The Tafseer of “And warn, [O Muhammad], your closest kindred.” [26:214]

The Tafseer of “And warn, [O Muhammad], your closest kindred.” [26:214]

Regarding this verse I will mention some of the authentic narrations of the Muslims which explain how this verse was revealed and what the Prophet SAWS said and did, then I will quote some examples of narrations found in the books of the Ghulat of the Shia so you can compare them and see the difference between authentic Islam and clear deviance.

Quote:

Narrated Ibn Abbas: When the Verse:– ‘And warn your tribe of near kindred.’ (26.214) was revealed, the Prophet started calling (the ‘Arab tribes), “O Bani Fihr, O Bani ‘Adi” mentioning first the various branch tribes of Quraish. Narrated Ibn ‘Abbas: When the Verse:– ‘And warn your tribe of near kindred’ (26.214). was revealed, the Prophet (SAWS) started calling every tribe by its name.  (Bukhari – Book #56, Hadith #727)

Quote:

Narrated Ibn Abbas: When the Verse:–‘And warn your tribe of near-kindred, was revealed, the Prophet (SAWS) ascended the Safa (mountain) and started calling, “O Bani Fihr! O Bani ‘Adi!” addressing various tribes of Quraish till they were assembled. Those who could not come themselves, sent their messengers to see what was there. Abu Lahab and other people from Quraish came and the Prophet then said, “Suppose I told you that there is an (enemy) cavalry in the valley intending to attack you, would you believe me?” They said, “Yes, for we have not found you telling anything other than the truth.” He then said, “I am a warner to you in face of a terrific punishment.” Abu Lahab said (to the Prophet) “May your hands perish all this day. Is it for this purpose you have gathered us!?” Then it was revealed: “Perish the hands of Abu Lahab (one of the Prophet’s uncles), and perish he! His wealth and his children will not profit him….” (111.1-5)  (Bukhari – Book #60, Hadith #293)

Quote:

Narrated Abu Huraira: Allah’s Apostle got up when the Verse:–‘And warn your tribe of near kindred….” (26.214) was revealed and said, “O Quraish people! (or he said a similar word) Buy yourselves! I cannot save you from Allah (if you disobey Him) O Bani Abu Manaf! I cannot save you from Allah (if you disobey Him). O ‘Abbas! The son of ‘Abdul Muttalib! I cannot save you from Allah (if you disobey Him) O Safiya, (the aunt of Allah’s Apostle) I cannot save you from Allah (if you disobey Him). O Fatima, the daughter of Muhammad ! Ask what you wish from my property, but I cannot save you from Allah (if you disobey Him).”  (Bukhari – Book #60, Hadith #294)

Quote:

Abu Musa al-Ash`ari narrates: When “And warn your tribe of near kindred” was revealed, the Prophet SAWS placed both his fingers in his ears and raised his voice: “O bani ‘Abd-Manaf, O Sabahah!”
(Sahih al-Tirmithy #3186)

Now al-Tabari mentions this version which has an apparent weak Sanad:

Quote:

In “Musnad ‘Ali” from “al-Tahdheeb” pages 60 & 62 the Imam al-Tabari (rah) mentions this Hadith and authenticates it as he considers it from the virtues of ‘Ali (ra) although he states clear problems in the Sanad, since its from his virtues he is lenient in this matter and accepts it. Of course he does not understand from the Hadith that `Ali (ra) is a chosen Caliph as the Shia do, nor does any scholar interpret it as such:

(after mentioning the full sanad) from Shurayk from al-A’amash from al-Minhal bin ‘Amro from ‘Ubad bin ‘Abdullah al-Asadi that ‘Ali bin abi Talib said: When this verse was revealed “And warn, [O Muhammad], your closest kindred.” [26:214] The Prophet SAWS gathered his household(Ahlul-Bayt) and they were thirty men, they ate and drank then he said to them: Who will guarantee fulfillment of my promises and debts after me and will be with me in Heaven, and will succeed me in (being head of) my family? a man said: you O prophet of Allah are an ocean, who can handle such a task? and he proposed to them one by one until ‘Ali said: Me.

al-Tabari says: To me this is Sahih in Sanad but according to others this would be a useless, un-authentic narration as it has problems.
from them: there is unrest in those who narrate from al-A’amash as it is narrated from Shurayk from al-Minhal from ‘Ubad from ‘Ali, also it is narrated from Abu Bakr bin ‘Ayyash from al-A’amash from ‘Amro bin Murrah from ‘Abdullah bin al-Harith from Zuhair bin al-Aqmar from ‘Ali.

