سورة الأنعام

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): وَ وَهَبْنا لَهُ إِسْحاقَ وَ یَعْقُوبَ کُلًّا هَدَیْنا وَ نُوحاً هَدَیْنا مِنْ قَبْلُ [And We gave to him Ishaq and Yaqub; each did We guide, and Nuh did We guide before] — so that We may place it in his household; and the order of the descendants of the prophets before Ibrahim (peace be upon him) was appointed for Ibrahim (peace be upon him), and between Ibrahim and Hud (there were prophets).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): وَ وَهَبْنَا لَهُ إِسْحَقَ وَ یَعْقُوبَ کُلاًّ هَدَیْنَا [And We gave to him Ishaq and Yaqub; each did We guide] — so that We would place it [prophethood] among his family. وَ نُوحًا هَدَیْنَا مِن قَبْلُ [And Nuh did We guide before] — so that We would place it among his family. Thus He placed the matter [of prophethood] in the future descendants of the household of the prophets (peace be upon them) — those who were before Ibrahim (peace be upon him) and from Ibrahim (peace be upon him) — and He commanded it.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): In the narration of Abu al-Jarud it is reported: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said, "O Abu al-Jarud! What do they say to you about Hasan and Husayn (peace be upon them)?" I said, "They deny that they are the sons of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)." He said, "By what did you argue against them?" I said, "I argued with this saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic concerning Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him): وَ مِن ذُرِّیَّتِهِ دَاوُودَ وَ سُلَیْمَانَ وَ أَیُّوبَ وَ یُوسُفَ وَ مُوسَی وَ هَارُونَ وَ کَذَلِکَ نَجْزِی المُحْسِنِینَ * وَ زَکَرِیَّا وَ یَحْیَی وَ عِیسَی [And of his descendants, Dawud and Sulayman and Ayyub and Yusuf and Musa and Harun; and thus do We reward those who do good, and Zakariyya and Yahya and Isa], because He has identified Isa ibn Maryam (peace be upon him) as being from the descendants of Nuh (peace be upon him)."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Allah related Isa the Messiah (peace be upon him) to Ibrahim the Friend [of Allah] (peace be upon him) through his mother Maryam al-Batul (peace be upon her), whom no human being touched. In this verse He said: وَ مِنْ ذُرِّیَّتِهِ داوُدَ وَ سُلَیْمانَ وَ أَیُّوبَ وَ یُوسُفَ وَ مُوسی وَ هارُونَ وَ کَذلِکَ نَجْزِی المُحْسِنِینَ وَ زَکَرِیَّا وَ یَحْیی وَ عِیسی وَ إِلْیاسَ کُلٌّ مِنَ الصَّالِحِینَ [And of his descendants, Dawud and Sulayman and Ayyub and Yusuf and Musa and Harun; and thus do We reward those who do good, and Zakariyya and Yahya and Isa and Ilyas — all of the righteous]. This attribution to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) is given only through the father and mother, just as He attributes Dawud, Sulayman, Ayyub, Yusuf, Musa and Harun (peace be upon them) through their fathers and mothers to Ibrahim (peace be upon him); and this itself is a virtue for Isa (peace be upon him), that he attains this rank through his mother alone.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): By Allah, Allah the Blessed and Exalted, in the Quran, has traced the lineage of Isa (peace be upon him) to Ibrahim (peace be upon him) through the women; وَ مِن ذُرِّیَّتِهِ دَاوُودَ وَ سُلَیْمَانَ [And of his descendants, Dawud and Sulayman] up to His saying وَ یَحْیَی وَ عِیسَی [and Yahya and Isa].

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn al-Zibriqan al-Damghani said: Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) said: I said [to Harun], "Who is Isa's (peace be upon him) father?" He said, "Isa (peace be upon him) had no father; he was created by the will of Allah and the Holy Spirit." I said, "Just as Isa (peace be upon him) is counted among the descendants of the prophets (peace be upon them) through his mother, so too we are among the descendants of the prophets (peace be upon them) through our mother Fatimah (peace be upon her), not through our father Ali (peace be upon him)."

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Hani ibn Muhammad ibn Mahmud, through his father, traces back to Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) that the Imam (peace be upon him) said: I went to Harun al-Rashid. He said to me: "How can you say: we are the children of the Prophet, when the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) left no son, and indeed children are ascribed to the man, not to the woman, and you are the children of his daughter, and children through a daughter do not carry the lineage?" I said: "I ask you by the right of kinship and by the right of the grave and the one who lies in it, that you excuse me from this question." He said: "No, you children of Ali (peace be upon him) must present your proof. And you, according to what has reached me, are their chief and their Imam in this age, and I will not excuse you in any of my questions until you bring me an answer with a proof from the Qur'an. You children of Ali (peace be upon him) claim that not a single word or letter of the Qur'an is hidden from you and that you know the interpretation of every alif and waw of it, and you rely on this verse: مَّا فَرَّطْنَا فِی الْکِتَابِ مِن شَیْءٍ [We have not neglected anything in the Book], and you have taken it as your proof and have dispensed with the opinion and analogy of the scholars." I said: "Will you permit me to answer?" He said: "Answer." I said: "I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful. وَ مِنْ ذُرِّیَّتِهِ داوُدَ وَ سُلَیْمانَ وَ أَیُّوبَ وَ یُوسُفَ وَ مُوسی وَ هارُونَ وَ کَذلِکَ نَجْزِی الْمُحْسِنِینَ وَ زَکَرِیَّا وَ یَحْیی وَ عِیسی وَ إِلْیاسَ [And of his descendants, Dawud and Sulayman and Ayyub and Yusuf and Musa and Harun; and thus do We reward those who do good; and Zakariyya and Yahya and Isa and Ilyas]. O Commander of the Faithful! Who is the father of Isa (peace be upon him)?" He said: "Isa (peace be upon him) has no father." I said: "Then we attached him to the other descendants of the prophets through Maryam (peace be upon her), and in the same way we too are attached to the lineage of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) through our mother Fatimah (peace be upon her)."