Ahsan Hanif – Quran Tafseer – Page 96 – Truth, Justice, And Allahs Mercy
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The importance of worship in the Sharia is discussed, with the speaker emphasizing the practical nature of worship and the need for individuals to apply the Prophet's direct teachings. The speaker warns against arguing on behalf of others and advises against anyone who claims to be a relative or friend. The importance of remembering that actions are the only ones evil and that anyone who committed mistakes and does harm should be held accountable. The speaker also discusses the third group of people responsible for harm and deeds, including those who commit oppression and are lied to and do nothing to defend themselves. The importance of learning from one's experience and understanding sharia and Sun context is emphasized.
AI: Summary ©
Today we are on page number 96, which
is in the 5th juz, Surah Al Nisan.
In the previous episode we spoke at length
concerning some of the commands Allah gave
concerning,
an aspect of fighting, an aspect of waging
war for the sake of Allah and that
aspect is the issue of worship.
And it shows to you that those people
who are engaged in
acts of whether it's striving for the sake
of Allah, migrating for the sake of Allah,
those are acts of worship in and of
themselves.
And those acts of worship therefore have their
specific rules and from those rules and from
those issues that Allah ajawajal mentioned as we
discussed in detail in the previous episode is
salah. How to pray in the seat of
fear. For example on the battlefield as the
prophet did
and this is well known and found in
the books of the sunnah and the books
of sira.
And the specific
description that is given by Allah azza wa
Jal in the Quran as we mentioned in
the previous episode of how they should pray
which shows the importance of Sarah and its
status and it shows how even during that
difficult time and place and circumstance,
the Muslim is someone who doesn't forget the
laws of Allah or the rights of Allah,
a s w w dot ai wajal upon
them and they uphold them to the best
of their ability. And we gave a number
of benefits of how the Sharia is merciful
and how Islam is a practical religion and
we went through all of those issues in
detail in the previous episode. Today, Insha'Allah we
begin from verse 105
and that is the statement of Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala.
We have sent down the scripture to you
meaning the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam with the
truth
so that you can judge between people in
accordance with that which Allah has shown to
you. Do not be an advocate for those
who betrayed the trust.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala mentions
how the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam received
revelation
and that revelation whether it is the Quran
or the knowledge that Allah
gave to him sallallahu alaihi wa sallam which
later on becomes the sunnah.
This is the Sharia of Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala.
And from the objectives of that revelation, the
Quran and the sunnah is that we apply
them in terms of our
of our judgments.
So when there are disputes, when there are
differences,
whether it is to do with wealth, whether
it is to do with blood, whether it
is to do with people's honor and their
name and so on and so forth, all
of those issues that people usually have disputes
regarding,
then the way to solve them is to
go back to the rulings of the Quran
and the rulings of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi
wasallam.
And so this is an important principle therefore
for the Muslim to know that when it
comes to our religious obligations
and the way that the Muslims should conduct
themselves in terms of their dealings and interactions
and so on, the Quran and the Sunnah
is what we must follow. And so Allah
has given to us the commands of the
Quran, given to us the commands of the
Sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam. And
if you happen to live in a land
where there is
laws that have to be applied because they
are the laws of the land that you
have agreed to abide by and live by,
then those laws also have to be taken
into account and you go back to your
imams and your relatives, your respective scholars if
there is an issue that you need help
with and
an issue that you need more clarity with.
And so therefore, the general ruling, obviously, for
the Muslim is that we apply the rulings
of the Quran and the Sunnah. So when
the Muslim wants to get married, when when
the Muslim wants to get divorced, when the
Muslim enters into a business dealing with another
person, when it's issues of inheritance and much
of this has already proceeded in the tafsir
that we've done, Aspects of them have been
mentioned in detail in Surat Al Baqarah and
again here in this Surat Al Nisa.
