Hadith of warning
The hadith of warning (Arabic: يوم الإنذار, romanized: yawm al-inzar), also known as the invitation of the close families of Muhammad (Arabic: دعوة ذو العشیرة, romanized: da'wat dhul-ashira),[1] is an Islamic tradition (hadith) that describes how the Islamic prophet Muhammad declared his prophetic mission for the first time by inviting his relatives to Islam. There are two versions of this hadith, both of which are linked to verse 26:214 of the Quran, known also as the Verse of Ashira. In one version, Muhammad's young cousin Ali is the only relative who offers his assistance to Muhammad, who then announces Ali as his successor, as reported by al-Tabari.[2]
| Part of a series on |
| Islam |
|---|
 |
| Part of a series on |
| Muhammad |
|---|
.jpg.webp) |
| Part of a series on |
| Ali |
|---|
.jpg.webp) |
|
Verse of Ashira
Verse 26:214 of the Quran, known also as the Verse of Ashira (lit. 'family'),[3] is directed at Muhammad:
And warn your nearest relations.[4]
Around 617 CE, some three years after the first divine revelation, Ibn Sa'd (d. 845) and Ibn Ishaq (d. 767) report that the Verse of Ashira commanded Muhammad to openly declare his prophetic mission for the first time by inviting his relatives to Islam.[3] Zwettler suggests that this verse parallels Abraham's warning to his father in the same chapter (sura) of the Quran.[5] There are two versions of this hadith,[6] which might correspond to two separate attempts by Muhammad, though both attempts were reportedly thwarted by his uncle Abu Lahab.[7][8]
Approaching enemy
In the first version, Muhammad addressed his clan with a warning that likened the Judgement Day to a nearing enemy,[9] as reported in Sahih Muslim.[4]
Alas for the sons of Abd Manaf! I am a warner. I am a man who has seen the enemy and hastens to warn his people before the enemy gets ahead of him and exclaims: "Alas, you are being attacked!"[9]
In other variations, Muhammad also warned his close relatives about the Judgement Day, saying that, "I possess nothing to your credit with God."[10] These variations might have been independent statements later linked with the Verse of Ashira to lend more credibility to the idea of free will in Islam.[11] Abu Lahab responded to Muhammad with abusive comments in the account transmitted by Ibn Abbas, retorting, "Damn you, is this what you called us for?"[12]
Views
The implication that even kinship to Muhammad does not secure salvation has an anti-Shia message in Rubin's view, since the Shia values the kinship of their Imams with Muhammad.[10] Alternatively, Madelung believes that the families of the past prophets play a prominent role in the Quran.[13] In particular, after the past prophets, he notes that their descendants are often selected by God in the Quran as the spiritual and material heirs to the prophets.[14] Jafri is of the same opinion.[15]
At the same time, Leaman argues that merit is a Quranic criterion of membership in a prophet's household (ahl al-bayt).[16] Along these lines, Brunner and Madelung both observe that renegade members of the families of the past prophets are not excluded from God's punishment.[17][18] In particular, Noah's family is saved from the deluge, except his wife and one of his sons, about whom Noah's plea was rejected in verse 11:46, "O Noah, he [your son] is not of your family (ahl)."[19]
Feast
In the second version, Muhammad gathered his relatives for a meal and then invited them to Islam, as reported by the Sunni al-Tabari (d. 923) on the authority of Ali,[20] via Ibn Abbas.[21] In this account, Abu Lahab foiled Muhammad's first attempt by dispersing the crowd.[20] On the second attempt, Muhammad announced:
O family of Abd al-Muttalib, by God, I do not know of anyone among the Arabs who has brought his people anything better than what I have brought you. I have brought you the best of this world and the next. God Almighty has ordered me to call you to Him. And which of you will assist me in this cause and become my brother, my trustee and my successor among you.[20]
Possibly the youngest there at the age of about fourteen,[20][1] this account adds that Ali was the only relative who offered his assistance to Muhammad.[20] In response, Muhammad put his arm around him and declared:
