Surah An-Nisa 4:1-10 - Quran Translation Commentary

1. O Mankind ! Fear your¹ Lord, who created you from a single soul² and from it created its mate³ and from these two spread many men and women⁴. Fear Allah, by Whom you demand (your rights) of one another⁵ and abstain from breaking off kinship.⁶ Allah ever watches over you.

2. And give to orphans⁷ their property. And exchange not their good things with your bad things, nor devour their wealth by adding it to your wealth. Indeed, that is a great sin ⁸.

3. And if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphans⁹, marry of those women who are lawful to you, two or three or four¹⁰ and if you fear that you cannot do justice¹¹ (to them) then marry one only or that which have come in your possessionl². That will be more proper to prevent you from doing injustice.

4. And give the women their dower as a free gift,¹³ but if they, of their own sweet will, remit any portion of it to you, you may enjoy it with pleasure.

5. And give not to those of weak understanding¹⁴ , ¹⁵ your wealth, which Allah has made the mean of your maintenance but feed and clothe them from it and speak to them kindly.

6. And examine the orphans until they reach the age of marriage¹⁶; if then you find sound judgment in them, ¹⁷ release their property to them: and consume it not extravagantly and hastily against their growing up. Whoever is rich let him abstain: and whoever is needy, let him eat reasonably.¹⁸ And when you hand over their property to them, call witnesses in their presence, and Allah suffices as Reckoner.

7. There is a share for men in what has been left by parents and nearest relatives and there is a share for women in what has been left by parents and nearest relatives, whether the property be small or large – a fixed share.¹⁹

8. And if at the time of division other relatives, and orphans and poor are present, give them some thing out of it and speak kind words ²⁰.

9. People should be afraid that if they had left behind them helpless children what would have been their anxiety about them.²¹ So they Should fear Allah and speak properly.

10. Verily those who devour the property of orphans unjustly, devour only fire in their bellies; soon they will enter a blazing fire.

Commentary

1. This direction is like a foundation for the responsibilities of the human rights and the society that have been mentioned in this Surah. The fact is that an honest fear of Allah produces in man the true spark of humanity and prompts him to respect rights of others and to sympathise with the weaker sections. Those people who consider that fear of Allah is unimportant on account of their disregard for religion and then formulate plans of building up the human society are making castles in the air. This is the reason why they are unable to develop men who are true sympathisers of humanity and who are the guardians of their rights and conscious of their duties. As against this, whoever adopts this direction of the Quran that is whoever honestly fears God, he would become in reality a standard-bearer of humanity. Quran has presented the best examples of such persons in every age and this process still continues. Accordingly even today the real quality of love for humanity will be found only in those who have absorbed in themselves this teaching of the Quran-fear of Allah.

2. That is: From Adam, who is the father of all mankind.

3. That is: Hawwa (Eve) was born out of Adam. The saying of the Quran that all were created from a single being proves that Hawwa was also created from Adam. If Hawwa would have been born from any separate source then it would have been said that all were created from two souls. As regards the detailed manner in which Hawwa was created, it is neither mentioned in Quran nor is it in hadith. Therefore, we have to accept and be content with the broad saying of the Quran.

4. Here two important realities have been mentioned. One: that all humans were created by Allah and He alone is their Lord. Second: The human race began with Adam therefore all humans. whether male or female whether black or white and to whatever nation or country they may belong are the offshoots of only one father Adam and one mother, Hawwa. Therefore, there is no difference among them in the matter of their humanity. All are equally deserving of respect and the right of every one should be respected. This teaching of Quran about humanity refutes the concept of racialism. It also cuts at the root of the polytheistic concept that the high caste people are born from devtas (gods) and the low caste or the shudras from rakshasas ( demons).

5. Men appeal to others for sympathy, justice and respecting the rights of others in the name of the God. It means that the inner spontaneous call of human soul is that Allah is the Lord of all mankind and that the concept of His greatness makes men respect the rights of others. Quran confirms this inner, spontaneous call and it declares fear of Allah as the basis of mutual respect for rights of one another.

