004- AL-NISA

WOMEN

IN THE NAME OF GOD, THE COMPASSIONATE, THE MERCIFUL

# O mankind! Reverence your Lord, Who created you from a single soul and from it created its mate, and from the two has spread abroad a multitude of men and women. Reverence God, through Whom you demand your rights of one another, and family relations. Truly God is a Watcher over you. # Give orphans their property, and exchange not the bad for the good, nor consume their property with your own. Truly that would be a great sin. # If you fear that you will not deal fairly with the orphans, then marry such women as seem good to you, two, three, or four; but if you fear that you will not deal justly, then only one, or those whom your right hands possess. Thus it is more likely that you will not commit injustice. # And give the women their bride wealth as a free gift, but if they are pleased to remit unto you any part thereof, then consume it with wholesome enjoyment. # And give not the feeble-minded your property, which God has placed in your hands to manage, but provide for them and clothe them from it, and speak unto them in an honorable way. # And test the orphans until they reach the age of maturity; then if you perceive in them sound judgment, deliver unto them their property, and consume it not wastefully and in haste before they come of age. Whosoever is rich should abstain, but whosoever is poor should partake thereof in an honorable way. And when you deliver unto them their property, bring witnesses on their behalf, and God suffices as a Reckoner. # Unto the men a share of what parents and kinsfolk leave, and unto the women a share of what parents and kinsfolk leave, be it little or much —a share ordained. # And when kinsfolk, orphans, and the indigent are present at the division, make provision from it for them and speak unto them in an honorable way. # Let those who would dread if they left behind their own helpless progeny have fear; let them reverence God and speak justly. # Truly those who consume the property of orphans unjustly only consume fire in their bellies, and they will burn in a blazing flame. # God enjoins upon you concerning your children: unto the male a share equal to that of two females; but if there are only daughters, two or more, then unto them is two-thirds of what he leaves; if only one, then unto her a half. And unto his parents—each of the two—a sixth of what he leaves if he has a child; but if he has no child and his parents are his [only] heirs, then unto his mother a third; and if he has brothers, then unto his mother a sixth, after paying any bequest he may have bequeathed or any debt. Your parents or your children—you know not which of them are nearer to you in benefit. [This is] an obligation ordained by God. Truly God is Knowing, Wise. # And unto you a half of what your wives leave, if they have no child, but if they have a child, then unto you a fourth of what they leave, after paying any bequest they may have bequeathed or any debt. And unto them a fourth of what you leave if you have no child, but if you have a child, then unto them an eighth of what you leave, after paying any bequest you may have bequeathed or any debt. If a man or woman leaves no direct heir, but has a brother or sister, then unto each of the two a sixth; but if they are more than two, they share equally a third, after paying any bequest he may have bequeathed or any debt, without harm to anyone—a duty ordained by God, and God is Knowing, Clement. # Those are the limits set by God: whosoever obeys God and His Messenger, He will cause him to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein. And that is the great triumph. # But whosoever disobeys God and His Messenger, and transgresses His limits, He will cause him to enter a Fire, abiding therein, and he shall have a humiliating punishment. # As for those of your women who commit an indecency, call four witnesses among you to bear witness against them. And if they bear witness, then confine them to their houses until death takes them, or until God appoints for them another way. # And if two of those among you are guilty thereof, punish them both; but if they repent and make amends, then let them be. Truly God is Relenting, Merciful. # God only accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and then turn quickly in repentance: these are the ones unto whom God relents, and God is Knowing, Wise. # And repentance is not accepted from those who do evil deeds till, when death confronts one of them, he says, “Truly now I repent,” nor from those who die as disbelievers. For those We have prepared a painful punishment. # O you who believe! It is not lawful for you to inherit women through coercion, nor to prevent them from marrying [again], that you may take away some of what you have given them, unless they commit a flagrant indecency. And consort with them in a kind and honorable way; for if you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing in which God has placed much good. # If you desire to take one wife in place of another, even if you have given to one of them a great sum, take back nothing from it. Would you take it by way of calumny and manifest sin? # And how can you take it back, when you have lain with one another and they have made with you a solemn covenant? # And marry not those women whom your fathers married, save for what is past. Truly it was indecent and loathsome, an evil way. # Forbidden unto you [as wives] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your fathers’ sisters, your mothers’ sisters, your brothers’ daughters, your sisters’ daughters, your milk-mothers and milk-sisters, the mothers of your wives, the stepdaughters in your care—born of your wives with whom you have consummated marriage, but if you have not consummated the marriage with them, then there is no blame on you —and the wives of your sons who are from your loins, and two sisters together, save for what is past. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. # And married women [are forbidden unto you] save those whom your right hands possess; thus has God prescribed for you. Lawful unto you are all others whom you would seek in marriage with gifts from your property, in honest wedlock and not in fornication. And those women whom you enjoy thereby, give unto them their bride wealth, as an obligation; but there is no blame on you for what you agree to after the obligation. God is Knowing, Wise. # And whosoever among you has not the means to marry free, believing women, then [marry] the believing young women among those whom your right hands possess; God knows best your faith, the one of you is as the other, sowed them by the permission of their people, and give unto them their proper bride wealth, as married women, not as fornicators or paramours. And when they are married, should they commit an indecency, they shall be liable to half the punishment of free women. This is for the one among you who fears he will sin, but it is better for you to be patient. God is Forgiving, Merciful. # God desires to make [this] clear unto you, and to guide you to the traditions of those who went before you, and to relent unto you. And God is Knowing, Wise. # God desires to relent unto you, but those who follow lusts desire that you go tremendously astray. # God desires to lighten [your burden] for you, for man was created weak. # O you who believe! Consume not each other’s wealth falsely, but trade by mutual consent, and slay not yourselves. Truly God is Merciful unto you. # And whosoever does that in enmity and injustice, We shall cause him to burn in a Fire; and that is easy for God. # If you shun the grave sins that you are forbidden, We shall absolve you of your evil deeds and cause you to enter at a noble gate. # And covet not that by which God has favored some of you above others—unto men a share of what they have earned, and unto women a share of what they have earned—but ask God for His Bounty. Truly God is the Knower of all things. # To each We have appointed heirs for what parents and kinsfolk leave. Those to whom you have given your oath, give them their share. Truly God is Witness over all things. # Men are the upholders and maintainers of women by virtue of that in which God has favored some of them above others and by virtue of their spending from their wealth. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [their husbands’] absence what God has guarded. As for those from whom you fear discord and animosity, admonish them, then leave them in their beds, then strike them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Truly God is Exalted, Great. # And if you fear a breach between the two, then appoint an arbiter from his people and an arbiter from her people. If they desire reconciliation, God will bring about agreement between them. Truly God is Knowing, Aware. # Worship God, and ascribe not partners unto Him. And be virtuous toward parents and kinsfolk, toward orphans and the indigent, toward the neighbor who is of kin and the neighbor who is not of kin, toward the companion at your side and the traveler, and toward those whom your right hands possess. Truly God loves not one who is a vainglorious boaster, # those who are miserly and enjoin people to be miserly, concealing what God has given them from His Bounty. We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment. # And those who spend their wealth to be seen of men, and believe not in God or the Last Day. Whosoever has Satan for a companion has an evil companion indeed! # What harm would it have done them were they to believe in God and the Last Day, and spend of that which God has provided them. God knows them well. # Truly God commits not so much as a mote’s weight of wrong: if there is a good deed, He will multiply it and grant from His Presence a great reward. # How will it be when We bring forth a witness from every community, and We bring thee as a witness against these? # On that Day those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger will wish that they were level with the earth, and they will conceal no account from God. # O you who believe! Draw not near unto prayer when you are drunken until you know what you are uttering, nor in a state of ritual impurity—unless you are passing through—until you have washed. But if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you has come from satisfying a call of nature, or you have touched women, and you find no water, then resort to clean earth, and wipe your faces and your hands. Truly God is Pardoning, Forgiving. # Hast thou not considered those who were given a portion of the Book, who purchase error, and wish that you too should stray from the path? # God knows best your enemies. God suffices as a Protector, and God suffices as a Helper. # Among those who are Jews are those who distort the meaning of the word, and say, “We hear and disobey, ” and “Hear, as one who hears not!” and “Attend to us!” twisting their tongues and disparaging religion. And had they said, “We hear and obey” and “Listen” and “Regard us, ” it would have been better for them and more proper. But God cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few. # O you unto whom the Book has been given! Believe in what We have sent down, confirming that which is with you, before We blot out faces and turn them backwards, or curse them as We cursed those [who broke] the Sabbath. And the Command of God shall be fulfilled. # Truly God forgives not that any partner be ascribed unto Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whomsoever He will, for whosoever ascribes partners unto God has surely fabricated a tremendous sin. # Hast thou not seen those who deem themselves pure? Rather, it is God Who purifies whomsoever He will, and they shall not be wronged so much as the thread of a date stone. # See how they fabricate lies against God! That suffices as a manifest sin. # Hast thou not considered those who were given a portion of the Book, who believe in idols and false deities, and say of those who disbelieve, “These are guided more rightly than those who believe.” # They are those whom God has cursed, and whomsoever God curses, thou wilt not find for him any helper. # Or have they a share in sovereignty? If they did, they would not give men so much as the speck on a date stone. # Or do they envy men on account of what God has given them of His Bounty? We gave the House of