Verse of Ikmal al-Din
Al-Ikmal verse (Arabic: آية الإكمال) is the 3rd verse of Qur'an 5 (Surah al-Ma’idah) which was revealed to the Prophet (s) during the event of Ghadir:
In this verse, God states that he had perfected the religion and completed the blessing.
There is a disagreement about the day in which this verse has been revealed:
Some scholars maintain that it was revealed on the day of Arafah and some believe that the 18th of Dhuʼl-Hijjah of 10/632 is the day.
Shi'a unanimously believe that the verse was revealed about the event of Ghadir and the guardianship (Wilaya) of Imam Alī (a).
الْيَوْمَ أَكْمَلْتُ لَكُمْ دِينَكُمْ وَأَتْمَمْتُ عَلَيْكُمْ نِعْمَتِي وَرَضِيتُ لَكُمُ الْإِسْلَامَ دِينًا
"Today, I have perfected your religion for you, and I have completed My blessing upon you, and I have approved Islam as your religion."
— Qur'an 5:3
Time of Revelation
There are 2 groups of narrations in Shi'a and Sunni sources about the exact time of its revelation:
It was definitely revealed during Hajjat al-Wida (farewell Hajj),
however, some have said it was revealed on the Day of Arafah or and some have narrated that it was revealed on the 18th of Dhu’l-Hijjah, the Day of Ghadir.
Day of Arafah
In al-Kāfī, al-Kulayni has narrated a hadith which says this verse was revealed on the day of Arafah to announce the guardianship of Alī (a)1;
- however al-Allāma al-Majlisī said that this hadith has weak and unreliable chain of narrators as well as distorted content2.
Al- Ayyāshī also narrated from Imam al-Sādiq (a):
"When the Messenger of God stayed in Arafah on a Friday, Gabriel came to him and said:
"O, Muhammad! God sends you salutation and says:
Tell your Ummah (community)
"Today, I have perfected your religion by the guardianship of Alī b. Abi Tālib and I have completed My blessing upon you, and I have approved Islam as your religion and I will not reveal anything after this."3
Moreover, some Sunni sources including an exegesis of the Quran and a history book authored by Ibn Kathir, maintain that it was revealed on the day of Arafah.4
18th of Dhu al-Hijjah
According to several hadiths, Ikmal verse was revealed on the day of Ghadir or soon after.
These hadiths have been narrated in Shiite sources through numerous Ṣaḥīḥ (correct) chains of transmission.5
Some Sunni sources also maintain that it was revealed on the Day of Ghadir, however, some other Sunnis believe that those hadiths are weak and unreliable.6
Narrators in the chain of transmitters are trusted according to Sunni scholars of Rijal, though:
Allama Amīnī has checked all the narrators of these hadiths according to Sunni Rijal books and principles and concluded that all of them are reliable from Sunni point of view.7
Both Days
Some scholars believe that this verse was revealed twice, once, on the day of Arafah - and the Prophet (s), for some reasons, was worried to inform people about it,
after which al-Tablīgh Verse was revealed and God assured him in that verse; then al-Ikmal verse was revealed once again - on the day of Ghadir.8
Occasion of Revelation
Shi'a unanimously believe that Ikmal verse was revealed about the event of Ghadir and the guardianship (Wilaya) of Alī (a).9
Some Sunni sources reported that the verse was revealed on day of Arafah.10
However, Allama Amīnī in al-Ghadir and Mīr Hāmid Husayn in Abaqat al-Anwar have found ample indications in Sunni sources that it was revealed about Alī (s).
Analysis
When the al-Tablīgh Verse was revealed in Ghadir Khumm, the Prophet (s) appointed Alī (a) as the Guardian and Caliph following which the Ikmal verse was revealed.
Then the Prophet (ﷺ) said:
"God is the greatest upon perfection of the religion and completion of blessing and God's satisfaction with my Messengerhood and Alī's guardianship after me."11
According to this, announcing the Guardianship of Alī (a) was the last duty of the Prophet (s) and nothing was sent down after that except the Ikmal verse.12
- 1. Kulayni, "al-Kāfī", vol. 1, p. 259.
- 2. Majlisī, Biḥār al-anwār, vol. 3, p. 259-261.
- 3. Ayyāshī, Tafsīr al-Ayyāshī, vol. 2, p. 9.
- 4. Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurān al-azīm, vol. 3, p. 26; Ibn Kathīr, al-Bidāya wa l-Nihāya, vol. 5, p. 155.
- 5. Kulayni, al-Kāfī, vol. 1, p. 289-292; Baḥrānī, al-Burhān fī Tafsīr al-Qurān, vol. 1, p. 434-447.
- 6. Ibn Kathīr, Tafsīr al-Qurān al-azīm, vol. 3, p. 28; Suyūtī, al-Durr al-manthūr, vol. 3, p. 19.
- 7. Allāma Amīnī, al-Ghadīr, vol. 1, p. 294-298.
- 8. al-Āmilī, al-Ṣaḥīḥ min sīrat al-Nabī al-azam, vol. 31, p. 311.
- 9. Tabātabāʾī, al-Mīzan, vol. 5, p. 169; Ḥuwayzī, Tafsīr nūr al-Thaqalayn, vol. 1, p. 589.
- 10. Sayyid b. Tāwūs, al-Yaqīn, p. 344; Baydāwī, Anwār al-tanzīl, vol. 1, p. 255; Ālūsī, Rūh al-maʿānī, vol. 4, p. 90-91.
- 11. Tabarī, Bishārat al-Muṣtafā, p. 211; Ḥusaynī Astar Ābādī, Taʾwīl al-āyāt al-zāhira, p. 152; Sayyid b. Tāwūs, al-Tarāʾif, vol. 1, p. 146.
- 12. Baḥrānī, al-Burhān fī Tafsīr al-Qurān, vol. 1, p. 424.