." In the tafseer of al-Habri (286 AH), it says:

It was revealed about Ali bin Abi Taalib (as). Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, was commanded to convey it. Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, took Ali's hand and said: ((Whomsoever I am his guardian, Ali is his guardian. O Allah, befriend those who befriend him and oppose those who oppose him)).

The tafseer of al-A'qam from the 9th century similarly narrates the above. Sunni books of exegesis, such as Asbaab an-Nuzul of al-Wahidi and Ad-Durr al-Manthur of as-Suyuti, also state that it was revealed at Ghadeer.

As for your question regarding the context of the verse preventing its application to Ali and Ghadeer, it must be understood that the general consensus of Muslim scholars is that it is permissible and possible that a verse's revelation can be unrelated to the other verses in its context. That is to say that the placing of a verse is not always related to its revelatory context. For example, the revelation of the Verse of Purification 33:33 is not at all related to the Prophet's wives despite the fact that the preceding and following verses are related to the wives. This is not uncommon in the Qur'an.

We say that in addition to the existence of ahadith and reports that 5:67 was revealed at Ghadeer, it is logically unlikely that it was revealed concerning the People of the Book. First, are we to assume that at such a late stage of the Prophet's mission, he would be afraid to convey the Qur'an to the People of the Book? Remember that Surah Ma'ida was revealed in Medina and it was one of the last revelations to be revealed. The Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, boldly declared the revelation in Mecca when the mushrikun belied him and sought his blood. He made the hijra to Medina, won several battles, and overcame the pagan meccans. The deen was established with its base in Medina. With all of this information, it is highly unlikely that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, would fear for his life from the People of the Book.

Also, read the verse carefully, it says: {If you do not do it, you would not have conveyed His Message at all} As evident from the verse, something was revealed to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny. The verse doesnt say what this thing was. But this thing that the Prophet was to convey was something so important that his not conveying it would amount to him not reciting any revelation at all! This revelation referred to cannot refer to the Qur'an as a whole because as we said, this was revealed in Mednia near the end of the message. This cannot refer to any portion of the Qur'an because the Prophet was commanded at the beginning of his message {Read in the Name of your Lord...}. So, it does not make sense that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, would withhold any portion of the Qur'an. Interestingly enough, A'isha uses the verse 5:67 as a proof that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, did not withhold any portion of the Qur'an due to fear.

So we have to ask: "What is it that the Prophet was commanded to convey?" Not only that, but also "What was it that he was to convey that would equate to not conveying the Qur'an at all if he were to neglect it?" Those who say that this is related to the people of the Book would have to come up with a valid explanation as to what was the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, commanded to convey to the People of the Book. They cant say that he was commanded to convey a whole or portion of the Qur'an due to the reasons we mentioned above.

As for the portion: {and Allah will protect you from the people}, we cannot say that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, feared the Jews and Christians because he had--according to many narrations--already prevented himself from being guarded. As you know, a group of Companions used to stand guard over the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, however, as early as mecca, he told them that they did not have to guard him anymore. It is therefore unlikely that he would fear for his life in Medina after having released his guards years earlier. There are some reports that says that when this verse was revealed, the Prophet released his guards, but these narrations contradict each other. Some say that he did this in mecca when the verse was revealed but this is impossible because the verse was revealed in Medina. Some say that he released his guards in Medina when this verse was revealed but this contradicts the reports that said that he released them in Mecca. Even furthermore, some of those who say that this verse was revealed about the People of the Book similarly say that the Prophet died due to being poisoned by a Jewish woman. This contradicts that this verse meant that Allah would protect him from the People of the Book.

We say that this verse was revealed at Ghadeer Khumm. This is more likely for the following reasons:
1.) the verse was revealed near the end of the Prophetic mission and Ghadeer Khumm happened near the end of the prophetic mission;
2.) the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, was commanded to convey the wilaya of Ali (as) and not convey an additional verse of Qur'an;
3.) the conveying of the wilaya of Ali (as) is equated with the conveying of the Qur'an, and the proof is Hadith ath-Thaqalain where the Qur'an and Prophetic Descendants are equated;
4.) the existence of ahadith and narrations that mention it;
5.) the consensus of Ahl al-Bayt supports it, which serves as a proof in itself due to ahadith such as Hadith Thaqalain and others;
6.) The portion {and Allah will protect you from the people} is reconciled with the fact that the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, would be protected from any false charges and criticisms after appointing Ali (as);
7.) If we accept the Ghadeer interpretation, it would mean that Allah's Messenger, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, did not fear the people of the Book for the reasons we mentioned above;

As for the end of the verse {Allah guides not the disbelieving people (qawm al-kafireen)}, it would seem as though this portion of the verse justifies the view that it was revealed about the People of the Book. There are two possible answers for that. Either one, this later portion is not included in the verses revealed about Ali (as). Or the second view is that disbelieving people does not refer to the People of the Book. Rather, it refers to those hypocrites in the Muslim nation that sought to destroy Islam from within. By the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him and his progeny, openly declaring his successorship on Ghadeer Khumm, Allah frustrated any plans of those hypocrites.

And Allah knows best!

IRS