Key Debates

Verses on which Tafsīr al-Mīzān examines and answers other interpretations at length. Each page sets out the question and al-Mizan's argument, with a reading guide that opens the commentary at each stage of the debate.

Verse	Debate	The question
2:26	Compulsion and Delegation	Are human actions compelled by God's will and decree (jabr), or handed over entirely to man so that God has no part in them (tafwīḍ) — or is the truth “a position between the two”?
2:35	Adam, the Garden and the Tree	Did Adam sin when he ate from the tree? What kind of prohibition was it, and what was the Garden he was sent out of?
4:1	Adam and the Human Race	Are Adam and his wife the parents of the whole present human race — and if so, how did their children have children of their own?
4:59	Those Vested with Authority	Who are “those vested with authority (ulu al-amr) from among you” whom the believers are ordered to obey alongside God and the Messenger?
5:3	The Perfection of Religion	On what day, and by what, did God perfect the religion and complete His favour, so that the unbelievers despaired of Islam?
5:55	The Verse of Guardianship	Who are “those who believe, who keep up prayer and pay the zakāt while they bow”, named with God and the Messenger as the believers' guardian (walī)?
5:67	The Verse of Delivery (Tablīgh)	What was the Prophet ordered to deliver, so important that failing to deliver it would mean he had not delivered God's message at all?
6:26	The Faith of Abū Ṭālib	Does the verse “And they prohibit (others) from it and go far away from it” refer to Abū Ṭālib, who protected the Prophet, as some reports claim — and did Abū Ṭālib die a believer?
6:74	Abraham's Father	Was Āzar, the idol-worshipper whom Abraham calls “my father” (ab), Abraham's real father?
6:85	The Children of One's Daughter	Are the children of a man's daughter his own children and descendants — and so are al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, the sons of Fāṭimah, the children and descendants (dhurriyyah) of the Prophet?
7:12	Satan's Objections	Can God's creation, His laws, and His treatment of Iblīs be questioned? Al-Ālūsī reports six objections Satan is said to have raised against the angels — and al-Rāzī holds that no one could answer them without giving up rational judgement of good and evil.
7:44	The Caller	Who is the caller who will announce between the people of paradise and the people of the Fire, “May Allah's curse be on the wrongdoers!”?
7:46	The Men on the Aʿrāf	Who are the “men on the Elevations (al-aʿrāf)” who recognise everyone by their marks on the Day of Resurrection — angels, people whose good and evil deeds are equal, the disadvantaged, or people of the highest rank near God?
7:143	Seeing God	When Moses asked “My Lord, show Yourself to me, that I may look at You”, what kind of seeing did he ask for — and can God be seen, in this world or the next?
7:172	The Covenant: “Am I not your Lord?”	When God took the descendants of the Children of Adam from their loins and made them bear witness, “Am I not your Lord?” — did this happen in a realm before this world (the world of pre-existence, ʿālam al-dharr), or does the verse only describe our condition in this world?
9:1	Delivering the Repudiation (Barāʾah)	Why did the Prophet take the verses of Barāʾah back from Abū Bakr and send ʿAlī to proclaim them — and what does “No one can deliver it on your behalf except you or a man from yourself” mean?
9:19	Water for the Pilgrims and the Holy Mosque	“Do you regard the providing of water to Hajj pilgrims and the maintenance of the Holy Mosque as similar in worth to someone who has faith in Allah and the Last Day and strives in the way of Allah?” — who were being compared, and which report of the occasion of revelation fits the verse?
9:40	Composure in the Cave	In “Then Allah sent down His composure (sakīnah) upon him, and strengthened him with hosts you did not see”, does “him” refer to the Prophet or to his companion in the cave, Abū Bakr — and what merit does the verse give the companion?
9:100	The Early Vanguard	Who are “the early vanguard of the Emigrants and the Helpers and those who followed them in virtue” with whom God is pleased — and does the verse mean God is pleased with every Companion, whatever they later did?
10:35	Who Guides to the Truth	“Is He who guides to the truth worthier to be followed, or he who is guided not unless he is guided?” — what does guiding to the truth mean, and who can do it?
11:17	The Witness of His Own	“Is he who stands on a manifest proof from his Lord, and whom a witness of his own follows…” — what is the manifest proof, and who is the witness?