Abraham the Book and Wisdom, and We granted them a mighty sovereignty. # Among them are those who believe in him, and among them are those who turn away from him. And Hell suffices as a blazing flame! # Those who disbelieve in Our signs, We shall surely cause them to burn in a Fire. As often as their skins are consumed, We shall replace them with other skins, that they may taste the punishment. Truly God is Mighty, Wise. # But for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, We shall cause them to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein forever. There they shall have spouses made pure, and We shall cause them to enter plenteous shade. # God commands you to return trusts to their rightful owners and, if you judge between men, to do so with justice. Excellent indeed is the instruction God gives you. Truly God is Hearing, Seeing. # O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you differ among yourselves concerning any matter, refer it to God and the Messenger, if you believe in God and the Last Day. That is better, and fairer in outcome. # Hast thou not seen those who claim that they believe in that which was sent down unto thee and in that which was sent down before thee, desiring to seek judgment from false deities, although they were commanded not to believe in them? But Satan desires to lead them far astray. # And when it is said unto them, “Come to what God has sent down and to the Messenger,” thou seest the hypocrites turn from thee with aversion. # How will it be when misfortune befalls them because of what their hands have sent forth? Then they will come to thee, swearing by God, “We sought naught but virtue and harmony.” # They are those whom God knows what is in their hearts. So turn away from them, and admonish them and speak to them about their souls with penetrating words. # We sent no messenger, save that he should be obeyed by God’s Leave. If, when they had wronged themselves, they had but come to thee and sought forgiveness of God, and the Messenger had sought forgiveness for them, they would surely have found God Relenting, Merciful. # But no, by thy Lord, they will not believe until they have made thee the judge between them in their disputes, and find no resistance in their souls to what thou hast decreed, and surrender with full submission. # And had We prescribed for them, “Lay down your lives” or “Leave your homes,” they would not have done so, save a few. And had they done what they were exhorted to do, it would have been better for them, and a stronger confirmation. # Then We would surely have granted them, from Our Presence, a great reward, # and We would surely have guided them unto a straight path. # Whosoever obeys God and the Messenger, they are with those whom God has blessed, the prophets, the truthful ones, the witnesses, and the righteous. What beautiful companions they are! # Such is the Bounty from God, and God suffices as Knower. # O you who believe! Take your precautions; then go forth in companies or go forth all together. # Among you indeed is one who would tarry; then, if misfortune should befall you, he would say, “God has blessed me, in that I did not accompany them.” # But should a bounty come to you from God, he would surely say—as if there had been no affection between you and him—“Oh, would that I had been with them, so that I had attained a great triumph!” # Let them fight in the way of God, those who would sell the life of this world for the Hereafter. And whosoever fights in the way of God—whether he is slain or victorious—We shall grant him a great reward. # And what ails you that you fight not in the way of God, and for the weak and oppressed —men, women, and children—who cry out, “Our Lord! Bring us forth from this town whose people are oppressors, and appoint for us from Thee a protector, and appoint for us from Thee a helper.” # Those who believe fight in the way of God, and those who disbelieve fight in the way of false deities. Fight, therefore, against the allies of Satan. Surely the scheme of Satan is ever feeble. # Hast thou not seen those unto whom it was said, “Restrain your hands, and perform the prayer, and give the alms.” But when fighting was prescribed for them, behold, a party of them feared men, even as they should have feared God, or with greater fear, and they said, “Our Lord! Why hast Thou prescribed fighting for us? If only Thou wouldst grant us reprieve for a term nigh.” Say, “Scant is the enjoyment of this world, and the Hereafter is better for those who are reverent, and you shall not be wronged so much as the thread of a date stone.” # Wheresoever you may be, death will overtake you, though you should be in towers raised high. And if good befalls them, they say, “This is from God, ” but if evil befalls them, they say, “This is from thee.” Say, “All is from God.” What is with these people that they scarcely understand any tiding? # Whatever good befalls thee, it is from God, and whatever evil befalls thee, it is from thyself. We sent thee as a messenger unto mankind, and God suffices as a Witness. # Whosoever obeys the Messenger obeys God, and as for those who turn away, We have not sent thee as their keeper. # They profess obedience, but when they leave thee, a party of them conspire by night [to do] other than what thou sayest. But God records what they conspire by night. So turn away from them and trust in God. God suffices as a Guardian. # Do they not contemplate the Quran? Had it been from other than God, they would surely have found much discrepancy therein. # And whenever tidings come unto them, whether of security or fear, they spread it about, whereas had they referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, those of them whose task it is to investigate would have known it. Were it not for God’s Bounty toward you, and His Mercy, you would surely have followed Satan, save a few. # So fight in the way of God. Thou art accountable only for thyself, and urge on the believers. It may be that God will restrain the might of the disbelievers, for God is stronger in might and more severe in punishment. # Whosoever intercedes for a good cause shall receive a share of it; and whosoever intercedes for an evil cause shall share in its burden; and God is Sustainer of all things. # And when you are offered a greeting, respond with a greeting that is better, or return it; surely God takes account of all things. # God, there is no god but He. He will surely gather you all unto the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. And who is truer than God in speech? # What is with you that you are [divided into] two groups concerning the hypocrites, when God Himself has cast them back for that which they have earned? Do you seek to guide those whom God has led astray? Whomsoever God leads astray, thou wilt not find a way for him. # They wish that you should disbelieve, even as they disbelieve, that you may be on a level with them. So take them not as protectors till they migrate in the way of God. But if they turn their backs, then seize them and slay them wherever you find them, and take no protector or helper from among them, # save those who seek refuge with a people with whom you have a covenant, or those who come to you with hearts reluctant to fight you, or to fight their own people. Had God willed, He could have given them authority over you, and then surely they would have fought you. So if they withdraw from you, and do not fight you, and offer peace, God allows you no way against them. # You will find others who desire to be secure from you, and secure from their own people, yet whenever they are tempted back to hostility, they are plunged back into it. So if they withdraw not from you, nor offer you peace, nor restrain their hands, then seize them and slay them wheresoever you come upon them. Against these We have given you clear warrant. # It is not for a believer to slay a believer, unless it be in error. Whosoever has slain a believer in error, let him set free a believing slave and pay compensation to the victim’s family, unless they remit it in charity. If he belonged to a people at war with you, but was a believer, then a believing slave is to be set free. And if he belonged to a people with whom you have a covenant, let him pay compensation to the victim’s family, and let him set free a believing slave. Whosoever finds not [the means], let him fast two consecutive months as a penance from God. God is Knowing, Wise. # Whosoever slays a believer willfully, his recompense is Hell, abiding therein. God is wroth with him, and curses him, and prepares for him a mighty punishment. # O you who believe! When you go forth in the way of God, be discerning, and say not unto him who offers you peace, “You are not a believer, ” seeking the ephemeralities of the life of this world, for with God are abundant spoils. Thus were you yourselves beforehand, but God has been gracious to you. Therefore be discerning. Truly God is Aware of whatsoever you do. # Those who stay behind among the believers—except for the disadvantaged—and those who strive in the way of God with their goods and lives are not equal. God favors those who strive with their goods and their lives a degree above those who stay behind. Unto both God has promised that which is most beautiful. But He favors those who strive with a great reward above those who stay behind: # degrees conferred by Him, and forgiveness and mercy. Surely God is Forgiving, Merciful. # When the angels take the souls of those who were wronging themselves, [the angels] say, “In what state were you?” They say, “We were weak and oppressed in the land.” [The angels] will say, “Was not God’s earth vast enough that you might have migrated therein?” These shall have their refuge in Hell—what an evil journey’s end! # But not so the [truly] weak and oppressed among the men, women, and children, who neither have access to any means nor are guided to any way. # As for such, it may be that God will pardon them, for God is Pardoning, Forgiving. # Whosoever migrates in the way of God will find upon the earth many a refuge and abundance, and whosoever forsakes his home, emigrating unto God and His Messenger, and death overtakes him, his reward will fall upon God, and God is Forgiving, Merciful. # When you travel upon the earth, there is no blame upon you for shortening your prayers if you fear that the disbelievers may attack you; verily the disbelievers are your manifest enemy. # When thou art with them and leadest them in prayer, let one group of them stand with thee in prayer, taking their arms with them. When they have performed their prostrations, let them withdraw to the rear, and let another group come that has not prayed and let them pray with thee, taking precaution and their arms. The disbelievers wish you to be heedless of your arms and your baggage that they might assault you all at once. There is no blame on you if you lay aside your arms when you are troubled by heavy rain or illness. But take your precaution. Surely God has prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment. # When you have completed the prayer, remember [and invoke] God, standing, sitting, or lying on your sides. Then when you are secure, observe proper prayer, for prayer at fixed hours is prescribed for the believers. # Slacken not in the pursuit of these people. If you are suffering, verily they suffer even as you suffer, while you hope from God that for which they do not hope. Surely God is Knowing, Wise. # Verily We have sent down unto thee the Book in truth, that thou mightest judge between men according to what God has shown thee. So be not an advocate for those who betray their trust. # And seek forgiveness of God; surely God is Forgiving, Merciful. # And plead not on behalf of those who betray their own selves. Surely God loves not the one given to treachery and sin. # They seek to hide themselves from men, but they cannot hide from God. He is with them when they conspire by night with words displeasing to Him, and God encompasses whatsoever they do. # There you are, pleading on their behalf concerning the life of this world! But who will plead with God on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection, or be a guardian for them? # Whosoever does evil or wrongs himself, and then seeks forgiveness of God, he will find God Forgiving, Merciful. # And whosoever commits a sin, commits it only