Ahsan Hanif – Quran Tafseer – Page 99 – The Dynamics Of Marital Justice And Divine Provision
AI: Summary ©
The importance of acceptance of boundaries between couples in marriage, particularly for couples with children, is emphasized. Personal boundaries are crucial for any relationship, and anyone should give up their rights and allow others to do their job. The importance of balancing personalities and seeking good behavior is also emphasized. The speaker emphasizes the need for acceptance of boundaries and avoiding abuse, while also reminding individuals to be fair and mindful of Allah's actions. The episode ends with a request for people to turn to Allah's actions and actions for themselves.AI: Transcript ©
Al Amin. Allahum Assali wa Salih wa Salihi
Ajmein
and Mabat. Welcome to another episode of tafsir
page by page. InshaAllah ta'ala. Today we are
on page 99
which is in Surah Nisa, the 5th Juz.
In the previous episode, we spoke about a
number of issues but the final issue that
we mentioned
which is then related also to today's
page of tafsir,
is some of the rights that Allah
gave to women and especially those women and
children that don't have anyone to look after
their affairs except those men that have now
become
their custodians.
So for example, the orphan women,
the orphan girls and the orphan boys
and those people who
are
their custodians and their guardians, Allah tells them
to treat them fairly and tells them to
treat them with justice and that they shouldn't
look for their own personal gain, their own
personal benefit in terms of the wealth that
those orphans may have and some of the
possessions that they
may have, they shouldn't look at their own
personal gain, but rather they should do what
is best for those, for those children.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in the verse that
we're going to begin with today, which is
verse 121,
128
rather, Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala then says,
If a wife fears highhandedness
or alienation from her husband,
neither of them will be blamed if they
come to a peaceful settlement for peace is
best.
Although human souls are prone to selfishness,
if you do good and are mindful of
Allah, he is well aware of all that
you do.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala in this verse is
speaking about the husband and the
wife and sometimes over time
their relationship that may have begun
with love
and and mercy and and a great deal
of affection
over time may become strained.
And they may reach a position or a
stage
where instead of treating one another in a
good way, they now treat one another in
not such a good way. And that doesn't
mean necessarily
that one is violent towards the other, no
one is harming the other, it's just that
they are no longer as
close to one another as they used to
be. Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala says that if
that is the situation
and they can reach a settlement, they can
agree upon something that will allow them to
continue in that marriage, then that is something
which is good. Especially if
the wife, for example, needs her husband. She
doesn't really have anyone else that she can
rely upon or depend upon. She doesn't really
have anyone from her male relatives that would
look after or be able to to, to
to do, to to look after her and
her affairs.
And so it is good if they can
reach a settlement. So for example in the
time of the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam,
the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam had a number
of wives. One of his wives is the
famous mother of the believers Saudah radiAllahu anha.
And Saudah radiAllahu anha because of the love
that she knew, the prophet salallahu alaihi wasallam
had for his wife Aisha radiallahu anha and
she was older in age, much older in
age she agreed to give up her might
for Aisha radiAllahu anha.
So essentially
she would give her might up to Aisha
so Aisha would have her own might and
the night of soda radiAllahu anha as well
and the Prophet accepted.
This is an example of a settlement from
the time of the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wasallam.
This is what
Allah is referring to, not necessarily in this
particular example but something like this. So for
example the husband and the wife agree that
they will have certain things or that they
will agree upon certain points with one another
that would allow them to continue in that
marriage. It is better than them divorcing, splitting
their family and so on. This is obviously
not in the case where there is violence,
involved, where the husband for example is being
abusive. That's not the meaning here that then
the wife just has to sit there and
take it or she agrees a
settlement in the sense that she remains quiet
and allows him to continue to oppress her.
No. This is not in those types of
issues, but in issues where over time they
no longer have that same level of love
and affection for one another.
And Allah is saying, there is no harm
in them reconciling,
finding a way. That shows an important principle
especially when it comes to marriage, that often
we have to compromise.
Every marriage requires compromise, even if there's no
problems and even if you need a level
of compromise in order for you to be
able to continue within that marriage. In fact
in any type of relationship,
compromise
is required
often.
