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476chapter sixAllah had made him so special among humankind: ‘Abraham said:“And what about my posterity?” He replied: “My covenant does notapply to the evil-doers”’, implying God’s reluctance to secure privilegeson the basis of lineage and pedigree. God objects to the principleof primogeniture and dynastic succession in deciding a nation’sim§m (the verse’s term for spiritual leadership), because the im§matemust be earned and cannot be inherited.The fifth verse states a similar plea to assist members of a family.While 9:114 contains a petition for Abraham’s father, and 2:124 forAbraham’s descendants, 11:45 states Noah’s call to his Lord to forgivehis son. In all three cases the pleas were issued because of thestrong feeling of likeness ( al-wal§") that Abraham and Noah felt fortheir close relatives. The differences, however, between the pleas ofAbraham and Noah are threefold: First, Abraham’s prayer for forgivenesswas motivated by a promise that he had made to himself,as we hear in the verse: ‘Abraham said: “Peace be on you: I willpray to my Lord for your forgiveness: for He is to me most gracious’(Maryam 19:47). In contrast, Noah’s plea was based on the promise(of truth regarding the parentage of Noah’s son) that Allah Himselfgave. Second, God’s intention in addressing Abraham’s plea was tostress that the spiritual authority of the im§mate cannot be inheritedby birth, while the intention in Noah’s case was to remind us thatsalvation by Allah’s command does not come to anyone without thedelivery of good deeds. Noah is told that God’s command of rescuecomes to him ‘…and [his] family—except those against whom theword has already gone forth… (Håd 11:40), that is, his son whomight have betrayed his wife, therefore, God said: ‘“O Noah! He isnot of your family: for his conduct is unrighteous…”’ (Håd 11:46).Third, Noah’s case contained an additional element, a warning thatexcessive forms of family loyalty could turn a blessed institution (kinshipsolidarity) into a cursed form of blind tribalism and zealouspartisanship: ‘I give you counsel, lest you act like the ignorant!’ (Håd11:46).A family is defined as a small social unit that forms the nucleusof a genealogical line, that is, those who belong—seen from withina patriarchal system—to the father of the family (the wife and children).A clan unites all families that are descendants of the samegrandfather, while a tribe unites all clans, divided into the buãån andafkh§dh subclans, which have a common ancestor. Al-wal§" to all threeof those social institutions is a very natural form of association that