Surah An-Nisaa (4): Read Online and Download - English Translation

The background of these verses

The nine verses (105-113) cited above refer to a particular episode. But, very much in accordance with the characteristic style of the Qur'an, the instructions given in this connection are not peculiar to this episode. They are, rather, a set of basic principles and rules commonly beneficial for all Muslims whether of a given time or of future generations.

Let us go to the event first, then consider the wisdom of related instructions which provide solutions to corresponding problems. The episode centres around the clan of Banu Ubayriq in Madinah. A man from this clan - his name being Bashir as in the narration of Tirmidhi and Hakim, or Tu'mah as in the narration of al-Baghawi and Ibn Jarir - broke into the house of Sayyidna Rifa` ah, the uncle of Sayyidna Qatdah ibn al-Nu` man, and committed a theft.

In the narration of Tirmidhi, it is also mentioned that this man was, in reality, a hypocrite. He used to live in Madinah yet was audacious enough to compose poetic satires insulting the noble Companions and used to publicise these in the name of others while keeping his identity concealed.

As for the actual theft it was committed during the early period of Hijrah when Muslims generally lived under straightened circumstances facing all sorts of need, hunger and deprivation. The common food they ate was bread from barley flour or dates, or wheat flour which was scarce and just not available in Madinah. Once in a while, when it did come from Syria some people would buy it for guests or for some other special need. Thus, Sayyidna Rifa` ah bought some wheat flour for himself, put it in a bag, added some arms on top of it and stashed the bag in a small roomette of the house in all possible safety. But, this man - Ibn Ubayriq, Bashir or Tu'mah - somehow came to know, broke into the house and decamped with the bag. When Sayyidna Rifa` ah discovered the theft in the morning, he went to his nephew, Qatadah and told him about it. Together they went out investigating in the locality. Some people said that they had seen the light of fire coming from the Banu Ubayriq house last night and that probably they were cooking what was stolen. When Banu Ubayriq learnt about their secret being out, they themselves came there and charged that the theft was committed by Labid ibn Sahl. Labid was well-known as a sincere and pious Muslim. When Labid himself came to know about this allegation, he came out of his house, sword in hand, saying: You are blaming me for this theft, now I am not going to put my sword back into the sheath, until the truth of this theft becomes clear.

Quietly, Banu Ubayriq confided to him: Do not worry. Nobody is blaming you. Moreover, this is not the sort of thing you would do. At this point, the narration in al-Baghawi and Ibn Jarir says that Banu Ubayriq charged a Jew with the theft and, very cleverly, made a track of seemingly falling flour from .a slit in the bag, which was their own work, all the way from Rifa` ah's house to the house of the Jew. When the traces of the flour were discovered and word went around, they carried the stolen arms and armours as well to the same Jew and left these with him for safe keeping. Following investigations, they were recovered from his house. The Jew declared on oath that these were given to him by Ibn Ubayriq.

In order to bring the two narrations of Tirmidhi and al-Baghawi into harmony, it can be said that may be Banu Ubayriq had first charged Labid ibn Sahl with the theft, but once they realized that their ruse was not working, they targeted the Jew with the blame. Ulti-mately then, the case now rested between the Jew and Banu Ubayriq.

On the other side, Sayyidna Qatadah and Rifa` ah were overwhelmingly convinced on the basis of circumstantial evidence that this was the work of Banu Ubayriq. Sayyidna Qatadah went to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and told him about the theft and also told him that he strongly suspected Banu Ubayriq. When Banu Ubayriq heard the news, they came to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and complained against Sayyidna Qatadah and Rifa` ah ؓ that they were putting the blame for the theft on them without having any valid legal proof and despite the fact that the stolen property was recovered from the house of the Jew. They appealed to the Holy Prophet ﷺ to restrain Sayyidna Qatadah and Rifa` ah ؓ from blaming them for the theft and if they had to sue anyone, they should sue the Jew.

Things as they appeared on the outside made even the Holy Prophet ﷺ incline towards the probability that the theft was committed by the Jew and that the accusation against Banu Ubayriq was not correct. So much so that, according to the narration of al Baghawi, the Holy Prophet ﷺ had the intention of inflicting the punishment for theft on the Jew and sever his hand.

Matters went worse when Sayyidna Qatadah appeared before the Holy Prophet ﷺ who admonished him by saying that he was accusing a Muslim family of theft without any proof. Sayyidna Qatadah ؓ was grieved about the whole thing and wished that he had not spoken to the Holy Prophet ﷺ about this matter even if he had to bear by the loss of his property. Similarly, when Sayyidna Rifa` ah learnt about what the Holy Prophet ﷺ had said, he too exercised patience and said: (And Allah is the one from whom all help is sought).

