CHAPTER 3 (Surah Āl ‘Imrān), VERSES 33 -34
إِنَّ اللَّـهَ اصْطَفَىٰ آدَمَ وَنُوحًا وَآلَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ وَآلَ عِمْرَانَ عَلَى الْعَالَمِينَ ﴿٣٣﴾ ذُرِّيَّةً بَعْضُهَا مِن بَعْضٍۗ
وَاللَّـهُ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ ﴿٣٤﴾
Surely Allāh chose Adam and Nuh and the descendants of Ibrāhīm and the descendants of ‘Īmrān above all the worlds (33), Offspring, one of the other; and Allāh is Hearing, Knowing (34).
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COMMENTARY
Now begins the story of ‘Īsā, son of Maryam, with all the related topics, sifting the truth from the falsehoods that cover his life and personality; the chapter further offers clear arguments against the People of the Book. The two verses serve as the joining link between the coming discourse about ‘Īsā (a.s.) and the preceding verses regarding the People of the Book.
QUR’ĀN:
Surely Allāh chose Adam and Nūh . .: It was explained under the verse 2:130 (and most certainly We chose him in this world) that ‘‘al-istifā’ ’’( ا
َلْاِصْطِفَآءُ ) means to take the choicest part of a thing; to purify a thing from all impurities. It may be translated, for all practical purposes, as selection or choosing. Comparing it with various stages of ‘‘al-wilāyah’’( ا
َلْوِلَايَةُ = friendship of Allāh), we find that it fits perfectly the stage of ‘‘Islam’’, that is, total surrender of the servant to the will of his Lord, being truly happy with what the Lord decrees for him.
But that ‘‘selection’’ is not what this verse implies. It does not say,
Allāh chose them from among the worlds. It says, He chose them ‘‘above all the worlds’’. ‘‘From among the worlds’’ would have implied that only they were the Muslims; that the total surrender to the will of Allāh was exclusively reserved for them. Obviously, such a connotation would be wrong. The clause used in the verse, ‘‘above all the worlds’’, has given a new connotation to the selection, and shows that they were chosen and given excellence and precedence over other people in some things exclusively given to them. To appreciate the difference between the two selections, look at the verse 3:42 which says: And when the angels said: ‘‘O Maryam! surely Allāh has chosen you and purified you and chosen you above the women of the worlds’’, Clearly the first choosing is related to her own virtues without looking at anyone else, and the second implies a sense of comparison, exalting her over all other women.
First of the chosen ones was Adam (a.s.). He was the first human vicegerent of Allāh appointed for this earth, as Allāh says: And when your Lord said to the angels, ‘‘Verily I am going to make in the earth a vicegerent’’ . (2:30); was the first to open the door of repentance and Divine forgiveness, as Allāh says: Then his Lord chose him, so He turned to him (i.e., with forgiveness) and guided him (20:122); and was the first of those for whom Allāh ordained the religion, as He says: So if there comes to you guidance from Me, then whoever follows My guidance, he shall not go astray nor be unhappy (20:123). These virtues exclusively belong to him, and enough are they for one’s excellence!
Then the verse mentions Nūh (a.s.). He was the first of the five ulu ’l-‘azm apostles who were given a Divine Book and a new sharī‘ah, as we explained under the verse: Mankind was but one people, so Allāh sent the prophets . (2:213). Also, he was the second father of the human race; and Allāh sent peace on him in the worlds, saying: And We made his offspring the survivors. AndWe
perpetuated to him (praise) among the later generations. Peacebe
on Nuh in all the worlds (37:77 - 79).
Then Allāh mentions the descendants of Ibrāhīm and thedescendants of ‘Imrān among the chosen ones. ‘‘al-Āl’’( ا
َلْآلْ ) of a man is someone closely related to him. ar-Rāghib says in his Mufradātu ’l- Qur’ān: ‘‘al-Āl: It is said that it is an altered form of al-ahl; yet its diminutive, al-uhayl( ا
َلْاُهَيْلُ ) has got the ‘‘h’’ ( ه ) restored; but it has the peculiarity that, unlike al-ahl, it is always annexed (in genitive construction) to the proper names of rational beings, and not to common nouns, places or eras. It is said: Āl of Zayd; but not āl of man, nor āl of this place or that period. Also they do not, for example, say, āl of the tailor; rather it is always annexed to a great and noble personality, for example, āl of the Sultan, āl of Allāh. As for al-ahl, it is annexed to all types of words; for example, they say, ahl of Allāh, ahl of the tailor; likewise they say, ahl of this era, ahl of that town etc. (On the other hand) some people say that al-āl actually means the name of a person; and that its diminutive is uwayl اُوَيْلُ ) ); and it is used for someone who is very closely and personally related to a person, either by close kinship or by love and attachment.’’
