Surah An-Nisa 4:163-171 - Quran Translation Commentary

163. Verily, We have sent revelation to you²⁶⁹ as We sent revelation to Nooh (Noah) and the messengers after him. We also sent revelation to Ibrahim, Ismail, Ishaq, Yaqub, and the children of Yaqub²⁷⁰ (the tribes) to Eesa, Ayub (Job), Yunus (Jonah), Haroon (Aaron) and Sulaiman.²⁷¹ And, We gave Zaboor (psalms)²⁷² to Dawood (David).

164. And (We have sent revelation) to the messengers We have mentioned to you before, and the messengers We have not mentioned to you²⁷³. And Allah spoke to Moosa directly²⁷⁴;

165. We sent all these messengers as bearers of glad tidings and warners²⁷⁵ that, after the coming of the messengers, people should have no plea against Allah. And Allah is Exalted in Power, Wise.

166. (If inspite of this they deny, they may do so) but Allah bears witness that what He has sent to you He has sent with His own knowledge²⁷⁶, and the angels bear witness; though suffices Allah as a witness.

167. Verily those who deny faith and keep off (men) from the way of Allah have strayed far, far away from the path.

168. Verily, those who have rejected faith and done wrong, Allah will not forgive them, nor show them any other way.

169. Except the way of Hell, to dwell therein forever and this to Allah is easy.

170. O mankind! The messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord. Therefore, believe; (it will be) better for you. But if you disbelieve, then (remember) to Allah belong all things in the heavens and the earth; and Allah is All-Knowing, All– Wise.

171. O people of the Book! Commit no exaggeration in your religion²⁷⁷; nor say of Allah anything but truth²⁷⁸. Messiah, Eesa, son of Maryam, was no more than a messenger of Allah, and His word which He conveyed to Maryam, and a spirit from Him²⁷⁹; so believe in Allah and His messengers; and say not “gods are three²⁸⁰” Desist ! It is better for you. In reality Allah is one God, glory be to him, He is above having a son. To Him belong all things in the heavens and on the earth. And enough is Allah as a guardian²⁸¹.

Commentary

269. ‘Wahi’ (Revelation) means to hint by signs and to cast or instil a speech in the heart of a person. The secret manner in which Allah sends down his messages to His prophets has been described by Quran by the terminology “Wahi” The words inspiration and revelation do not fully connote the meaning of this terminology.

270. In the text the word ‘Asbat’ is used, which is a specific terminology for the twelve tribes of Bani Israil. Here it refers to the prophets that were sent in these tribes.

271. Here the purpose is to show that Prophet Muhammad (Peace be upon him) was not the first person who has claimed to have received the revelation from Allah. There had been many prophets before him to whom Allah had been sending down His revelations in the same way in which He was doing to the last of the Prophets. All the Prophets had been deriving benefit from the same source of guidance.

272. Zabur which Allah revealed to prophet Dawood (David) is not available today in its original form. However its parts can be seen in the scripture called Psalms included in the present day Bible. In it Allah’s praises, His oneness and exhortations are narrated in a very effective way.

273. Quran does not say that only those prophets whom it has mentioned by name are the prophets of Allah and others besides them were not sent as the messengers of Allah, but it says that other than those mentioned in it were also sent as messengers. and that it is necessary to believe in all prophets.

274. A particular method of revelation was adopted in the case of prophet Moosa. Accordingly. Allah used to directly speak to him This has ben mentioned in the Bible too.

“Thus the lord used to speak to Moses face to face as a man speaks to his friend.” (Exodus 33:11)

275. That is: The purpose of sending those prophets was to make sure that the people might not seek an excuse on the Day of Judgment that no arrangement was made to stir them out of their slumber and to warn them of the adverse consequences of their evil deeds, and that had some arrangement had been made therefor they would have followed the right path. and not neglected the Hereafter.