against his own soul, and God is Knowing, Wise. # And whosoever commits an offense or a sin, and then casts it upon one who is innocent, bears the burden of calumny and a manifest sin. # Were it not for God’s Bounty toward thee, and His Mercy, a party of them would have plotted to lead thee astray, but they lead astray only their own souls, and they can do thee no harm in the least. God has sent down unto thee the Book and Wisdom, and has taught thee what thou knewest not; God’s Bounty toward thee is great indeed. # There is no good in most of their secret converse, save for him who enjoins charity or kindness or reconciliation between men. And whosoever does that, seeking God’s Good Pleasure, We shall grant him a great reward. # But whosoever opposes the Messenger, after guidance has been made clear to him, and follows a way other than that of the believers, We shall leave him on [the path] he has taken, and We shall cause him to burn in Hell— what an evil journey’s end! # Truly God forgives not that any partner be ascribed unto Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whomsoever He will. Whomsoever ascribes partners unto God has surely gone far astray. # They call upon only females in His stead; they call upon none but a defiant Satan, # whom God has cursed, who said, “Assuredly I shall take of Thy servants an appointed share, # and surely I shall lead them astray, and arouse desires in them. I shall command them and they will slit the ears of cattle; I shall command them and they will alter God’s creation.” Whosoever takes Satan as a protector apart from God has surely suffered a manifest loss. # He makes them promises and stirs in them desires, but Satan promises naught but delusion. # Such will have their refuge in Hell, and will find no refuge therefrom. # But for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, We shall cause them to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein forever. God’s Promise is true, and who is truer in speech than God? # It will not be in accordance with your desires nor the desires of the People of the Book. Whosoever does evil shall be requited for it, and he will find no protector or helper for himself apart from God. # And whosoever performs righteous deeds, whether male or female, and is a believer, such shall enter the Garden, and they shall not be wronged so much as the speck on a date stone. ĥ And who is better in religion than the one who submits his face to God, and is virtuous, and follows the creed of Abraham, as a ḥanīf? And God did take Abraham for a friend. # Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God encompasses all things. # They seek a ruling from thee concerning women. Say, “God gives you a ruling concerning them, and that which has been recited to you in the Book concerning the orphan girls—to whom you give not what is prescribed for them though you desire to marry them —and also the helpless among the children: that you should uphold justice for the orphans. Whatever good you do, surely God knows it well.” # If a wife fears animosity or desertion from her husband, there is no blame upon them should they come to an accord, for an accord is better. Souls are prone to avarice, but if you are virtuous and reverent, surely God is Aware of whatsoever you do. # You will not be able to deal fairly between women, even if it is your ardent desire, but do not turn away from one altogether, so that you leave her as if suspended. If you come to an accord and are reverent, truly God is Forgiving, Merciful. # If the two separate, God will enrich both out of His Abundance, and God is All-Encompassing, Wise. # Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. We have enjoined those who were given the Book before you, and We enjoin you to reverence God. But if you disbelieve, [know that] unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God is Self-Sufficient, Praised. # Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God suffices as a Guardian. # If He so wills, He can remove you, O mankind, and bring others [in your stead], and God has full power to do so. # Whosoever desires the reward of this world, with God is the reward of this world and the Hereafter. God is Hearing, Seeing. # O you who believe! Be steadfast maintainers of justice, witnesses for God, though it be against yourselves, or your parents and kinsfolk, and whether it be someone rich or poor, for God is nearer unto both. So follow not your caprice, that you may act justly. If you distort or turn away, truly God is Aware of whatsoever you do. # O you who believe! Believe in God and His Messenger, and the Book He sent down upon His Messenger, and the Book He sent down before. Whosoever does not believe in God and His angels and His Books and His messengers and the Last Day has wandered far astray. # Those who believe and then disbelieve, and then believe and then disbelieve, and then increase in disbelief, God will not forgive them nor guide them unto any way. # Give glad tidings to the hypocrites that for them awaits a painful punishment. # Those who take disbelievers as protectors instead of believers—do they seek might through them? Truly might belongs to God altogether. # He has already sent down upon you in the Book that when you hear the signs of God being rejected and mocked, do not sit with them till they engage in some other discourse, or else you will surely be like them. Truly God will gather the hypocrites and the disbelievers in Hell all together— # those who wait upon you, and if a victory comes to you from God, they say, “Were we not with you?” But if the disbelievers have some success, they say, “Did we not overwhelm you, and did we not protect you from the believers?” God will judge between you on the Day of Resurrection, and God will not grant the disbelievers a way over the believers. # Verily the hypocrites seek to deceive God, but it is God Who deceives them. When they perform the prayer, they perform it idly and to be seen of men, and they remember God but little— # wavering between this [and that], being neither for one group nor for the other. Whomsoever God leads astray, thou wilt not find a way for him. # O you who believe! Do not take the disbelievers as protectors instead of the believers. Do you wish to give God a clear warrant against you? # Surely the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire, and thou wilt not find for them any helper, ņ save those who repent and make amends, and hold fast to God, and devote their religion entirely to God. Those are with the believers, and God will grant the believers a great reward. # Why should God punish you if you give thanks and believe? God is Thankful, Knowing. # God loves not that evil should be spoken of openly, save by one who has been wronged. God is Hearing, Knowing. # Whether you display a good deed openly or conceal it, or pardon an evil, truly God is Pardoning, Powerful. # Truly those who disbelieve in God and His messengers, and seek to make a distinction between God and His messengers, and say, “We believe in some and disbelieve in others,” and seek to take a way between— ő it is they who are truly disbelievers, and We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment. # But those who believe in God and His messengers and make no distinction between any of them—unto them He will give their rewards. God is Forgiving, Merciful. œ The People of the Book ask thee to bring a book down upon them from Heaven; indeed, they asked a greater thing of Moses, for they said, “Show us God openly,” whereupon the thunderbolt seized them for their wrongdoing. Then they took up the calf, even after clear proofs had come to them. Yet, We pardoned this and We gave Moses a manifest authority. # And We raised the Mount over them, at [the making of] their covenant, and We said to them, “Enter the gate, prostrating, ” and We said to them, “Do not transgress the Sabbath.” And We made with them a solemn covenant. # Then for their breaking of their covenant, and their disbelieving in the signs of God, and their slaying of the prophets without right, and their saying, “Our hearts are uncircumcised, ”—Nay! Rather, God has set a seal upon them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few— # and for their disbelief, and their uttering against Mary a tremendous calumny, # and for their saying, “We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the messenger of God”—though they did not slay him; nor did they crucify him, but it appeared so unto them. Those who differ concerning him are in doubt thereof. They have no knowledge of it, but follow only conjecture; they slew him not for certain. # But God raised him up unto Himself, and God is Mighty, Wise. # There is not one of the People of the Book, but will surely believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them. # And for the wrongdoing among those who are Jews, We forbade them certain good things that had been made lawful unto them, and for their turning many from the way of God, # and for their taking usury, though they had been forbidden it, and for their consuming men’s wealth falsely. And We have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful punishment. # But those among them who are firmly rooted in knowledge, and the believers, believing in that which was sent down unto thee and in that which was sent down before thee, those who perform the prayer and give the alms and believe in God and the Last Day—unto them shall We grant a great reward. # Verily We have revealed unto thee, as We revealed unto Noah and the prophets after him, and as We revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and unto David We gave the Psalms, # and messengers We have recounted unto thee before, and messengers We have not recounted unto thee; and unto Moses God spoke directly, # messengers as bearers of glad tidings and as warners, that mankind might have no argument against God after the messengers. And God is Mighty, Wise. # But God Himself bears witness to that which He has sent down unto thee—He sent it down with His Knowledge—and the angels bear witness. And God suffices as a Witness. # Verily those who disbelieve and who turn from the way of God have certainly wandered far astray. # Verily those who disbelieve and do wrong, God will not forgive them, nor will He guide them to any path, ũ save the path of Hell, to abide therein forever; and that is easy for God. # O mankind! The Messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord; so believe! It is better for you. But if you disbelieve, unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth, and God is Knowing, Wise. # O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion, nor utter anything concerning God save the truth. Verily the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of God, and His Word, which He committed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and say not “Three.” Refrain! It is better for you. God is only one God; Glory be to Him that He should have a child. Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God suffices as a Guardian. # The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of God; nor would the angels brought nigh. Whosoever disdains His service, and is arrogant, He will gather them unto Himself all together. # As for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, He shall pay them their rewards in full, and will increase them from His Bounty. But as for those who are disdainful and arrogant, He will punish them with a painful punishment, and they will find no protector or helper for themselves apart from God. # O mankind! Verily there has come unto you a proof from your Lord. And We have sent down unto you a clear light. # As for those who believe in God and hold fast to Him, He will cause them to enter into His Mercy and Bounty, and will guide them unto Himself upon a straight path. # They seek a ruling from thee. Say, “God gives you a ruling concerning the one without a direct heir. If a man dies having no child, but he has a sister, then unto her belongs half of what he leaves, and he will inherit from her if she has no child. If there be two sisters, then unto them belongs two-thirds of what he leaves. If there be brothers and sisters, then unto the male a share equal to that of two females.” Thus does God make [this] clear unto you, lest you should go astray. And God is Knower of all things.

