Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 4 An-Nisa, Ayat 105-112

اِنَّاۤ اَنۡزَلۡنَاۤ اِلَيۡكَ الۡكِتٰبَ بِالۡحَـقِّ لِتَحۡكُمَ بَيۡنَ النَّاسِ بِمَاۤ اَرٰٮكَ اللّٰهُ​ ؕ وَلَا تَكُنۡ لِّـلۡخَآئِنِيۡنَ خَصِيۡمًا ۙ‏ ﴿4:105﴾ وَّاسۡتَغۡفِرِ اللّٰهَ​ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ كَانَ غَفُوۡرًا رَّحِيۡمًا​ ۚ‏ ﴿4:106﴾ وَلَا تُجَادِلۡ عَنِ الَّذِيۡنَ يَخۡتَانُوۡنَ اَنۡفُسَهُمۡ​ ؕ اِنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يُحِبُّ مَنۡ كَانَ خَوَّانًا اَثِيۡمًا ۙ​ ۚ‏ ﴿4:107﴾ يَّسۡتَخۡفُوۡنَ مِنَ النَّاسِ وَلَا يَسۡتَخۡفُوۡنَ مِنَ اللّٰهِ وَهُوَ مَعَهُمۡ اِذۡ يُبَيِّتُوۡنَ مَا لَا يَرۡضٰى مِنَ الۡقَوۡلِ​ؕ وَكَانَ اللّٰهُ بِمَا يَعۡمَلُوۡنَ مُحِيۡطًا‏ ﴿4:108﴾ هٰۤاَنۡتُمۡ هٰٓؤُلَۤاءِ جَادَلۡـتُمۡ عَنۡهُمۡ فِى الۡحَيٰوةِ الدُّنۡيَا فَمَنۡ يُّجَادِلُ اللّٰهَ عَنۡهُمۡ يَوۡمَ الۡقِيٰمَةِ اَمۡ مَّنۡ يَّكُوۡنُ عَلَيۡهِمۡ وَكِيۡلًا‏  ﴿4:109﴾ وَ مَنۡ يَّعۡمَلۡ سُوۡٓءًا اَوۡ يَظۡلِمۡ نَفۡسَهٗ ثُمَّ يَسۡتَغۡفِرِ اللّٰهَ يَجِدِ اللّٰهَ غَفُوۡرًا رَّحِيۡمًا‏ ﴿4:110﴾ وَمَنۡ يَّكۡسِبۡ اِثۡمًا فَاِنَّمَا يَكۡسِبُهٗ عَلٰى نَفۡسِهٖ​ؕ وَكَانَ اللّٰهُ عَلِيۡمًا حَكِيۡمًا‏ ﴿4:111﴾ وَمَنۡ يَّكۡسِبۡ خَطِيۡٓـئَةً اَوۡ اِثۡمًا ثُمَّ يَرۡمِ بِهٖ بَرِيۡٓـئًـا فَقَدِ احۡتَمَلَ بُهۡتَانًا وَّاِثۡمًا مُّبِيۡنًا‏ ﴿4:112﴾

(4:105) (O Messenger!) We have revealed to you this Book with the Truth so that you may judge between people in accordance with what Allah has shown you. So do not dispute on behalf of the dishonest,140 (4:106) and seek forgiveness from Allah. Surely Allah is All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate. (4:107) Do not plead for those who are dishonest to themselves;141 Allah does not love him who betrays trust and persists in sin. (4:108) They can hide (their deeds) from men but they cannot hide (them) from Allah for He is with them even when they hold nightly counsels that are unpleasing to Allah. Allah encompasses all their doings. (4:109) You pleaded on their behalf in this worldly life but who will plead with Allah on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection, or who will be their defender there? (4:110) He who does either evil or wrongs himself, and then asks for the forgiveness of Allah, will find Allah All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate. (4:111) He who commits a sin, commits it only to his detriment. Surely Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. (4:112) But he who commits either a fault or a sin, and then casts it upon an innocent person, lays upon himself the burden of a false charge and a flagrant sin.

Notes

140. These and certain other verses which occur a little later on (see verses 113 ff.) deal with an important matter, related to an incident that took place around the time they were revealed. The incident involved a person called Tu'mah or Bashir ibn Ubayriq of the Banu Zafar tribe of the Ansar. This man stole an Ansari's coat of mail. While the investigation was in progress, he put the coat of mail in the house of a Jew. Its owner approached the Prophet (peace be on him) and expressed his suspicion about Tu'mah. But Tu'mah, his kinsmen and many of the Banu Zafar colluded to ascribe the guilt to the Jew. When the Jew concerned was asked about the matter he pleaded that he was not guilty. Tu'mah's supporters, on the other hand, waged a vigorous propaganda campaign to save Tu'mah's skin. They argued that the wicked Jew, who had denied the Truth and disbelieved in God and the Prophet (peace be on him), was absolutely untrustworthy, and his statement ought to be rejected outright. The Prophet (peace be on him) was about to decide the case against the Jew on formal grounds and to censure the plaintiff for slandering Banu Ubayriq, but before he could do so, the whole matter was laid bare by a revelation from God. (For the traditions cited here, see the commentary of Ibn Kathir on this verse - Ed.)

It is obvious that the Prophet (peace be on him) would have committed no sin if he had given judgement on the evidence before him. Judges are quite often faced with such situations. False evidence is given in order to obtain wrong verdicts. The time when this case came up for decision was a time of severe conflict between Islam and unbelief. Had the Prophet (peace be on him) issued a wrong judgement on the basis of the evidence before him, it would have provided the opponents of Islam with an effective weapon against the Prophet (peace be on him) as well as against the entire Islamic community, and even Islam itself. They could have spread the word that the Prophet (peace be on him) and his followers were not concerned about right and justice: it would have been claimed that they were guilty of the same prejudice and chauvinism against which they had themselves been preaching. It was specifically to prevent this situation that God intervened in this particular case.

In this and the following (verses 105 ff.) the Muslims were strongly censured for supporting criminals for no other reason than either family or tribal solidarity and were told that they should not allow prejudice to interfere with the principle of equal justice for all. Man's instinctive honesty revolts against the idea of supporting one's own kin even when they are wrong, and denying others their legitimate rights.

141. Whoever commits a breach of trust with others in fact commits a breach of trust with his own self first. For the powers of his head and heart have been placed at his disposal as a trust, and by misusing them he is forcing those powers to support him in acts which involve a breach of trust. In doing so the person concerned suppresses his conscience, which God has placed as a sentinel over his moral conduct, with the result that it is rendered incapable of preventing him from acts of wrong and iniquity. It is only after a man has already carried out this cruel suppression of conscience within himself that he is able to commit acts of sin and iniquity outwardly.