6. Abstaining from breaking the kinship means to be sympathetic to your relatives. The stress with which this teaching is imparted shows what a great sin it is to be unjust to our own relatives. It also throws a light on the importance of being kind to our kinsfolk and relatives. In the hadith instructions have been given in a very effective way to be kind to the relatives and breaking up relation with the kinsmen has been discouraged. The Prophet says:

“Rehm is derived from Rehman: accordingly Allah says: whoever will join you, I will be joined with him and whoever will cut you, I will be cut off from him.”(Mishkat-with reference to Bukhari)

“Breaker of relationship with kinsmen will not enter paradise.”-( Muslim).

7. The orphaned children are the weakest section of the society. After the passing away of their fathers they become quiet helpless therefore for respecting their rights and paying thier dues very strict instructions have been given.

8. It is necessary to keep the wealth or property of the orphans separate. Any misappropriation in that is a major sin. And it is also not permissible for the guardian to take any benefit from an orphan’s property. If the wealth of an orphan is invested in some business, then the profit from that business should also go to the orphan. As regards joining in eating and drinking etc, such a permission has been given in Surah Baqarah. Verse No.220 (See Note No.321.)

9. Orphan is that minor whose father is dead but in Shariah even a major can be considered so till he reaches a moderate level of understanding.

In this verse, the word yatama is used, which is the plural of yateem (orphan) and it is used both for the male and the female. Here it means orphan girls and the address here is mainly to their guardians.

10. It means that if you feel that as guardians of the orphan girls you will not be able to do justice to them after marrying them, then marry those other women marrying whom is not forbidden by the Shariah. In the pre-Islamic days, the guardians of the orphan girls, on account of their wealth and beauty, generally used to marry them themselves and then ill-treat them and be unjust to them. They also used to usurp their inheritance and did not even pay their mehr (dower). Therefore the guardians of the orphan girls were allowed to marry their wards only on the condition that they would respect their rights, pay their dues and be just to them.

The permission to marry more than one woman is based on various moral and social reasons, for example for solving the problem of widows or for being childless. or if the wife is a permanent invalid, or for man’s not being satisfied with one wife. This and similar other kinds of reasons justify this permission. The Shariah has permitted marrying of more than one woman in view of the reasons mentioned above so that a man may not take the wrong course and his wants may be met by a permitted method. In the pre- Islamic days there was no limit to the number of women a man married but Quran limited the number of wives by this verse and allowed a maximum of four wives to a man and that too with the condition of doing justice to all of them.

It should be clear that there is a consensus of opinion of ulema on the limit of four wives.

11. It is clear from this that marrying more than one wife is with the condition that justice is done. A man who marries more than one wife without caring for this condition imposed by Allah, is taking undue advantage of the permission given by Him and for such a man very severe warning has been given in the hadith:

“A person who had two wives and he was favourably inclined towards one, he would come on the Day of Judgment in such a condition that his one arm would be falling and he would be dragging it.”-(Ahlus- Sunan). And by justice to the wives means to be just in matters of food, drinks, living conditions, sleeping with wives etc. In all matters a man should be able to deal with all the wives fairly and justly.

12. At the time when the Quran was being revealed there were female slaves in Arabia and other places. On the one hand Islam encouraged freeing these female slaves and made certain rules in their regard and on the other hand it made arrangements to save them from sexual misdemeanour. Accordingly it allowed those persons who possessed female slaves to have sexual relations with them. For details regarding female slaves, please see note No. 64

13. Mehr (dower) is that gift which a husband gives to his wife on being united with her by the tie of marriage. Its position is like the essential gift which nobody has a right to drop or to render void because this is a duty imposed byAllah. However, a woman has right to forgo whatever part of dower she wishes. In Islam Mehr is not the price of the woman nor is it a compensation for nikah but it is a religious duty and sincere gift, whose main aim is to establish the relationship of love and regard between the parties and to create a sense of importance about the tie of nikah. It should be noted that the dower is the right of the woman and not of her parents.

