Ahsan Hanif – Quran Tafseer – Page 83 – Allah’S Guidance And Justice
AI: Summary ©
The speakers discuss Allah's teachings and guidance, emphasizing the importance of guidance and finding others in the light of guidance. They stress the need for individual actions to achieve goals and avoiding neutrality. The importance of forgiveness and sharia is emphasized, as well as the importance of fulfilling obligations and living with discernment. The episode ends with a discussion of avoiding major sins and fulfilling Sharia rules.
AI: Summary ©
Welcome to another episode of our tafsir page
by page and Insha'Allah today
we are on page 83 of the Quran
which is in the 5th juz Surah Nisa.
Allah Subhanu Wa Ta'ala in the previous episode
we mentioned the verses that spoke about a
number of issues concerning marriage
and some of the and in the previous
episode before that as well concerning marriage, concerning
certain
relations that Allah has made haram for us
to marry those people,
our our maharim and a maharim is someone
therefore that you are prohibited to or prohibited
from marrying. And we mentioned a number of
other commandments of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that
allahu ajal has placed concerning marriage
in terms of a person who doesn't have
the ability to marry a free woman and
certain rulings and certain guidances concerning those people.
Today we continue from verse number 26, which
is actually the last verse on the previous
page, but because it's connected to the first
couple of verses on on on this particular
page,
we we kind of left it all together
and that is the statement of Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala in verse number 26.
He wishes to make his laws clear to
you and guide you to the righteous ways
of those who went before you. He wishes
to turn towards you in mercy. He is
all knowing all wise.
Allah subhanhu wa ta'ala in this verse after
mentioning
those commandments that we spoke about in the
past couple of verses, past couple of episodes
and even before that, the the commandments of
Allah azza wa jal from the beginning of
Surah to Nisa concerning marriage,
concerning certain aspects of inheritance.
All of these different things
that that Allah Subhana Wa Ta'la gives to
us concerning these issues as we said,
in which people were often oppressed especially in
the time before Islam even unfortunately in the
time that we live in today and the
other instructions and guidances that Allah gave concerning
for example the wealth of the poor and
the wealth of the orphan and the rights
that people have in terms of what Allah
has given to them. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala
says he wishes to make his laws clear
too
you and that is from the greatest mercies
of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that Allah is
saying to us that everything that you need
from halal and haram from what is truth,
from what is falsehood,
from what is good and what is evil
from that with which there is benefit to
as opposed to that in which there is
harm. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has made it
clear for you and Allah
clarifies this as a mercy from him Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala because had Allah willed, he could
have commanded us to worship him and left
us with very little guidance in terms of
the how, in terms of the ways and
and manners in which we can seek nearest
to Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. Allah
no one obligated upon him that he had
to give to us revelation
or guidance. Allah does all of this himself
subhanahu wa ta'ala as and from his mercy.
And so therefore, it is from the greatest
mercies of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala that Allah
aza wajal makes things clear for us so
that every single person has clarity.
Everyone knows what Allah has obligated and everyone
knows what Allah has prohibited.
Everyone knows the difference between the Halaal and
the Haram and so therefore that makes it
easier for a person in terms of navigating
their life, navigating through this dunya and through
their life
and finding that which is pleasing to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and clearly this is for
those people who wish to and want to
please Allah ajawajal.
Those people who don't wish to please Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, they don't care about worshipping
Allah ajawajal, for them irrespective of what Allah
ajazhu wa jal has revealed, they will ignore
it regardless.
But those people who are sincere,
who want to please Allah, who want to
worship Allah, want to come closer to Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala, they will search out and
look for those things that Allah has
placed for them in terms of guidance.
So for example, in these issues that
we've mentioned like marriage, marriage is an issue
where people often
oppress one another, often make mistakes in terms
of the way that they conduct their marriage,
in terms of the way that the 2
spouses live with one another, in terms of
some of the other issues that may go
on in terms of rights and fulfilling those
rights and taking and receiving some of those
rights.
There is much sometimes oppression that takes place.
And so therefore Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala has
made it clear,
you know what your rights are and you
know the rights of others upon you. You
know what is halal and permissible in your
marriage and you know what is haram and
prohibited in terms of your marriage.
And Allah says that through this He guides
you to the righteous ways of those who
came before you. Meaning, all of the prophets
and messengers that Allah ajawjal sent alaykumustala to
us salam and their righteous followers. Allah guides
you to their ways as well, to their
correct actions, to the way that they worship
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in those affairs that
Allah azza wa Jal then also legislated for
us in our Sharia, in the Sharia of
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam. These are
from the blessings of Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And it is so that we know that
these major aspects of our religion
because there may be differences between one prophet
to another in terms of minutiae but the
major aspects of Islam and the religion are
something which have been continuous and consistent from
the time of the earliest prophets to the
time of our last Prophet and Messenger Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam.
So Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala tells us therefore
that this is the way of the Prophets,
this is the Sunan of the Prophets
and that's why Allah azza wa jal often
in the Quran tells us the stories of
those Prophets. Those stories are there so that
we can know and understand also from the
benefits is that we can know and understand
that we are upon the path of the
prophets. So for example, marriage, you will find
often in the books of Fiqh, for example,
scholars say at the beginning of the book
of marriage or the rulings of marriage,
It is from the practice of the prophets
because the vast majority of the prophets of
Allah alayhi wasalam
got married.
They chose to get married. And so therefore
that is a practice not only of our
prophet salallahu alaihi wasalam, which by the way
even if he was the only one who
did it, that would have been sufficient
as
the Messenger of Allah salAllahu alaihi wa sallam.
His sharia and his example is the one
that is incumbent upon us. But Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala tells us that throughout the Quran,
all of the prophets or many many of
the prophets were married. Many of the stories
in the Quran, you look at the story
of Adam, look at the story of Nuh,
look at the story of Ibrahim, look at
the story of Isma'id, look at the story
of Ishaq and Yaqub, look at the stories
of Zakariyah,
look at the stories of Suleiman
and Dawood, all of these messengers of Allah
and prophets of Allah alaihi musallahu salaam
you find that they are married and that
is mentioned
explicitly or implicitly either in the Quran or
in the sunnah of the prophet salallahu alaihi
wasalam.
And
Allah says and he wishes you to repent
to him, he wishes to turn towards you
in mercy. He wishes to shower his repentance
upon you. And so when you follow the
halal and you stay away from the Haram
that is from the greatest means of ensuring
Allah's mercy indeed Allah
is all knowing all wise.
In verse 27, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then
says,
He wishes to turn
towards you but those who follow their lusts
want you to go far astray.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala in this verse he
tells us there are 2 forces that are
pulling us. 2 directions in which the believer
or the Muslim is being pulled.
The first direction
is the pull that is coming or the
incentives that are being given and the motivations
that are being given by Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala. Allah Azzawajal
tells us that this is the path to
guidance.
And Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala tells us that
if we take that path of guidance, if
we go upon that path that he has
left for us and
highlighted for us, pointed out to us, then
that is the path that will lead to
his mercy, his forgiveness and his repentance. Subhanahu
wa Ta'ala. That is the first way. The
second way are those people and those other
things, those other forces that are coming to
pull us away from the path of Allah
Subhanahu
Allah
is saying here, 'Wallahu yudu inyatuba'alaikum.
Allah gave you guidance. Allah showed you the
way of the prophets before
so that Allah may give you his repentance
and Allah wants to repent upon you. Allah
wants you to turn towards his mercy. Allah
wants to forgive you for your sins.
But me and you must first take the
step
that is needed in order for that mercy
and forgiveness from Allah azza wa jal to
come to us and to reach us and
that is the first step in terms of
making tawbah to Allah. The first step in
terms of worshiping Allah azza wa jal, the
first step in terms of turning towards Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. We must make the initial
action. We must have the sincere intention in
our hearts. We must have the firm conviction.
We are the ones who must raise our
hands in dua. We are the ones who
must utter the words of tawba and forgiveness
to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and then Allah
will forgive. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala will show
his repentance upon us. But there are those
other groups, those other people, those other creations
from the humans and from the jinn, when
you read
but those who follow their desires and their
lusts and tamir, umail and awima, they want
for you to go astray. They want you
to follow their paths, to turn away from
Allah azza wa jal, to follow the path
of Shaitan instead.
And so what they will do is they
will tempt you with everything else. They will
tempt you with the dunya, with wealth and
with family and with the dunya and its
comforts and its adornments and all of its
luxuries and they will try to divert you
away from the path of Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala. So Allah
tells you that there are 2 ways, 2
choices that you have and this is a
common theme that is repeated in the book
of Allah
numerous places in the Quran we are told
that there are only 2 ways. There will
only be 2 groups. There are only 2
destinations ultimate abodes
in the next life. There are no middle
ground. There is no middle ground in the
sense that you can say, no, I won't
go completely this way nor that way, I
will stay neutral. There is no such thing
as neutral because either you are worshipping Allah
or you are not. Either you are doing
the halal or you are not. Either you
are staying away from the Haram
or you are not.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala then says in the
following verse, verse number 28.
Allah
wishes to lighten your burden. Indeed man was
created weak.
