Tafsir of Al-Ma'idah 5:55

Then, when He, the Glorified, said: "Do not take the Jews and the Christians as allies," and explained it by the reason He gave, He followed it by mentioning who is worthy of allegiance by way of restriction (qasr), saying, Almighty and Exalted is He: "Your ally is none but Allah, His Messenger, and those who have believed." It is as if it were said: Do not take those as allies because some of them are allies of others, and they are not your allies; your allies are only Allah Almighty, His Messenger (peace be upon him), and the believers. So, single them out for allegiance and do not cross them to others.

The word "ally" (wali) was used in the singular despite the plurality to convey, as has been said, that allegiance to Allah Almighty is primary (bi-al-asalah), while allegiance to the Messenger (peace be upon him) and the believers is secondary (bi-al-tab). Thus, the interpretation is: Your ally is Allah, the Glorified, and likewise His Messenger (peace be upon him) and those who have believed. Therefore, the speech contains a primary and a secondary [element], not that the singular "ally" was used in the sense of a plural, as the author of al-Fara'id supposed—objecting that what was mentioned is far from the rules of speech because it treats the one and the many as a collective.

Then he said: It is possible to say the interpretation is: "Your ally is Allah, and His Messenger, and those who have believed [are] your allies," so the predicate was omitted due to the indication of the preceding one. The benefit of this separation in the predicate is to alert that their being allies comes after His being, the Glorified, an ally, and then by His making them allies, He is, in reality, the Ally.

It is not hidden to the contemplative that the outcome is unified and the subject is one. From what has been established, one knows that the statement of al-Halabi—that another aspect is possible, namely that wali is of the pattern fa'il and the scholars of language have stated it is used for the one, the two, and the collective, masculine and feminine, with a single form like siddiq—is not applied correctly here, because the speech is about a rhetorical secret, which is the nuance of shifting from one term to another.

It cannot be objected against what we presented that if this were the interpretation, we would have no [reason for] restricting allegiance to Allah Almighty and then establishing it for the Messenger (peace be upon him) and the believers, because the restriction is based on the fact that He, the Glorified, is the Ally in origin and truth, and the allegiance of others is only by attribution to Him.

"Who establish prayer and give charity..." This is either a substitute (badal) for the first relative pronoun or an adjective for it, considering it is treated like a definite noun, because a relative pronoun is a means to describe definite nouns with sentences, and a description is not described except through interpretation. It is also permissible to consider it as accusative out of praise, or nominative for the same reason. In the reading of Abdullah, it is "And those who establish prayer" with the "and."

"While they are bowing [in prayer]" This is a state (hal) from the subjects of the two verbs—meaning they perform what was mentioned of establishing prayer and giving charity while they are humble and submissive to Allah Almighty. It has been said: This is a state specific to the giving of charity, and the bowing is the bowing of prayer, the intent being to clarify the perfection of their desire for goodness and their hastening to it.

Most of the narrators have agreed that this was revealed regarding Ali, may Allah honor his face. Al-Hakim, Ibn Marduyah, and others reported from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) with a continuous chain that he said: Ibn Salam and a group of his people came, having believed in the Prophet (peace be upon him), and they said: "O Messenger of Allah, our dwellings are far, and we have no meeting place or companion other than this assembly. When our people saw us believe in Allah and His Messenger, they rejected us and swore an oath not to sit with us, marry us, or speak to us. This was difficult for us." The Prophet (peace be upon him) said to them: "Your ally is none but Allah and His Messenger." Then he (peace be upon him) went to the mosque while people were standing and bowing, and he saw a beggar and said: "Has anyone given you anything?" He said: "Yes, a silver ring." He said: "Who gave it to you?" He said: "That one who is standing," and he gestured toward Ali, may Allah honor his face. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "In what state did he give it to you?" He said: "While he was bowing." The Prophet (peace be upon him) said 'Allahu Akbar,' and then recited this verse.

Hassan (may Allah be pleased with him) began to say: O Abu Hassan, my soul and life be sacrificed for you, and everyone who is slow or fast in guidance. Shall your embellished praise go to waste? No, praise in the presence of the God is not wasted. For you are the one who gave charity while you were bowing, may my soul be sacrificed for you, O best of those who bow. So Allah sent down for you the best of authority, and established it in the Book of Laws.

The Shi'ah use this as evidence for his, may Allah honor his face, imamate. The angle of argumentation is that it is unanimously agreed that it was revealed about him, may Allah honor his face, and the word "none but" (innama) denotes restriction. The word wali means the one who manages affairs and is entitled to dispose of them. It is apparent that the intent here is general disposition equivalent to imamate, by the correlation of his, may Allah honor his face, allegiance with the allegiance of Allah and His Messenger (peace be upon him). Thus, his imamate is proven and the imamate of others is negated; otherwise, the restriction would be void.

There is no problem in expressing the singular as a plural; it has occurred in more than one place. The scholars of Arabic mention it serves two purposes: exalting the doer—so that one who performs that action is of such high status that he is like a group, as in His saying: "Indeed, Abraham was a nation," to encourage people to act like him—and exalting the action itself, such that his action is the nature of every believer. This is a subtle nuance considered in every context where appropriate.

The Sunnis have answered this with several points: First: A refutation, in that this evidence, just as it allegedly indicates the negation of the imamate of the preceding Imams, likewise indicates the negation of imamate from the succeeding Imams, such as the two grandsons (Hasan and Husayn) and the rest of the Twelve. Thus, the argument harms the Shi'ah more than it harms the Sunnis, as is not hidden. It cannot be said that the restriction is relative to those who preceded him, because we say: The restriction of the allegiance of one who possesses those qualities does not benefit unless it is absolute, and it is not valid for those who came after him. If they answer the refutation by saying the intent is to restrict allegiance to the Prince (Ali) at certain times—meaning the time of his imamate, not the time of the imamate of the grandsons—we say: Welcome to the agreement, for our school also holds that the general allegiance was his while he was Imam, not before it (the time of the three Caliphs) nor after it (the time of those mentioned).

Second: We do not concede the consensus that it was revealed regarding the Prince, may Allah honor his face. The exegetes differed; Abu Bakr al-Naqqash reported from Muhammad al-Baqir that it was revealed regarding the Emigrants (Muhajirun) and the Helpers (Ansar). Someone said: "We heard it was revealed regarding Ali." He replied: "He is among them," meaning he, may Allah honor his face, is also included in the Emigrants and Helpers. This narration is more consistent with the plural form in the verse.

Third: We do not concede that the intended meaning of wali is the one who manages affairs with general authority, but rather the supporter (nasir), for the speech is about strengthening the hearts of the believers and comforting them, removing fear from them regarding the apostates. This is the strongest evidence for what we mentioned.

Fourth: Even if it were conceded, the plural form is general or equivalent, and the consideration is for the generality of the expression, not the specificity of the cause, as agreed upon by both parties. Thus, the meaning of the verse is to restrict general allegiance to multiple men, among whom is the Prince. Carrying the general to the specific is contrary to the principle and is not permitted without necessity.

As for the claim that "the necessity is realized here because the charity to the beggar during the bowing did not occur from anyone but the Prince," we say: The verse is not a definitive text that the charity occurred during the bowing of prayer, as it is possible that "bowing" means humility and submissiveness, not the meaning known in the terminology of the Law. And even if we concede it, the interpretation does not indicate the imamate as defined by the Shi'ah, which is a matter apparent to anyone who protects his mind from the dust of prejudice.