Accordingly, āl of Ibrāhīm and āl of ‘Imrān mean their closely related family members and those who were exclusively attached to them.
(That is why we have translated the word as ‘descendants’.)
Obviously, āl of Ibrāhīm should refer to all the purified ones among his descendants, for example, Ishāq, Israel and other prophets from the house of Israel as well as Ismā‘īl and his purified descendants, chief of whom was Muhammad (may Allāh bless him and his progeny); and those who followed them to various stages of the friendship of Allāh. But the verse then mentions āl of ‘Imrān, and it shows that āl of Ibrahim does not have such a wide connotation. The said ‘Imrān is either the father of Maryam or the father of Mūsā (a.s.), and in any case he was himself a descendant of Ibrāhīm (a.s.) and so were his descendants; by mentioning them separately, it has been made clear that the phrase āl Ibrāhīm( ال
ُ اِبْرِاهيْمُ = the descendants of Ibrāhīm) refers to some, and not all, of his purified descendants.
Allāh has said in another place in the Qur’ān: Or do they envy the people for what Allāh has given them of His grace? So indeedWe
have given to Ibrāhīm’s children (descendants) the Book and the wisdom, and We have given them a grand kingdom (4:54). The context shows that this verse describes and condemns the envy of the Israelites which they felt against Muhammad (s.a.w.a.). Other verses too support this interpretation. And it makes it clear that the phrase, ‘‘descendants of Ibrāhīm’’, does not include here the Israelites; in other words it has been used for Ibrāhīm’s descendants other than Ishāq, Ya‘qūb and the progeny ofYa‘qūb
(who are generally called the Israelites). After excluding that branch, the only descendants to whom this phrase is applicable areIsmā‘īl
and his purified descendants, including the Prophet and his progeny. (Allāh willing, we shall later prove that the word, ‘‘the people’’, used in the verse 4:54, refers to the Prophet, and that undoubtedly he is one of the ‘‘descendants of Ibrāhīm’’ mentioned therein.)
Some other verses also support this connotation. For example: Most surely the nearest of people to Ibrāhīm are those who followed him and this Prophet and those who believe; and Allāh is the guardian of the believers (3:68). And when Ibrāhīm andIsmā‘īl
were raising the foundations of the House: Our Lord!accept
from us; surely Thou art the Hearing, the Knowing; Our Lord!and
make us both submissive to Thee and (raise) from our offspring a group submitting to Thee, and show us our ways of devotion and turn to us (mercifully), surely Thou art the Oftreturning (with mercy), the Merciful. Our Lord!and
raise up in them an Apostle from among themselves who shall recite to them Thy communications and teach them the Book and the wisdom, and purify them; surely Thou art the Mighty, the Wise (2:127 - 129).
The phrase, the descendants of Ibrāhīm, therefore, refers to his offspring from the branch ofIsmā‘īl
.
It should be pointed out here that the verse in no way implies any exclusiveness; it simply says that certain named prophets and families were chosen and given excellence over the nations; it does not say that others were not chosen or exalted. It follows that:-
1. There is no discrepancy between this verse (which is silent about the excellence of Ibrāhīm (a.s
.) himself, and of Mūsā (a.s.) and other Israelite prophets) and numerous other verses which eulogize their virtues and excellence. (TheQur’ān,
contains very many such verses and there is no need to quote them here.) However, as we said, to affirm one thing does not mean to negate or reject the others.
2. Likewise, there is no conflict between this verse and those which bestow similar excellence to the Children of Israel; for example: And certainlyWe
gave the Book and the wisdom and the prophecy to the Children of Israel, and We gave them of the goodly things, and We made them excel the nations (45:16).
3. The factthat
two prophets and two families were exalted and given excellence over the nations, does not mean that others could not similarly be given excellence over the nations; nor that some others could not be exalted and given excellence over those already exalted. Giving excellence to one or various groups and nations only implies that they were given precedence, in some worldly or other worldly virtue, over those below them. It does not say anything on whether some others could be given excellence over them or whether some others too could be exalted over the worlds.
4. They were chosen over all the worlds. This is not in conflict with the concept that some among them were made to excel the others. We know that Allāh chose the prophets over all other people, but at the same time He gave some of them more prestige than the others. He says: and every one (i.e., of the prophets)We
made to excel the world (6:87). And again He says: and certainlyWe
have made some of the prophets to excel others . (17:55).
