Tafseer of The Clans · Al-Ahzaab · 33:6
The Prophet is more worthy of the believers than themselves, and his wives are [in the position of] their mothers. And those of [blood] relationship are more entitled [to inheritance] in the decree of Allah than the [other] believers and the emigrants, except that you may do to your close associates a kindness [through bequest]. That was in the Book inscribed.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the saying of the Exalted: النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَى بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجُهُ أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ وَأُولُو الأَرْحَامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلَى بِبَعْضٍ فِي كِتَابِ اللَّهِ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُهَاجِرِينَ إِلا أَنْ تَفْعَلُوا إِلَى أَوْلِيَائِكُمْ مَعْرُوفًا كَانَ ذَلِكَ فِي الْكِتَابِ مَسْطُورًا (6)
(The Prophet ﷺ is closer to the believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers. And blood relatives are closer to one another, in the Book of Allah, than the believers and the emigrants (muhājirūn), except that you do some good to your protégés. That is recorded in the Book. (6))
The Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says: النَّبيُّ ("The Prophet ﷺ"), Muḥammad, أوْلَى بِالمُؤْمِنِينَ ("is closer to the believers"), He says: he has more right over the believers who believe in him مِنْ أنْفُسِهِمْ ("than their own selves"), in the sense that he may dispose over them with whatever ruling he wishes, and that is then binding upon them.
As Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: النَّبيُّ أوْلَى بالمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أنفُسهِمْ ("The Prophet ﷺ is closer to the believers than their own selves"), just as you have more right over your slave: whatever decision he passes over them is permissible, just as everything you decide concerning your slave is permissible.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَى بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ ("The Prophet ﷺ is closer to the believers than their own selves"), he said: he is a father to them.
Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn ʿUmar related to us, saying: Fulayḥ related to us, on the authority of Hilāl ibn ʿAlī, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī ʿAmra, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "There is no believer but that I am closer to him than all people, in this world and in the Hereafter. Recite, if you wish: النَّبِيُّ أوْلَى بالمُؤْمِنينَ مِنْ أنْفُسهِمْ ('The Prophet ﷺ is closer to the believers than their own selves'). And whichever believer leaves behind property, that is for his heirs and his agnatic relatives, whoever they may be; and if he leaves behind a debt or needy dependents, let them come to me, for I am his patron (mawlā)."
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī related to us, on the authority of Abū Mūsā Isrāʾīl ibn Mūsā, saying: al-Ḥasan recited this verse النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَى بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجُهُ أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ ("The Prophet ﷺ is closer to the believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers"), he said: al-Ḥasan said: the Prophet ﷺ said: "I am closer to every believer than himself." Al-Ḥasan said: and in the first reading (it stands): أوْلَى بالمُؤْمنين مِنْ أنْفُسِهِمْ وَهُوَ أبٌ لَهُمْ ("closer than their own selves, and he is a father to them").
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said concerning one of the readings: النَّبِيُّ أوْلَى بالمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أنْفُسِهِمْ وَهُوَ أبٌ لَهُمْ ("The Prophet ﷺ is closer to the believers than their own selves, and he is a father to them"). And it was related to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ said: "Whichever man leaves behind needy dependents, I am closer to him; and if he leaves behind property, then that is for his heirs."
And His saying: وأزْوَاجُهُ أمَّهاتُهُمْ ("and his wives are their mothers"), He says: and the inviolability of his wives is like the inviolability of their (own) mothers to them, in the sense that it is forbidden for them to marry them after his death, just as it is forbidden for them to marry their (own) mothers.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: النَّبِيُّ أَوْلَى بِالْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنْفُسِهِمْ وَأَزْوَاجُهُ أُمَّهَاتُهُمْ ("The Prophet ﷺ is closer to the believers than their own selves, and his wives are their mothers"); by this He raises their claim to reverence, and in one of the readings (it stands): وَهُوَ أبٌ لَهُمْ ("and he is a father to them").
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: وأزْوَاجُهُ أُمَّهاتُهُمْ ("and his wives are their mothers"): they are forbidden to them (to marry).
