The Verse of Affection (Āyat al-Mawaddah)

Qur'an 42:23 · Al-Shūrā

ذَٰلِكَ ٱلَّذِى يُبَشِّرُ ٱللَّهُ عِبَادَهُ ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ وَعَمِلُوا۟ ٱلصَّـٰلِحَـٰتِ ۗ قُل لَّآ أَسْـَٔلُكُمْ عَلَيْهِ أَجْرًا إِلَّا ٱلْمَوَدَّةَ فِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ ۗ وَمَن يَقْتَرِفْ حَسَنَةً نَّزِدْ لَهُۥ فِيهَا حُسْنًا ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ غَفُورٌ شَكُورٌ

(42:23) Such is the good news that Allah gives to His servants who have faith and do righteous deeds! Say, ‘I do not ask you any reward for it except the love of [my] relatives.’ Whoever performs a good deed, We shall enhance its goodness for him. Indeed Allah is all-forgiving, all-appreciative.

The question

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”?

Views answered: the Quraysh's love for the Prophet as their kin, the Anṣār, through his relatives among them, the Prophet's love for the Quraysh, love of one's own relatives, qurbā as seeking nearness to God, Ibn ʿAbbās's report: respect the kinship between us

Al-Mizan's argument

Al-Mizan first shows that the prophets ask no reward for their message, and that here the love asked for is a reward for the message itself. It then sets out five readings: the Quraysh's love for the Prophet as their kin; the Anṣār, through his relatives among them; the Prophet's love for the Quraysh; people's love of their own relatives; and qurbā as seeking nearness to God. It shows that none fits the word “reward”, the Qur'an or the history. What remains is the reading of the many Sunni and Shiʿi narrations: love of his Household, which the Thaqalayn and Safīnah narrations make the way back to the Qur'an and its teachings. He answers the charge that this means seeking gain for his family, shows there is no conflict with 12:104, and discusses al-Zamakhsharī on “fī al-qurbā” and the narrations that “whoever earns good” means this love. The narrations follow: ʿAlī, al-Ḥasan and Imam al-Bāqir; Ibn ʿAbbās's other reading, with the author's reply; “ʿAlī, Fāṭimah and her two sons”; and Imam al-Sajjād in Damascus.

Reading guide

Each part opens the commentary at that point.

1. The prophets ask no reward
2. Here, a reward for the message itself
3. View 1: the Quraysh's love for the Prophet as kin
4. Why that cannot be called a reward
5. View 2: addressed to the Anṣār
6. View 3: the Prophet's love for the Quraysh
7. View 4: love of one's own relatives
8. View 5: qurbā as seeking nearness to God
9. The author's view: love of the Prophet's Household
10. Ḥadīth al-Thaqalayn, Ḥadīth al-Safīnah and the other narrations
11. Answering the charge of seeking gain for his family
12. No contradiction with 12:104
13. Al-Zamakhsharī on “fī al-qurbā”
14. “Whoever earns good”: love of the Household
15. Narrations from ʿAlī, al-Ḥasan and Imam al-Bāqir
16. Ibn ʿAbbās's other reading, and the author's reply
17. “ʿAlī, Fāṭimah and her two sons”
18. Imam al-Sajjād in Damascus

Read the whole commentary on 42:23 →