Now we come to the ‘‘descendants of ‘Imrān’’: Apparently the name, ‘Imrān, refers to the father of Maryam. These two verses are immediately followed by the stories of the wife of ‘Imrān and their daughter, Maryam; moreover, ‘Imrān, father of Maryam, has been repeatedly mentioned by his name in the Qur’ān, while ‘Imrān, father of Mūsā, has not been mentioned even once in a way as to make it clear that it was he who was intended. All this supports the view that here too ‘Imrān refers to the father of Maryam; and ‘‘āl ‘Imrān’’( ال
ُ عِمْرَانُ = translated here as descendants of ‘Imrān) refers to Maryam and ‘Īsā (peace be on both of them), alone or together with the wife of ‘Imrān.
Reportedly the Christians do not agree that Maryam’s father was called ‘Imrān: but the Qur’ān is not bound to cater to their views.
QUR’ĀN:
Offspring, one from the other: It is said that ‘‘adhdhurriyyah’’( ا
َلذُّرِّيَّةُ ) originally meant small children: later the meaning was extended to cover all the offspring. It is the latter meaning that is implied in this verse. The word is in the accusative because it has the force of an explanatory conjunction.
The clause, ‘‘one from the other’’, shows that if you look at any one of the group, it begins from, and returns to, the others. In other words, the whole is made of similarparts,
one part does not differ from the other in its attributes and qualifications. The clause, in the framework of its theme and context, implies that these descendants do not differ from one another in the attributes of excellence, and that it is for this reason that Allāh made them to excel over the worlds; actions of Allāh are not done haphazardly or at random - surely such a selection cannot be done recklessly, because it is the spring-head of such good thing in this world.
QUR’ĀN:
And Allāh is Hearing, Knowing: Allāh hears their speech which shows their inner thoughts; He knows what is in their minds and hearts. This concluding sentence gives the reason why they were chosen. And the preceding clause, ‘‘Offspring, one from the other’’, explains why the whole group was considered worthy of this Divine selection. The verse implies the following connotation: Allāh made them to excel the worlds; that excellence and selection covered them all, because they were a group, each of them being similar to the others, in their spiritual sublimity, surrender of hearts and established truth of the words; Allāh, bestowed this excellence on them because He is the Hearing and Knowing, He hears what they say, and knows what is in their minds.
TRADITIONS
ar-Ridā
(a.s.) had a talk with al-Ma’mūn; during which al-Ma’mūn said: ‘‘Has Allāh given the offspring (of the Prophet - s.a.w.a.) excellence over all other people?’’ Abu ’l-Hasan (ar-Ridā - a.s.) said: ‘‘Indeed Allāh has clearly described, in His decisive Book, the excellence of the (said) offspring over all the people.’’ al-Ma’mūn asked: ‘‘Where is it in the Book of Allāh?’’ ar-Ridā (a.s.) said: ‘‘In His words: Surely Allāh chose Adam and Nūh the descendants of Ibrāhīm and the descendants of ‘Imrān above all the worlds; offspring, one from the other . .’’ (‘Uyūnu ’l-akhbār)
Ahmad ibn Muhammad narrates from ar-Ridā (a.s
.) (who narrates) from Abū Ja‘far (a.s.) that he said: ‘‘Liar is he who thinks that He (Allāh) is finished with the (management of the) affairs, because the pleasure is of Allāh regarding His creation; He wills what He pleases and does what He pleases. Allāh has said: offspring, one from the other, and Allāh is the Hearing, the Knowing. Its (i.e., the offspring’s) last is from its first, and its first is from its last. Therefore, if you were told that a certain thing would happen in respect of a particular offspring, and it happened about another (person) from the same (offspring), then the thing happened exactly as you were told.’’ (al-‘Ayyāshī
)
The author says:
This tradition proves the explanation written earlier, of the verse, ‘‘offspring, one from the other’’.
al-Bāqir
(a.s.) recited this verse and said: ‘‘We are from them, and we are the remnant of that al-‘itrah ( اَلْعِتْرَةُ = family).’’(ibid.)
The author says:
al-‘itrah actually means the foundation, the root, the basis which a thing relies upon. That is why it is used for the children and near relatives of preceding generations. In other words, it refers to the vertical geneology of a person.
It is because of this semantic value of the word that the Imām has taken the clause (offspring, one from the other) to refer to a vertical geneological line beginning with Adam, and passing through Nūh to the āl of Ibrāhīm and āl of ‘Imrān.
It also explains why Allāh has mentioned Adam (a.s
.) and Nūh (a.s.) with the two families; it was done to establish an unbroken chain of selection right from the beginning of the human race to Muhammad (s.a.w.a.) and his purified and sinless progeny.
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Author: Allamah Sayyid Muhammad Husayn Tabatabai