And His saying: وأُولُوا الأرْحامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أوْلى بِبَعْضٍ في كتاب اللَّهِ مِنَ المُؤْمِنينَ والمُهاجِرِينَ ("And blood relatives are closer to one another, in the Book of Allah, than the believers and the emigrants"), the Exalted, whose praise is sublime, says: and the blood relatives who inherit from one another, they have more right to one another's estate than that the believers and the emigrants (muhājirūn) inherit from one another, that is, on the basis of the hijra (emigration) and faith rather than on the basis of blood kinship.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: وأُولُوا الأرْحامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أوْلَى ببَعْضٍ فِي كِتابِ اللَّهِ مِنَ المُؤْمِنِينَ والمُهاجِرِينَ ("And blood relatives are closer to one another, in the Book of Allah, than the believers and the emigrants"): the Muslims for a time inherited from one another on the basis of the hijra, and the Bedouin Muslim inherited nothing from the emigrants. Then Allah revealed this verse, and so He joined the believers together among themselves, and the inheritances became a matter of the faith-communities (on the basis of kinship within faith).
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: وأُولُوا الأرْحامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أوْلَى بِبَعْضٍ فِي كِتابِ اللَّهِ مِنَ المُؤْمِنِينَ والمُهاجِرِينَ إلا أنْ تَفْعَلُوا إلى أوْلِيائِكُمْ مَعْرُوفا ("And blood relatives are closer to one another, in the Book of Allah, than the believers and the emigrants, except that you do some good to your protégés"), he said: the Prophet ﷺ had, at the beginning of the hijra, established brotherhood between the emigrants (muhājirūn) and the helpers (anṣār), and they inherited from one another on that basis. And Allah said: وَلِكُلٍّ جَعَلْنَا مَوَالِيَ مِمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالأَقْرَبُونَ وَالَّذِينَ عَقَدَتْ أَيْمَانُكُمْ فَآتُوهُمْ نَصِيبَهُمْ ("And for everyone We have appointed heirs to what the parents and the near relatives leave; and to those with whom you have made oaths, give them their share"). He said: when no blood relative of this person came who stood between them. He said: and so it was in the beginning. Then Allah said: إلا أنْ تَفْعَلُوا إلى أوْلِيائِكُمْ مَعْرُوفا ("except that you do some good to your protégés"), He says: except that you leave something to them by means of a bequest. كانَ ذلكَ فِي الكِتابِ مَسْطُورًا ("That is recorded in the Book"): that the blood relatives are closer to one another in the Book of Allah. He said: and the believers and the emigrants did not inherit from one another, even though they were blood relatives, unless they emigrated to Medina. And he recited: Allah said: وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَلَمْ يُهَاجِرُوا مَا لَكُمْ مِنْ وَلايَتِهِمْ مِنْ شَيْءٍ حَتَّى يُهَاجِرُوا... ("And those who have believed but did not emigrate: you have no protective relationship with them at all until they emigrate...") up to His saying: وَفَسَادٌ كَبِيرٌ ("and great corruption"). Thus they did not inherit from one another, until the year of the conquest (of Mecca) arrived; then the hijra ceased, and Islam increased, and it was no longer accepted of anyone that he remain in the same state in which the Prophet and those with him had been, unless he emigrated. He said: and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ would say to those whom he dispatched (on an expedition): "Set out in the morning in the name of Allah; do not transgress and do not commit treachery. Call them to Islam; if they answer you, then accept it. And call them to the hijra; if they emigrate with you, then there is due to them what is due to you and there rests upon them what rests upon you. But if they refuse and do not emigrate and choose their (own) dwelling-place, then leave them there, for they are like the Bedouins: the rulings of Islam are applied to them, but they have no share in this spoil (fayʾ)." He said: and when the conquest came and the hijra ceased, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "There is no hijra after the conquest." And Islam increased, and the people inherited from one another on the basis of blood kinship wherever they were, and that which had held between the believers and the emigrants was abrogated, and they were given a share in the spoil (fayʾ), even though they remained (at home) and refused (to emigrate); and their right in Islam was one and the same — the emigrant and the non-emigrant, the Bedouin and everyone — when the conquest came.
The meaning of the saying according to this interpretation is therefore: and the blood relatives are closer to one another than that the believers and the emigrants inherit from one another on the basis of the hijra. But it is also possible that the apparent import of this saying is that the blood relatives who are among the believers and the emigrants have more right to the inheritance than one who did not believe and did not emigrate.