Not much time had passed when a whole section of the Qur'an was revealed about this episode through which the reality behind it was shown to the Holy Prophet ﷺ and general instructions covering such cases were given. As the Holy Qur'an exposed the theft committed by Banu Ubayriq and acquitted the Jew. Banu Ubayriq were left with no choice but to return the stolen property to the Holy Prophet ﷺ who had it returned to the owner, Sayyidna Rifa` ah ؓ ، who finally endowed all those arms for use in Jihad. When Banu Ubayriq found their theft exposed, Bashir, the son of Ubayriq ran away from Madinah landing in Makkah where he joined the disbelievers. Consequently, if he had been a hypocrite earlier, he became an acknowledged disbeliever; and, if he was a Muslim earlier, he was an apostate now.

It appears in Tafsir al-Bahr al-Muhit that the curse of his antagonism to Allah and His Messenger did not allow Bashir ibn Ubayriq to live peacefully even in Makkah. When the woman at whose house he had taken up residence found out about this episode, she threw him out of her house. Thus, loitering on the streets came the day when he broke into somebody else's house. The wall through which he went in collapsed on him and killed him right there.

These are the details of the episode. Let us now give some thought to what has been said in the Qur'an:

After telling the Holy Prophet ﷺ the reality behind the case of theft, in the first verse (105), it was said: Allah has given you the Qur'an through revelations so that you can use the knowledge and insight gifted to you to decide matters accordingly, abstaining from taking sides with traitors, that is, Banu Ubayriq. No doubt, the obvious circumstances and evidences were such that a tilt towards the probability of the Jew having committed the theft was not a sin, yet contrary to the actual fact it was. Therefore, in the second verse (106), the Holy Prophet ﷺ was asked to seek forgiveness from Allah because the station of prophets (علیہم السلام) is very high and Allah does not favour the issuance of even something so insignificant from them.

In the third verse (107), it has been emphatically asserted once again that the Messenger of Allah should not defend those who are disloyal and treacherous, for Allah does not like them.

The fourth verse (108) describes the condition of people who betray trust and act treacherously. It is strange that these people feel shy before other people like them and conceal their theft from them while they do not feel shy before Allah who is with them all the time and watches over everything they do, specially the occasion when they mutually conspired to put the blame on the Jew, went to the Holy Prophet ﷺ complained against Rifa` ah and Qatadah ؓ ، charged them of false accusation and appealed to the Holy Prophet for support against the Jew.

Banu Ubayriq telling them that their support given to betrayers of trust in the mortal world does not end at that. There will be the Day of Doom when their case will come before Almighty Allah. Who will lend support to them at that time? The verse serves two purposes. It admonishes them, and then reminds them of the hazards of the Hereafter persuading them thereby to repent and turn to Allah.

In the sixth verse (110), we can once again see the wise way of the Qur'an at work when, in order to save sinners from total disappointment, it was said that a sin was a sin, big or small. When a sinner repents and seeks Allah's forgiveness, he finds Him forgiving, merciful. As obvious, there is an element of persuasion for those who have committed sin suggesting that they still had the time and the hope to just desist and repent sincerely; nothing is lost, Allah will forgive everything.

In the event that these people choose not to repent despite the option given to them, the seventh verse (111) carries the assurance that this action of theirs brings no harm to Almighty Allah or His Messenger or to Muslims. The sad nemesis of a person's evil deed shall be faced by the person himself.

In the eighth verse (112), a general rule of conduct has been set forth. It stipulates that anyone who himself commits a crime, then goes on to put the blame on some innocent person (as in the episode cited above where the theft was committed by Banu Ubayriq themselves and they went on to put the blame on Sayyidna Labid or the Jew) has done something grave by levelling a false accusation of great magnitude against an innocent person plus an open sin weighing heavy on one's shoulders.

Addressing the Holy Prophet ﷺ in the ninth verse (113), it has been said: It was Allah's grace and mercy that He revealed to you the reality behind the event of theft, otherwise these people would have misled you into error. But, since you are not alone, Allah's grace and mercy is with you, these people can never mislead you into error.

On the contrary, they themselves fall into error. Be sure that these people cannot harm you in any way whatsoever because Allah has revealed the Book and wisdom to you and taught you what you did not know.

The Holy Prophet ﷺ and Ijtihad

From verse 105 which begins with the words: إِنَّا أَنزَلْنَا إِلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ بِالْحَقِّ (Surely we have revealed to you the book with the truth) helps establish five rulings:

1. The Holy Prophet ﷺ had the right to arrive at his judgement in situations not covered by an explicit authority given in the Holy Qur'an. In situations of major importance, there were many decisions he took by his Ijtihad.

