Al-Ta'assi Verse | 33:21

1. Al-Ta'assi Verse

Al-Ta'assi Verse (Arabic:آية التأسي, the Verse of Emulation) is the verse of Quran 33:21

in which Prophet Muhammad (s) is introduced by God as an excellent pattern or role-model, asking Muslims to follow, and not disobey, him.

The verse was revealed amidst verses of the Battle of Ahzāb.

However, according to some Quranic exegetes, the Prophet (s) being a pattern or a role-model is not restricted to that battle:

Indeed, it might be extended to all times and places and all of his deeds and sayings.

In other words, it includes the Prophet's tradition, and it is a permanent obligation of Muslims to follow his tradition.

However, the role-model can be followed only if one believes in God's mercy and the day of resurrection, and remembers God all the time.

Some Quranic exegetes maintain that it is obligatory to follow the Prophet's pattern and others take it to be only recommended or supererogatory.

Others believe that it is obligatory to follow his lead in religious matters and recommended to do so in this-worldly matters.

The Prophet Abraham (a) has also been characterized in the Quran as an excellent pattern in combatting polytheists.

2. Brief Introduction

The verse of Quran 33:21 is known as al-Ta'assi Verse (the Verse of Emulation)1.

In its preceding verses2, God reprehends hypocrites, and in its following verses, He enumerates some characteristics of true believers.

In this verse, God refers to Prophet Muhammad (s) as the leader and role-model of believers,

asking Muslims or responsible people3, or those who have not followed the Prophet (s) yet or those who disobey him4,

- to follow the Prophet (s) or stop disobeying him5.

According to this verse, a true Muslim follows the Prophet (s) and does not disobey any of his orders6.

This verse was revealed amidst verses of the Battle of Aḥzāb.

Given the phrase "for him" in the verse, some people restrict it to participants of the Battle of Aḥzāb who had abandoned the Prophet (s) during hardships,

while they pretended to be Muslims and believers in God and the Day of Resurrection and considered themselves as performers of prayers.

However, some exegetes do not restrict the verse to participants of the Battle of Aḥzāb. They maintain that the Prophet (s) is a pattern or role-model for believers in all respects.

Some exegetes appeal to phrases in the verse, believing that it is a permanent obligation of all Muslims to follow the Prophet (s).

In verses of Quran 60:4 and 60:6,7 the Prophet Abraham (a) is also introduced as an "excellent pattern" because he resisted polytheism and dissociated himself from polytheists8.10

3. The Meaning of "Uswa"

Literal meanings of the Arabic word "uswa" include leader11 as well as one's gesture when following another person12; that is, the gesture of following or emulating.

The word also means to follow someone in good deeds.

In this verse, it means to follow the Prophet (s)13, since he is the best role-model who can lead people to the right path14.

Many hadiths have been cited regarding the meaning or exegesis of the verse15:

For example, there is a hadith from Ibn Abbas in which "al-uswa al-hasanā" (the excellent pattern) is interpreted as the Prophet's righteous tradition16.

Some exegetes point out 2 interpretations of the verse: the Prophet (s) himself is an excellent pattern, or he has a characteristic that is worthy of being emulated17.

4. Conditions of Emulation

In this verse, the Prophet (s) is introduced as an excellent pattern

for those who believe in God's mercy and the Day of Resurrection18 and are hopeful of this-worldly and afterlife rewards19 for their righteous deeds20;

those who remember God all the time21 and in all circumstances—both in hardships and convenience22.

Some people interpret "remembering Allah often" as the 5 daily prayers23.

Given the last part of the verse, the belief in God and the resurrection and constant remembrance of God can be said to be motivations for following the Prophet (s)24.

5. Limits of Following the Prophet (s)

Since the verse in unqualified, the Prophet (s) should be considered as a pattern in all respects, both in wars and otherwise25:

That is to say, the Prophet (s) should be emulated in all respects: his speeches, his deeds26, and his moral character27.

According to Makārim Shīrāzī in Tafsīr-i nimūna, the Prophet (s) is an excellent pattern for all Muslims in his high spirits, resistance, patience, alertness, tact, purity, attention to God, and tolerance of hardships28.

Some others restrict the emulation of the Prophet (s) to his patience29 or his actions during battles or his tolerance of injuries and hardships30,

whereas they believe that this might imply that the Prophet (s) may well be followed in other deeds as well31, although this is not implied by the verse to be obligatory.

Some other exegetes believe that the verse only implies that the Prophet (s) was a pattern only in the Battle of Aḥzāb32.

6. The Jurisprudential Ruling of Emulation

There is a disagreement among scholars as to whether the emulation of the Prophet (s) is obligatory or recommended:

Some of them believe that it is obligatory; some of them believe that it is recommended unless there is a specific reason for its obligation,

and others distinguish between worldly matters and afterlife or religious matters, taking it to be obligatory in the latter and recommended in the former33.

