Verse of Ikmal al-Din

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The Verse of Ikmal al-Din (Arabic: إِکْمَال الدِّيْن) or the Verse of Ikmal is verse 5:3 of Islam's central religious text, the Quran, which includes the passage

Today the faithless have despaired of your religion. So do not fear them, but fear Me. Today I have perfected your religion for you, and I have completed My blessing upon you, and I have approved Islam as your religion.

The interpretation of the Verse of Ikmal is a key point of contention between the Sunni and Shia sects of Islam. Sunni Islam offers different views, chief among them is that the Verse of Ikmal was revealed to Muhammad during the Farewell Pilgrimage to signal the completion of the Islamic legislation. In contrast, Shia Islam holds that this verse was revealed after the Event of Ghadir Khumm. Shia argues that the perfection of Islam and the disappointment of the faithless signify Muhammad's appointment of his son-in-law and cousin, Ali, to lead a nascent Muslim community after his death. A number of Sunni sources also associate the Verse of Ikmal with Ghadir Khumm.

Sunni view[]

There are different views among Sunni scholars about when or why the Verse of Ikmal was revealed to Muhammad. According to Abbas, one Sunni view that Muhammad received this verse after his sermon at Arafat, during his Farewell Pilgrimage in 10 AH.[1] This pilgrimage was Muhammad's only hajj ritual which he performed accompanied by thousands of Muslims, shortly before his death.[2] This view about the Verse of Ikmal is also reported by Nöldeke.[2] A number of Sunni historians, according to Abbas, write instead that the Verse of Ikmal was revealed first at the Farewell Pilgrimage and then repeated at Ghadir Khumm. This group includes al-Tabari, al-Baghdadi, and Ibn al-Jawzi.[1] According to Mavani, in his work al-Ghadir, the Shia scholar Amini enumerates the Sunni sources that support the Shia point of view.[3] A common Sunni view is that the perfection of religion in the Verse of Ikmal signalled the completion of the Islamic legislation, though a criticism of this view is that additional injunctions about riba were likely revealed after the Verse of Ikmal.[4]

Shia view[]

Main article: Event of Ghadir Khumm

Shia sources are unanimous that the Verse of Ikmal was revealed to Muhammad after his sermon at Ghadir Khumm, a few days after his Farewell Pilgrimage in Mecca.[5] On his return trip to Medina, it is widely reported that Muhammad stopped at the oasis Ghadir Khumm in order to make an announcement.[6] Muhammad is also said to have ordered those who were ahead to return and waited for the remaining pilgrims to join them.[7] After the noon prayer, to avoid the extreme heat, a dais was constructed for Muhammad in the shade.[8] Muhammad then delivered a sermon, in which he alerted Muslims about his imminent death.[9] During his sermon, taking Ali by the hand, Muhammad uttered, "Anyone who has me as his mawla, has this Ali as his mawla."[10] It is said that Muhammad repeated this sentence three or four more times.[11] Multiple sources add that Muhammad then continued, "O God, befriend the friend of Ali and be the enemy of his enemy."[12] Musnad Ibn Hanbal includes that, after Muhammad's sermon, Umar congratulated Ali and told him, "You have now become mawla of every faithful man and woman."[13]

According to Veccia Vaglieri, while the veracity of this event is certain, its interpretation is a source of contention between Sunni and Shia.[14] Mawla has multiple meanings in Arabic and the opinion about the meaning of this word in this context is split along sectarian lines between Sunni and Shia. Among the Sunni, the word mawla is interpreted here as "friend" or "one who is loyal/close" and Muhammad was merely advocating that Ali was deserving of friendship and respect. Conversely, the Shia interpret the word mawla as "leader" or "ruler" and view this event as a clear designation of Ali as Muhammad's successor.[15]

Shia exegesis[]

Allama Tabatabai, the author of the seminal Shia exegesis al-Mizan, argues in his work that "today" in the Verse of Ikmal is the day on which Muhammad gave his sermon at Ghadir Khumm, as opposed to any other day, such as the conquest of Mecca. Tabatabai writes that the unbelievers' despair in the Verse of Ikmal followed Muhammad's appointment of Ali to guide the nascent Muslim community. His leadership and guidance, according to abatabai, would have kept the Muslim community on the straight path. Tabatabai also argues that the perfection of religion in the Verse of Ikmal was the fulfilment of an earlier divine promise in verse 24:55 of the Quran. Tabatabai also writes that all this is conditional on the obedience of Muslims to God's instructions, in line with verse 8:53 of the Quran.[16][17][18]

