Appearance
“Our Sons, Our Women, Ourselves”: Plurals for One or Two?
فَمَنْ حَآجَّكَ فِيهِ مِنۢ بَعْدِ مَا جَآءَكَ مِنَ ٱلْعِلْمِ فَقُلْ تَعَالَوْا۟ نَدْعُ أَبْنَآءَنَا وَأَبْنَآءَكُمْ وَنِسَآءَنَا وَنِسَآءَكُمْ وَأَنفُسَنَا وَأَنفُسَكُمْ ثُمَّ نَبْتَهِلْ فَنَجْعَل لَّعْنَتَ ٱللَّهِ عَلَى ٱلْكَـٰذِبِينَ
“Should anyone argue with you concerning him, after the knowledge that has come to you, say, ‘Come! Let us call our sons and your sons, our women and your women, ourselves and yourselves, then let us pray earnestly and call down God’s curse upon the liars’” (3:61)
The question
Why does the verse say “our sons”, “our women” and “ourselves” in the plural, when only al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn, Fāṭimah, and ʿAlī came?
Views answered: the objection in Ibn Taymiyya’s Minhāj al-Sunna and in al-Manār
Jawādī Āmulī’s argument
Āyatullāh Jawādī Āmulī first sets aside one reply: that in logic a plural begins at two, which would cover “our sons” but not “our women” or “ourselves”. His answer is that these words are used for their concept, not for a count of individuals, and a concept may have one, two or more instances in fact: the verse of ẓihār (58:2) is plural though one man did it, as is the verse of guardianship (5:55). Fakhr al-Rāzī’s own account of the mubāhala, which he says the scholars of exegesis and hadith agree is authentic, shows that only al-Ḥasan and al-Ḥusayn were “our sons”, only Fāṭimah “our women”, and only ʿAlī “ourselves”; had there been others, the Prophet would have brought them, since each side had to bring all of its own.
Views compared
The objection is given as al-Tasnim reports it. Each point opens al-Tasnim at that place.
Plurals with no plural Read →
Minhāj al-Sunna and al-Manār
The words are plural, yet in fact the plural was not realised.Jawādī Āmulī
They are used for their concept, which may have one or two instances, like the verse of ẓihār (58:2) and the verse of guardianship (5:55).A plural begins at two Read →
A suggested reply
In logic, plurality is reached with two.Jawādī Āmulī
That would only explain “our sons”, not “our women” or “ourselves”.Who came Read →
Fakhr al-Rāzī
Reports the Prophet coming out with al-Ḥusayn, al-Ḥasan, Fāṭimah and ʿAlī, a narration he says is agreed to be authentic.Jawādī Āmulī
So each word had only the instances who came; had there been others, the Prophet would have brought them, since each side had to bring all its own.Reading guide
Each step opens al-Tasnim at that point.