From the ways that Allah
wishes to lighten our burden from his mercy
is
that Allah
gives us time
and Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala affords us opportunities
that when we sin and we make mistakes
Allah is patient, Allah is forbearing. Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala waits to see whether we will
turn to him in repentance and Allah knows
ultimately
what we will do. But Allah gives us
the chance. If Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala was
to punish us immediately
for every single time we sin and every
sin we commit, then one of us would
be destroyed. No one would survive
because human nature is that we sin and
we sin and we sin and we don't
necessarily
immediately make forgiveness to or seek forgiveness of
Allah ajazhu.
Sometimes a person may sin
for years decades
before the ultimate moment of turning to Allah
and making tawba. That is from the ways
that Allah has made things light and easy
for us. And from the ways that Allah
has gifted that burden from us is that
Allah
will accept by a single act of repentance,
the repentance and forgiveness for many years of
sins. So Allah
for example, if after 10 years now you
want to start practicing, you realize that you
want to change your life, you want to
come closer to Allah
so you turn to Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Allah doesn't say to you subhanahu wa ta'ala
that you must individually
for every sin that you committed in those
past 10 years, you must make an individual
act of tawba an individual act seeking forgiveness
because that would be something too difficult. Most
of us wouldn't even remember the majority of
the sins that we've committed. We wouldn't even
know where to start and that would cause
us to become despondent and to despair and
more likely just to continue upon our old
ways. Rather Allah says make a single act
of Tawbah
and Allah knows what you mean by it
and Allah knows and has knowledge of everything
that you have done and so you ask
Allah
to forgive you for everything and Allah subhanahu
wa ta'ala does so. From the ways that
Allah has lifted that burden upon us
is that he has made other means of
expiration for our sins, other means of seeking
forgiveness.
So for example, when you pray, when you
give charity, when you help someone, when you
are good towards someone, when you speak to
them in a gentle way, every act of
worship becomes an act of sadaqah. It's like
an act of charity through which you are
rewarded and your sins are expiated.
And so now you are if you like
indirectly making tawbah, you are asking Allah ajduja
to forgive and these are all the minor
sins that we commit and Allah forgives them
from one prayer to the next prayer, from
1 Ramadan to the next Ramadan, from 1
Jumuah to the next Jumuah. All of these
prayers and all of these acts of worship
that you perform, Allah ajazhujal uses them as
a means of exploiting your minor sins. And
no doubt from the ways that Allah ajazhujal
has lightened this burden is that he has
made our religion easy. The sharia is the
sharia of ease. It facilitates
ease for you especially when time in times
of difficulty.
And so that's at the at the smaller
level, the individual level. So for example, if
I can't pray standing up, I can pray
sitting down. If I can't make udul with
water, I can make tayamu.
If I can't fast while I'm travelling, I
can break my fast and so on and
so forth. And the sharia are generally
at at at even the higher level,
It is there to make things easy for
people and so that is why Allah mentions
in the Quran that no one is burdened
with a burden that they cannot bear. No
one has to over burden themselves when it
comes to the religion of Allah Subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
Because Allah knows that we are weak. Allah
created us and he knows our reality. He
knows our nature. And Allah
as a result of that has given to
us all of these different forms of ease
and facility and mercy.
In verse 29 Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then
says,
Oh, you who believe do not wrongfully consume
each other's wealth, betrayed by mutual consent. Do
not kill each other or yourselves for indeed
Allah is merciful to you. Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala then gives this
instruction after mentioning these verses about ease and
how Allah wishes to repent
upon us. And that is that Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala says that the sharia
Allah has placed within a justice.
You have rights and other people have rights.
And from the things that Allah dislikes is
oppression. Allah made a haram upon himself, he
made
haram between his creation.
So in any type of interaction with other
people, any type of transaction with other people,
any type of dealing that we have with
others, Allah Subhanu Wa Ta'ala has removed from
it harm,
removed from it anything that can lead to
harm. Allah has removed this from those types
of interactions
because otherwise people would harm and oppress one
another. It is human nature to want more
and to best others and to better them
even if that means sometimes their own downfall.
So we may have mercy
to a certain extent with our own children
and with the people that are closest to
us, but when it comes to people who
are further away even if they may be
relatives and friends and especially those people that
we don't have that type of link and
relationship with,
sometimes human nature means that you want to
overcome them, overpower them, best them, show that
you are better than them. And one of
the ways that this is often
shown, it is often highlighted is through financial
transactions,
through buying and selling, through loaning, through the
change
or exchange of wealth. And that is because
people there,
number 1, covet wealth, it is a fitna
and a trial for many people. And number
2, it is a sign of prestige.