Tabatabai concludes that the perfection of religion in the Verse of Ikmal is the guardianship (wilaya) of Ali, as opposed to the closure of Islamic legislation, advanced by Sunni scholars. According to Tabatabai, the Sunni view ignores the additional injunctions about riba which were revealed after the Verse of Ikmal. Mavani adds that the traditions cited by Tabatabai are mutawatir, i.e., they have numerous, uninterrupted chains of transmissions.[4]

See also[]

References[]

  1. ^ a b Abbas (2021, p. 210)
  2. ^ a b Stewart (2002)
  3. ^ Amir-Moezzi (2022). Mavani (2013, p. 81)
  4. ^ a b Mavani (2013, p. 71)
  5. ^ Mavani (2013, pp. 70, 71). Amir-Moezzi (2022). Veccia Vaglieri (2022). Abbas (2021, p. 210)
  6. ^ Veccia Vaglieri (2022). Jafri (1979, pp. 18–20). Mavani (2013, p. 20). Momen (1985, p. 15)
  7. ^ Mavani (2013, p. 79). Abbas (2021, p. 80)
  8. ^ Veccia Vaglieri (2022)
  9. ^ Veccia Vaglieri (2022). Amir-Moezzi (2022). Campo (2009). Abbas (2021, p. 79). Rogerson (2010, p. 56)
  10. ^ Jafri (1979, p. 18). Mavani (2013, p. 79). Veccia Vaglieri (2022). Abbas (2021, p. 81)
  11. ^ Mavani (2013, p. 80). Abbas (2021, p. 81)
  12. ^ Amir-Moezzi (2022). Veccia Vaglieri (2022). Abbas (2021, p. 81)
  13. ^ Veccia Vaglieri (2022). Momen (1985, p. 15). Hazleton (2009, p. 76). Abbas (2021, p. 82)
  14. ^ Veccia Vaglieri (2022). Jafri (1979, pp. 18–20). Mavani (2013, p. 20)
  15. ^ Amir-Moezzi (2022). Jafri (1979, p. 20)
  16. ^ Mavani (2013, pp. 71, 72)
  17. ^ "(24:55) God has promised those of you who have faith and do righteous deeds that He will surely make them successors in the earth, just as He made those who were before them successors, and He will surely establish for them their religion which He has approved for them, and that He will surely change their state to security after their fear, while they worship Me, not ascribing any partners to Me. And whoever is ungrateful after that —it is they who are the transgressors".
  18. ^ "(8:53) That is because God never changes a blessing that He has bestowed on a people unless they change what is in their own souls, and Allah is all-hearing, all-knowing".

Sources[]

  • Stewart, Devin J. (2002). McAuliffe, Jane Dammen (ed.). Encyclopaedia of the Quran. 2. Brill. p. 178. ISBN 90-04-14743-8.
  • Momen, Moojan (1985). An Introduction to Shi'i Islam. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780853982005.
  • Abbas, Hassan (2021). The prophet's heir: The life of Ali ibn Abi Talib. Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300252057.
  • Mavani, Hamid (2013). Religious Authority and Political Thought in Twelver Shi'ism: From Ali to Post-Khomeini. Routledge. ISBN 9780415624404.
  • Veccia Vaglieri, L. (2022). "Ghadir Khumm". Encyclopaedia of Islam (Second ed.). Brill Reference Online.
  • Amir-Moezzi, Mohammad Ali (2022). "Ghadir Khumm". Encyclopaedia of Islam (Third ed.). Brill Reference Online.
  • Jafri, S.H.M (1979). Origins and Early Development of Shia Islam. London: Longman.
  • Campo, Juan Eduardo, ed. (2009). "Ghadir Khumm". Encyclopedia of Islam. Infobase Publishing. p. 257. ISBN 9781438126968.
  • Rogerson, Barnaby (2006). The Heirs of the Prophet Muhammad: and the Roots of the Sunni-Shia Schism. Overlook Press.
  • Hazleton, Lesley (2013). The First Muslim: the Story of Muhammad. Atlantic Books Ltd. ISBN 9781782392316.
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