7. Messages of the Verse

In his exegesis of the Quran, Nūr, Muḥsin Qarāʾatī has gleaned messages from the verse:

For example, one method of training is to introduce someone as a pattern, people can be guided to the right path if they have a good pattern, and they can thus be prevented from following bad patterns.

- Thus, there is no doubt that the Prophet (s) is the best pattern for people all the time34.

The author of the exegesis of the Quran, Quran-i Mihr, concludes from the verse that all people need to have patterns or role-models, taking the leader of Islam to be the best pattern for everyone35.

• 1. Farhang-i fiqh muṭabiq-i mazhab-i Ahl al-Bayt (a), vol. 1, p. 168
• 2. Nizām al-Aʿraj, Gharāʾib al-Quran, vol. 5, p. 455.
• 3. Tūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 8, p. 328; Tabrisī, Majma al-bayān, vol. 8, p. 548; Sabziwarī, Irshād al-adhhān, p. 425.
• 4. Qurtubī, al-Jāmi' li Aḥkām al-Quran, vol. 14, p. 155; Tabarī, Jāmi al-bayān, vol. 21, p. 91.
• 5. Al-Thaʿālabī, al-Kashif wa al-Bayān, vol. 8, p. 22; al-Tabarī, Jāmi al-bayān, vol. 21, p. 91.
• 6. Mughnīyya, al-Tafsīr al-Kashif, vol. 6, p. 205.
• 7. There is certainly a good exemplar for you in Abraham and those who were with him,...(4) There is certainly a good exemplar for you in them—for those who look forward to Allah and the Last Day...(6)
• 8. Quran 60:4, 6.
• 10. Since the Quran is not a book of history, there must be a purpose for its narrations of the life histories of earlier prophets, one significant purpose being the introduction of patterns or role-models for believers.
  Kamyabi, Ta'ammuli dar ma'na shinasi waja-yi uswa dar Quran wa hadith, p. 35.
• 11. Ibn Manzūr, Lisan al-Arab, vol. 14, p. 35.
• 12. Al-Rāghib al-Isfahānī, Mufradāt alfāz al-Quran, p. 76.
• 13. Al-Samarqandī, Baḥr al-'ulūm, vol. 3, p. 53; Jurjānī, Darj al-durar, vol. 2, p. 456.
• 14. Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr Nimūna, vol. 17, p. 243.
• 15. Al-Suyūtī, al-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 5, p. 189; Qummī Mashhadi, Kanz al-daqa'iq, vol. 10, p. 349.
• 16. Al-Māturidī, Ta'wilat Ahl al-Sunna, vol. 8, p. 368.
• 17. Al-Zamakhsharī, al-Kashshāf, vol. 3, p. 531; Qurashi Bunabi, Tafsīr Aḥsan al-Ḥadīth, vol. 8, p. 335.
• 18. Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr Nimūna, vol. 17, p. 241.
• 19. Al-Tabarānī, al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr, vol. 5, p. 179.
• 20. Ibn Atīyya, al-Muḥarrar al-wajīz, vol. 4, p. 377.
• 21. Al-Samarqandī, Baḥr al-'ulūm, vol. 3, p. 53.
• 22. Al-Thaʿālabī, al-Kashf wa al-bayān, vol. 8, p. 22; al-Tabarī, Jāmi al-bayān, vol. 21, p. 91.
• 23. Mughnīyya, al-Tafsīr al-Kashif, vol. 6, p. 205.
• 24. Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr Nimūna, vol. 17, p. 243.
• 25. Ridayi Isfahānī, Tafsīr Quran-i Mihr, vol. 16, p. 288.
• 26. Al-Tūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 8, p. 328; al-Tabātabāʾī, al-Mīzan, vol. 16, p. 288.
• 27. Al-Qurtubī, al-Jāmi' li Aḥkām al-Quran, vol. 14, p. 155; Fayd al-Kāshānī, Tafsīr al-shāfī, vol. 4, p. 180; Shakūri, Tafsīr Sharīf-i Lāhījī, vol. 3, p. 622.
• 28. Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr nimūna, vol. 17, p. 242.
• 29. Ibn al-Jawzī, Zād al-masīr, vol. 3, p. 455; al-Thaʿālabī, Tafsīr al-Thaʿālabī, vol. 4, p. 340.
• 30. Ibn Sulaymān, Tafsīr Muqātil b. Sulaymān, vol. 3, p. 483; al-Tabarānī, al-Tafsīr al-Kabīr, vol. 5, p. 179; Abu l-Futūḥ al-Rāzī, Rawḍ al-Jinān, vol. 15, p. 379.
• 31. Al-Tabrisī, Jawami' al-Jāmi, vol. 3, p. 308; al-Tūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 8, p. 328.
• 32. Al-Tūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 8, p. 328.
• 33. Al-Qurtubī, al-Jāmi' li Aḥkām al-Quran, vol. 14, p. 156.
• 34. Qarāʾatī, Tafsīr Nūr, vol. 7, p. 345.
• 35. Ridayi Isfahānī, Tafsīr Quran-i Mihr, vol. 16, p. 322-23.