secondly: according to them al-A’amash is a Mudallis and it is not permissible to narrate from him unless he says “I heard” or “He told us”.

thirdly: they do not see the strength of al-Minhal bin ‘Amro.

fourthly: according to them the narrations of Shurayk are not relied upon.

fifthly: this hadith was narrated from al-Minhal from other than al-A’amash: (Minhal bin ‘Amro from ‘Abdullah bin al-Harith from ‘Abdullah bin ‘Abbas from ‘Ali).

six: the authentic narrations state that the one who fulfilled the prophet’s (SAWS)  debts and promises after him was Abu Bakr al-Siddiq may Allah be pleased with him.

They said: if `Ali bin abi Talib was the one to fulfill these after the prophet (SAWS) then Abu Bakr wouldn’t have done it instead of him but it would’ve been ‘Ali instead since he was told to succeed him in this.

– end –

As you can see al-Tabari when authenticating this only did so as it is a virtue for `Ali (ra) and he knows that the chain and the Matn(content) has problems, also we see that he never understands from the Hadith that `Ali (ra) is an appointed Caliph as the Matn itself does not suggest this, it only talks about `Ali (ra) becoming the head of Bani Hashim after the prophet SAWS.

al-Albani says about al-Tabari in al-Silsilah al-Da’eefah 12/30:

Quote:

“I am marveled that al-Imam al-Tabari would mention this Hadith with acceptance while it includes two criticized narrators and although I am still new to his book “al-Tahtheeb” and I haven’t researched it yet, I get the feeling that he had lenience in including narrations and strengthening them.”

From above we understand that al-Tabari was very lenient in grading narrations but this narration is weak according to the scholars of Hadith such as al-Albani and Shu’ayb al-Arnaout and the others.

I add that this Hadith was narrated at the beginning of the Prophet’s SAWS message and his Ahlul-Bayt (thirty men) never even believed that he was a prophet at this stage so how logical would it be for him to appoint his successor when these men didn’t even believe in him or his message? it also shows that there was no divine text for the Imamah of ‘Ali (ra), basically he presented his offer and anyone could have raised his hand and said “Me” and maybe even five people would raise their hands at once so ponder on this.

Let’s check some samples of how the Shia narrate this same story in their books and I want you to notice the differences.

Shia version 1:

Quote:

al-Saduq narrates this Hadith with a Sanad from al-A’amash from al-Minhal bin ‘Amro from “Abdullah bin al-Harith from ‘Ali bin abi Talib: when this verse (And warn your closest kindred and your loyal relatives) was revealed, the Prophet SAWS called bani ‘Abdul-Muttalib and they were around forty men and told them: which of you will be my brother and my chosen successor and heir and supporter and the one I leave in charge of you after me? so he offered them one by one and they all refused this until he reached ‘Ali who said: Me O prophet of Allah, so the Prophet SAWS said: O Bani ‘Abdul-Muttalib this is my brother and adviser and successor and inheritor and my Caliph in you after I die, so the people stood up laughing and telling Abu Talib: He ordered you to obey this kid.

I want to comment by saying that they have a right to laugh, as we mentioned previously this is taking place at the beginning of Islam and these people never obeyed the Prophet SAWS back then so what sense does it make if he comes and appoints a successor who was a kid then tells them to heed and obey him? they didn’t even obey the Prophet SAWS nor did they believe in the oneness of Allah and he’s talking to them about political successor-ship? this is obviously not correct.
Add to this that Bani ‘Abdul-Muttalib never reached forty men at the time let alone their women and children.

Shia version 2:

Quote:

(after mentioning the sanad) The Prophet SAWS gathered bani ‘Abdul-Muttalib and they were forty men from his descendants and he prepared for them the leg of a sheep, he presented it to them and they ate until they were full, then he gave them drinks and they drank until they quenched their thirst so Abu Lahab said: By Allah some among us eat the entire thing and never get full and we drink the bottles of wine and are never full, you prepared for all of us this leg and some drinks and it made us all full, this is definitely magic. he SAWS then said to them: Allah ordered me to warn my tribe of near kindred and my loyal relatives and Allah never sent a prophet unless he made for him from his family a brother and an inheritor and a supporter and a successor, so which of you will rise and give me a pledge that he will be my brother and supporter and my sole heir from my family and my chosen successor and head of my family after me and be to me of the rank of Haroun to Musa although there is no prophet after me? so the folks went quiet, the Prophet SAWS said: By Allah if none of you rise and accept then this matter will be given to others and you will regret, then ‘Ali Ameer al-Mumineen stood as they all looked at him, he gave him the pledge, the Prophet SAWS told ‘Ali to move closer and he did, then he told him: Open your mouth, so he did and the Prophet SAWS spat in his mouth then spat between his shoulders and on his chest so Abu Lahab said: A disgraceful thing you have done to your cousin who accepted your call, then you filled his face with your spit and saliva, the Prophet SAWS said: I filled him with knowledge and wisdom.

