Imam Ali's Guardianship in the Quran

The Quranic verse 5:55, which is known as the Guardianship Verse (Ayatul Wilaya) among Imamite exegetes and theologians, is one of the most important verses that has been revealed regarding the guardianship of Amiralmu’minīn Imam Ali. Because of the specialimportance of this verse, Muslim theologians have paid special attention to it and numerous works have been written on it.Imamite exegetes and most Sunni exegetes agree that the cause ofrevelation of this verse was an instance in which Imam Ali(Pbuh) gave alms to the poor while bowing down in prayer. The author of the present article has carefully examined the cause of revelation of the verse (5:55) here. To this end, while the author will mention the successive transmission of the story as the cause of revelation of the verse about Imam Ali according to Imamite and Sunni scholars, he will also enumerate some narrators of the hadith from among the Companions. Then, from among the 60 documents regarding the hadith in question,2 documents from ibn abi Hātam and ibn Marduyah will be examined. Views of exegetes through centuries regarding the revelation of the Guardianship Verse as well as arguments by Imamite scholars regarding the revelation of this verse about Imam Ali constitute the other discussions that will be set forth in the present article extensively in the form of verse internal and verse external arguments. Finally, the writer will criticize and examine the doubts cast on the cause of revelation of the verse by responding extensively to each of the doubts.