A Comparative Review of the Interpretation of the Verse of Ulel- Amr in Al-Mizan and Al-Minar Commentaries

The present paper seeks to compare Al- Minar Commentary by 'Abduh and Al-Mizan Commentary by Allamah Tabatabaii in terms of their interpretation of the verse 59 in Chapter 4 (Al-Nisa'- The Women), known as the verse of "Ulel-Amr". For Tabatabaii, the referents of Ulel-Amr are infallible Imams, who should be obeyed unconditionally and absolutely as the Holy Prophet, which proves their infallibility. He believes that the repetition of the imperative verb "Obey" indicates the difference in the domain of obedience not emphasis, and the pronoun "you" in verse which says "then if you quarrel about anything" refers not to Ulel-Amr but to Muslims. In Al-Minar, Abduh accepts the command of absolute obedience to the Holy Prophet and Ulel-Amr, necessitated by their infallibility. However, he believes that the instances of Ulel-Amr are people of hal and 'Aqd (those whose opinions are what count) whose consensus is correct. Rashid Reza, however, does not regard such a consensus as infallible, as he believes that the pronoun "you" refers to Ulel-Amr as well. The paper compares aforementioned commentaries to extracts several mistakes taken by Abduh in Al-Minar, and resolves the doubts he cast on Shia interpretations.