It is important that the Muslim knows that
they are responsible for their actions and they
are responsible to uphold the laws of the
Quran and the Sunnah of the Prophet Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam. And so that is one of
the objectives of the Sharia. And so the
objectives from the objectives of the Quran and
the Sunnah is not just that you read
them or that you just simply listen to
them or that you simply,
you know, understand them. It is to apply
them as well. And what better application
when then in those circumstances when people are
most likely to to differ and to dispute
and to cause division amongst themselves. And so
the believer if he's told that this is
the law of Allah, this is the ruling
of Allah, this the command of Allah and
his messenger salallahu alaihi wa sallam, they should
be someone who submits to that willingly because
they know that there is good in it
for them even if the ruling goes against
them and their immediate interests. And that is
what Allah azza wa jal then says
and do not be an advocate for those
who betray their trust. And there is a
story concerning these verses that insha'Allah we will
mention towards the end of the episode because
it will be the last verse that we
speak about today insha'Allah.
And so the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam is
saying,
you shouldn't be on the side of those
people who betray the commands of Allah azza
wa jal. Even if those people happen to
be family members or friends or people that
you like or people that you know whoever
they may be. The laws of Allah and
his messenger salallahu alaihi wa sallam should be
over and above our personal
our personal likes or dislikes or our personal
friendships and so on and so forth.
Allah in verse 116 says,
and ask Allah for forgiveness for indeed He
is Most Forgiving and Most Merciful.
Meaning on those people therefore who do commit
sin, who do some wrong, who commit some
harm towards others, the door of tawba is
always open for the believer. And so even
if the commands of Allah applied upon them,
or some penalty
is placed upon them, they have the door
of tawbah to turn to Allah and to
ask Allah for forgiveness. The sin that they
have committed, only Allah can forgive and so
therefore they should turn to Allah azza wa
Jal and ask Allah for his forgiveness and
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala forgives those people who
turn to him with sincerity.
In verse 107 Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then
says
Do not argue for those who betray their
own souls.
Indeed Allah does not love anyone given over
to treachery and sin.
Allah Subhanahu Ta'ala is saying, don't argue on
behalf of those
who betray
the trust or betray themselves
either because they disbelieve and so that is
the betrayal of themselves
because they are, they have been told to
worship Allah azza wa jal and by their
refusal to do so, they will be punished
by Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and Yumul Qiyamah
and the fire will consume them as we
know and it will be a terrible punishment
and torment upon them and so therefore they
are betraying themselves
and they are allowing themselves to fall into
that punishment for eternity.
And so don't don't argue on behalf of
those people.
Those people who are the disbelievers
don't die upon the disbelief. Don't argue on
their behalf. And that is why as we
know in the Quran, the messengers of Allah
and the prophets of Allah alayhi wasallam
were forbidden for seeking forgiveness
for those who were their own family members
if they died upon other than Islam.
So for example, Ibrahim Alaihi Salam
was told not to seek forgiveness for his
father and likewise the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi wasallam
was told not to seek forgiveness for the
disbelievers irrespective of who they were.
It is not befitting for the Prophet or
the believers that they should make istighfar seek
forgiveness for the disbelievers
even if they happen to be from their
close family members.
And so what we actually make du'a for
is their guidance during their lifetime. That Allah
guides them, that Allah shows the path to
Islam, that Allah opens their eyes to the
truth. Those are the types of duas that
you should make. But once they die and
if they die
apparently other than Islam, then their affair is
with Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala and we don't
make a staghfir for them. And if anyone
would have been allowed to do so, it
would have been the prophet salallahu alaihi wa
sallam. But he has been told in this
verse that I just recited, naqanalil nabi. It's
not befitting for the prophet to do so.
And so he had Abu Barib his uncle,
he had other close family relatives and
people that he knew that died upon other
than Islam. But the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa
sallam was told not to make Istighfar for
them and likewise his companions and the believers
after him.
So don't argue on their behalf, number 1
or don't argue on their behalf if they
break the commands of Allah azza wa Jal.
So it may not be an issue of
belief or disbelief.
Maybe this person is a Muslim but they're
committing haram.
They're oppressing others. They're withholding their rights. They're
doing wrong. Don't argue on their behalf. If
you know that this person is in the
wrong, they committed haram, they've harmed others, they've
committed major sins, they've oppressed others or they've
withheld their rights, then you shouldn't come and
argue on their behalf. Just because they happen
to be your relative or happen to be
your business partner or happen to be a
neighbor or a friend or someone that you
have an old relationship with. Allah
says, Allah does not love those people who
are given over to treachery and sin and
likewise though for those people who will defend
them.
And this is something sad that we see.