Commentary

1 That God created human beings from a single soul is also mentioned in 6:98; 7:189; 31:28; 39:6; the creation of its mate therefrom is also mentioned in 7:189; 39:6. Elsewhere, God’s having made for human beings “mates from among themselves” or “in pairs” is considered a Divine gift for which humanity should be grateful and in awe (16:72; 30:21; 35:11; 42:11; 78:8). The present verse indicates a progression in human creation from singularity (a single soul, reflecting the singularity of God), to duality (its mate), to multiplicity (a multitude of men and women). The single soul is widely understood to refer to Adam, and its mate to Eve (Ḥawwāʾ). Although soul (nafs) is grammatically feminine and mate (zawj) is grammatically masculine, this does not necessarily make the correlation to Adam and Eve, respectively, problematic for most commentators (Q, R, Ṭ, Ṭs). The interweaving of masculine and feminine references suggests a reciprocity of the masculine and feminine in human relations and marriage, which is also implied in other verses (cf. 2:187; 30:21). Commentators typically understand this verse as a reference to the story of Eve’s creation from Adam’s rib as found in Genesis 2:21–23 (IK, Q, Ṭ, Z), although some modern commentators are skeptical of this association, feeling it relies too heavily on the Biblical tradition. The story of Eve’s creation from Adam’s rib is referenced in the canonical Ḥadīth, but the Quran nowhere explicitly recounts Eve’s creation. And from it (minhā) created its mate may simply mean that the mate (Eve) was created of the same nature as the original single soul (Adam), since to be “of/from another” (min anfus) can mean to be of the same type or character (R; cf. 3:164; 9:128; 16:72). The fifth Shiite Imam, Muhammad al-Bāqir (d. ca. 114/732), reportedly said that Eve was created from the same superior clay as Adam (Ṭs). The statement regarding humanity’s common origin from a single soul and its mate could also be meant to engender brotherly and sisterly love between all human beings and to discourage boasting about one’s ancestral legacy, as all human beings are ultimately of common parentage (IK, R, Ṭ, Ṭs). Reverence God, through Whom you demand your rights of one another, and family relations may be related to the pre-Islamic Arab practice of swearing upon “God and family relations.” However, most favor the view that this passage instructs men to reverence God through obedience to His commands and to reverence family relations by maintaining good relations with family members. Family relations translates arḥām; the singular is raḥim, the primary meaning of which is “womb,” derived from the same root as raḥmah, meaning “mercy,” and the Divine Name al-Raḥmān, “the Compassionate.” A ḥadīth states, “The Compassionate (Al-Raḥmān) created the womb (al-raḥim), and whoever maintains ties to it, God will maintain ties to him, and whoever cuts himself off from it, God cuts Himself off from him.” Elsewhere, the imperative to worship God is paired with commands to be good to family (4:36; 17:23; 47:22; R). The first part of this verse indicates the kinship of all human beings, as they are created from the same soul and mate, while the latter part commands reverence for one’s relatives. Taken together, they suggest a Divine imperative to recognize one’s responsibility to all human beings as one’s “brothers and sisters.”

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# Give orphans their property, and exchange not the bad for the good, nor consume their property with your own. Truly that would be a great sin.

2 In the Quran and Islamic Law, orphans (yatāmā; sing. yatīm) refers to children who have lost their father or both parents. The occasion for the revelation of this verse was the case of an orphan in the care of his uncle. When he reached maturity, he asked his uncle for his property, but the uncle refused him (Q, W). When the young man took the case to the Prophet, this verse came in response, commanding guardians to give orphans their property (i.e., their inheritances). Read in combination with v. 6, the present verse indicates that one should hold the property of orphans in trust until they reach maturity, at which point it should be given to them in full. The verse warns against exchanging the bad for the good, that is, defrauding orphans of their inheritance by rendering them their property in substandard goods or currency—for example, by giving them emaciated livestock (IK, Q). Alternately, it means one should not exchange the bad practice of consuming orphans’ property for the good practice of preserving it (Z). The verse requires that guardians be conscientious about maintaining an orphan’s property, lest they consume the orphan’s property along with their own. After this verse was revealed, some guardians reportedly kept their property completely separate from that of the orphans in their care; to soften this condition, 2:220 was revealed: if you intermingle with them, they are your brothers (Q, Ṭ).

***

# If you fear that you will not deal fairly with the orphans, then marry such women as seem good to you, two, three, or four; but if you fear that you will not deal justly, then only one, or those whom your right hands possess. Thus it is more likely that you will not commit injustice.

3 This verse makes a connection between the just treatment of orphans and just marriage practices. It can indicate simply that people should be equally vigilant concerning the proper treatment of wives and orphans (Ṭ). This means marrying only the women whom one can properly support and whose rights in marriage one can uphold. All commentators are explicit that this verse did not establish a new license for polygamy or encourage it, but rather limited the more excessive practices of polygamy common in pre-Islamic Arabia by setting four as the maximum number of wives a man can have at one time. If a man is unable to adequately provide for multiple wives or treat them equitably, he is advised to take only one. If providing for even one would prove difficult, he is advised to take a slave wife (those whom your right hands possess), because a slave wife, although entitled to kind treatment, was not owed the same financial and conjugal rights as a free wife (see v. 25). A man who takes more wives than he can provide for from his own wealth may be tempted to pilfer the property of orphans in his care to maintain his family (Ṭ). Thus the just treatment of both orphans and wives is more likely when a man is not overburdened with dependents. A widespread interpretation of this verse, attributed to the Prophet’s wife ʿĀʾishah, is that it concerns orphan girls who were vulnerable to abuse by their guardians. Since an orphan girl’s guardian was often also her wakīl—the male guardian legally able to give her in marriage—he might seek to marry her to himself or others without her consent, seek to marry her himself for a discounted bridal gift, or refuse to marry her to anyone in order to keep her wealth for himself while mistreating her. The verse instructs men who might be tempted toward these abusive practices to marry women not in their custody and thus not vulnerable to these abuses (IK, Q, Ṭ). ʿĀʾishah asserts that v. 127, which criticizes men for wishing to marry orphan girls without giving them their bridal gifts, was a Divine clarification of the injunction in the present verse (IK). Dealing justly between one’s wives means treating them equitably with regard to financial support, love, companionship, and conjugal relations (Q). V. 129 states that men will never be able to deal equitably between their wives, even if they desire to do so. Some have asserted that although treating one’s wives equally is an ideal one should strive for, lack of perfection in this regard does not itself nullify the legitimacy of polygamous marriage (see 4:129c). This whole verse revolves around the issue of justice; it favors neither polygamy nor monogamy absolutely and advises the form that best facilitates the just treatment of orphans, wives, and other dependents.

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# And give the women their bridewealth as a free gift, but if they are pleased to remit unto you any part thereof, then consume it with wholesome enjoyment.

4 This verse establishes the legal requirement that Muslim men provide a bridal gift to the women they marry, that this must be given as a free gift, without condition, and that it must be given to the women themselves. It is understood as prohibiting practices meant to deprive women of their bridewealth, such as arranging to marry off widows in exchange for their bridewealth, or keeping for oneself the bridewealth of one’s daughters or orphan girls in one’s care (IK, Q, Ṭ, Z). However, it was legitimate for husbands to accept and consume . . . with wholesome enjoyment any part of the bridewealth that their wives were willing to give them, as long as it was given freely and without compulsion.

