Political Loyalty, Justice, and Trust
A Thematic Study of the Concept of Betrayal (kh-w-n) in the Qur’ān
Abstract
The Qur’ān emphasizes many virtues, including the ethics of covenant, justice, community trust, and institutional loyalty. In the Qur’ān, individuals and groups are obliged to uphold moral commitments, honour agreements, and foster justice and trust. On the other hand, Qur’ānic ethics provide an opportunity for repentance and behaviour modification for individuals who have violated the trust of others. Because Qur’ānic political ethics view moral responsibility for righteousness and self-redemption as remedies to betrayal rather than imposing punishment as the only option, it is conceivable to argue that Qur’ānic political ethics can be corrective, providing avenues for change for the treacherous. This article examines the sixteen instances of the root kh-w-n (to betray), in the Qur’ān and provides a contextualized, theme-based ethical analysis of each verse. It seeks to define the Qur’ānic corpus on betrayal (kh-w-n) and classify the latter into political betrayal, betrayal of justice, and betrayal of trust. It is concluded that this corpus describes betrayal as a consequence of a lack of moral responsibility.
Keywords: Qur’ānic ethics; betrayal; loyalty; justice; trust; responsibility
Metadata Record
References 28
- ‘Abd al-Bāqī, Muḥammad Fu’ād. Al-Mu‘jam al-Mufahras li Alfāẓ al-Qur’ān al-Karīm. Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyyah, 1966.
- ‘Abduh, Muḥammad, and Rashīd Riḍā. Tafsīr al-Manār. Cairo: Maṭba‘at al-Manār, 1947.
- Al-Rāzī, Fakhr al-Dīn. Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb. Beirut: Dār Iḥyā’ al-Turāth, 2000.
- Al-Salmān, Farīd Muṣṭafā Sulaymān. Al-Khiyānah: Asbābuhā, Anwā‘uhā, Āthāruhā kamā Yubayyinuhā al-Qur’ān al-Karīm. Riyadh: Dār Ṭuwayq: 1998.
- Al-Sha‘rāwī, Muḥammad Mutawallī. Tafsīr al-Sha‘rāwī. Cairo: Akhbār al-Yawm, 1997.
- Al-Ṭabarī, Muḥammad b. Jarīr. Jāmi‘ al-Bayān ‘an Ta’wīl Āy al-Qur’ān. Mecca: Dār al-Tarbiyyah wa ’l-Turāth, n.d.
- Chabbi, Jacqueline. Les trois piliers de l’islam : Lecture anthropologique du Coran. Paris: Seuil, 2016.
- Cottini, Valentino, Felix Körner, Diego R. Sarrió Cucarella, eds. Raḥma: Muslim and Christian Studies in Mercy. Rome: Pontificio Istituto di Studi Arabi e d’islamistica, 2018.
- Dahmān, ‘Abd al-Qādir Muḥammad al-Mu‘taṣim. Al-Khiyānah: Ṣuwaruhā wa Aḥkāmuhā wa Āthāruhā fī Ḍaw’ al-Qur’ān wa ’l-Sunnah. Al-Manṣūrah: Dār al-Lu’lu’ah, 2020.
- Duderija, Adis. Constructing a Religiously Ideal, Believer, and Woman in Islam. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011.
- Eggen, Nora S. “Conceptions of Trust in the Qur’an.” Journal of Qur’anic Studies 13 (2011): 56-85.
- Ḥasan, Muḥammad Aḥmad Maḥmūd al-Ḥājj. “Al-Khiyānah fī ’l-Qur’ān al-Karīm.” Master’s thesis, al-Najah University, Nāblus, 2010. https://repository.najah.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/2da0a00c-baf2-462e-b106-85bed232f614/content.
- Ibn ‘Āshūr, al-Ṭāhir. Tafsīr al-Taḥrīr wa ’l-Tanwīr. Tunis: al-Dār al-Tūnisiyyah li ’l-Nashr, 1984.
- Ismā‘īl, Aḥmad al-Amīr Jāhīn. “Mawqif al-Qur’ān min al-Khiyānah wa ’l-Khā’inīn.” Master’s thesis, University of al-Azhar, Cairo, 2003. http://thesis.mandumah.com/Record/89155.
- Izutsu, Toshihiko. Ethico-Religious Concepts in the Qur’an. Montréal: McGill-Queen’s University Press, 2002.
- Khālid, Ma’mūn Ḥasan. “Al-Amānah wa ’l-Khiyānah fī ’l-Qur’ān al-Karīm.” Mmaster’s thesis, Āl al-Bayt University, Amman, 2005. https://books.altafser.com/download_book/16649.
- Kleinig, John. “Loyalty.” In The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, edited by Edward N. Zalta, Summer 2022 ed. https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/sum2022/entries/loyalty/.
- Kolakowski, Leszek. Freedom, Fame, Lying and Betrayal: Essays on Everyday Life. Milton: Routledge, 2019.
- Lumbard, Joseph. “Covenant and Covenants in the Qur’an.” Journal of Qur’anic Studies 17, no. 2 (2015): 1–23.
- Maḥjūbī, ‘Abd al-Qādir. “Mafhūm al-Amānah wa ’l-Khiyānah fī ’l-Qur’ān al-Karīm.” PhD diss., Muhammad V University, Rabat, 1998.
- Maudūdī, S. Abul A‘lā. The Meaning of the Qur’ān. Translated by Ch. Muhammad Akbar. Lahore: Islamic Publications Limited, 1967.
- Musa, Aisha Y. “Raḥma: Universal Divine Mercy in the Qur’an and Hadith.” Journal of Islamic and Muslim Studies 6 (2021): 131-39.
- O’Connor, Andrew J. “Qur’anic Covenants Reconsidered: Mīthāq and ‘Ahd in Polemical Context.” Islam and Christian–Muslim Relations 30 (2019): 1-22.
- Quṭb, Sayyid. In the Shade of the Qur’an. Translated by Adil Salahi. Leicester: Islamic Foundation, 2009.
- Rane, Halim. “Higher Objectives (Maqāṣid) of Covenants in Islam: A Content Analysis of ‘Ahd and Mīthāq in the Qur’ān.” Religions 14 (2023): 1-25.
- Shavit, Uriya. “The Polemic on al-wala’ wal-bara’ (Loyalty and Disavowal): Crystallization and Refutation of an Islamic Concept.” Journal of South Asian and Middle Eastern Studies 36 (2013): 24-49.
- Wagemakers, Joas. “Framing the ‘Threat to Islam’: Al-Wala’ wa-l-Bara’ in Salafi Discourse.” Arab Studies Quarterly 30 (2008): 1–22.
- Wielandt, Rotraud. “Manifestations and Scope of God’s Mercy in the Qur’an.” Concilium 4 (2017): 76-86.