Verse of Obedience

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The Verse of Obedience (Arabic: آيَة ٱلطَّاعَة) refers to verse 4:59 of the central religious text in Islam, the Quran, which reads

O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority (uli al-amr) among you. And if you differ among yourselves concerning any matter, refer it to God and the Messenger, if you believe in God and the Last Day. That is better, and fairer in outcome.[1]

In Sunni Islam, those in authority in this verse variously refers to Caliphs Abu Bakr and Umar, the (military) commanders of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, his companions, or religious scholars, though the prevalent Sunni view identifies those in authority as the rulers of the Muslim communities. In Twelver Shia Islam, those in authority are the Twelve Imams, and the absolute obedience mandated in this verse is viewed as evidence of the Imams' infallibility.

Sunni view

The obedience to Muhammad and those in authority is tantamount in this verse to the obedience to God, which al-Tabari (d. 310/923) supports with a prophetic hadith in his exegesis. After his death, most commentators interpret obedience to Muhammad as following his precedence (Sunna).[1]

Considering its political significance, there are various views about the identity of those in authority in this verse, reflecting the theological and political groups in early Islam.[2] Some of the hadiths reported by Ibn Kathir (d. 774/1373), al-Tabari, and al-Wahidi (d. 468/1076) identify those in authority as Muhammad's (military) commanders.[1] This is the view of Blankinship, who also believes that the absolute obedience in this verse is somewhat tempered by verse 3:159, which instructs Muhammad to consult his followers before making a decision.[3] Yet other traditions presented by al-Tabari and al-Qurtubi (d. 671/1272) identify those in authority in the Verse of Obedience as religious scholars,[1] while some other Sunnis identify them as Muhammad's companions[2] or the first two caliphs after Muhammad, namely, Abu Bakr and Umar.[1] The prevalent Sunni view is that those in authority refers to the rulers of the Muslim community.[2]

Twelver Shia view

As reported in Tafsir al-tibyan and Tafsir al-Qomi,[4] the Twelver traditions identify those in authority in the Verse of Obedience as the Twelve Imams, who are viewed as infallible divine guides after Muhammad.[5][6] The Sunni al-Tabari reports a tradition attributed to the fifth Imam al-Baqir where those in authority are instead identified as (religious) scholars, though he also suppresses the hadiths that favor the Twelver view and includes the Sunni hadiths that specify those in authority as Abu Bakr and Umar.[4]

Occultation

The twelfth Imam is the eschatological Muhammad al-Mahdi, who is expected to reappear from occultation (874-present) in the end of time to fill the earth with peace and justice.[7] While the uli al-amr in the Verse of Obedience is traditionally limited to the Imams in Twelver Shia, Sadr (d. 1980) recently extended it to include Shia jurists in a novel reading of the traditions. Montazeri (d. 2009) made a similar comment before retracting it. Their view is rejected by Shamsuddin who argues that the verse does not grant jurists a mandate to rule even if it gives them the authority to issue legally-binding rulings in the context of Shia jurisprudence (fiqh).[8]

Justice

A Sunni hadith asserts that a Muslim would be rewarded for obeying those in authority regardless of their virtue, as reported by Ibn Kathir and al-Tabari. Another well-known Sunni tradition reads, "One day of anarchy is worse than a thousand years of tyranny." Yet other hadiths forbid Muslims from obeying anyone in disobedience to God. Some Sunnis have thus limited those in authority in the Verse of Obedience to just rulers.[1]

Infallibility

The Sunni al-Razi (d. 606/1210) argues in his al-Tafsir al-kabir that the absolute obedience in this verse to those in authority necessitates their infallibility because obedience to those who sin is prohibited in verse 76:24, "Do not yield to any of these sinners and disbelievers," and also in verses 2:229 and 26:151. Yet al-Razi considers the Muslim community collectively as an infallible entity instead of those in authority.[9] As noted by Mavani, the Shia criticism of this view is that the consensus of Muslims is invalid for selecting a successor to Muhammad.[9] This view is elaborated by Madelung who writes that the succession of prophets is a matter that is settled in the Quran by divine selection and not by the community. In particular, he adds, God selects their successors from their own families, whether or not those successors become prophets themselves.[10] Jafri and Abbas have similar views.[11][12]

The Verse of Obedience mandates absolute obedience to God, Muhammad, and the Imams in Twelver Shia,[5] where this verse is also viewed as evidence of the spiritual infallibility (isma) of the Imams because, they argue, God would only demand obedience to someone protected from religious error.[13][14]

Arbitration

After Muhammad's death, the Verse of Obedience stipulates that disagreements are to be arbitrated by referring to the Quran and Sunna. While those in authority are absent from arbitration here, they are mentioned elsewhere in verse 5:83, which includes the passage, "And whenever tidings come unto them, whether of security or fear, they spread it about, whereas had they referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, those of them whose task it is to investigate would have known it."[15] Lalani attributes to the Twelver Imam al-Baqir (d. c. 114/732) this argument,[16] which also appears in al-Jami' li-ahkam al-Quran by the Sunni al-Qurtubi (d. 671/1272).[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f Nasr et al. 2015, p. 532.
  2. ^ a b c Kadi 2001, p. 189.
  3. ^ Blankinship 2003, p. 567.
  4. ^ a b Lalani 2000, p. 145.
  5. ^ a b Mavani 2013, pp. 11–2.
  6. ^ Steigerwald 2008, pp. 373–4.
  7. ^ Momen 1985, p. 166.
  8. ^ Mavani 2013, p. 150.
  9. ^ a b Mavani 2013, p. 102.
  10. ^ Madelung 1997, p. 17.
  11. ^ Jafri 1979, pp. 14–6.
  12. ^ Abbas 2021, p. 93.
  13. ^ Nasr et al. 2015, pp. 533–4.
  14. ^ Mavani 2013, p. 90.
  15. ^ a b Nasr et al. 2015, p. 533.
  16. ^ Lalani 2000, pp. 63–4.

Sources

  • Nasr, S.H.; Dagli, C.K.; Dakake, M.M.; Lumbard, J.E.B.; Rustom, M., eds. (2015). The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary. Harper Collins. ISBN 9780062227621.
  • Lalani, Arzina R. (2000). Early Shi'i Thought: The Teachings of Imam Muhammad al-Baqir. I. B. Tauris. ISBN 978-1860644344.
  • Momen, M. (1985). An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300034998.
  • Steigerwald, Diana (2008), "Twelver Shīʿī Taʾwīl", The Blackwell Companion to the Qurʾān, Blackwell Companions to Religion, Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, pp. 373–385, ISBN 978-1-4051-7844-0
  • Kadi, Wadad (2001). "Authority". In McAuliffe, Jane Dammen (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. Vol. 1. Brill. pp. 188–90. ISBN 90-04-14743-8.
  • Blankinship, Khalid Yahya (2003). "Obedience". In McAuliffe, Jane Dammen (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Qurʾān. Vol. 3. Brill. pp. 566–9. ISBN 90-04-14743-8.
  • Madelung, Wilferd (1997). The Succession to Muhammad: A Study of the Early Caliphate. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-64696-3.
  • Abbas, Hassan (2021). The Prophet's Heir: the Life of Ali ibn Abi Talib. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300252057.
  • Jafri, S.H.M (1979). Origins and Early Development of Shia Islam. London: Longman.
  • Mavani, Hamid (2013), Religious Authority and Political Thought in Twelver Shiʿism: From Ali to Post-Khomeini, Routledge Studies in Political Islam, Abingdon: Routledge, ISBN 978-1-135-04473-2
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