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# And give not the feeble-minded your property, which God has placed in your hands to manage, but provide for them and clothe them from it, and speak unto them in an honorable way.

5 The feeble-minded (sufahāʾ) here refers to dependents unable to care adequately for themselves or manage property. Although the verse instructs one not to give one’s own property to the feeble–minded, it may pertain also to the property of the feeble-minded themselves, whose wealth should be managed for them by their guardians (Ṭ; cf. 2:282). Some have suggested that the feebleminded refers to women and minors (Ṭ), who should not be entrusted with property, lest they lose or corrupt it. But such an interpretation contradicts vv. 2 and 4, which command that women and orphans be given their property, and is not upheld by Islamic Law, which essentially gives women full control of their property as acquired through bridewealth, inheritance, other gifts, and earned income. Moreover, feeble-minded (sufahāʾ) is rendered in the masculine plural in Arabic, rather than the more specific feminine plural, and so clearly refers to individuals of either gender who are mentally incompetent, not to women in particular (Q, Ṭ). Some have said that feeble-minded refers only to those whose mental condition requires their confinement (Q, Ṭ). This verse may also prohibit Muslims from entrusting their property to non-Muslims, who would not recognize or be sufficiently aware of Islamic laws governing financial matters, such as the prohibition against usury (Q).

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# And test the orphans until they reach the age of maturity; then if you perceive in them sound judgment, deliver unto them their property, and consume it not wastefully and in haste before they come of age. Whosoever is rich should abstain, but whosoever is poor should partake thereof in an honorable way. And when you deliver unto them their property, bring witnesses on their behalf, and God suffices as a Reckoner.

6 Sound judgment is understood as possession of a correctly functioning rational faculty, a healthy and upstanding character, an understanding of how to manage property, and sound religion to the degree that one no longer requires custodial care (Ṭ). The age of maturity is considered by many to be eighteen for males according to Islamic Law, but should they not manifest sound judgment by this age, some jurists indicate that one may withhold their property from them for, at most, another seven years (Z). Others put the age of maturity at fifteen or seventeen (Q). Some have said that it should be the age at which one is considered morally responsible rather than a simple biological threshold, such as puberty (Ṭs). Testing their judgment may include giving them some money and observing how they manage it (Q). There is debate about whether the requirements for giving the orphans their property include both physical maturity and the development of sound judgment or if either alone suffices (Q). The wealthy should abstain from the orphans’ property, but those who are in straitened circumstances can partake thereof in an honorable way, meaning that they can take only as much as they need for necessities—particularly food—and it is considered a loan that must be repaid, even posthumously (Ṭ; cf. 2:152; 17:34). The guardian may benefit from the milk of the orphan’s livestock, the fruit produced on the orphan’s land, or the services of the orphan’s riding animals as long as he uses the property in a way that maintains and does not diminish its worth and he does not seek to profit monetarily by it. According to some, however, even this limited permission to consume orphans’ wealth was abrogated by v. 10 (Q). The command to bring witnesses when giving orphans their property is generally considered mandatory, and some suggest that one should bring witnesses whenever one takes a loan from the orphan’s property (Q).

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# Unto the men a share of what parents and kinsfolk leave, and unto the women a share of what parents and kinsfolk leave, be it little or much—a share ordained.

7 In pre-Islamic Arabia only adult men were entitled to inherit. This verse was revealed with regard to the situation of a widow with three daughters left destitute by her husband’s male heirs (W). The verse establishes that both men and women are legally entitled to a fixed and mandatory share of the wealth of their deceased relatives. Specific rules for apportioning the estate to the male and female heirs follow in vv. 11–13.

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# And when kinsfolk, orphans, and the indigent are present at the division, make provision from it for them and speak unto them in an honorable way.

8 Commentators debate whether this verse is still legally binding or has been abrogated and how it should be reconciled with the establishment of specified shares of inheritance for various relatives in vv. 11–13. Many consider the present verse legally binding—although some admit it is largely ignored—and also indicate that that what is given to kinsfolk (meaning those without a legally prescribed share of the inheritance), orphans, and the indigent is at the discretion of the legal heirs (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). This may mean giving them a share of the estate or providing food for them from the inherited property (Q, Ṭ). Other opinions hold that this verse was abrogated by vv. 11–13 or that it refers to that portion of one’s wealth (one-third) that one can bequeath to other than one’s legal heirs prior to death (IK, Ṭ, Ṭs). According to some, making such provision from the inheritance is a recommended but not required practice (Q, Ṭs, Z).

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# Let those who would dread if they left behind their own helpless progeny have fear; let them reverence God and speak justly.

9 Those who are dividing up their inheritance while still alive or making their final bequests should keep their minor children uppermost in their mind and be careful to leave them an amount sufficient for their provision (Ṭ). Those present when a man is near death should also avoid encouraging him to make other bequests that would significantly reduce the money that would go to his children (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Alternately, it may mean that those making their bequests should think about making some provision for the orphans, since they would fear for the fate of their own children, should they become orphans and be dependent on the kindness and generosity of others (JJ, Ṭs). This verse was revealed prior to the verses that detail fixed shares of the inheritance for one’s children (Q).

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# Truly those who consume the property of orphans unjustly only consume fire in their bellies, and they will burn in a blazing flame.

10 This metaphor of self-destruction through greed suggests the threat of Hellfire that awaits the unjust. It is sometimes connected to a ḥadīth in which the Prophet describes a vision of Hell he received; in it those who wrongly consumed the orphans’ property had flames emerging from their bodies (Q, Ṭ, Z). Considering the context, this may be a warning to those making their bequests who have wrongly used the property of orphans (that they should return it at this time) or a warning to the disbelievers who refused to allow women and children to inherit (Q). On the basis of this verse, usurping the wealth of orphans is considered one of the most grievous sins.

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# God enjoins upon you concerning your children: unto the male a share equal to that of two females; but if there are only daughters, two or more, then unto them is two-thirds of what he leaves; if only one, then unto her a half. And unto his parents—each of the two—a sixth of what he leaves if he has a child; but if he has no child and his parents are his [only] heirs, then unto his mother a third; and if he has brothers, then unto his mother a sixth, after paying any bequest he may have bequeathed or any debt. Your parents or your children —you know not which of them are nearer to you in benefit. [This is] an obligation ordained by God. Truly God is Knowing, Wise.

11 V. 7 made it clear that wives and children were to receive a portion of the inheritance of the deceased, contrary to pre-Islamic practice, and vv. 11–12 clarify and quantify the portion of the inheritance to which children, parents, siblings, and spouses are legally entitled. This verse was reportedly revealed in reference to a woman and her daughters who had been denied a share of her husband’s inheritance (the same or a similar case mentioned in connection with v. 7) or to a dying man who asked the Prophet how to apportion his inheritance (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, W). When the verse was first revealed, there was much resistance to it among the Prophet’s followers, who were stunned that women and minor children, who could not fight and were not entitled to shares of booty obtained in battle, should inherit a significant portion from their husbands and fathers (IK, Q, Ṭ). Although women have an unquestionable right to inherit according to the Quranic injunctions here, sons and daughters do not inherit equally. This discrepancy was justified by the fact that men were ideally the sole providers for their families (IK). Regarding the statement But if there are only daughters . . . unto them is two-thirds of what he leaves, some early authorities held that the remaining third should go to any grandsons from a deceased male child (Q). The part of this verse that assigns a legal portion to parents abrogates an earlier practice that allowed legal shares of the estate to go to children, but not to parents, who previously could acquire a share of their children’s estate only through a specific bequest on the part of the deceased (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Although the portion for male children is twice that for female children, here, the explicit portion for the two parents is equal. However, a custom that continued into the Prophet’s time assumed the father of the deceased to be the nearest kinsman. This meant that after all shares had been legally apportioned, including the sixth shares to each parent, the father would receive anything that remained in addition to his sixth share (IK, Ṭ). A different Shiite opinion, however, holds that if the deceased leaves only a daughter and parents, the daughter gets half of the estate and each of the parents receives a sixth, but that the daughter, rather than the father, will then further inherit whatever remains after the shares have been apportioned (Ṭs). If the deceased’s only heirs are parents, the mother is explicitly entitled to a third. No explicit share is mentioned for the father, because it is understood that, as the nearest kinsman, he would inherit the remainder, in which case he would effectively inherit two-thirds of the estate, twice the share of the mother (IK, Q, Ṭ). Early authorities generally agreed that the parents’ portion is calculated after payment has gone to the spouse or spouses of the deceased, with the mother inheriting a third and the father two-thirds (IK, Z) of what is left. The Shiite view and a minority Sunni view, however, hold that the mother receives a third of the total estate, and that the father receives whatever remains after the shares of spouse and mother have been apportioned (Ṭs). The mother is entitled to a third, even if the deceased has a sibling (either a full or a half sibling), as long as it is only a single sibling, but if there is more than one sibling, the mother’s portion is reduced to a sixth (Ṭ). Some commentators say that only the mother’s portion is reduced in the case of siblings, not the father’s, because the father, unlike the mother, has the responsibility of providing for these siblings financially, including the means for them to marry, or because the mother’s other sixth is meant to go to the siblings. However, it is more likely that the reduction of the mother’s share is mentioned explicitly, because it is only in the case of siblings who have no father that siblings may inherit at all (Ṭ). A number of traditions indicate that siblings never inherit when the father of the deceased is alive. Therefore, if the deceased is survived by both parents and also siblings, the mother receives a sixth and the father the remaining five-sixths (Z). All the foregoing shares are payable only after the payment of any bequest . . . or any debt. Although bequest is mentioned first, Prophetic tradition and communal consensus indicate that debts are to be paid first, then bequests (which are not to exceed a third of the remaining), and finally the shares of the legal heirs (IK, Ṭ). The shares to children and parents are apportioned by Divine Decree rather than by individual bequest, because you know not which of them are nearer to you in benefit—that is, you do not know which of them will benefit you most in the Hereafter or in this life (IK, Ṭ, Z). As these portions are established by God, they should not be seen as a gift on the part of the deceased. Rather, upon death, all property returns to God (He is the “Inheritor”; see 15:23); these injunctions can therefore be understood as a Divine redistribution of the wealth of the deceased. This and the following verse establish specific injunctions, not only general principles, concerning the economic aspect of Muslim life. The specificity of these Quranic injunctions led to a whole science called the “science of inheritance” and played an important role in the development of the science of algebra by Muslim mathematicians.

