وَإِذَا المَوءودَةُ سُئِلَت

بِأَيِّ ذَنبٍ قُتِلَت

When the girl buried-alive will be asked,

for what sin she was killed.

EXEGESIS

The word mawʾūdah is derived from the verbal noun waʾd.^{‎[1]Amthal, 19/450.} The root of this word, which is w-ʾ-d, entertains several meanings, which are: a loud thudding sound,^{‎[2]An Arabic-English Lexicon, 8/2914.} to be swallowed by the earth, to bury alive, particularly a newborn girl.^{‎[3]Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 1008.} The word mawʾūdah refers to a female infant buried alive.^{‎[4]Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 1008.} It has also been suggested that the word connotes the meaning of something heavy and weighty (thiql) on which sand is thrown,^{‎[5]Tibyan, 10/282.} a meaning attributed to Jubbāʾī.^{‎[6]Tabrisi, 10/673.} This meaning would further confirm the reference of this word to mean the burying alive of a girl in a grave and the throwing of sand over her.^{‎[7]Amthal, 19/450.}

EXPOSITION

It is interesting to note that in this verse the question regarding the crime committed is described as being directed to the victim of the crime rather than to the perpetrator of the crime, for example the father or mother of the buried child. The exegetes explain that the rhetorical mode of the question is actually in the form of chiding and censure, where God pretends to ask the girl buried alive but is actually intending thereby to chide and reprimand the murderer, similar to the chiding tone applied in 5:116 where God pretends to ask Jesus (but intends to chide the Christians): O Jesus son of Mary! Was it you who said to the people: ‘Take me and my mother as gods besides Allah?’ He will say: ‘Immaculate are You, it does not behove me to say what I have no right to say. Had I said it, You would certainly have known it …’^{‎[8]Mizan, 20/241.}

In our times, the freedom to abort foetuses unnecessarily, for example due to an undesired gender of the would-be child, is nothing but a modern repetition of that medieval abhorrent practice. Indeed, when the Messenger of God was reportedly asked about abortion, he replied: ‘That is a disguised form of infanticide.’^{‎[9]Tabrisi, 10/672.}

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

A study of Shia exegetical literature brings to light an interesting observation regarding these verses, which is a specific interpretation of the verse. The following traditions form an insightful commentary of these verses in light of this perspective.

1. Manṣūr ibn Ḥāzim reports the following explanation of Imam al-Bāqir (a) via an intermediary, that he said regarding this verse: ‘This verse is regarding our love and affection and was revealed with regards to us.’^{‎[10]Burhan, 5/594.}
2. Qummī reports the following in his exegesis, that Imam al-Bāqir (a) is reported to have interpreted the verses When the girl buried-alive will be asked, for what sin she was killed, by saying that it meant: ‘One who was killed due to our love and friendship and the evidence for that is the verse, Say: ‘I do not ask you any reward for it except love for my relatives’ [42:23].’^{‎[11]Burhan, 5/593.}
3. Imam al-Bāqir (a) is also reported to have interpreted this verse to mean: ‘The near relatives of the Messenger of Allah and the one killed in the course of jihad.’^{‎[12]Daqaiq, 14/147.}
4. Jābir al-Juʿfī said he asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) about verses 8-9 (When the girl buried alive will be asked, for what sin she was killed), and the Imam replied: ‘It is regarding one who is killed due to the love and affection that he holds for us. His murderer will be asked the reason for his murder.’^{‎[13]Burhan, 5/593.}
5. In Tafsīr Furāt al-Kūfī, a tradition is reported wherein Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) interprets this verse and in particular the word mawʾūdah to refer to the Prophet’s near relatives. He said: ‘They are the near relatives of the Messenger of God.’^{‎[14]Burhan, 5/543.}
6. Manṣūr ibn Ḥāzim asked Zayd ibn Ali: ‘May I be ransomed for you, what is the meaning of the verses 81:8-9?’ He replied: ‘By God, it is regarding our love and affection. By God, it is regarding us, specifically.’^{‎[15]Burhan, 5/593.}

The scope of this verse is widened in the hadith literature to include the adherents of the Ahl al-Bayt, as well as narrowed to specifically refer to Imam al-Husayn (a):

7. Ali ibn al-Qāsim says he asked Imam al-Bāqir (a) about verses 8-9, and he replied: ‘The partisans of the progeny of Muhammad will be asked: “For what crime were you killed?”’^{‎[16]Burhan, 5/593.}
8. Ismāʿīl ibn Jābir says that he asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) about these verses, and he replied: ‘It means al-Husayn (a).’^{‎[17]Burhan, 5/593.}
9. Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said regarding these two verses: ‘It was revealed regarding al-Husayn ibn Ali (a).’^{‎[18]Burhan, 5/594.}

Notes: At the outset, these traditions may seem rather strange and out of place here as an interpretation of this verse, especially when the verse under consideration is clear regarding its referent, which is female infanticide, and the historical context of this verse supports the apparent meaning deduced from the verse. Further, the application of this verse to mean Imam al-Husayn’s (a) murder, or those killed for their adherence and love towards the Prophet’s family, or the near relatives of the Prophet, presumably those that were murdered, may seem rather farfetched as these incidents occurred many years after the revelation of this verse and the termination of the period of revelation. Yet, if these traditions are understood in light of an important exegetical principle and within the specific historical context in which these traditions originated, then they may make better sense. The principle is known as the principle of conformity/flow (jary) and application (taṭbīq). It is defined as ‘the application of the words or verses of the Quran to a valid instance, which is other than its original object of reference’. In other words, it is to consider something as an instance from the instances of a concept when it was not an instance of it originally.