So Allah says
to reconcile his good. And we mentioned a
couple of episodes ago the statement of Allah
subhanahu wa ta'ala that said that from all
of the gatherings that people have, the best
of those
are from the best of them are those
in which reconciliation is proposed and
is enacted. And so here Allah azza wa
jal is saying something similar, where
ever you can reconcile it is good. That's
a general principle in our religion. So when
there's a problem
in husband in the marriage between husbands and
wives, sometimes people are very eager just to
dissolve their marriage, very eager just to move
on, very eager just to get out of
the situation. Allah is really saying, no. 1st,
sit down and speak to one another. See
what you can do for you to continue
so long as there is no abuse as
we said, no haram being done, no
nothing that is against the sharia of Allah
nothing major like this.
Humans always will disagree, always have different points
of view, That's just the nature of people.
It
is good to be able to
reconcile, especially if by dissolving that marriage by
through divorce,
there will be many issues. They have young
children, those children will be affected. Those 2
people that are married, the husband and wife,
are close relatives as well, blood relatives. By
them divorcing, they know that the home family
is going to split up, that there is
going to be issues in the wider family
and so
on. If they can reconcile
and stay together, no doubt that is something
which is good. And Allah
says it is also not easy
because human souls are prone to be selfish.
And that is why Allah Azzawajal praises in
many different scenarios
the ability to
reconcile.
Very, very important
but it's also very difficult because when you
reconcile, you must compromise. When you reconcile, you
must give up some of your rights And
human nature
is that you want everything that belongs to
you and often more than what actually belongs
to you. Human nature is that you're very
stingy and miserly when it comes to your
things.
Selfish
and you want it all. And you don't
necessarily want to give up anything for anyone
else but you want them to give up
things for you. And that is why Allah
azza wa jal pleases those people who can
make suah as we said and Allah azza
wa Jal says that it is a good
deed and a good action because of the
way that it requires you to also have
self discipline and fight your desires and the
temptations of the dunya. And that is when
the hadith, when the prophet
on one occasion saw his grandson Al Hassan
who was the son of Ali and Fatima
radiAllahu anhu Majimareen. He said
the son of mine and he was only
a young child at the time.
The son of mine meaning this grandson of
mine will be a leader. And Allah
will cause 2 great groups of Muslims to
reconcile because of him. 2 major
groups of Muslims to reconcile through him.
And we know that after the death of
Ali
where there was a dispute between
the companions of the Muslims at that time
between Ali and Mu'awiya
and after the death of Ali radiAllahu anhu
Hassan radiAllahu anhu becomes the successor of his
father,
He gave up the khilafa,
the leadership of the Muslims
and he gave it to Mu'awiya radiAllahu anhu
in order to bring the Muslim Ummah together
and to unite them. Even though he is
more worthy. He is the grandson of the
prophet and
he is the son of
and everyone knows
the love that the prophet salallahu alaihi wa
sallam had for his grandsons. But despite it
being his right, despite
his lineage and his closeness and his blood
relation to the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam, despite
the praise that the Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam
gave to him, He gave it up because
he knew that it would bring the Ummah
together and it would save peoples lives and
it would stop the spinning of their blood
and stop wealth being used in that way
and so on. And so he united the
Muslim Ummah through an act of self sacrifice.
He sacrificed his own position for the sake
of Allah azza wa jal. Allah Subhanahu Wa
Ta'ala praises this.
Imagine the reward of someone who saves so
many countless lives, armies,
100 if not thousands of people who would
have been involved in battle had he continued
to pursue his claim. And so he gave
it up for the sake of Allah
and that is what Allah says,
if you do good and are mindful of
Allah and have taqwa, then Allah is well
aware of the good that you do. So
none of us are in necessarily that position
of
but in many of our cases all of
us have in moments of our lives
situations, scenarios where we are in positions where
we're going to have disputes and disagreements whether
it's in a marriage, whether it's between friends,
whether it's in families, whatever it may be.
To be able to find a a a
a reconciled position
that everyone agrees upon is something which is
good. So long as you don't fall into
haram
and everyone is happy with that agreement, it
is good. And that is something which often
we don't think about, the Sharia opens its
door for us. So long as you're not
doing haram, it opens that door for us.
And we mentioned examples of this before in
inheritance for example, even now here when we're
speaking about issues of marriage and divorce.
