Al-Ahqaf: (15) "And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment..."
"And We have enjoined upon man, to his parents, good treatment." It was revealed—as Ibn 'Asakir narrated via al-Kalbi from Abi Salih from Ibn 'Abbas—regarding Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), up to the words of the Almighty: "the true promise which they were promised."
"Good treatment (Ihsanan)": It is said: it is a second object for "We have enjoined" (Wassayna), based on it being imbued with the meaning of "We have commanded" (Alzamna). It is also said: it is in the accusative case as a verbal noun (masdar), based on "Wassayna" being imbued with the meaning of "We have acted well" (Ahsanna), meaning: "We have acted well by enjoining upon man to his parents, goodness." It is also said: it is an adjective for a deleted verbal noun with an implied genitive addition, meaning: "an enjoining possessing goodness." It is also said: it is an object for which (maf'ul lahu), meaning: "We have enjoined him regarding them because of Our goodness toward them." Ibn 'Atiyyah said: It is in the accusative as a direct verbal noun, and "to his parents" is linked to "We have enjoined" or to it [the verbal noun], as if he meant "he treats them with goodness." This is sound; however, Abu Hayyan countered the permissibility of linking the prepositional phrase to the verbal noun "Ihsanan," arguing that it is not suitable because it is a verbal noun interpreted by an infinitive particle and a verb, and its agent cannot precede it; and because "Ahsana" (to treat well) does not take the preposition "bi" (with), but rather "li" (for). You say: "I treated Zayd well" (Ahsantu li-Zayd), and you do not say: "I treated Zayd well" (Ahsantu bi-Zayd) in the sense that the goodness reaches him. But we do not concede that something which is interpreted by something else must share all its rulings, as it is possible for its rulings to be restricted to its explicit form, even though the prepositional phrase takes enough of the scent of the verb. Thus, a static noun operates on it, considering the meaning of the verbal noun. They have said: it behaves in ways that others do not, due to the need of most things for it.
The prepositional phrase is based upon it, and cases where the appearance suggests linkage to a deferred verbal noun are frequent, whether it be indefinite (as in "do not let pity for them take you"), or definite (as in "when he reached the effort with him"). Interpreting all of this is an affectation. Furthermore, his statement "because ahsana does not take the preposition bi," etc., contains an obvious prohibition. Some have estimated the verb before the prepositional phrase, saying: "We have enjoined man to act well towards his parents with goodness." Perhaps the tanwin (indefinite marking) is for aggrandizement, meaning: "great goodness."
Wisayah and Sawiyah (enjoining) signify approaching someone with what they should do, coupled with admonition, derived from their saying: "arḍun waṣiyah" (a land with interconnected plants). Thus, the verse intimates that being good to parents is a matter of great concern. It is counted in the Hadith as the second best deed, after prayer (when it is in its early time), and being undutiful to them is counted as the second greatest major sin, after associating partners with Allah (the Almighty and Exalted). The Hadiths regarding the encouragement of the first and the warning against the second are very numerous, and in the verses there is sufficient [guidance] for whoever listens while he is present [in heart and mind].
The majority recited it as "husnan" (with a damma on the ha and a sukun on the sin), meaning: an act possessing goodness, or as if it were goodness itself, due to the excess of its goodness. Abu Hayyan permitted that it could mean "ihsanan," so the previous statements apply to it. Ali (may Allah honor his countenance), al-Sulami, and Isa recited it as "hasanan" (with a fathah on the sin). From Isa, there is also "husnan" (with damma on both).
"His mother carried him with difficulty, and gave birth to him with difficulty." Meaning: possessing difficulty, or a burden characterized by difficulty, which is hardship, as Mujahid, al-Hasan, and Qatadah said. The difficulty is not at the start of conception, but after that, when she finds weight in it. Shaybah, Abu Ja'far, and the two residents [of the two Sanctuaries] read it as "karhan" (with a fathah on the kaf). They are two dialects meaning the same thing, like "faqr" and "fuqr" (poverty), or "du'f" and "da'f" (weakness). It is said: the one with the damma is a noun, and the one with the fathah is a verbal noun.