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# And unto you a half of what your wives leave, if they have no child, but if they have a child, then unto you a fourth of what they leave, after paying any bequest they may have bequeathed or any debt. And unto them a fourth of what you leave if you have no child, but if you have a child, then unto them an eighth of what you leave, after paying any bequest you may have bequeathed or any debt. If a man or woman leaves no direct heir, but has a brother or sister, then unto each of the two a sixth; but if they are more than two, they share equally a third, after paying any bequest he may have bequeathed or any debt, without harm to anyone—a duty ordained by God, and God is Knowing, Clement.

12 The reduction of the husband or wife’s share of the spouse’s estate applies in the case of the existence of children or grandchildren (IK). If the deceased has more than one wife, they divide the portion allotted for the wife equally among themselves (IK, Q, Z). Dying without a direct heir (kalālatan) means dying without having a father or grandfather and without any children, or dying without one or the other (Ṭ). In such a case, when there is more than one sibling (from the same mother), they share a third of the estate, divided into equal shares, irrespective of gender (IK, Ṭ). One should note, however, that v. 176 reestablishes the gender disparity among sibling shares by specifying that a brother inherits twice the share of a sister. The apportioning of the inheritance through bequest and Divine Decree should be done without harm or prejudice to any heir. Prophetic tradition forbids bequeathing, separately, a portion of one’s estate to those who are already guaranteed a specific legal share—for example, making a separate bequest to a particular son or daughter in addition to his or her Quranically ordained share (IK, Q)—as this may be done to favor one child or heir over another. Causing harm in this way is considered a major sin (kabīrah; IK, Ṭ). The very specific rulings regarding inheritance in various schools of Islamic jurisprudence are based on different interpretations of such Quranic verses, complemented by the Ḥadīth.

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# Those are the limits set by God: whosoever obeys God and His Messenger, He will cause him to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein. And that is the great triumph.

# But whosoever disobeys God and His Messenger, and transgresses His limits, He will cause him to enter a Fire, abiding therein, and he shall have a humiliating punishment.

13–14 The rules for dividing and apportioning the estate of deceased believers is identified as being among the limits set by God (ḥudūd Allāh). It is thus clear that such apportioning is mandatory, not merely recommended, and that failure to comply places one in a state of disobedience that may lead to eternal perdition, while complying brings heavenly reward.

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# As for those of your women who commit an indecency, call four witnesses among you to bear witness against them. And if they bear witness, then confine them to their houses until death takes them, or until God appoints for them another way.

15 Committing an indecency (fāḥishah) here refers specifically to adultery and fornication (zinā; IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z). This verse deals only with women who commit these acts, and the ruling here apparently applies to both married and unmarried women, although some commentators suggested that it applied only to married women (Ṭ). The verse also applies only to Muslim women; it does not apply to non-Muslim women, even if they are married to Muslim men (Q). It establishes the need for four eyewitnesses as a special and mandatory condition for a conviction of adultery or fornication. Most commentators indicate that these witnesses need to be male (Ṭ), and Islamic Law establishes that they must also be mentally and religiously sound and of the age of legal responsibility, usually considered to be puberty, and cannot have themselves been convicted of any major sin or crime (see commentary on 24:4–9). Although the present verse may appear to make it the responsibility of the husband to procure four witnesses, most agree that it also establishes guidelines for judges and legal authorities in their prosecution of such cases (Ṭs). The punishment established here is confinement to the home until death or until God appoints . . . another way. This other way is usually considered to be a reference to the ḥadd punishment of one hundred lashes (and, according to one ḥadīth, also banishment for a year) that would later be established for both male and female fornicators explicitly in 24:2 as well as to the punishment of stoning for married male and female adulterers, which is not Quranic, but based on a reported Prophetic precedent (see 24:2c). These later developments are usually considered to abrogate the ruling in the present verse (IK, Ṭ). However, some suggest that this ruling may be combined with that in 24:2, so that after the ḥadd punishment has been administered, the female fornicator should be confined to her home until death or until God provides her another way, that is, marriage, which would inhibit further fornication (Z). (Cf. 24:3, which allows marriage for fornicators, provided that they marry only other fornicators.)

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# And if two of those among you are guilty thereof, punish them both; but if they repent and make amends, then let them be. Truly God is Relenting, Merciful.

16 The meaning of two of those among you is debated. Most commentators and jurists consider it a reference to the male and female who commit an act of fornication or adultery. Some say that it refers specifically to unmarried fornicators and that the preceding verse refers specifically to married adulteresses (Q, IK, Ṭ). Others suggest that since the pronoun and the verb are in the masculine dual form, it may refer to those guilty of a homosexual act between two men (IK, JJ)—sometimes adding that the previous verse may refer to those guilty of female homosexual acts (Z)—but there is significant doubt about this interpretation. Some combine vv. 15–16 to mean that “confinement” and “punishment” are prescribed for female fornicators, and “punishment” alone is prescribed for male fornicators here (Q). Punish here translates adhū, which can mean to harass, hurt, or insult. In this context, it is usually interpreted to mean a stern public rebuke, rather than a corporal punishment (Z), although some say it may also include a mild beating (Q, Ṭ). In either case, commentators widely agree that this verse and the previous one were abrogated by the prescribed punishment of lashing for fornication in 24:2 and the reported Prophetic precedent of prescribing stoning for married adulterers (Q, Ṭ). However, repentance and a return to rectitude is said to avert the punishment from the perpetrators (Ṭ, Z), because “one who repents of a sin is as one who has not sinned” (IK). Some maintain that this applies only to this punishment, but not to the ḥadd punishment for fornication revealed in 24:2 (Q).

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# God only accepts the repentance of those who do evil in ignorance and then turn quickly in repentance: these are the ones unto whom God relents, and God is Knowing, Wise.

# And repentance is not accepted from those who do evil deeds till, when death confronts one of them, he says, “Truly now I repent, ” nor from those who die as disbelievers. For those We have prepared a painful punishment.

17–18 Cf. 6:54; 16:119. Doing evil here may include a general state of disbelief (kufr) as well as particular acts of disobedience (Q). Those who do evil in ignorance seems to suggest those who sin unintentionally, but most commentators broaden it, either claiming that it refers to anyone who sins, even purposefully, while being ignorant of the full repercussions or Divine punishment it entails (Q, R, Ṭ) or asserting that anyone who commits an act of disobedience to God is, effectively, in a state of ignorance (Q, R, Ṭ). See, for example, 12:33, where Joseph fears that by sinning he may become one of the ignorant, and 12:89, where the woman who attempted to seduce Joseph, identified in Islamic tradition as Zulaykhā, is said to have been in a state of ignorance, although she clearly seduced him with intention. Some even argue that it must refer to sins committed intentionally, since unintentional sins do not require repentance at all (R). There is also debate about how quickly one must turn . . . in repentance to be eligible for Divine Forgiveness. As is made clear in v. 18, it must precede death. Some say repentance must occur while one is still in a state of health; others, that it must be prior to the certainty of death; still others, that it must simply be before death itself (IK, R, Ṭ). The broadening of the time frame seems justified by a ḥadīth that states, “The door of repentance is open until the sun rises from the West”; or by a ḥadīth qudsī (sacred ḥadīth) in which God states (with some variations) in the first person, “I will not prevent the repentance of a son of Adam while the spirit remains in him” (Q, Ṭ). However, insofar as true repentance requires making amends and demonstrating that one will not return to the sinful behavior, one should repent while one is still in a state of mental lucidity, physical capability, and moral responsibility rather than when one is very near death or has a debilitating disease (Q, Ṭ). If the repentance cannot be deemed “quick,” the sinner can still hope for forgiveness from God (cf. 9:102), but cannot count on it with certainty (R). Most hold that true repentance requires abstaining from that particular sin in the future, although Muʿtazilites, one of the two major schools of Sunni theology, held that it required abstaining from sin in general thereafter (Q). It is not correct to say that God is obligated to accept repentance under these conditions, but rather that He has promised to do so in myriad verses and He is true to His Promise (Q, R). If He can be described as “obligated” to forgive, He is obligated only by Himself (see 6:12, where it says that God has prescribed Mercy for Himself), not in response to human action. Some maintain that this verse was abrogated by vv. 48 and 116, in which all sins other than idolatry are open to the possibility of Divine Forgiveness (Ṭ). Repentance of a major sin does not necessarily avert the worldly punishment prescribed for it (Q).

