Hadith of the warning

Template:Short description The hadith of the warning (Template:Langx), also known as the invitation of the relatives (Template:Langx),Template:Sfn is an Islamic tradition (hadith) that describes how the Islamic prophet Muhammad made his prophetic mission public. There are two versions of this hadith, both of which are linked to the verse of the (Template:Lit), that is, verse 26:214 of the Quran, the central religious text in Islam. In one version, Muhammad addresses his clan and likens the Judgement Day to an approaching enemy. In the other version, found in Shia and some Sunni sources, Muhammad invites his close relatives to Islam after a meal and seeks their assistance and deputyship. Among them, his young cousin Ali ibn Abi Talib is the only one who offers his help to Muhammad, who then announces him as his heir and successor.

Verse of the

Verse 26:214 of the Quran, known also as the verse of (Template:Lit),Template:Sfn is directed at Muhammad, "And warn your nearest relations."Template:Sfn The verse of the thus commanded Muhammad to make his prophetic mission public by inviting his relatives to Islam around 613 or 617 CE,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn some three years after the first divine revelation, according to the early historians Ibn Sa'd (Template:Died in) and Ibn Ishaq (Template:Died in).Template:Sfn There are two versions of how things unfolded,Template:Sfn which might correspond to two separate attempts by Muhammad, though both attempts were reportedly thwarted by his uncle Abu Lahab.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The verse of the may also parallel Abraham's warning to his father in the same chapter () of the Quran.Template:Sfn

Approaching enemy

According to the first version, Muhammad addressed his clan with a warning that likened the Judgement Day to an approaching enemy,Template:Sfn as reported in , a canonical Sunni compilation of hadiths.Template:Sfn

Alas for the sons of Abd Manaf! I am a warner. I am a man who has seen the enemy and hastens to warn his people before the enemy gets ahead of him and exclaims, "Alas, you are being attacked!"Template:Sfn

In other variants, Muhammad also warned his close relatives about Judgement Day, saying, "I possess nothing to your credit with God."Template:Sfn Nevertheless, these variants might have been independent statements later linked to the verse of the to lend more credibility to the idea of free will in Islam.Template:Sfn In this first version, Abu Lahab responded to Muhammad with abusive comments, as transmitted by the early exegete Ibn Abbas, retorting, "Damn you, is this what you called us for?"Template:Sfn

Views

The implication that even kinship to Muhammad does not secure salvation has an anti-Shia message in the opinion of the Islamicist Uri Rubin (Template:Died in), since the Shia values the kinship of their imams with Muhammad.Template:Sfn Indeed, Wilferd Madelung (Template:Died in), another expert, believes that the families of the past prophets play a prominent role in the Quran,Template:Sfn to the point that their descendants are often selected by God in the Quran as the spiritual and material heirs to the prophets.Template:Sfn His view is shared by the historian Husain M. Jafri (Template:Died in).Template:Sfn Yet merit is also a Quranic criterion for membership in a prophet's household (), argues the philosopher Oliver Leaman.Template:Sfn For instance, Madelung and Rainer Brunner, another Islamicist, both observe that renegade members of the families of the past prophets are not excluded from God's punishment in the Quran.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn In particular, Noah's family is saved from the deluge, except his wife and one of his sons, about whom Noah's plea was rejected in verse 11:46, "O Noah, he [your son] is not of your family ()."Template:Sfn

Feast

According to the second version, Muhammad gathered his relatives for a meal. Then he invited them to Islam, as reported by the Sunni historian al-Tabari (Template:Died in) in his on the authority of Ali,Template:Sfn via Ibn Abbas.Template:Sfn In this tradition, Abu Lahab foiled Muhammad's first attempt by dispersing the crowd.Template:Sfn On the second attempt, Muhammad announced,

O family of Abd al-Muttalib, by God, I do not know of anyone among the Arabs who has brought his people anything better than what I have brought you. I have brought you the best of this world and the next. God Almighty has ordered me to call you to Him. And which of you will assist me in this cause and become my brother, my trustee and my successor among you.Template:Sfn

Possibly the youngest there at the age of about fourteen,Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Ali was the only relative who offered his assistance to Muhammad, according to al-Tabari.Template:Sfn In response, Muhammad brought him close and declared,

This [Ali] is my brother, my executor, and my successor among you, so listen to him and obey.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn

Muhammad's announcement was nonetheless met with ridicule from Abu Lahab and the guests dispersed, al-Tabari concludes.Template:Sfn The account of the Shia-leaning Ibn Ishaq (Template:Died in) is similar to that of al-Tabari.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn The Sunni historian Ibn Hisham (Template:Died in), however, omitted this tradition from his recension of Ibn Ishaq's , possibly because of its Shia implications.Template:Sfn Muhammad's response to Ali in this particular tradition is also not included in , a Sunni collection of hadiths.Template:Sfn In contrast, the response above appears in Shia exegeses under the verse of the , including those by al-Qumi (Template:Died in) and al-Tabarsi (Template:Died in).Template:Sfn Among Sunnis, traditions similar to that of al-Tabari are also reported by Abu al-Fida (Template:Died in) in his and by Ibn Kathir (Template:Died in) in his universal history .Template:Sfn

Miracle

File:Al-Masjid AL-Nabawi Door.jpg

Muhammad's name, followed by his title 'Envoy of God', inscribed on the gates of al-Masjid al-Nabawi, located in Medina, present-day Saudi Arabia

Some traditions attribute a miraculous aspect to this event.Template:Sfn For instance, the Sunni historian Ibn Sa'd (Template:Died in) narrates that Muhammad fed his guests with a single plate of food, which Abu Lahab dismissed as a sorcery.Template:Sfn In this tradition, however, Muhammad rejects Ali's offer to help because of his youth. This negative response to Ali is similar to that in a separate tradition in .Template:Sfn

Views

Rubin writes that Ali's response to the invitation of Muhammad contrasts the response of his tribe, the Quraysh.Template:Sfn He and Moojan Momen, another expert, suggest that the early appointment of Ali as Muhammad's heir in this version supports his right to succeed Muhammad, a central tenet of Shia Islam.Template:SfnTemplate:Sfn Indeed, it is in this vein that the Shia exegete Muhammad H. Tabatabai (Template:Died in) invokes this tradition.Template:Sfn Rubin also notes that the association of this tradition with the verse of the lends it divine authorization.Template:Sfn At any rate, the linguist Richard F. Burton (Template:Died in) comments that this banquet "won for [Muhammad] a proselyte worth a thousand sabers in the person of Ali, son of Abu Talib."Template:Sfn