Happens in marriages, happens in divorce, happens in
inheritance, happens in business dealings, where you see
someone is in the wrong, they've oppressed and
they've harmed someone
and no one's going to speak against the
oppressor because they happen to be
their family member or they happen to be
someone, you know, that they them in them
in their society has respect or honor whatever
it may be. So no one wants to
speak and no one will take the side
of the one who's being oppressed. And so
Allah is saying, don't argue on their behalf.
Don't make it worse as if what they
did is right, as if what they did
contains no harm or evil or oppression in
it.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala then says in verse
number 108,
because those people who do this type of
harm, those people who betray themselves and betray
the commands of Allah azza wa jalallahu describes
them and he says in verse 108,
Allah
says they try to hide themselves from the
people, but they cannot hide themselves from Allah.
He is with them when they plot at
night saying things that do not please him.
He is fully aware of everything that they
do. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying that
these people and this is, you know those
people who for example plotted against the messenger
of Allah Subhana Wa Ta'ala as we mentioned
a few episodes ago that they would say
to the messenger of Allah, we obey you
Then during the night they would plot on
ways of disobedience and ways of undermining the
Muslims and the prophet salallahu alayhi wasallam. Allah
is saying that these people hide from the
people. They do these things privately.
So amongst the people in public, they won't
do anything. They're afraid of them. They're shy
of them. They're embarrassed. But once they're at
home and they're alone or they're with their
few group, or the the the with the
few people that they're colluding with and they're
allying themselves with, then they won't do and
they will plot as they please.
So they fear from the eyes of the
people but they don't fear from the sight
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. They don't fear
that Allah is watching them. And Allah Subhanahu
Wa Ta'ala says and he is there. He
knows what they do as they plot and
they plan and they scheme during the night
and they see what they see. And Allah
knows everything that they do. And so therefore
a person
who is doing wrong and those people who
are defending them and arguing on their behalf,
these are people who forget
that Allah knows the reality.
Allah hears all and sees all and knows
all and Allah knows the reality subhanahu wa
ta'ala. So these people may fear
the eyes of people. They may come to
the people and say no we didn't do
any wrong and it's not us and we
didn't harm And then there are people who
are defending them because of some type of
relationship or some type of benefit that they
can extract from the situation.
Allah is saying that he knows the reality.
He knows the oppressor from the oppressed. He
knows the one who is in the right
and the one who is in the wrong.
And Allah has knowledge and awareness of all
things subhanahu wa ta'ala. In verse 109, Allah
then says
as a further
threat
or as a further a further warning to
these people.
There you are arguing on their behalf and
in this life. But who will argue on
their behalf with Allah on the day of
resurrection and who will be their defender?
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala is saying that in
this
dunya
you are arguing on their behalf, you come
and you debate and you argue and you
defend on their behalf. Who will stand before
Allah Azza wa Jal and defend them on
Yumul Qiyama? Because in this Dunya people do
as they please. And people may come and
defend others even though they know they have
wrong, they know they are oppressing, they know
they are withholding the rights of others, they
know they are committing haram. But they will
defend them because he happens to be my
family member. They will defend them because we
happen to have a business relationship. They will
defend them because they've been promised that they'll
be given something, some type of benefit or
some type of of materialistic,
issue or thing that they will attain.
So they,
people defend others for all sorts of varieties
of reasons.
Allah
says who will stand on their behalf on
Yomul Qiyamah? Who will come and have the
audacity
and the ability to stand before Allah and
defend?
Because we know that the reality of Yawmul
Qiyamah is that everyone will fear for themselves
as Allah mentions in the Quran. That a
person will flee from their own mother, their
own father,
their own wife or husband, their own son
and daughter, every single person that in this
life you may have defended on your mum
qiyama, especially if that defense was done in
wrong, in haram against the laws of Allah
azza wa Jal, on your mum qiyama you
will flee from them because you know that
these will be the people that will cause
your destruction perhaps on your mum qiyama. They
will be the people that Allah azza wa
Jal will hold you to account for because
of the evil that they did and because
of your actions in supporting and defending them.
You may argue in this life for them
but who will argue on their behalf on
yumulqiama?