14. Allah has made wealth the means of maintenance therefore it is necessary that man should recognise its importance and value and save it from being wasted, particularly the wealth and property of the orphans. Any person who has the property and wealth of an orphan or orphans in his trust should safeguard it in a way as if it is his own wealth or property.

15. Means orphan children. The idea is to make it clear that the instruction to hand over the wealth of the orphans to them does not imply that the wealth should be handed over to minors and children of weak understanding but that it is the responsibility of the guardian to see that the wealth of the orphan is not wasted and that he safeguards it in the best possible manner. From this wealth he can spend for the food and clothes of the orphans as long as they are minors and when they come of age and gain a moderate level of understanding, their property and wealth should be handed over to them.

There is a share for men in what has been left by parents and nearest relatives and there is a share for women in what has been left by parents and nearest relatives, whether the property be small or large a fixed share. (Al-Quran)

16. To reach the age of marriage means to be adolescent. According to Shariah, it is fixed on the manifestation of the natural growth of the human parts of the body. It means that according to Quran the age for marriage of a boy or a girl is on his or her reaching the age of adolescence.

17. For handing over the property of the orphans to them, their reaching adolescence is not sufficient but it is necessary that they should have sound judgment so that they may be able to spend their wealth with responsibility. If in an orphan boy or a girl this ability is found lacking then a little time may be allowed to pass.

18. That is: If the guardian of an orphan is needy, he can draw according to his need from the wealth of the orphan as a compensation for his services. But in this connection a reasonable and proper procedure must be adopted.

19. This is the preamble of the Law of Inheritance which is mentioned further. After the orphans, the other weaker section is that of women, which was being deprived of the benefits of inheritance. During the pre-Islamic days, women had no share in the inheritance nor were children given any shares. Only men were considered as the legal heirs. Their concept about inheritance was this that only men have the ablity to fight in battles; women and children are unable to fight, therefore, they cannot have any share in the inheritance. This cruel and false law had totally deprived the widows and the orphan boys and girls of inheritance.

Islam, declaring this customary law of the pre- Islamic days as false, proclaimed that along with men, women also have a right to a share in the inheritance. Similarly Islam also declared children as inheritors and fixed the shares for all. In the history of mankind this was a great step forward in the reform of law and society, which was taken by Islam and whose deep influence was imprinted on the lives of the peoples of the world. The esteem in which women were held by other nations was not much different from that of the Arabs, so much so that among the uncivilised nations women were mere chattel and were considered a part of the inheritance, and therefore question of giving them share in the inheritance did not arise.

“Women do not inherit because they are themselves the property of their husband.” (Ency. of Religion and Ethics Vol. VII, P. 306).

‘‘Women as inheritable property–many primitive people especially in Africa, regard wives and daughters as an important part of the estate to be transmitted in accordance with the regular rules of inheritance with the rest of the property. The explanation is to be sought partly in the economic value of women either as workers or in the case of daughters, as potential wealth in the shape of a bride–price.” – (Do p. 290).

This verse also clarifies the law about succession that inheritance in all conditions should be distributed, however low its value may be. This law will be applied to every kind of moveable and immovable property and if anything is indivisible, then it would be sold and its price so collected would be distributed among the heirs according to their shares.

In the verse the word’ “Aqrabun” has been used. which means the nearest kins. This means that in the presence of nearest of kin the distant relations cannot inherit.

20. The address is to the heirs. They have been exhorted that among the kindred there can be persons who may not have a share in the inheritance according to Shariah but they may be poor and needy and similarly there some orphans and poor people may present themselves. They should be given something from the inheritance and if this is not practicable then at least they should be spoken to kindly.

A point that can be derived from this is that if the orphaned grandchild does not inherit and the grandfather did not make a will for him, then the other heirs should, on account of his being a near relative and also an orphan, give him something from the inheritance of his grandfather and thus comfort him.

21. People should reflect that as the children of other persons have become orphans, their children too can become orphans. This thought would restrain them from usurping the rights of the orphans and from breaking their hearts.