We mentioned examples that even though the shleih
says do this, do this, do this, but
if everyone agrees, for example, in inheritance,
that more than a third can be given
in charity, it's allowed because they all agree.
That is the form of reconciliation
each one is compromising giving up a right
of theirs that belongs to them for the
sake of unity, for the sake of reconciliation
and peace. And that is something which Allah
loves and something which pleases Allah Subhanahu wa
Ta'ala.
In the following verse 129, Allah then says,
You will never be able to treat your
wives with equal fairness,
however much you may desire to do so,
but do not ignore 1 wife altogether leaving
her suspended.
If you make amends and remain conscious of
Allah, He is Most Forgiving and Most Merciful.
Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala is saying that despite
this issue of reconciliation, so I know that
every person must strive to be just and
fair.
So reconciliation comes in a situation where there's
going to be a dispute now and disagreement,
but every person
for their own,
in terms of fulfilling their own rights, in
terms of their own responsibilities,
must do the best to the best of
their ability,
they must do all that they can in
terms of fulfilling those rights and those responsibilities
and duties that Allah
has placed upon them. However, there is a
caveat here that is being mentioned in this
verse and that is that it is only
in that which you have control over. As
for that which you have no control over,
which are the issues of the heart and
the affairs of the heart, then Allah does
not hold you to account for that.
Allah says, Subhanu wa Ta'ala you will never
be able to treat all of your wives
with equal fairness,
meaning in terms of the love that you
have in your heart. And that is because
that is something which no one necessarily has
any control over, Something which is from the
affairs of the heart. And we know for
example that the prophet of Allah salallahu alaihi
wa sallam loved his wife Aisha radiAllahu anha
more than his other wives. In fact he
openly said so. In the hadith of Amr
Bilallahu anha
when he asked the Messenger of Allah Sallallahu
Alaihi Wasallam oh messenger of Allah, who do
you love the most? And he said, Aisha,
he said, no I mean from the men.
He said, Abu Bakr radiAllahu anhu. So even
amongst friends,
amongst your siblings,
you may love one over the other, more
than the other. However,
that shouldn't translate
into oppression in terms of action and
in terms of rights and responsibilities.
And so Allah tells us to be fair.
You have a number of children, you must
be fair towards them. You may like or
love one more than the other for one
reason or another because we all know for
example that maybe in amongst the children
or your our own siblings, one is more
dutiful to the parent, one is more kind,
more giving, more more caring and so on.
So naturally, a person may be attached to
that child over and above others or because
of something that they did or some achievements
or whatever but that shouldn't translate into them
being oppressive.
And so you'll be equal and likewise the
one who has more than one wife shouldn't
mean that they are
oppressive in terms of spending upon them, in
terms of the way that he distributes time
to them. The prophet was fair in those
regards. But when he came to issues of
the heart,
he was fair as is mentioned in the
narration
that he said that oh Allah, this is
my fairness and justice in what I can
control.
And as for that which I cannot control,
it is for you, meaning my heart, the
love that I have for one over the
others.
However, that shouldn't translate as we said into
action as Allah says
but do not ignore one above the other,
leaving her as if she is suspended. So
when it comes to actions, no. And that
is the meaning of the Hadith of the
Prophet Sallallahu Alaihi Wasallam that whoever favors one
wife over another, then he will come on
the day of judgement with one cheek drooping
more than the other. That's because he was
unfair in terms of action. And likewise, when
it comes to children as in the hadith
of an unarmed, ibn Bashir radiAllahu anhuma, when
his father gave him a gift that he
didn't give to his other children and the
Prophet
said I will not be a witness to
oppression
because it's unfair. Why did you give one
more than the others? They're equal in that
regard. You may love him more, but you
can't treat him favorably over the others. All
of them have rights and you have to
be equal in the rights that you give
to them.
And if you make amends and remain conscious
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, then He is
Most Forgiving, Most Merciful.
In verse 130 Allah Azzawaj then goes on
to say,
But if
the husband and wife do separate, Allah will
provide for each one
of his plenty, or for each out of
his plenty he is infinite in his plenty
and all wise. Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala says
that this also is a circumstance that may
occur. So we are
told that Allah when it comes to issues
of fairness
is referring more to our responsibilities and duties
and our actions as opposed to matters of
the heart. But however, sometimes no doubt
a marriage will dissolve. They will be divorce.