I comment by saying that this happened before Ghadeer khum, so I ask what is the importance of Ghadeer khum if the Prophet SAWS already declared the Khilafah of ‘Ali (ra) to everyone ages ago? don’t the Shia say that the prophet SAWS was afraid to announce the Caliphate of ‘Ali (ra) as he feared the people would leave Islam? then Allah revealed the verses telling him to not fear the people and after he announced it they narrate that the verses “today I have completed your religion for you” were revealed? how does this make sense if he already announced it in front of everyone a long time ago? Also what is up with the addition of “And your loyal relatives”? that’s clearly not part of the verse, I couldn’t find it in the Quran I have so where did they get it from? And were those men really his “loyal relatives”? Abu Lahab? they all laughed at him and left so how are they loyal? more importantly in the narration the Prophet SAWS clearly states that if none of bani ‘Abdul-Muttalib accept his offer then this matter will be given to others beside them, I ask how do we reconcile between this and the divine Imamah of ‘Ali (ra)? makes no sense as usual.

Shia version 3:

Quote:

al-Tusi narrates this with its Sanad from Suleiman al-A’amash and Abu Mariam both from al-Minhal bin ‘Amro from ‘Abdullah bin al-Harith bin Nawfal from ‘Abdullah ibn al-‘Abbas from ‘Ali bin abi Talib: When these verses were revealed (And warn your closest kindred) the Prophet SAWS called on me and told me: O ‘Ali, Allah has ordered me to warn my closest kindred and I felt unhappy with this order as I knew that they would show me what I hate when I talk to them about it, so I remained quiet about this until Jibreel came to me and said: If you do not fulfill your orders then Allah almighty will punish you. he SAWS said: ‘Ali make us some food with the leg of a sheep and pour us some milk then gather bani ‘Abdul-Muttalib so I can talk to them. So I did what I was ordered and I called on them and they were forty men, among them his uncles: Abu Talib, Hamza, ‘Abbas and Abu Lahab. When they all gathered for him he told me to bring the food and he SAWS started by eating a piece of meat  then told them all to begin in the name of Allah.
They all ate what I made until they had enough, by Allah the one among them could eat the entire thing alone, then I brought the milk and they drank until they were full and by Allah the one among them could drink the whole thing alone.
Then the Prophet SAWS wanted to talk but Abu Lahab spoke first: your companion has placed a spell on you. then they all left with him SAWS not being able to talk to them.
Next morning he told me: O ‘Ali, this man has beaten me to what you’ve heard and they dispersed before I could speak to them, so repeat what you did yesterday. I did what he SAWS said and after they finished their feast he said to them all: O bani ‘Abdul-Muttalib, I don’t know of any young man among Arabs who has brought for his people something better than what I have brought to you. I bring the best of this world and the world after, since God has commanded me to summon you to him. Which of you will aid me in this matter, so that he will be my brother, my supporter, my chosen successor and will succeed me in (being head of) my family after I die?
The folks remained quiet and refrained from answering so I stood up and I was the youngest among them and said: I will be your adviser in what Allah has sent you with, He SAWS said: This one will be my brother and adviser and executor and my Caliph(Successor) among you, so listen to him and obey him.
So all the folks stood up laughing and telling Abu Talib: He orders you to obey your son.

The Shia claim that ONLY Allah can appoint a leader and it is not up to humans to appoint leaders, yet in this narration the Prophet (SAWS) gave them a choice, so the matter of appointing leadership was offered to them and this contradicts Shia beliefs.
This is the last example I give and there are plenty of others in their books (more than twenty I think) as you noticed all of them are conflicting and contradicting each other, I just mention them so you can see how the deviants twist fake stories and corrupt texts then build an `Aqeedah and a religion based on such texts, now some enlightened Shia might weaken all of these reports but they know full well that the vast majority of their scholars believe in these and spread them among the followers.

It’s up to the Muslims as usual to see the big difference between the religion that is built on authentic and logical narrations and the religion that is built on false rumors and weak narrations

اللهم أرنا الحق و ارزقنا اتباعه