Surah An-Nisa 4:15-22 - Quran Translation Commentary

15. And as for those of your women who may commit the act of indecency,³⁹ call against them for witnesses ⁴⁰ from amongst you; if they testify, confine them to the houses ⁴¹until death completes their time or Allah opens for them some other way⁴².

16. And those two among you (man and woman) who are guilty, harm them both.⁴³ Then if they repent and set themselves right, turn aside,⁴⁴ for Allah is one who accepts repentance and is Most Merciful.

17. Acceptance of repentance is incumbent on Allah in the case of those only who commit evil in ignorance and then repent immediately thereafter. ⁴⁵ Those are the persons whose repentance is accepted by Allah, and Allah is All- knowing, All wise.

18. And the repentance is not of those who go on doing evil, until death confronts one of them and he says: “Now have I repented indeed,” nor (is the repentance a real repentance) of those who die as infidels.⁴⁶ For them We have prepared a punishment most grievous.

19. O You who believe! It is not lawful for you to become inheritors of women forcibly⁴⁷ nor should you treat them with harshness that you may take away a part of that which you have given them, unless they have been gui¹ty of flagrant indecency.⁴⁸ Live with them, in a good manner. If you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing and Allah has placed (for you) much good⁴⁹ therein.

20. And if you intend to take one wife in place of another and you have given to one of them heaps of wealth, take nothing from it. ⁵⁰ Would you take it by slander and a manifest injustice?

21. And how can you take it back when you had enjoyed among yourselves the relationship of a husband and wife and they had taken from you firm pledge⁵¹?

22. And marry not women whom your father had married⁵² except that which has already passed.⁵³ It is indecent and odious and an evil practice indeed !

Commentary

39. Means adultery.

40. If a Muslim woman is found guilty of adultery she can be punished only if her crime is proved by four Muslim witnesses. For proving the commitment of the adultery the evidence of four witnesses is considered necessary as against the evidence of two witnesses in other crimes because adultery is a very serious crime, after commiting which a person loses all honour and shame and he or she dies a moral death. It is therefore, absolutely necessary that great precaution is taken before accusing a person of such a grave crime.

41. Those women,who are found to be guilty of adultery and whose crime is proved by four witnesses have been ordained to be confined within the four walls of the house so that they may not further indulge in their immoral practices and moreover, they may also be protected against being kidnapped, etc. These commands are for special circumstances, which would be explained further.

42. This points to the fact that the command for the confinement within the house for the women found guilty of adultery has been given for special conditions. As regards the general command it would be given later. Accordingly, subsequently in the year 06 A.H. in Surah Noor the punishment for this crime has been fixed as one hundred lashes (Surah Noor, Verse No. 2). It does not mean that the command for confinement has been revoked. Had it been so, the recitation of these verses in the Quran would not have been continued. When the recitation has been continued, it means that this command is for those circumstances in which the Muslim society is not in a position to enforce the command of lashes against those guilty of this crime. However, that Muslim society which is in a position to enforce the punishment of striking lashes should enforce that punishment only.For proving the commitment of adultery, the evidence of four witnesses has been kept unchanged even after the coming of the command regarding punishment by lashes, it proves that this verse cannot be treated as revoked.

The fact of the matter is that no verse in the holy Quran is revoked. Some commands which apparently appear to be different, in reality there is no contradiction in them. Actually it is like this: one command is for one set of conditions and the second command is for the second set of conditions, e.g. at one place the command is given: leave the infidels to their conditions and at another place the command is to fight against them. It is obvious that these command are for different stages and different circumstances, and that the subsequent command does not revoke the earlier one.

43. By harming them is meant to reproach them, to rebuke them and to beat them in order to reform them. This is command of punishment operative for both man and woman who have been found guilty of adultery.

44. In the case of setting himself or herself right harming them would be avoided but the command in Verse No.15 about confining the woman to the house is in addition to the command about harming and there are other considerations also for executing it therefore the command about confinement would be executed.