The more wealth that you have, the more
influence, the more prestige that you're afforded, the
more honor that you're given by people, the
better that you are looked upon in society
and so on. And so therefore, there is
all of these
emotions and all of these parts of your
ego that are struggling with each other or
with parts of one another in order
to have that wealth, to assume, consume that
wealth and to take it at the expense
of others. So Allah says, don't consume that
wealth
wrongfully.
So when you harm someone in that financial
transaction,
when you don't give them a full and
clear picture of what it is that they're
doing, when you have interest that is involved,
when you are taking the wealth of people
unjustly, All of these are examples of
of types of wealth that is not permissible
and this was something which was common in
the time of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam.
The Arabs used to have trades in which
they would do this and it is still
common unfortunately even in our time where people
try to oppress one another in terms of
wealth and one of the greatest forms of
that and the clearest examples of interest is
of interest. Where for example, you will borrow
someone £20
but you will ask them to repay you
25 or 30
and that is the type of interest that
Allah
has prohibited. Unless
it is trained by mutual consent.
And so from the mercy of Allah
is that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has forbidden
all types of transactions,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala doesn't say that you
can't buy and sell, you can't exchange wealth,
but it must be done in accordance to
the rulings of the sharia and one of
the greatest conditions
or one of the major conditions and main
conditions of transactions
is this issue that Allah mentions
here and that is a taradi.
A taradi means
to be willingly and mutually
consenting to the deal.
So I have to consent and the other
party has to consent and we have to
be willingly doing so, not manipulated,
not coerced or forced. It can't be a
mistake. We can't be duped or deceived or
cheated into it. It is willing
mutual consent.
So I am willing to consent to sell
this product and that person is willingly
consenting to buy it and so we agree.
And so that is something which is important.
It has to be something which people accept,
and people clearly accept many different types and
forms of trade. There are other rulings obviously
concerning financial transactions and there is a major
chapter from the chapters of fikh, but Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions it here because otherwise
it becomes oppression. And if it is
oppression, it leads to punishment possibly in this
life and the next as the prophet told
us salallahu alayhi wasalam, whosoever takes even a
hand span of earth or land from another
person in justly, Allah
will punish them with the likes of that
part of earth or that piece of land
that they devoured and justly Allah will punish
them with its likes for the 7 earths
on the day of judgement. And so Allah
ahsawajal will punish people for even the smallest
amount
of wealth that they took unjustly, even the
smallest amount that is haram, Allah will hold
you to account for that And Allah ajawajal
then says,
do not kill yourselves,
do not harm yourselves, do not harm one
another
And sometimes that is because of wealth. Wealth
is one of the main reasons why people
then lead to physically harming each other because
of money issues and so on and so
forth and likewise in terms of killing and
harming yourself either that is something which also
is prohibited in Allah
for indeed Allah azza wa jal is merciful
too.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in verse number
30.
If any of you does these things out
of hostility and injustice, we shall make him
suffer fire. Indeed that is easy for Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala. Meaning those people who oppress,
those people who take the wealth of others
in justy, those people who do harm and
evil, Allah
will hold them to account and Allah will
judge them.
Those people should never think that they escaped,
should never think that they have gotten away
with what they have done, but rather that
which they do and Allah says that it
is done out of transgression, out of oppression,
meaning that it's not a genuine mistake,
not of ignorance, those issues Allah has forgiven,
but someone who purposefully,
willingly
harms, oppresses, does evil, transgresses,
Allah
will hold them to account.
In verse number 31, Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala
then says,
But if you avoid the great sins you
have been forbidden, we shall wipe out your
mind the misdeeds and let
you in through the entrance of honor. This
is from
the verses of the Quran that gives to
us a great deal of hope and that
is that Allah ajawajal is saying so long
as you, all believers, stay away from the
major sins and the major sins are those
sins that Allah aza wa jal has threatened
people with punishment, specific punishment over it. So
major sins are things that have a specific
punishment attached to it in this world. So
for example, murder,
stealing, theft, zina and so on or they
have a major
threat of punishment attached to it in the
next life, obviously shirk and kuful and bidaha
and those types of things or Allah has
said that those people would have his curse
or his anger or his wrath and so
on. These are all major sins. Allah
says if you stay away from them, we
will forgive you for the minor misdeeds.
Why? Because the minor misdeeds as we said
are speaking through the much good that we
do in terms of the acts of worship
and the good character that we show and
the good conduct and dealings that we have
and that is why the prophet said, salallahu
alaihi wa sallam in the hadith that the
5 prayers meaning from one prayer to the
other prayer and from 1 Friday to the
next meaning 1 Jum'ah prayer to the next
and 1 Ramadan to the next Ramadan,
all of these explain everything in between them
so long as you stay away from the
major sins. And that is why you make
general Istighfar for all of these minor sins
that you do. Astaghfirullah.