2. The second rule that emerges from here is inseparably linked with the authenticity of Ijtihad. It means that, in the sight of Allah, an Ijtihad can be considered trustworthy only when it is based on and is deduced from Qur'anic principles and the clear authority of its text. Simple opinions or views are not trustworthy, nor can they be termed as Ijtihad in the sense recognized in Shari’ ah.

3. The third rule of guidance we get to know is that the Ijtihad done by the Holy Prophet al was not like that done by Mujtahid Imams where the probability of an error of judgement always remains. As for the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، when he took a decision on the basis of his Ijtihad any possible error in the judgment would always stand corrected by Allah Almighty. Therefore, when he took a decision based on his Ijtihad and nothing against it came from Almighty Allah, then, this was an indicator that the decision taken finds favour with Allah and is correct in His sight.

4. The fourth rule of guidance we come to know is: at the Holy Prophet ﷺ understood from the Qur'an was nothing but what Almighty Allah had Himself made him understand. A possibility of misunderstanding just did not exist there. This is contrary to the case of other ` Ulama and Mujtahidin whose understanding of the Qur'-an cannot be attributed to Almighty Allah in the sense that it was what Allah had told them. You will realize the difference when you carefully look at بِماٰ اَراکَ اللہُ (with the insight Allah has given to you) which refers to the noble Prophet ﷺ in this very verse. This is why - when someone said to Sayyidna ` Umar ؓ عنہ (Decide as Allah shows you to) - he scolded him by saying: This is special to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ

5. The fifth ruling we deduce from here is that pursuing or advocating a false case or a false claim or to second or support them is totally Haram (forbidden).

The Reality of Repentance

Verse no which begins with the words: وَمَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُ tells us that all sins, whether they affect others or affect one's own self, that is, whether they violate the rights of human beings (Huququl-‘Ibad) or rights of Allah (Huququllah), can be forgiven by one's repenting and praying for forgiveness. But; it is necessary to know the reality of showing repentance and seeking forgiveness. Mere verbal declarations of 'I seek Allah's forgiveness' (Astaghfirullah) and 'I turn to Him in repentance' (Wa atubu ilaihi) are not acts of genuine repentance as such. Therefore, according to a consensus of ` Ulama, the person who is involved in some sin, is not ashamed of it and does not leave it or, at least, does not resolve to leave it in the future, then, his verbal declaration of Astaghfirullah is an open mockery of repentance.

In short, for repentance (Taubah) to be genuine, three things are necessary:

1. Being ashamed of past sins.

2. Immediately leaving the sin one is in.

3. Resolving to stay away from sin in future.

However, forgiveness for sins related to the rights of the servants of Allah has to be sought from the wronged party itself; or, one should, to begin with, pay what was due or fulfill what was denied. These are binding conditions of genuine repentance.

Attributing one's sins to others brings added punishment

From verse 112 – اَلخ وَمَن يَكْسِبْ خَطِيئَةً أَوْ إِثْمًا ثُمَّ يَرْ‌مِ بِهِ we know that a person who himself commits a sin, then goes on to ascribe it to an innocent man, does something terrible - he doubles and hardens his sin. He has made himself deserving of severe punishment, the punishment of his own sin, then the added punishment for lying and accusing falsely.

The Reality of Qur'an and Sunnah

In verse 113: وَأَنزَلَ اللَّـهُ عَلَيْكَ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُن تَعْلَمُ (And Allah has revealed to you the Book and the wisdom and has taught you what you did not know), by pairing al-Kitab (the Book) and al-Hikmah (the Wisdom) it has been pointed out that . Hikmah which is the name of the Sunnah and teachings of the noble Prophet ﷺ was also sent down by none but Allah Almighty. The difference is that its words are not from Allah and that is why they are not part of the Qur'an. But, its meanings and that of the Qur'an are certainly from Allah, therefore, it is obligatory to act in accordance with both.

This explains what some jurists say about Wahy (Revelation) being of two kinds: Matluww - that which is recited, and Ghayr-Matluww - that which is not recited. Wahy Matluww or the revelation which is recited is the name of the Qur'an - the words and meanings of which are both from Allah. And Ghayr-Matluww or that which is not recited is the name of the Hadith of the Rasul the words of which are from the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the meanings of which are from Allah.

Another problem which gets resolved from the words: وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُن تَعْلَمُ (and taught you what you did not know) (113) is that the noble Prophet ﷺ did not have the all-comprehending knowledge of the entire universe equal to Almighty Allah, as some ignorant people do insist. The truth is that the measure of his knowledge was corresponding to what Allah bestowed upon him. However, there is no doubt that the knowledge bestowed upon the Holy Prophet ﷺ exceeds the combined knowledge of all created beings.