Who will come and protect them on Yomul
Qiyama? And this verse therefore shows the way
that the believers should think, that it shouldn't
always be limited to the here and now,
to only the dunya, to the immediate tangible
benefits that we may attain to the short
term
advantages that we may gain. For Radha Allah
is saying that the believer should always remember
that there will be a place of accounting
and a court in which no one can
hide and no one can conceal,
and there is no one who will have
any power or authority except Allah Subhana Wa
Ta'la or by the permission of Allah Azza
wa Jal and that should make the believer
know their place and the rights that they
have upon others and the rights that others
have upon them and it should also give
a level of contentment and peace and solace
to those people who are oppressed.
That even if that oppression cannot be righted
in this dunya, no one comes to stand
with them, no one is defending them, no
one is speaking on their behalf, or their
oppression has led to their injury or to
their death or to something that now they
cannot get anything back in this dunya anyway.
That Allah will
give to them their full rights on Noomul
Qiyamah and Allah will give to them full
justice on the day of judgement in the
court and in the place in which the
justice is the greatest of justice and no
one will be oppressed even in the smallest
iota. The smallest atom of oppression will not
be present.
And so the believer knows this. The ones
who are oppressed know this and therefore the
oppressor should be aware of this as well.
That you may oppress in this life, you
may harm others in this life, you may
take their rights by force or withhold their
rights
in this life, but a day will come
when you won't have to answer for all
of this and Allah
will deal with you and Allah
will right those wrongs that you have committed.
And that is what Allah says in verse
number
110.
Allah will speak about 3 groups of people.
The first of them are those who truly
want to right their wrongs and turn back
to Allah
Yet anyone who does evil or wrongs his
own soul and then asks Allah for forgiveness,
they will find him to be most forgiving,
most merciful.
These are the people who, as all humans
do, they commit mistakes, they do wrong, they
commit oppression, they may harm others but it
is something which when they do, they realize
the wrong that they have done. When it
is done, they know that Allah will hold
them to account. So what do they do?
They hasten to right those wrongs to turn
to Allah azza wa jal in forgiveness.
They ask Allah azza wa jal to repent,
to repent upon them, to give them his
mercy and his forgiveness. They ask Allah azza
wa Jal to pardon them. They go back
to those people and they apologize and they
try to the best of their ability to
right those wrongs depending upon
the circumstances and the situation with wisdom, with
gentleness. They try to right those wrongs that
they have done and they know that Allah
azza wa jal is merciful
and that Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala when he
sees that sincere effort being made, Allah azza
wa jal will do the rest and Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala will forgive them for the
sins that they have committed. That's the first
category and group of people. These are the
people that know that Allah
is forgiving.
That if they do wrong, they can turn
back to Allah Not only do they know
that, they do it as well. They take
their knowledge and their plight into action because
who from amongst us doesn't sin and who
from amongst us hasn't committed oppression at one
point or another.
But the best of the believers are those
who when they sin, they know that Allah
is forgiving and they turn back to Allah
azza wa jal and make tawba.
Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala then says in verse
number 111 the second group of people.
And he who commits sin does so against
his own soul. Indeed Allah is all knowing
or wise.
These are the people who sin.
Every sin that a person commits whether small
or great, it will be recorded against them
and unless they make tawba and turn to
Allah azza wa jal and Allah forgives that
sin and expiates it, they will be held
to account for it and normal Qiyama and
so Allah is saying in this verse that
this is the second group of people. Those
people who sin and they sin and they
sin and they don't realize that each one
of those sins is being recorded. Each one
of those sins is being written in their
record of deeds and that on those
records of deeds will be presented to them
And depending on their weight and depending on
what is contained therein, they will be given
that record of deeds either in their right
hand or in their left hand. And as
a result they will either be rewarded or
they will be punished by Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala.
The third group of people that Allah mentions
in verse 112 are the worst of these.
And that is because Allah then says
And anyone who commits an offence or a
sin
and then throws the blame of that sin
upon an innocent person, they have burdened themselves
with deceit as well as a flagrant sin,
as a major sin.
So this is now the 3rd group of
people.
These are the ones who not only do
harm and do wrong, they will then blame
the innocent for that sin that they have
committed. They are the ones doing wrong, they're
the ones committing oppression, they're the ones doing
the haram and then they're blaming the innocent
and they're placing the blame upon them and
those people don't have the ability to defend
themselves or no one will listen to them
or no one respects them enough in society
to defend and stand up for them and
so they are the ones that get lumbered
with that or that reputation damage. They are
the ones that are essentially being slandered in
this way. Allah Azzawajal is saying that these
are the worst of people,
those people who do sin
and then they cast the blame of that
upon an innocent person.
