Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis

Dating of the 36th Verse of Sura Al-Aḥzāb Based on the Evaluation of Asbāb al-Nuzūl Narrations

Document Type : Original article

Authors
Mojtaba Aghajani 1
seyed Mohsen Musavi 2
mohsen nouraei 3
1 PhD student of Quranic Sciences and Hadith, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor, Department of Qurān And Hadith Studies, University Of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran
3 Associate Professor, Department Of Qur`an And Hadith Studies, University Of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran.
Abstract
According to verse 36 of Sura Al-Aḥzāb, no believing man or believing woman should stand before God's decree, because whoever disobeys God and His Messenger has gone astray. Suyūtī has narrated three narrations about this verse in "Lubāb Al-Nuqūl". In the first two narrations, the Prophet proposes Zaynab bint Jaḥsh to Zayd, but she gets angry and refuses the Prophet's order, and this behavior of hers causes the revelation of the verse. However, according to the third narration, after the Prophet's proposal to Umm Kulthūm bint Uqba for Zayd, she and her brother stand against the Prophet's command, which leads to the revelation of the verse. Historical evidence shows that these two events had a significant time gap from each other and due to this difference, the sum of two narrations for one verse will be accompanied by doubts. The current research tries to date the time of events and the revelation of the verse with a descriptive-analytical method and focusing on historical reports. The history of the events shows that the revelation of the verse is ruled out due to the behavior of Umm Kulthūm, because he was not present in Madinah at that time. But the marriage date of Zayd and Zaynab is more compatible with the revelation of the verse.
Keywords
Occasion of Revelation
Dating
Lubāb Al-Nuqūl
Al-Aḥzāb: 36

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Critical Studies on the Quranic Exegesis
Volume 4, Issue 1 - Serial Number 7
September 2023
Pages 55-76

  • Receive Date 10 January 2024
  • Revise Date 16 January 2024
  • Accept Date 27 January 2024