Joining Offspring to Fathers

The interpretation of the verse that indicates "Joining offspring to fathers in the Hereafter" is a topic that has long been the focus of commentators. This Quranic concept has also been interpreted in narrations, giving rise to problematic hadiths in this area, which are considered common hadiths between different Islamic sects. According to the theory of joining in the Quran and narrations, the children of believers will be joined to their fathers in the Hereafter, and the children of disbelievers will also be joined to their fathers, even if they do not reach their level, and this does not diminish the reward or punishment of their fathers. Interpretive narrations on this subject, insofar as they deprive a person of the motivation for righteous deeds and lead to the assumption of a judgment before evaluation, fall into the category of problematic hadith. The present study, by analyzing the chains of transmission of these narrations, their typology, attention to the origin of their issuance and writing, and analyzing the approaches of scholars from both sects, seeks to explain the semantic aspects of this category of hadiths in a descriptive-analytical manner, the result of which is access to solution-oriented approaches: "Conditional Acceptance," "Interpretive Acceptance," "Carrying on Taqīyya (dissimulation)," and "Denial Approach." Among these, the interpretive approaches of commentary on the hadith presented in this area, carrying the issue on "Conditional Joining," is the least challenging solution; that is, this joining has no connection with the decrease or increase of the fathers' deeds, but rather is a sign of family connection. The faith and deeds of fathers can be effective in the fate of children, but this effect is conditional on the children's faith eligibility. Therefore, joining is only for believers, and the children of disbelievers are calculated only based on their own deeds. As a result, the principle of individual responsibility is fully preserved, and the children of disbelievers will not be punished for the deeds of their fathers.