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# O you who believe! It is not lawful for you to inherit women through coercion, nor to prevent them from marrying [again], that you may take away some of what you have given them, unless they commit a flagrant indecency. And consort with them in a kind and honorable way; for if you dislike them, it may be that you dislike a thing in which God has placed much good.

19 In pre-Islamic Arabia (particularly in Madinah, according to some), as in other tribal systems, a woman could be inherited by the male relatives of her deceased husband. This meant that she effectively belonged to them: they could either marry her to one of their own or someone else (and keep her dowry) or prohibit her from remarrying at all unless she forfeited any money she received from her husband. In either case, they would keep the dowry and/or inheritance she had received from her deceased husband within the family (JJ, Q, Ṭ), which seems to have been the primary motivation for this practice. This verse explicitly prohibits this practice, however, and was reportedly revealed in response to the case of a Madinan woman whose stepson claimed to inherit her upon her husband’s death (Ṭ, W; see v. 22, where marriage to the former wives of one’s father are forbidden under any circumstances). This verse, in connection with vv. 11–13, clearly establishes that women are subjects and not objects of inheritance —inheritors themselves, rather than part of what is inherited. Alternately, It is not lawful for you to inherit women through coercion could be read, “It is not lawful for you to inherit from women through coercion,” perhaps referring to a version of the practices cited above in which a relative of the woman’s deceased husband would confine her to his home and prevent her from remarrying until she died, at which point he would inherit her property (Q). To prevent them from marrying renders taʿḍilūhuna, which may also mean “to treat harshly.” However, the same verb appears in 2:232, where it clearly refers to an attempt to prevent women from remarrying after divorce. If one considers the full semantic range of the word, it can be seen that the Quran is prohibiting any attempt to unlawfully retrieve property that has been given to a woman by her husband. It may be directed at (1) the heirs of a deceased man, who may attempt to prohibit his wife from remarrying, lest she thereby transfer any property she has received from her husband to a new family; (2) a husband who seeks to prevent a wife whom he has divorced from remarrying (since in preIslamic times a man could draw up an official document preventing a wife he had divorced from remarrying without his explicit consent, in order to get her to ransom herself by returning part of her bridewealth); or (3) a husband who wishes to divorce his wife, but instead treats her harshly in an attempt to force her to ransom herself through a return of some of her bridewealth (i.e., to exercise the option of khulʿ divorce, in which a woman seeks a divorce in exchange for returning some or all of her bridewealth; cf. 2:229). The verse makes an exception in the case of a woman who has committed a flagrant indecency. Although flagrant indecency in v. 17 refers to adultery specifically, some argue that the term here might also apply to the case of a wife who has behaved with extreme discord and animosity (nushūz) toward her husband (Q, Ṭ, Z; see v. 34). If flagrant indecency here refers solely to adultery, then this verse would seem to be abrogated by the verse that establishes a public ḥadd punishment for fornicators and adulterers. Men are urged to consort with their wives in a kind and honorable way—that is, to treat them with kindness and familiarity (the Prophet’s tender relations with his wives is cited as an example [IK]), to fulfill the rights they are owed, and to make themselves pleasing to their wives, as they would want their wives to make themselves pleasing to them (Q). It may be that you dislike a thing in which God has placed much good: see 2:216, where a similar statement is made to those who dislike fighting in the way of God.

***

# If you desire to take one wife in place of another, even if you have given to one of them a great sum, take back nothing from it. Would you take it by way of calumny and manifest sin?

20 A husband is not permitted to reappropriate any of the bridewealth he has given to his wife, regardless of how great its value might be, should he desire to divorce her and marry another. Nor is he permitted to use calumny (e.g., by falsely accusing her of the kind of flagrant indecency that would allow him to attempt to retake some of the bride wealth, according to the preceding verse) or manifest sin (unjust treatment) in order to coerce her into giving back her bride wealth to ransom herself. Great sum translates qinṭār, a word of non-Arabic origin denoting a large measure or a hundredweight (cf. 3:14, 75). This verse indicates the permissibility of giving large sums of money or property to women in marriage. According to a well-known report, the second Caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, tried to restrict bridal gifts to 400 dirhams. However, a woman challenged him on this, citing this verse as evidence that the Quran placed no limits on the amount of money a man could offer his bride. ʿUmar conceded the point and retracted the restriction (IK, Z). Cf. 2:229, where a husband is similarly instructed not to take back any of his wife’s bridewealth when he divorces her, but an exception is made in a case where the couple fear that they cannot uphold the limits set by God. In the latter case the wife may give back some of her bride wealth in order to ransom herself. This is exactly what is known as khulʿ divorce in Islamic Law and usually requires the consent of the husband.

***

# And how can you take it back, when you have lain with one another and they have made with you a solemn covenant?

21 Lain with (afḍā ilā) literally means to come upon someone, usually in a private or intimate manner. It is an indirect reference to the husband and wife having had intimate sexual contact or intercourse (IK, Ṭ, Ṭs) or to their having been alone together or having lain under a single cover (Q, Ṭs). For Abū Ḥanīfah (d. 150/767), founder of the Ḥanafī school of law, for the couple to have been alone together is sufficient to entitle a woman to the full bridal payment, although for al-Shāfiʿī (d. 204/820), founder of the Shāfiʿī school of law, this entitles her to only half (Q). Although v. 19 allows the husband to reclaim some of the bridewealth if the wife is guilty of flagrant indecency, the Prophet reportedly refused to allow a husband to reclaim the bridal payment in two cases: in one, a man had accused his wife of indecency and they had been separated through mutual cursing (see 24:6–9); and in another a groom learned that his new bride was pregnant by another (IK). A husband can accept back some or all of the bridewealth in the case of khulʿ divorce (2:229), since in that case it is the wife who is seeking the divorce. The word covenant (mīthāq) is occasionally used in the Quran to refer to agreements between human beings, such as treaties (4:90–92; 8:72), but more frequently designates spiritual agreements between God and the Israelites (2:63, 83–4; 4:154; 5:12, 70; 33:8), the prophets (3:81; 33:7) or the believers (13:20; 57:8). The solemn covenant here refers to the covenantal words the groom utters during the marriage ceremony. It may refer to the groom’s assent to the charge, sometimes issued by the bride’s guardian, that he keep his new wife honorably or release her virtuously—language derived from 2:229–31 (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z) or simply to his verbal acceptance of the marriage (Q, Ṭ, Z). Others consider the solemn covenant a reference to the Prophet’s statement in his sermon at the Farewell Pilgrimage: “Be reverent with regard to women! Truly you take them as a trust from God, and their private parts are made lawful for you by the Word of God” (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z).

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# And marry not those women whom your fathers married, save for what is past. Truly it was indecent and loathsome, an evil way.

22 The pre-Islamic Arabs reportedly recognized the same prohibitions concerning marriage partners as those stipulated in the Quran, except that they would marry their father’s wives (i.e., their stepmothers) and allowed marriage to two sisters. Vv. 22–23 prohibit these two practices, respectively (IK, Ṭ). According to some reports, after the revelation of v. 19 (It is not lawful for you to inherit women through coercion), some Muslim men continued to marry the wives of their fathers, as long as the women consented. This verse established an absolute prohibition on the practice, even without coercion (Q). This verse was reportedly revealed in regard to four different cases in which a man desired to marry the wife of his deceased father. According to one report, Qays, the son of Abu’l-Qays ibn al-Aṣlat (a Madinan Muslim) wished to marry his father’s wife. The widow felt it was improper and consulted the Prophet, after which this verse was revealed banning the practice absolutely (IK, Q, W). The ban on marrying the wives of one’s father applied even if the woman’s marriage to the father was never consummated (Ṭ); conversely, the ban applied to any woman with whom one’s father had had sexual relations, even outside of wedlock, since married (nakaḥa) can also refer to sexual relations in general (Q, Ṭs). An exception is made only for women who had relations with one’s father prior to Islam (Q). Marrying the wife of one’s father is loathsome, because it is hateful to God and because the practice may engender feelings of loathing for one’s father (IK). Al-Rāzī considers the description of this practice as indecent and loathsome, an evil way, to refer to the fact that it is repugnant from an intellectual, legal, and customary point of view. The verse may also be read, “And marry not women in the manner that your fathers married,” suggesting a general prohibition against any pre-Islamic marriage custom that contradicts Islamic principles (Ṭ).