The husband and wife cannot continue for one
reason or another or their reconciliation doesn't work
for one reason or another. In which case,
as we mentioned previously, as Allah
himself said, each one should remember the fever
that they had.
Don't forget the good you did for one
another. That splitting apart, that divorce, that separation
should be on good terms,
should be amicable.
And it is very unfortunate that in our
times, all too often,
many times, the divorce is something which causes
more harm
and causes more rancor and causes one
or the husband and the wife especially when
the children involved to play the children off
against one another and the families got involved
and so on and so forth. We mentioned
previously the verse in which Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala said that it is from good practice
for the husband, even after he has divorced
his wife, to give to her some money,
give to her a gift,
to help her, to show that there is
no hard feelings in that regard. Allah Azzawajal
decreed that this marriage wouldn't continue, they have
valid reasons, there was no oppression or violence
or abuse involved, just happened that sometimes these
things don't work out as happens in other
relationships as well. So you should all go
your own way but do so in a
good way. And Allah says that if you
do it in a way that is proper,
Allah will provide for each one and Allah
will bless each one
with
his immense bounty and his immense favour and
grace. Subhanahu wa ta'ala because Allah is wise.
He is the one who controls everything, his
bounty, his his favor, his grace is wide
and plenty
and he is all wise Subhanahu wa ta'ala.
Allah says in verse 131
everything in the heavens and the earth belongs
to Allah.
We have commanded those who have given the
scripture before you and we command you to
be mindful of Allah
even if you do ignore him. Everything in
the heavens and earth belongs to him. Even
if you disbelieve,
then everything in the heavens and earth belongs
to him and he is self sufficient
and worthy of all praise. Allah subhanahu wa
ta'ala in a number of verses
will mention this same issue and that is
that everything
in the heavens and the earth belongs to
Allah
All Dominion belongs to him. Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala.
Everything is the kingdom of Allah
and Allah subhanahu ta'ala from the core commandments
that he gave not only to us, this
Ummah of Muhammad salallahu alayhi wasalam, but that
he gave to every single nation,
all of the prophets of Allah, all of
their nations was that they should be mindful
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala, that they should
have the taqwa of Allah
and this is mentioned here because as we
said previously
that when it comes to many of these
issues
in which there are rights involved of others,
in which there is going to be disputes,
in which people are going to want their
rights and they're going to be selfish with
their rights, often it leads to injustice and
oppression.
It leads to people being unfair.
It leads to someone, and usually the person
who is weakest,
who doesn't have anyone really fighting for them
or on their side, or doesn't have much
claim, doesn't have much ability to take
even that which belongs to them and is
their right. Those are the people that often
lose out the most. But if a person
is mindful of Allah azza wajah, a person
remembers Allah Subhanahu wa ta'ala is conscious of
Allah
knows that they will stand before Allah Subhanahu
wa ta'ala to be held to account
then Allah
says that those people will do what is
right and what is fair. You know that
Allah
knows the relative of the situation.
Just because
that person doesn't have proof or doesn't have
the ability to take it or doesn't have
someone fighting their cause or supporting them doesn't
mean that they don't have those rights. If
you know the right belongs to them, then
there is their right that is due to
them and that you should hand over to
them.
And so Allah
is saying that every single nation was told
to be mindful of Allah because the taqwa
of Allah is
the basis of all good. People if every
single Muslim
was constantly mindful of Allah azza wa Jal
every time they're going to do a deal,
every time they're going to enter into a
relationship,
be mindful of Allah, be conscious of Allah,
his reward, his punishment, his accounting, yawmul qiyama,
death all of those things, then how amazing
would our relationships be? How many of these
problems will we be able to overcome? And
how much of the whisperings of Shaitan
and the temptations of the Dunya would we
be able to resist
because we have a greater purpose
and we have a greater
reminder before us and that is the reminder
of Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and that is
why every nation was commanded
to fear Allah and to be mindful of
him and that is something which the prophet
used to repeat often And it is something
which Allah
often says in the Quran, how many verses
say or begin with, you who believe,
Allah.