TABLE OF HEIRS WITH THEIR SHARES S.No. Heir Kind Normal Share or portion In case of In case of CONDITION. an individual two or more persons. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

1.Son Residuary Twice that Every son gets when the deceased has both of daughter. twice that of sons and daughters and only daughter. they are the heirs. – do– – do – Whole Equal shares when there is only one son or in whole more sons as heir. – do – – do – what remains after giving when the deceased has left after giving to to the Quranic behind, father, mother, husband or wife. the Quranic sharer, what then whatever remains. sharer. remains to be after giving them. equally shared by all .

2. Daughter Quranic 1/2 Equally shared when the deceased has no son. sharer in 2/3 – do – Residuary Half that of Every daughter when the deceased has left the son. to get half behind a son. of the son’s share.

3. Father Quranic 1/6 when the deceased has a son. Sharer – do – Quranic 1/6 and what when the deceased has a Sharer & remains after daughter and has no son. Residuary giving to the Quranic Sharer – do – Residuary whole When the deceased has no child living, nor mother. husband or wife.

4. Mother Quranic 1/6 when the deceased has left Sharer behind children, or brother and sister, two or more in number. - do – - do – 1/3 when the deceased has left behind no child, nor brother and sister, at least two in number. – do – Quranic 1/3 when the deceased has left Sharer behind father, wife, or husband In such a case. after giving the share of husband or wife

1/3rd of the remaining inheritance will be given to the mother. Dawatul Qur’an 239 S.4 S.No. Heir Kind Normal Share or portion In case of In case of CONDITION. an individual two or more persons. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

5. Husband Quranic 1/2 when the deceased has left Sharer behind no child. – do – – do – 1/4 when the deceased has left behind a child.

6. Wife Quranic 1/4 All equal when the deceased has left Sharer Shares in 1/4 no child – do – –do – 1/8 All equal when the deceased has left Shares in 1/8 a child.

7. Uterine Quranic 1/6 All brothers when the deceased has left Brother Sharer and sisters behind no child or father. or Sister equal sharers in 1/3 – do – Excluded Nil Nil when the deceased has left a child or father.

8. Full Sister Quranic 1/2 2/3 when the deceased has left Sharer behind no father, child and no full brother. – do – Residuary what remains All equal when the deceased has left after giving sharers in behind a daughter, but no father to the giving to the male child or a full brother. daughter daughter – do – Residuary Half share of Every sister to when the deceased has left the brother get half share behind full brother but no of the brother father or no male child. – do – Excluded Nil Nil when the deceased has left behind father or a male child.

9. Full Brother Residuary Whole All equal when the deceased has sharers in not left behind father, a male whole child, wife or husband and uterine brother or sister, – do – – do – what remains All equal when the deceased has left no after giving sharers in father, no male child,but to the what remains daughter or mother or uterine Quranic after giving to brother and sister or husband sharers Quranic or wife, then after giving their sharers shares what remains will be given to the full brother. – do – Excluded Nil Nil when the deceased has left behind father or male child. S.4 240 Dawatul Qur’an S.4 S.No. Heir Kind Normal Share or portion In case of In case of CONDITION. an individual two or more persons. (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6)

10. Consanguine Quranic 1\2 2\3 when the deceased has left Sister sharer no full brother,sister. consanguine brother, father or child. – do – –do– 1/6 1/6 when the deceased has left behind only one full sister, and no consanguine brother, father or child. –do– Residuary what remains All equal when the deceased has left a after giving to sharers in daughter,but no full brother, the daughter what remains or sister,consanguine brother, after giving to uterine brother & sister, the daughter husband or wife, father or a male child. – do – Residuary Half sharer Half share of when the deceased has left a of the Brother the Brother consanguine brother, but no full brother, father, husband or wife, or a male child. – do – Excluded Nil Nil when the deceased has left two full sisters or full brother, or father or a male child or a full sister as a residuary.

