Surah Al-Ahzab 33:6
سُورَةُ الأَحۡزَابِ · Medinan · Verse 6 of 73
ٱلنَّبِىُّ أَوْلَىٰ بِٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ مِنْ أَنفُسِهِمْ ۖ وَأَزْوَٰجُهُۥٓ أُمَّهَٰتُهُمْ ۗ وَأُو۟لُوا۟ ٱلْأَرْحَامِ بَعْضُهُمْ أَوْلَىٰ بِبَعْضٍۢ فِى كِتَٰبِ ٱللَّهِ مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَٱلْمُهَٰجِرِينَ إِلَّآ أَن تَفْعَلُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰٓ أَوْلِيَآئِكُم مَّعْرُوفًۭا ۚ كَانَ ذَٰلِكَ فِى ٱلْكِتَٰبِ مَسْطُورًۭا
Translation
The Prophet is more protective towards the believers than they are themselves, while his wives are their mothers. In God’s Scripture, blood-relatives have a stronger claim than other believers and emigrants, though you may still bestow gifts on your proteges. All this is written in the Scripture.
English translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem.
Meaning and reflection
Wording
This verse from Surah Al-Ahzab establishes fundamental relationships within the Muslim community, clarifying who holds primary rights and responsibilities. Allah directly addresses the believers, establishing rulings about the Prophet Muhammad, his wives, and the community's inheritance laws. The tone is authoritative, setting down clear divine decrees.
The Prophet's Unrivaled Priority
The verse begins by stating, "The Prophet is أَوْلَىٰ (awla) with the believers than their own selves." The word أَوْلَىٰ (awla) is a superlative, stemming from the root meaning of closeness or guardianship. As scholars like Ibn Ashur explain, it conveys that the Prophet is "more deserving," "closer," and has a stronger right over believers than they have over themselves. Al-Razi further illustrates this profound priority, suggesting that if the Prophet desires something, the community has no right to object, as his guidance is paramount for one's spiritual well-being. This isn't merely a legal statement but a call to a deep, unconditional love and obedience, as highlighted by a Hadith where the Prophet clarified that one's faith is incomplete until he is loved more than one's own self. This primacy, however, is one of spiritual guardianship and obedience, not one of worldly inheritance, which is clarified later in the verse and in the Prophet's own words.
Wives as Mothers of Believers
Following this, the verse declares, "and his wives are their أُمَّهَٰتُهُمْ (ummahaatuhum)." This is an emphatic simile, as al-Jadwal points out, making them *mothers* rather than merely *like* mothers. This special designation, explained by scholars like al-Zamakhshari and Ibn Ashur, is limited to specific rulings: profound reverence, respect, and, most importantly, the absolute prohibition of marrying them after the Prophet's passing. This spiritual motherhood does not extend to other aspects of biological family relationships, such as inheritance or preventing the marriage of their daughters. As Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) clarified, they were "mothers of men," meaning they were forbidden in marriage to men, but not mothers in every legal sense.
The Primacy of Kinship
The verse then establishes a crucial legal principle: "And أُولُوا۟ ٱلْأَرْحَامِ (ulu al-arham), those with kinship ties, are some of them more entitled to one another in the Book of Allah than the believers and the emigrants." This wording, specifically "more entitled," clarifies that blood relatives now hold precedence in inheritance over earlier practices where believers inherited based on their faith and migration (the "brotherhood pacts" between the Muhajirun and Ansar), which was a temporary measure. This command firmly establishes the inheritance system based on blood relations. The phrase "إِلَّآ أَن تَفْعَلُوٓا۟ إِلَىٰٓ أَوْلِيَآئِكُم مَّعْرُوفًۭا" provides an exception: believers are still permitted to show kindness and make bequests (like a will) to their non-heir friends or allies (awliya). The verse concludes by stating, "That was in the Book مَسْطُورًۭا (mastooran)," meaning it was "inscribed" or "recorded." Ibn Ashur explains that the word "كَانَ" (kana, "was") here emphasizes the permanence and fixed nature of these divine decrees, established and recorded in Allah's Book, whether referring to the Quran itself or the Preserved Tablet. The imagery of "inscribed" reinforces their unchangeable and foundational status.
Sources: al-Razi (Mafatih al-Ghayb), al-Zamakhshari (al-Kashshaf), al-Jadwal fi I'rab al-Quran (Mahmud Safi), al-Jalalayn, Ibn Ashur (al-Tahrir wa al-Tanwir)
Topics that discuss this verse
Surah Al-Ahzab 33:6 is discussed in 14 study guides on Maani. Each guide gathers the key verses, Arabic words and lessons of one Quranic topic.
Reflect on this verse
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