This is the person who
is carrying slander upon themselves and they have
a flagrant major sin
and this is because of the next verse
now which is the story that takes place
as mentioned in many of the books of
tafsir
of an incident that took place in the
time of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam.
And that is in verse 113 which is
the final verse that we will take today.
Allah says,
If it were not for the grace of
Allah and his mercy too, meaning the Messenger
salallahu alaihi wa sallam,
a party of them would have tried to
lead you astray.
They only lead themselves astray and cannot harm
you in any way since Allah has sent
down the scripture and wisdom to you and
taught you what you did not know. Indeed
Allah has bound you to you is great
indeed.
It is said in the books of the
fseer that the cause of revelation for this
verse is that there was a man in
the time of the prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam
who
stole, he committed theft
and when he stole and he feared that
he was going to be found out and
caught, the people will realize that he was
the one who stole, he passed by a
house and he threw the item that he
stole into that house.
And then not only did he do that,
but then he sought the help of the
people around him to take or to cast
suspicion away from him and to that person,
that innocent person who now has
that stolen item that he deposited in their
home.
And so he used this and he said
to them, let us go to the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wasallam. Let us go and show
to him that I'm free, it's not me,
that person has it because he's the one
who's in his house. They found the item
there and so therefore take suspicion away from
me and place it upon that individual.
And so they essentially wanted to do this
and that is why Allah in the previous
verses we said, spoke about those people who
do wrong and they cast blame upon others
And in this verse Allah 'azwajal begins by
saying and not for the grace of Allah
for the mercy of Allah upon you meaning
the messenger of Allah salallahu alaihi wa sallam
then a group from amongst your people meaning
these people that Allah is referring to in
the story they would have tried to lead
you astray.
Meaning that they would have tried to make
you
exact your judgement upon the person who is
in reality innocent.
And so that is essentially
what they tried to do and it is
said that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam because
the judge only rules upon what is apparent,
the evidence before them, they don't know the
unseen but Allah by revelation gave to the
Prophet
the reality of the issue and he realized
that these people are colluding to cast this
innocent person
as a suspect and therefore to blame him
for the sin that they committed.
And so therefore that is why Allah says
that they tried
to.
And Allah says but in reality they only
misguide themselves. Why?
Because even if the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam
had judged according to what was apparent to
him, what was open evidence to him,
the sin of that would not have been
on the judge.
It would have been upon those people. Because
the judge can only judge upon what's apparent.
He doesn't know the unseen. So today, if
there's a Muslim judge and he's given
evidence
and it's fabricated evidence, but to the best
of his ability,
you can't tell that it's fabricated, there's no
obvious signs of his fabrication,
and then therefore that person who's innocent
is the one that is punished,
it is those people that
hold the blame. So long as the judge
did everything in his means and his ability
to reach the truth, he's not being in
any way deficient in his own role as
a judge, those people are the ones to
blame. And so that is why Allah says,
they only lead themselves astray
and they will not harm you in any
way.
And Allah
says because Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala gave to
the prophet salallahu alayhi wa sallam knowledge of
the Quran and the Sunnah and he taught
him that which he did not know before
and therefore that is why it is important
for the Muslim who is ruling in these
affairs to understand the Sharia.
Sometimes we're told to to to judge in
disputes between people, in marriages and divorces and
so on and we don't even know what
Allah said or what
prophet said. We don't know the real the
rulings of the sharia and we cast ourselves
now as arbiters or judges in that dispute
or in that issue. And we're going to
do things that are wrong because of a
lack of knowledge. We don't know what the
sharia says and so we're just going to
use our own intelligence or our own experience
and that may be correct or it may
not be correct. But if a person was
to study and to know what is pleasing
to Allah, what is legislated by the prophet
sallallahu alaihi wa sallam, then most likely by
Allah's permission and by His grace, they would
reach the outcome that is Insha'Allah Ta'ala pleasing
to Allah and beneficial to those people in
that case and Allah
knows best and with that we come to
the end of today's episode.