Because the believer should always be mindful of
Allah
to the best of their ability. And if
they did
that would mean that they would uphold the
commands of Allah. They would uphold the sharia
of Allah Azza wa Jal. They would look
in that situation
as to what is most pleasing to Allah
Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala. What in this situation will
hold or give to me the greatest reward?
And that is something difficult to do because
many of us are not so mindful and
conscious of Allah Azza wa Jal. And
in order to reach that level of consciousness,
a person is to constantly be engaged in
seeking knowledge in
and the more that you're mindful of Allah
in times of ease,
the easier it becomes in times of difficulty
and in those types of situations in which
there is
there is animosity,
to be mindful of Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala
also. Allah
says: But if you disbelieve,
you turn away, you reject,
then everything in the heavens and earth. Allah
does not need us and Allah has no
need for our patience, our worship, our taqwa,
rather Allah azza wa jal is the one
who is giving us his favors by rewarding
us for these actions.
WaqanaAllahu
Ghani yal Hamida for Allah Azzawajal
is Ghani or rich self sufficient, doesn't need
anyone and he is full of praise.
Meaning that he doesn't even need your praise.
Allah doesn't need us to worship him, Allah
doesn't need us to thank him, Allah doesn't
need us to show gratitude towards him. Allah
Subhanu wa Ta'ala is worthy of all praise
and he is self sufficient Subhanu wa Ta'ala.
So who benefits from these acts of worship?
Me and you. We are the ones who
benefit. In
verse 132 Allah Azzawaj then repeats this again
and he says:
Allah and He is enough for those who
trust in Him. So when you turn to
Allah
and you trust in Allah
knowing that everything in the heavens and earth
is controlled by Allah
and therefore when you fulfill the rights of
others, or you sacrifice some of your rights
in compromise, or you do that which Allah
commanded even if it means, or you think
that you may be losing out some, that's
what your heart is telling you or your
mind or the whisperings of Shaitan are telling
you, you know that Allah controls everything. And
if Allah wants you to replace this with
something a 100 times better, he can do
so. And so you have that iman in
Allah and
that belief in Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala.
In verse 133 Allah
then says
If he so willed he could remove you
altogether
and replace you with new people, he has
full power to do so. Meaning Allah
is self sufficient,
doesn't need your praise. He could get rid
of you and he wouldn't make a difference
Because sometimes we think that we are doing
a favor for Allah
by following the shaliyah,
by being good Muslims, by
sticking to the Haram and Haraam, by worshipping
Allah Azza wa Jal, by having Immanuel Allah
Azza wa Jal, by calling ourselves Muslims, Allah
is telling us that He has no need
of anything from us.
We are the ones who are in need
of Allah Azza wa Jal. Allah is Al
Ghani,
we are the fuqara.
Allah is rich, self sufficient subhanhu wa ta'ala,
we are the ones who are poor and
impoverished and in need of Allah subhanhu wa
ta'ala. Allah is saying that he could remove
all of us and it would make a
difference.
As the Prophet told us salallahu alaihi wasallam
in the Hadith that if you were a
people who never sinned, Allah would remove you
and bring a group of people who did
sin, a creation that did sin, so that
they could turn back to Allah
seeking forgiveness and Allah could forgive. Allah
wants to show
his kindness and generosity upon us by accepting
our good deeds, by rewarding us, by forgiving
us but Allah has no need of that
and Allah does not benefit in any way
from our worship or our gratitude or our
praise of him subhanahu wa ta'ala.
And that is what Allah azza wa jaa
says in verse 134
and the final verse that we will take
in today's episode.
If some want the rewards of this world
and the next are both Allah's to give.
He hears and sees everything.
Allah is the One who controls everything, Allah
doesn't need anything, but Allah
has and controls everything,
and so he can give to us from
the benefits of the dunya and the benefits
of the akhira,
the bounties of both worlds and Allah does
that for the believers.
Those people who sacrifice and submit themselves to
Allah Subhanahu wa Ta'ala, Allah will give to
them and Allah
says that if you just want
the reward of this life, meaning from the
benefits and the blessings of this dunya, remember
that Allah not only has these
but the greater blessings of the Akhir. So
why wouldn't you turn to Allah Azza wa
Jal and worship Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala and
submit yourself to Allah Azza wa Jal and
to his commands and to his Sharia.
May I ask Allah that he gives us
the ability to do so and with that
we come to the end of today's episode.
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