276.Witness of the fact that Quran was sent down by Allah, in which the Satans had no hand and this is pure and unmixed Divine word. This witness can be heard by everybody who reads Quran carefully and diligently for its every verse declares that it is the word of God. But this voice can be heard only by those who have the ears that hear the voice of truth.

277. ‘Ghulu’ means to exaggerate beyond limits. Exaggeration in the religion means to give a thing more value in religion than what is fixed for it and real, and to give it a higher position than what it is in reality. The very prominent example of exaggeration in religion is this practice of the Christians that they began worshipping Jesus, supposing him to be the son of God. Examples of excess and exaggeration can be found in other religions also: some gave the position of an avatar (incarnation) to the prophet, some placed their religious leaders on God’s pedestal. Believers in Quran also gradually became a prey to exaggeration. Some suggested the rank of prophethood for some pious persons, while some raised the saints to the rank ‘of godhood, and invented for them words like ‘Ghausul Azam’ (the great helper) and ‘Mushkil Kusha’(solver of difficulty), when actually these epithets are fit only for God, the Almighty, and are reserved for Him. Similarly some invented the belief of the Imam being innocent, and some one invented Tariqat (mysticism), and busied himself with the meditation of ‘Shaikh’. Islam had commanded to make the graves in a simple way, but the excess – loving people constructed grand buildings as dargahs for the graves of the pious persons. Islam had taught to be simple and to lead a life of contentment, but the exaggeration- loving mentality adopted ascetism in the name of abstinence. In the same way the things which were ‘mustahab’ (good) were converted into farz and wajib (compulsory) This affected the temperament of Islam. After this, there remained neither simplicity in Islam nor balance. As a result various kinds of disruptions were caused in the millat, and various sects were formed, and at the hands of the excess loving people no brick of the edifice of religion remained in its place.The whole system of the religion was shaken to its roots.

278. If to Allah are ascribed only those things which are true, then all the mischiefs are finished. But when to him are attributed such things as He has not said then the way for innovation and exaggeration is opened and the complexion of the religion is changed. The real cause of the straying of the Christians is this, that they included many imaginary things in religion; and to include any imaginary things in the religion is equivalent to ascribing it to Allah because’ religion is the system of worship and obedience which Allah has revealed. To include anything from one’s own imagination is to claim that it is from Allah, while actually the reality is not so. Among the Muslims also many misguided things have entered through innovations (only) and they helped in making so many absurdities to be part of the religion. Therefore, unless a man tries to study the Quran and Sunnah with a clear mind it will be difficult for him to find out what is the real religion of Allah.

279. Here three things have been mentioned concerning Prophet Eesa. First, he is the messenger of Allah. Secondly; he is the word of Allah. Third, he is a spirit from Allah. The purpose of this elaboration is to refute the belief of the Christians about the divinity of the Christ. It means that the birth of prophet Eesa in the extraordinary way is not such a thing as would make him the son of God. His birth in the extraordinary manner had taken place by the command of Allah, and the spirit in his body was from Allah only. Therefore, this belief is extremely misleading that Allah’s spirit had dissolved into him (We seek Allah’s refuge from such a blasphemy). ( For further explanation please see Note No.56. Surah Aal-i-Imran).

280. The belief in three gods is a self invented belief of the Christians. It is composed of three: the Father, the Son and the Holy Ghost. This belief is totally polytheistic. Since the teaching of the Torah, the Psalms and the Injeel and also of all the Divine Scriptures is the teaching of oneness of God, therefore declaration of belief in Unity and Trinity was made simultaneously, and attempts were made to conform to both. In these attempts the complexion of the religion was very badly disfigured.

Where this verse refutes the belief of three gods of the Christians there it also declares all the concepts of the polytheistic religions of many gods as totally false, whether it may be the belief in two gods or in hundred and thousand gods.

281. That is: When all that is in the heavens and on the earth belong to Allah, then what is the necessity for Him to have a son, and that when He is sufficient for taking care of all, then where is the question of His taking some one’s help by making him His son.