Al-Raghib said: It is said that "karhan" (with fathah) is the hardship that reaches a person from the outside, by being forced into it; and "kurhan" is what reaches him from within, which is what he dislikes by nature, reason, or law. Abu Hatim criticized this reading, saying: "This reading is not good because al-karhu with a fathah is anger and overcoming." You know that it is among the seven mass-transmitted (mutawatir) readings, so there is no meaning in criticizing it. This man used to criticize some readings with what he had no knowledge of, out of boldness—may Allah the Almighty forgive him.
"And his carrying and his weaning": Meaning the period of his carrying and his weaning. With the estimation of this added noun, the Almighty's saying "thirty months" becomes valid, relating it to the subject without difficulty.
Fisal is weaning, which is a verbal noun of fasala; it is as if the child separated from his mother and his mother separated from him. Abu Raja, al-Hasan, Qatadah, Ya'qub, and al-Jahdari read "wa-fasluhu" (and his weaning), meaning his weaning. Thus, fasl and fisal are like fatm and fitam (weaning) in structure and meaning. It is said: fisal means the time of fasl (weaning). It is thus conjoined to the period of pregnancy. The intent of fisal is the complete suckling that ends with weaning; that is why it was expressed as fisal (weaning) or its time, rather than absolute suckling, for that would not imply that. In the description there is elongation. The verse is a clarification of what the mother struggles with and endures in raising the child, as an exaggeration in recommending [duty to] her. That is why the Lawgiver (the Prophet) took care of being good to her above the care for being good to the father. It is narrated that a man said: "O Messenger of Allah, who is most worthy of my good company?" He said: "Your mother." He said: "Then who?" He said: "Your mother." He said: "Then who?" He said: "Your mother." He said: "Then who?" He said: "Your father."
The verse points to what necessitates being good particularly in three stages; so the commands in the Hadith are as if taken from that. Ali (may Allah honor his countenance), Ibn 'Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), and a group of scholars used it as evidence that the minimum period of pregnancy is six months, because if you subtract the thirty months of weaning—two years for his saying, "two full years for whoever wishes to complete the nursing"—there remains [that amount] for pregnancy. Galen said: "I was extremely thorough in examining the amount of time for pregnancy, and I saw a woman who gave birth after one hundred and eighty-four nights." Ibn Sina claimed that he witnessed this.
As for the maximum period of pregnancy, there is nothing in the Great Quran that points to it. Ibn Sina said in al-Shifa: "It reached me from someone I trust completely that a woman gave birth after the fourth year of pregnancy, and the child's teeth had grown." He narrated from Aristotle that he said: "The periods of pregnancy for every animal are fixed except for humans; perhaps a woman gives birth after months, and perhaps after eight." The child rarely lives in the eighth month except in specific countries like Egypt. Perhaps the specification of the minimum of pregnancy and the maximum of nursing in the Holy Quran is by way of clarity and indication, rather than the maximum of pregnancy, the minimum of nursing, and the median of both, because they [the former] are fixed by lack of decrease or increase, unlike what was mentioned. The connection of the ruling of lineage to the minimum period of pregnancy is realized, such that if she gives birth in less than that, the lineage is not established from him, and after it, it is established, and she is cleared of adultery. If a wet nurse breastfeeds after two years, the rulings of breastfeeding do not take effect in marriage or otherwise. There is disagreement regarding this, but it is not significant.
"Until, when he reaches his maturity": A limit for an estimated [time], meaning: he lived, or his life continued until he reached middle age and his strength and intellect were perfected. "And reached forty years." The apparent meaning is that it is the reaching of maturity. Some say: it is the reaching of maturity, and the conjunction is for emphasis. Not a few have mentioned that when a person reaches this amount, his nature, which he is upon, becomes very strengthened, so it hardly leaves him afterward. In the Hadith: "The devil runs his hand over whoever exceeds forty without repenting and says: 'May a face that will not prosper refuse.'" Abu al-Fath al-Azdi narrated from the ways of Juwaybir from al-Dahhak from Ibn 'Abbas in a marfu' (attributed to the Prophet) form: "Whoever reaches forty years and his good does not overcome his evil, let him prepare for the Fire." On that is the poet's saying: "If a man reaches forty and does not have, regarding what he desires, modesty or a veil, then leave him; and do not envy him for what has passed, even if life grants him its causes."