11. Consanguine Residuary Whole All equal when the deceased has left Brother sharers in behind no mother or father whole or child or husband or wife or full brother, or full sister, consanguine sister or uterine brother or uterine sister. – do – – do – what remains All equal when the deceased has left no after giving sharers in daughter, or mother or to the Quranic what remains husband or wife or full sister Sharers. after giving or uterine brother, to the Quranic or uterine sister Sharers. If there is a consanguine sister, then twice her share will be given to the consanguine brother. – do – Excluded Nil Nil when the deceased has left behind father, son, full brother or full sister.

NOTE

•In this table only shares of those heirs have been shown whose mention has been made in the Quran with clarity.

•There is a consensus of opinion on this point that in the absence of the son the grandson and in the absence of the father, the grandfather will be the heir and so on.

•If out of the stated heirs, none is living then the distant kindred get the shares. These injunctions and laws are based on the hadith and conjecture and ijtihad of Islamic Jurists (fuqaha).

Acceptance of repentance is incumbent on Allah in the case of those only who commit evil in ignorance and then repent immediately thereafter. Those are the persons whose repentance is accepted by Allah, and Allah is All- knowing, All wise. (Al-Quran)

45. Here the reality of repentance has been explained in relation to the reference made to repentance above. The meaning of ‘Taubah’ or repentance is to give up sinning and to turn towards Allah’s obedience. The person who commits sin in ignorance or being overwhelmed by his desires and does not persist in it but is sorry and turns towards Allah and seeks His forgiveness– the repentance of such a person is the real repentance and Allah has promised to accept the repentance of such a person.

46. That is: Those persons who continue committing sins throughout their life and when the angel of death appears they start repenting. The repentance of such persons is not the real repentance, for when the hour of the examination is over and the time of declaring the results has come, there is no meaning of repenting at such a time. Therefore, Allah does not accept the repentance of such persons nor of those who remain nonbelievers till the last. When death comes and man sees the reality being unveiled, at this time he seeks Allah’s forgiveness. This is not the time of test but of the declaration of the result. Therefore , if the matter is of committing sin, man should immediately give it up and if so far his attitude has been of rejection and infidelity, then he should immediately change his attitude without further delay and he should embrace the faith. Nobody knows when death would come and the time for repentance may suddenly end.

47. It was the custom in the Arabia of the non- Islamic days that the widows of the deceased were also considered a part of the heritage. Accordingly after the death of the father, the son used to become the inheritor of his step-mother and used to establish the relation of a husband and a wife with her. Quran has declared it haram and has explained that woman is not a property to be inherited which the inheritors of the deceased may claim and possess, but that she, after passing the time of ‘waiting’(Iddat), can marry anybody she likes. This is also a revolutionary change and reform which Islam introduced’ concerning women.

48. That is: In case of their committing any immoral act, you have the right to harm them.

49. That is: it is not proper to ill-treat the wife or divorce her on the grounds of not being beautiful or having some defect.If she is a chaste woman, then every effort should be made to carry on with her as far as possible because it is likely that she may have other good qualities which may be important for a conjugal life and may be Allah may bless this union on account of the beauty of character. Therefore, no haste should be shown in the matter of breaking the relationship,

50. The Mehr (dower) and whatever gifts given to the wife during her relationship as a wife, cannot be demanded back by the husband, as of right, in the event of a divorce.

51. The knot of marriage has been termed as a strong pledge because with it are attached rights and responsibilities. This is not an ordi- nary relationship but a very strong and impor- tant relationship and a firm pledge. Therefore, if man wants to end this relationship at his own sweet will then he has no right to take back whatever he had given to her, whether it be dower or other presents.

52. Quran has declared the custom of establishing conjugal relationship with the stepmother on the death of the father, as was being practised in the pre-Islamic days, as absolutely haram and forbidden.

53. That is: Now the past relationship would not be probed.