The fourth point:
The interpretation of the verse related from Ibn ʿAbbās in the two Sahīhs contradicts that claim.
In the two Sahīhs, Saʿīd ibn Jubayr said:
“Ibn ʿAbbās was asked about the words of the Exalted:
‘Say, “I ask of you no reward for it, except affection on account of kinship.”’
[Surah al-Shūrā: 23]
I said, ‘It means that you should not harm (1) Muhammad with respect to his relatives.’
Ibn ʿAbbās replied, ‘You have been hasty. There was no clan of Quraysh among whom the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did not have kin. Thus, he said: “I ask of you no reward for it, but [I ask you] to maintain (2) the bond of kinship between you and me.” (3)’”
Thus Ibn ʿAbbās—the interpreter of the Quran and the most knowledgeable member of the Prophet’s Household after ʿAlī—states that the verse does not mean love for close relatives. Rather, it means: “O Arabs and O Quraysh, I ask no reward of you for it; I ask only that you maintain the bond of kinship between you and me.” The Prophet thus asked the people to whom he was first sent to honor his ties of kinship and not transgress against him until he had conveyed his Lord’s message. (4)
(1) (N) reads: “that you should not cause harm”; (M) reads: “unless you cause harm.”
(2) (N) and (S) read: “but maintain”; (B) reads: “but that you maintain.”
(3) This hadith was cited previously, 4/25–26.
(4) Ibn al-Jawzī stated in *Zād al-Masīr*, 7/284–285: “There are two opinions concerning what is meant by his kin. The first is that it refers to Alī, Fātima, and her two sons. They narrated this in a report attributed directly to the Messenger of Allah—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.” The editor of the book commented: “Al-Suyūtī stated in *al-Durr*, 6/7: Ibn al-Mundhir, Ibn Abī Hātim, al-Tabarānī, and Ibn Mardawayh transmitted through a weak chain, by way of Saīd ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbās, who said: ‘When this verse was revealed—“Say: I ask of you no reward for it, except affection on account of kinship”—they asked, “O Messenger of Allah, who are those relatives of yours whose love is obligatory?” He replied, “Alī, Fātima, and her two sons.”’ Al-Hāfiz Ibn Hajar mentioned this report in *Takhrīj al-Kashshāf* and said: ‘Its chain contains Husayn al-Ashqar, who is weak and discredited.’ He added: ‘It is contradicted by a report more deserving of acceptance. In *Sahīh al-Bukhārī*, through Tāwūs from Ibn Abbās, it is related that he was asked about this verse. Saīd ibn Jubayr said, “It refers to kinship with the family of Muhammad—may Allah bless him and grant him peace.” Ibn Abbās replied, “You have been hasty. There was no clan of Quraysh among whom the Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—did not have kin…”’—to the end of the hadith.”