And His saying: إلا أنْ تَفْعَلُوا إلى أوْلِيائِكُمْ مَعْرُوفا ("except that you do some good to your protégés"). The people of interpretation differed concerning its interpretation. Some said: the meaning of it is: except that you leave something by means of a bequest to your near relatives who do not belong to the people of faith and the hijra.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Ḥajjāj, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Ibn al-Ḥanafiyya: إلا أنْ تَفْعَلُوا إلى أوْلِيائِكُمْ مَعْرُوفا ("except that you do some good to your protégés"), they said: one makes a bequest in favor of his relatives who belong to the people of shirk (the ascribing of partners to Allah).
He said: ʿAbda related to us, saying: I read aloud to Ibn Abī ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda: إلا أنْ تَفْعَلُوا إلى أوْلِيائِكُمْ مَعْرُوفا ("except that you do some good to your protégés"), he said: for the relative who belongs to the people of shirk there is a bequest, but no inheritance.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: إلا أنْ تَفْعَلُوا إلى أوْلِيائِكُمْ مَعْرُوفا ("except that you do some good to your protégés"), he said: to your protégés who belong to the people of shirk there is a bequest, but no inheritance.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad al-Zubayrī and Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Ibn al-Mubārak, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Abī Kathīr, on the authority of ʿIkrima: إلى أوْلِيائِكُمْ مَعْرُوفا ("to your protégés some good"), he said: a bequest.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr informed me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, saying: I said to ʿAṭāʾ: what is (the meaning of) His saying: إلا أنْ تَفْعَلُوا إلى أوْلِيائِكُمْ مَعْرُوفا ("except that you do some good to your protégés")? He said: the gift. I said to him: the believer (concerning) the unbeliever (kāfir) between whom there is kinship? He said: yes, his gift to him is a donation and a bequest for him.
And others said: no, the meaning of it is: except that you maintain the good between yourselves on the basis of the right of faith, the hijra, and the alliance (ḥilf), so that you give them their right to assistance and to the payment of blood-money (ʿaql) on their behalf.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: إلا أنْ تَفْعَلُوا إلى أوْلِيائِكُمْ مَعْرُوفا ("except that you do some good to your protégés"), he said: your allies between whom the Prophet ﷺ established a protective bond, from the emigrants and the helpers — the maintaining of the good, the payment of blood-money (ʿaql), and the mutual assistance between them.
And others said: no, the meaning of it is: that you leave something by means of a bequest to your protégés among the emigrants.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: إلا أنْ تَفْعَلُوا إلى أوْلِيائِكُمْ مَعْرُوفا ("except that you do some good to your protégés"), he says: except that you leave something to them by means of a bequest.
And the correct view concerning this, in my opinion, is that one says: the meaning of it is: except that you do some good to your protégés, between whom and you the Messenger of Allah ﷺ established brotherhood — from the emigrants and the helpers — such as a bequest in their favor, assistance, the payment of blood-money (ʿaql) on their behalf, and what resembles that; for all of this belongs to the good to which Allah has urged His servants.
And I have preferred this view, and said that it is more correct than the view of the one who said that by this is meant the bequest in favor of the relative from the people of shirk, because the relative of the polytheist (mushrik), even if he is a blood relative, is not a protégé (mawlā); for shirk severs the protective bond (walāya) between the believer and the polytheist. And Allah has forbidden the believers to take them as protectors with His saying: لا تَتَّخِذُوا عَدُوِّي وَعَدُوَّكُمْ أَوْلِيَاءَ ("Do not take My enemy and your enemy as protectors"). And it is not permissible that He forbid them to take them as protectors, and then thereafter describe them, exalted be His praise, as being their protectors. The position of "an" in His saying إلا أنْ تَفْعَلُوا ("except that you do") is in the naṣb (accusative) on the basis of the exception. And the meaning of the saying is: and the blood relatives are closer to one another in the Book of Allah than the believers and the emigrants, except that you do some good to your protégés who are not blood relatives of yours.
And His saying: كانَ ذلكَ فِي الكِتابِ مَسْطُورًا ("That is recorded in the Book"), He says: it was so that the blood relatives are closer to one another in the Book of Allah — that is to say: in the well-preserved Tablet (al-lawḥ al-maḥfūẓ) — recorded, that is to say written, as the rajaz-poet said:
"In the earlier pages which were written (saṭara)."
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: كانَ ذلكَ فِي الكِتابِ مَسْطُورًا ("That is recorded in the Book"): that is to say that the blood relatives are closer to one another in the Book of Allah.
And others said: the meaning of it is: that was recorded in the Book, (namely) that the polytheist (mushrik) does not inherit from the believer.