Astaghfirullah. Astaghfirullah.
But when it comes to the major sins,
you must make a specific act of Tawbah.
You must say, oh Allah, I seek your
repentance for this major sin that I did
and specifically seek it for that because this
hadith shows
that the minor sins, they are wiped away
with all of the other good that you
do and the general istighfar that you make.
But the major ones, Allah ajawajal and the
prophet was saying stay away from the major
ones so long as you stay away from
them. And likewise, Allah ajawajal is saying this
in verse number 31. So long as you
stay away and avoid the the great sins,
the major sins. So therefore when you do
perform the major sins or one of them,
then you must act and ask Allah
to forgive you specifically for that sin. And
so that is the difference between the 2.
Allah will forgive those major sins as well
if a person goes and sincerely
performs their act of Tawbah. But from the
mercy of Allah is this forgiveness that Allah
mentions in this particular verse
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says in verse number
32
Allah
has given to some of you more than
others. Men have the portion of that which
they have earned and women the portion that
they have earned. You should rather ask Allah
for some of his bounty as full knowledge
of everything.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is saying between men
and women, each one should not covet
the station that Allah has given to the
other. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has given to
the men certain responsibilities
and certain positions and because of those responsibilities
and positions certain things that they have been
favored in and the women have their positions
and their honor also and Allah has favored
them in another way. So for example, the
man has his position as the leader of
the house and the one who is meant
to provide for his family and so therefore
he is the one responsible for the conduct
of his household.
And at the same time, the mother is
afforded certain rights
and privileges and honors that the man isn't
afforded. The mother, as we know from the
hadith of the Prophet
has a status to the extent
that the Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam said
to that companion that you should accompany your
mother in goodness 3 times more than you
do your father.
The father is the one that is providing,
the father is the one that is the
head of the household. If you like, he
is the one responsible for the upkeep and
well-being. But Allah
the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam favored the
mother because the mother
of the amount of of of from the
moment of her becoming pregnant until that child
becomes an adult and then even after they
are an adult,
the mother has so much love and time
and affection and kindness and support that she
gives to her children that Islam acknowledges and
honors her for this. So Allah is saying
each one of you shouldn't ask or demand
what the other one asks. It is said
that some of the female companions
came to the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam and
they wanted to participate in certain things that
only the men are allowed to participate in,
whether they are given certain,
certain,
they're given certain preference in.
And so Allah Azzawajal revealed this verse
because Allah Azzawajal is saying at the end
rather each one of you has a portion,
men have the portion of what they earn,
women have what they earn, rather ask Allah
for his bounty. So when it comes to
issues of religion,
men and women are equal in terms of
their ability to attain reward,
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has made that equal
and so Allah
has given to women as much opportunity to
attain reward and good deeds as he has
to men That is from the the the
justice of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. But when
it comes to the social structure, the family
structure, then yes, men may be given an
additional responsibility.
But it is a responsibility.
It is not a a privilege
that they are just given or is not,
for example, if you like something that they
just have for no reason, they are meant
to stand up to that responsibility and do
certain things and fulfill that responsibility
because of the added,
the added responsibility that Allah has
placed upon their shoulders.
In the final verse on this page verse
number 33 Allah says
We have appointed heirs for everything that parents
and close relatives leave behind,
including those to whom you have pledged your
hands in marriage. So give them their share.
Indeed, Allah is a witness to everything.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is saying that Allah
has given to you heirs these heirs from
your close family from your parents from those
people who are related to you they are
the people who come to your aid. And
they are the ones that you, al Mawl
al Mawla, is the one who comes to
your aid and to your support in times
of hardship, in times of need, in times
when you need that support. They are from
your relatives and your close ones and they
are also from amongst those people that you
have made those agreements with that they will
mutually support one another. Sometimes that happens
between certain families and tribes as we know
from the time of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi
Wasallam. Allah is saying that if you have
that type of responsibility
to a loved one, a family member, someone
that you are close to, then that is
something which you should fulfill.
So for example, a person has his brothers,
person has his paternal uncles and his paternal
uncle's sons and children. These are the people
that are closest to you and those people
come to your aid and support when you
need them and also there are set rules
rulings in the Sharia that apply to them
that they must also fulfill sometimes on your
behalf. Allah is saying that those people should
fulfill the responsibility that Allah
has placed upon their shoulders. That is what
Allah has ordained and indeed Allah
is a witness to everything.
And with that we come to the end
of today's episode.