11:46	Noah's Son: “Not of Your Family”	When God told Noah that his drowned son was “not of your family”, did that mean he was not Noah's real son — or something else?
12:24	Joseph and the Proof of His Lord	“She certainly made for him; and he would have made for her had he not beheld the proof of his Lord” — did Joseph intend sin, and what was the “proof” he saw?
13:7	A Guide for Every People	“You are only a warner, and there is a guide for every people” — who is the guide, and does the earth ever lack one?
13:43	He Who Possesses Knowledge of the Book	“Say, ‘Allah suffices as a witness between me and you, and he who possesses the knowledge of the Book’” — who is the one with knowledge of the Book: ʿAbd Allāh b. Salām and other converts from the People of the Book, any scholar of the Qur'an, or ʿAlī?
16:43	The People of the Reminder	“So ask the people of the reminder (ahl al-dhikr) if you do not know” — who are the people of the reminder: the People of the Book, the followers of the Qur'an, or the Prophet's Household?
17:1	The Night Journey: Body and Spirit	Was the Prophet's night journey (isrāʾ) and ascension (miʿrāj) made in body and spirit, or was it a dream or a journey of the spirit alone?
17:60	The Vision and the Cursed Tree	“We did not make the vision which We showed you but a trial for men, and the cursed tree in the Qur'an as well” — what was the vision, and what is the cursed tree?
20:5	“Firm in Power on the Throne”	“The Beneficent is firm in power on the Throne (ʿalā al-ʿarsh istawā)” — does God literally sit on a throne, should the words be left without explanation, or are they to be interpreted — and how?
22:52	Satan's Interjection and the Story of the “Cranes”	“When he envisioned, Satan made an interjection with regard to his vision; but Allah annuls what Satan casts” — does this verse refer to the report that Satan put words in praise of the idols (“the exalted cranes”) on the Prophet's tongue while he recited Sūrat al-Najm?
24:11	The Slander (al-Ifk)	The verses on “the slander” (al-ifk) concern a member of the Prophet's household accused of indecency: was it ʿĀʾishah, as the Sunnī accounts say, or Māriyah the Copt, as some Shīʿī narrations say — and what do the verses themselves establish?
24:55	The Promise of Succession	“Allah has promised those of you who believe and do good that He will most certainly make them successors in the land … establish for them their religion … give them security after their fear; they shall serve Me, not associating anything with Me” — to whom, and when, is this promise fulfilled?
26:214	“Warn Your Nearest Relations”	When “And warn your nearest relations” was revealed, whom did the Prophet gather and warn — and what did he say there about a brother, vizier and successor?
33:33	The Verse of Purification (Āyat al-Taṭhīr)	Who are the “People of the House” whom God wills to purify fully in 33:33 — the Prophet's wives, his wider family, or the five of the Cloak — and what does that purification mean?
38:24	David and the Two Litigants	What was David's trial when the two litigants climbed into his sanctuary, and what did he ask forgiveness for — and is the story of the wife of Uriah true?
42:23	The Verse of Affection (Āyat al-Mawaddah)	Whose love does the Prophet ask for as his only reward in “I do not ask you any reward for it except love of my near relatives”?
48:29	“Those Who Are With Him”	Does 48:29 promise forgiveness and a great reward to everyone who was with the Prophet, or only to those of them who kept faith and did good?
60:1	Ḥāṭib and the Veterans of Badr	When Ḥāṭib ibn Abī Baltaʿa wrote secretly to the Quraysh, was he spared because God had told the veterans of Badr “Do as you like, for I have forgiven you”?
76:8	Hal Atā: Those Who Fed the Needy, the Orphan and the Captive	Was Sūrat al-Insān revealed in Medina about ʿAlī, Fāṭimah, al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, or is it an early Meccan sūrah?
80:1	“He Frowned and Turned Away”	Who frowned and turned away from the blind man in 80:1 — the Prophet, as the Sunni narrations say, or a man from the Umayyads?
48:2	“That God May Forgive You What Is Past of Your Sin”	Does 48:2 speak of sins committed by the Prophet — and if not, what is the “sin” (dhanb) that God forgives him because of the clear victory?