It is said: No prophet was sent except after forty. Fakhr al-Din went against this, arguing that Isa and Yahya (peace be upon them) were sent as boys, according to the apparent meanings of what was narrated in the Glorious Book about them. This is the apparent view of al-Sa'd [al-Taftazani], where he said: "Among the conditions of prophethood are being male, perfection of intellect, intelligence, discernment, and strength of opinion, even in childhood, like Isa and Yahya (peace be upon them)," to the end of what he said. Ibn al-'Arabi and others went to the view that it is permissible for Allah (the Glorified) to send a child, although it did not happen. They interpreted the two verses of Isa and Yahya ("He said: 'Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a prophet,'" "We gave him judgment while yet a boy") as news of what would happen to them, not what had happened in reality. There are many such examples in the verses and elsewhere. The reality for these [scholars] is that the sending is after puberty. Al-Laqani narrated from some that they make puberty a condition for it. In my view, it is stronger to make it a condition, rather than for the origin of prophethood, because souls by and large loathe following the young, even if they are grown, let alone as children, like slaves and women. A group explicitly stated that the most common case is that the sending is at the age of forty, as happened to the Prophet.
"He says: 'My Lord, grant me...": Meaning, make me desire and grant me success, from "awza'tuhu bi-kadha," meaning I made him infatuated with it and desirous of attaining it. Al-Bazzi read "awzi'ni" with a fathah on the ya. "That I may be grateful for Your favor which You have bestowed upon me and upon my parents." Meaning: the favor of religion or what encompasses it and others. This supports what is narrated that it was revealed regarding Abu Bakr al-Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him), because no one among the emigrants and the helpers accepted Islam whose parents also accepted Islam except him. Thus it was said, and his father's Islam was after the conquest; in that case, it would necessitate that the verse be Medinan, and some have gone to that. It is said: This prayer regarding his parents is a prayer for their being granted success for faith, and it is as you see. The explanation was countered by the case of Ibn 'Umar, Usamah bin Zayd, and others. It is narrated from al-Wahidi that he [Abu Bakr] had accompanied the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) while he was eighteen years old, and the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) was twenty years old on a journey to the Levant for trade. He sat under a tree, and the monk said to him: "No one has sought shade under this tree after Isa except him (peace be upon him)." Belief in his truthfulness fell into his heart, so he would not part with him in travel or at home. When he was made a prophet at age forty, he believed in him while he was thirty-eight. When he reached forty, he said: "My Lord, grant me..." etc.
"And that I may do righteous work that You approve." The tanwin is for aggrandizement and multiplication. The intent of it being pleasing to Him (the Almighty)—even though pleasure, according to the majority of the people of truth, is the will coupled with the absence of opposition, and every righteous deed is like that—is that it be safe from the blemishes of non-acceptance, such as show, vanity, and others. Thus, the conclusion is: "Make my work in accordance with Your pleasure." It is said: the intent of pleasure here is its fruit, by way of metonymy.
"And make righteousness for me in my offspring." Meaning: make righteousness spread in my offspring, firmly rooted in them, as in his saying: "If you apologize in the time of drought for the ones with udders, in the time of drought it injures their heels." [This is] on the basis that "aslih" (make righteous) was lowered to the status of an intransitive verb, then linked with "fi" (in) to indicate what we have alluded to regarding the spread of righteousness in them and their being like a container for it, due to its firmness in them; otherwise, the apparent meaning would be "aslih li dhurriyyati" (make my offspring righteous for me). It is said: it was linked with "fi" due to its being imbued with the meaning of kindness, meaning: "Be kind to me in [dealing with] my offspring." The first is better. Ibn 'Abbas said: Allah (the Almighty) answered Abu Bakr's prayer, so he freed nine of the believers, among them Bilal and 'Amir bin Fuhayrah, and he did not desire anything of good except that Allah helped him in it. He also prayed, saying: "Make righteousness for me in my offspring." Allah answered him, so there was no child of his except that they all believed. Thus, the Islam of his parents and all his children gathered for him. His father, his son 'Abd al-Rahman, and his son Abu 'Atiq all met the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) and believed in him, and that was not for anyone else among the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them all).
"Indeed, I have repented to You" of what You do not approve or what occupies [me], "and indeed, I am of the Muslims."
