The verse of affection: a comparative study, between Shiite and Sunni interpretations (The third, fourth and fifth centuries as a model)

The verse of affection is one of the important Qur’anic verses that has sparked and continues to provoke a great doctrinal controversy between Shiite and Sunni interpreters in terms of interpretation and interpretation. The background of this doctrinal controversy is due to the accepted rhetorical trends, especially in the Imamate, in each of the two sects, which made each of them explain the relevant verses in accordance with his theological vision. Based on this, the Shiite interpretations, based on the narrative and dialectical method, see that the verse of affection is related to the family of the Prophet (peace be upon them) and the relatives are Ali, Hassan, Hussein and Fatima al-Zahra (peace be upon them). In the same context, the interpretations of Ahlus-Sunnah confirm that affection indicates intimacy with God Almighty and kinship is the wives of the Noble Prophet (peace and blessings of God be upon him and his family) or all of his family without specifying.

The central disagreement, in this regard, is that the Shiites see the Imamate as one of the fundamental principles of the religion, but the Sunnis see that it is not an origin. On the other hand, the Shiites see, through the verse of affection, that the imamate is a textual matter and was mentioned in the Holy Qur’an, especially the verse of affection, but the Sunnis see that it is not textual, but rather an inaugural matter and takes place through consultation. But what reconciles them is that they all relied, in their interpretation of the verse, on the narrative and linguistic method, this is first, but secondly that the imamate in what is the imamate is not disputed by Sunnis and Shiites, but rather the difference in its credibility and considering it as an origin or a branch in general. On the other hand, some of the Sunni interpreters, such as Al-Hasakani and Al-Thalabi Al-Nisaburi, tended in their interpretations of a Shiite tendency in terms of context and narrative significance.