Most of the traditions above are transmitted from Imam al-Bāqir (a) and Imam al-Ṣādiq (a), and one from Zayd ibn Ali, the brother of Imam al-Bāqir (a) and son of Imam al-Sajjād (a). This would place the origins of these traditions in eighth-century ce, which, along with the preceding century, witnessed many Alid rebellions and brutal murders of the descendants of the Prophet through his daughter Fatimah (a) and son-in-law and cousin Ali (a), as well as the murders and persecution of their adherents. Such persecution and murders continued with unabated ferocity in the following century. These rebellions were generally against the tyrannical rule of the Umayyad and Abbasid dynasties, though it cannot be ruled out that some of these may have been due to the self-serving political interests of some members of the Alids. However, generally these uprisings were due to the desire of their protagonists to establish a more just and Islamic rule and the preservation and revivification of the basic and original teachings of the Islamic faith. The partisans of the Ahl al-Bayt and their Imams who were persecuted and killed were subjected to this tyranny simply because of their links and attachment with these ideals and those who stood for them.

Hence, the cited traditions seem to employ the exegetical principle of jary and taṭbīq in favour of those murdered for no apparent crime perpetrated by them save the innocent and faith-inspired desire to maintain and spread justice and true Islamic ideals, as taught by the Prophet and the Imams from the Prophet’s family. Thus, the basic attribute that links the murder of the infant girl and the murder of the members of the Prophet’s family and their adherents is innocence, i.e. the unlawful murder of innocent human beings.

The principle of conformity/flow and application is based on and inspired by the principles of Quranic interpretation taught by the Prophet and the Imams from his progeny. Several of these traditions which form the basis of this principle are cited here:

9. The Messenger of God is attributed to have said: ‘There is not a verse in the book of God save that it has an exoteric and an esoteric aspect. And every limit and boundary has a starting point.’^{‎[19]Al-Itqān, 2/128 and 184.}
10. ʿAbd-Allāh ibn al-Mubārak said: ‘I have heard the [following] tradition from more than one person: “There is not a verse in the book of God save that it has an exoteric and an esoteric aspect.” [This means] a verse has an apparent meaning and a hidden meaning.’ [Then he mentioned the latter part of the same tradition, which says]: ‘And every limit and boundary has a starting point.’ Then he said: ‘[This means] a group becomes acquainted with it [i.e. with a specific meaning for a specific verse] and employs it in light of those meanings. Then that generation passes away and another generation arrives which comes to understand another meaning for it [the verse] and that which was before them passes away. Therefore, mankind continues in this manner until the Day of Judgement.’^{‎[20]Al-Zuhd wa al-Raqāʾiq, p. 23, in the section containing the transmissions of Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād.}
11. Imam al-Bāqir (a) is reported to have said to Khaythamah: ‘If [the case was such that] a verse descended in respect of a group [of people] and later that group passed away, and the verse also passed away [and lost its utility in terms of application] with their passing away, then nothing of the Quran would remain! However, the contents of the Quran flow, from its beginning to its end as long as the heavens and the earth subsist. Every group has a verse which they recite and which is relevant to them with respect to its negative and positive aspects.’^{‎[21]Ayyashi, 1/10.}
12. Fuḍayl ibn Yasār says: ‘I asked Imam al-Bāqir (a) about the tradition, “There is no verse in the Quran save that it has an exoteric and an esoteric aspect. And there is not a letter of the Quran save that it has a limit and a boundary and every limit and boundary has a starting point …” [I asked:] “What does the phrase ‘an exoteric and an esoteric aspect’ mean?” He replied: “Its exoteric and esoteric aspect means its interpretation. From it, some has already occurred and from it there is some that is yet to occur. It flows just as the sun and the moon flow [from day to day]. Whenever something from it shows up, it occurs. God, the exalted, has said: and none knows its interpretation save God and those deeply rooted in knowledge [3:7].”’^{‎[22]Ayyashi, 1/11.}

Note: Those deeply rooted in knowledge refers to the Ahl al-Bayt.

13. ʿAbd al-Raḥīm al-Qaṣīr narrates the following speech of Imam al-Bāqir (a), which the Imam uttered in the course of his conversation with him. He said: ‘The Quran is alive and does not die. The verses of the Quran are alive and do not die. If a verse, which descended for a specific group of people [were to be limited in application to that group only], then when they passed away the Quran would perish [with them due to its lack of utility]. Instead, it flows [in its application] on others just as it had flowed [in application] in the past.’ ʿAbd al-Raḥīm also said: ‘Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said: “The Quran lives and does not die. It flows just as the night and the day flow and just as the sun and the moon flow. It flows [in its application] on the last one of us just as it flows [in application] on the first one of us.”’^{‎[23]Ayyashi, 1/10, 2/203.}

[1] Amthal, 19/450.
[2] An Arabic-English Lexicon, 8/2914.
[3] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 1008.
[4] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’ānic Usage, p. 1008.
[5] Tibyan, 10/282.
[6] Tabrisi, 10/673.
[7] Amthal, 19/450.
[8] Mizan, 20/241.
[9] Tabrisi, 10/672.
[10] Burhan, 5/594.
[11] Burhan, 5/593.
[12] Daqaiq, 14/147.
[13] Burhan, 5/593.
[14] Burhan, 5/543.
[15] Burhan, 5/593.
[16] Burhan, 5/593.
[17] Burhan, 5/593.
[18] Burhan, 5/594.
[19] Al-Itqān, 2/128 and 184.
[20] Al-Zuhd wa al-Raqāʾiq, p. 23, in the section containing the transmissions of Nuʿaym ibn Ḥammād.
[21] Ayyashi, 1/10.
[22] Ayyashi, 1/11.
[23] Ayyashi, 1/10, 2/203.