Skip to content
HikmahLearn home HikmahLearn
Menu
Sign in

Learn › Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī Qurʾānic Rulings and Law › Lesson 21

Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī Qurʾānic Rulings and Law · Al-Miʾūn The Hundreds
Lesson 21

Sūrah Al-Anbiyāʾ The Prophets

سورة الأنبياء

Al-Qurṭubī uses Al-Anbiyāʾ to examine the fiqh of prophetic infallibility (ʿiṣmah), the legal consequences of Dāwūd's acknowledged error (21:78–79), and the principle that "We gave them all wisdom and knowledge" establishing that prophethood requires knowledge and that religious guidance is inseparable from learning.

Surah Overview

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance
SurahالأنبياءMakkī 112 versesProphets' chain, Dāwūd and Sulaymān's legal dispute, Ayyūb's patience, Dhū l-Kifl, Dhū l-Nūn, Zakariyyāʾ the common characteristics of prophets
Key Fiqh IssueThe Dāwūd-Sulaymān field dispute (21:78–79) who was right: Dāwūd who awarded compensation or Sulaymān who proposed the crops for the season? And what does "We made Sulaymān understand it" imply about judicial error?Judicial ijtihād and errorAl-Qurṭubī: both prophets exercised valid ijtihād; Allah confirmed Sulaymān's ruling as more apt; Dāwūd's ruling was not sinful judges who make ijtihād and err receive one reward; those who are correct receive two
School ComparisonJudicial ijtihād error: Mālikī and Shāfiʿī and Ḥanbalī: a mistaken judge receives one reward and is not liable for the error (unless negligent); Ḥanafī: same; all four agree that ijtihād-based error does not constitute judicial misconductIjtihād error rulingFour-school consensus on the protection of sincere ijtihād error from judicial liability
Uṣūl Principle"Li-kulli mujtahid naṣīb" every sincere mujtahid has a share (of reward) applied to Dāwūd's ruling: even though superseded by Sulaymān's more apt ruling, Dāwūd's error earns one reward as sincere ijtihādMujtahid always rewardedAl-Qurṭubī formalises this as a core ijtihād principle: sincere scholarly effort is always rewarded, whether or not it reaches the correct ruling

Key Themes from Al-Qurṭubī

Al-Qurṭubī opens Al-Anbiyāʾ with the common theological characteristics of all prophets (21:25 "We sent no messenger before you except that We revealed to him that there is no god but Me, so worship Me") and extracts the doctrinal principle: prophets share one creedal core monotheism. The diversity in their laws (sharāʾiʿ) does not affect the unity of their ʿaqīdah. He then analyses the question of prophetic ʿiṣmah (infallibility): prophets are protected from sin in their communication of divine messages and in major sins; they may make ijtihād errors in jurisprudential matters. The Dāwūd case is his primary example.

On Ayyūb (21:83–84), al-Qurṭubī extracts the fiqh of patience in illness: Ayyūb's call to his Lord "harm has touched me, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful" is not a complaint against Allah but a permissible expression of distress combined with trust. He derives the ruling: complaining to Allah about illness, pain, or hardship is permissible (and indeed a form of duʿāʾ); complaining to humans about Allah's decree is disapproved. The distinction: expressing one's need to Allah vs. expressing discontent with Allah to others the former is worship, the latter is potentially prohibited.

فَفَهَّمْنَاهَا سُلَيْمَانَ وَكُلًّا آتَيْنَا حُكْمًا وَعِلْمًا Fa-fahhamnahā Sulaymāna wa kullan ātaynā ḥukman wa ʿilmā We gave Sulaymān understanding of it, and to each We gave wisdom and knowledge. Al-Qurṭubī: "fahhamnahā" (We gave understanding) applies to Sulaymān; "kullan" (to each) applies to both establishing that both exercised valid ijtihād based on genuine wisdom and knowledge. Sulaymān's ruling was more apt, but Dāwūd's was not wrong in the sense of negligence or sin it was sincere ijtihād that reached a less optimal conclusion.
وَأَيُّوبَ إِذْ نَادَىٰ رَبَّهُ أَنِّي مَسَّنِيَ الضُّرُّ وَأَنتَ أَرْحَمُ الرَّاحِمِينَ Wa Ayyūba idh nādā rabbahu annī massaniya ḍ-ḍurru wa anta arḥamu r-rāḥimīn And Ayyūb when he called to his Lord: harm has touched me, and You are the Most Merciful of the merciful. Al-Qurṭubī: Ayyūb's statement is a model of permissible complaint to Allah it is simultaneously a duʿāʾ (the mention of mercy seeks relief) and a testimony of trust (he addresses the Most Merciful, not a human). Complaining about suffering to Allah is worship; complaining about Allah's decree to humans is the prohibited form.
  • Prophetic ʿiṣmah scope: Al-Qurṭubī maps prophetic infallibility absolute in conveying divine messages, absolute in major sins, not absolute in ijtihād matters using Dāwūd's case as the fiqh example.
  • Ijtihād error protection: Four-school consensus on the protection of sincere ijtihād error from liability is documented the mujtahid judge always receives at minimum one reward for sincere effort.
  • Permissible complaint to Allah: Al-Qurṭubī derives from Ayyūb's call the distinction between complaining to Allah (permissible and indeed worship) vs. complaining about Allah to others (potentially prohibited).
  • One creedal core: All prophets share one ʿaqīdah (monotheism) even when their sharāʾiʿ (laws) differ al-Qurṭubī uses this to establish that diversity in fiqh across prophetic laws does not imply diversity in ʿaqīdah.
  • Li-kulli mujtahid naṣīb: Al-Qurṭubī formally states this ijtihād principle every sincere mujtahid is rewarded as the Islamic theological foundation for the legitimacy of inter-school disagreement.

Finished this lesson?

Sign in to keep your place across devices. Every lesson stays free and open.

Sign in to keep your place