This [Ali] is my brother, my executor, and my successor among you, so listen to him and obey.[20][22]
Al-Tabari writes that Muhammad's announcement was met with ridicule from Abu Lahab and the guests dispersed.[20] As quoted by Abbas and Haider, the account of Ibn Ishaq (d. 767) is similar to that of al-Tabari.[23][24] Ibn Hisham (d. 833), however, omitted this tradition from his recension of Ibn Ishaq's Sira, possibly because of its Shia implications, according to Rubin.[21] Muhammad's response to Ali in this tradition is also not included in the Sunni collection Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal.[21] In contrast, Muhammad's response above appears in the Shia exegeses under the Verse of Ashira, including those by Qomi (d. 919) and Tabarsi (d. 1153).[21]
Miracle
Some accounts attribute a miraculous aspect to this event.[21] For instance, the Sunni Ibn Sa'd (d. 845) narrates that Muhammad fed his guests with a single plate of food, which Abu Lahab dismissed as sorcery.[25] In Ibn Sa'd's account, however, Muhammad rejects Ali's offer to help because of his youth. Muhammad's response is similar in the Sunni Musnad Ahmad ibn Hanbal.[26]
Views
Rubin writes that Ali's response to Muhammad's call contrasts the response of his tribe, the Quraysh.[21] He adds that the early appointment of Ali as Muhammad's heir in this version supports Ali's right to succeed Muhammad, a central tenet of Shia Islam.[27] Momen is of the same opinion.[20] According to the Shia exegete Tabatabai (d. 1981), Muhammad made it clear that the first relative to accept his invitation would become his successor and inheritor.[28] In this vein, Rubin also notes that the association of this account with the Verse of Ashira implies divine authorization.[21] Burton comments that this banquet "won for [Muhammad] a proselyte worth a thousand sabers in the person of Ali, son of Abu Talib."[29]
See also
References
- Abbas 2021, p. 34.
- Rubin 1995, pp. 129–38.
- Rubin 1995, p. 130.
- Rubin 1995, p. 131.
- Zwettler 1990, p. 89.
- Rubin 1995, pp. 131, 136.
- Rubin 1995, p. 139.
- Irving 1868, p. 71.
- Rubin 1995, p. 132.
- Rubin 1995, p. 133.
- Rubin 1995, p. 136.
- Rubin 1995, p. 140.
- Madelung 1997, p. 8.
- Madelung 1997, p. 17.
- Jafri 1979, pp. 14–16.
- Leaman 2006.
- Brunner 2014.
- Madelung 1997, p. 10.
- Madelung 1997, pp. 9–10.
- Momen 1985, p. 12.
- Rubin 1995, p. 137.
- Gleave 2022.
- Abbas 2021, pp. 34–5.
- Haider 2014, p. 57.
- Rubin 1995, pp. 137–8.
- Rubin 1995, p. 138.
- Rubin 1995, pp. 136–37.
- Tabatabai 1975.
- Burton 1898, p. 335.
Sources
- 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. p. 34. ISBN 9780300252057.
- Hazleton, Lesley (2013). The First Muslim: The Story of Muhammad. Atlantic Books Ltd. pp. 95–97. ISBN 9781782392316.
- Burton, Richard Francis (1898). The Jew, the Gypsy and El Islam. Herbert S. Stone & Company. p. 335. ISBN 978-0-526-07524-9.
- Irving, Washington (1868), Mahomet and His Successors, vol. 8, New York: G. P. Putnam and Son, p. 71
- Jafri, S.H.M (1979). The Origins and Early Development of Shia Islam. Longman. pp. 14–16.
- Rubin, Uri (1995). The Eye of the Beholder: The life of Muhammad as viewed by the early Muslims. Princeton, New Jersey: The Darwin Press Inc. p. 131. ISBN 9780878501106.
- Zwettler, Michael (1990). "A Mantic Manifesto: The Sura of 'The Poets' and the Qur'anic Foundations of Prophetic Authority". In Kugel, James L. (ed.). Poetry and Prophecy: The Beginnings of a Literary Tradition. Cornell University Press. ISBN 0-8014-9568-7.
- Gleave, Robert M. (2022). "ʿAlī B. Abī Ṭālib". In Fleet, Kate (ed.). Encyclopaedia of Islam (Third ed.). Brill Reference Online.
- Leaman, O. (2006). "AHL AL-BAYT". In Leaman, O. (ed.). The Qur'an: An Encyclopedia. Taylor & Francis. pp. 16, 17.
- Brunner, R. (2014). "Ahl al-Bayt". In Fitzpatrick, C.; Walker, A.H. (eds.). Muhammad in History, Thought, and Culture: An Encyclopedia of the Prophet of God. pp. 5–9.
- Momen, M. (1985). An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300034998.
- Tabatabai, Sayyid Mohammad Hosayn (1975). Shi'ite Islam. Translated by Sayyid Hossein Nasr. State University of New York Press. ISBN 0-87395-390-8.
- Haider, Najam (2014). Shi'i Islam: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9781107031432.