Examining Meta-contextual Inferences Centered on the Interpretation of Verse 5 of Sūrat al-Aḥzāb

Context is one of the basic issues for understanding the Holy Qur’an. Inferring from the verses of the Qur’an, regardless of the context, may prevent the commentator from achieving the true purpose of God. However, it can be seen that in jurisprudential books, some rulings are inferred from parts of the verses without considering before and after, and the reader is led to the notion that the jurists do not consider the context as authoritative or neglect it. The present article has been organized with a descriptive-analytical method with the aim of analyzing this issue focusing on Ḥimād’s incompletely transmitted hadith (mursala). In this mursala, Imam Kāẓim (A.S.), citing a part of the 5th verse of Sūrat al-Aḥzāb, i.e. ﴾call them to their fathers﴿ denies the khums being levied on those who are attributed to Banī Hāshim through their mothers. The Imam’s words appear to create the notion in the mind that in this argument, the proportion of the legal decision and the subject has not been observed and the context of the verse has been neglected. After examining six solutions in explaining the Imam’s view, the research findings in the seventh solution show that the attribution in the phrase ﴾call them to their fathers﴿, in addition to being attributed to the real father, it includes attribution to the tribes as well and the Imam’s attestation to this verse has been in terms of attribution to the tribe. According to this analysis, the Imam’s inference is not out of context.