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# Forbidden unto you [as wives] are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your fathers’ sisters, your mothers’ sisters, your brothers’ daughters, your sisters’ daughters, your milk-mothers and milk sisters, the mothers of your wives, the stepdaughters in your care —born of your wives with whom you have consummated marriage, but if you have not consummated the marriage with them, then there is no blame on you—and the wives of your sons who are from your loins, and two sisters together, save for what is past. Truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

23 In addition to wives of their fathers (v. 22), Muslim men cannot marry their mothers, including grandmothers; their daughters, including granddaughters; or their sisters, including both full and half siblings (Q). Al-Shāfiʿī suggests that a man’s biological daughter born out of wedlock might not be subject to this prohibition, but all other schools of law prohibit marriage to any biological daughter (IK). A milk-mother is a wet nurse, a woman who nurses a child, but who is not the child’s biological mother. The Quran permits parents to pay a wet nurse to suckle a child (2:233, 65:6). Milk-siblings (here milk-sisters) are otherwise unrelated persons who, as infants or children, were wet-nursed by the same woman. Relations established through suckling had a legal status similar to blood relations. Thus a woman who nursed a man when he was a child is maḥram to him —meaning that she does not need to cover in front of him and he can never marry her. These same permissions and prohibitions apply to the biological children of the wet nurse and her husband and to others she has nursed (Z). Two exceptions are that a man can marry the sister of his milk-son or the mother of his milkbrother (Z). There is some debate as to how long a child must nurse for the milk relationship to be established. ʿĀʾishah maintained that a verse had been revealed requiring ten sucklings for the establishment of milk relations, but this was later changed to five (IK, Q). A more widely transmitted report states that “one or two sucklings” do not establish legal milk relations, which led some to claim that at least three sucklings were required. On the basis of other aḥādīth, al-Shāfiʿī required that a child be suckled at least five times (IK, Q), whereas the Twelver Shiite school requires fifteen (or, variously, ten; Ṭs). For most legal scholars, the nursing has to occur within the first two to three years of the child’s life (IK, Q, Ṭs). There was a dispute about whether the exception made for marrying stepdaughters (rabā’ib, sing. rabībah) who were born of wives with whom one had not consummated the marriage also applies to marrying the mothers of such wives. The consensus of the community is that the exception only clearly applied to stepdaughters (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Nonetheless, some early authorities reportedly held that only when one had consummated marriage with a woman was one prohibited from marrying her mother (IK). Some reportedly read the verse with the following addition: and the mothers of your wives “with whom you have consummated marriage” (Z). As in the discussion of v. 21, some early scholars debated the extent of intimate contact that legally constituted consummation (Q, Ṭs, Z). Some viewed any intimate contact with a woman as prohibiting marriage to her daughter, although the Shāfiʿī school held that the prohibition pertained only in the case of marriage (Q). The terms rabībah for “stepdaughter” and rabīb for “stepson” are said by some commentators to derive from the fact that a stepparent often undertakes the raising (tarbiyah) of stepchildren (Q, Ṭs), an idea further emphasized by the phrase in your care (fī ḥujūrikum). A minority tradition suggests that this means that stepdaughters not living with their stepfathers are potential marriage partners. But most understand this not as a condition (sharṭ) of the prohibition (IK, Q, Ṭs), but merely as a description of the close family contact one normally has with a stepchild, which is precisely what makes stepchildren forbidden as marriage partners (Z). As with the prohibition against marrying the former wives of one’s fathers, the prohibition against marrying former wives of one’s sons applies regardless of whether the marriage was consummated or not (Ṭ). The prohibition is limited to the wives of your sons who are from your loins, which includes the wives of one’s milk-sons (i.e., the wives of men who had been nursed by one’s wife), but excludes adoptive sons. Some commentators connected this verse to the Prophet’s marrying the former wife of his adopted son, Zayd ibn Ḥārithah. Since Zayd was an adopted son, not a son from his loins, the marriage was permissible (IK, Q, Ṭ, Z; see also 33:4, 37, 40). Marrying two sisters is forbidden, save for what is past, meaning that such marriages arranged prior to the revelation of this verse could stand (Q). However, the Prophet reportedly ordered men who desired to enter Islam, but had two sister wives, to divorce one (IK).

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# And married women [are forbidden unto you] save those whom your right hands possess; thus has God prescribed for you. Lawful unto you are all others whom you would seek in marriage with gifts from your property, in honest wedlock and not in fornication. And those women whom you enjoy thereby, give unto them their bridewealth, as an obligation; but there is no blame on you for what you agree to after the obligation. God is Knowing, Wise.

24 Married women translates muḥṣanāt, which can also mean “chaste women.” It derives from aḥṣana, meaning “to fortify or make inaccessible”; see 21:91; 66:12, where Mary is described as a woman who preserved her chastity (allatī aḥṣanat farjahā). Married or chaste men are described as muḥṣinīn, “preservers of chastity” (vv. 24–25), but married or chaste (and sometimes “free” as opposed to “slave”) women are usually described as muḥṣanāt (using the passive participle) to signify that they have been made inaccessible, usually by marriage (cf. v. 25, where it means in two instances “chaste (slave) women” and “free women”; and 5:5; 24:4, 23, where it means “chaste women”). Most agree that here it refers specifically to married women. Thus the Quran forbids marrying women married to other men, save for slave or captive women, those whom your right hands possess. This verse was reportedly revealed regarding women captured during the Battle of Ḥunayn (8/630), whom the Muslims were concerned about having sexual relations with, or marrying, as they were wives of the defeated tribesmen. This verse was then revealed, indicating that a Muslim man could have sexual relations with or marry them even without a formal divorce from their previous husbands, as long as they waited one month to ensure they were not pregnant by their former husbands (IK, JJ, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Other reports say this verse was meant to forbid the Muslims in Madinah from marrying women who had come as Emigrants to Madinah, but were still married to idolaters in Makkah, since their husbands might later become Muslims themselves and seek to reunite with their wives (Ṭ). Some commentators extended this exception to slave women, indicating that if a man purchased a married slavewoman, his purchase effectively divorced her from her husband, and he was thus allowed to have sexual relations with her (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Others questioned this, citing a ḥadīth of the Prophet demonstrating the opposite precedent (IK, Q, Ṭ) and claiming that those whom your right hands possess here refers exclusively to female war captives (IK, Ṭs). Alternately, some consider the present verse to be a continuation of v. 3: Marry such women as seem good to you, two, three, or four: but if you fear that you will not deal justly, then only one, or those whom your right hands possess. According to this interpretation, muḥṣanāt refers to women whom one might marry beyond the limit of four, which would be completely forbidden, unless they were slave women (IK, Ṭ). Some argue that the purpose of this verse was to forbid illicit sexual relations (zinā) generally, allowing sexual relations only with those whom a man literally “possessed the right to” (malaka) through either marriage or slavery (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Still others claim that muḥṣanāt here includes all its possible referents: married, free, or chaste women, either Muslim or from among the People of the Book (Ṭ). Thus sexual relations with all such women are forbidden save through proper marriage, the only exception being for slave or captive women who were neither Jewish nor Christian (Ṭ). All others are those with whom marriage has not been forbidden in vv. 22–23, and they must be married with gifts from your property, that is, by rendering the agreed-upon bridal gift. Although some traditions suggest that the bridal gift may be rendered as a service (e.g., promising to take the bride on the ḥajj), others say that the explicit mention here of gifts from your property means that the bridal payment should be quantifiable money or goods (Q). The Arabic term for the bridal payment here is ujūr, meaning literally “wages”; elsewhere ṣaduqāt (v. 4) or farīḍah (lit. “obligation,” 2:236–37) is used. In Islamic legal discourse, the bridal payment is generally referred to as mahr/muhūr, but this term is not Quranic. A widely reported early interpretation of this part of the verse connected it with the practice of temporary marriage (mutʿah). You enjoy (istimtaʿtum) is etymologically related to mutʿah, the technical term for temporary marriage. A number of prominent early authorities, including al-Suddī, Ubayy ibn Kaʿb (d. between 19/640 and 35/655), and Ibn ʿAbbās, recited this verse with an additional phrase: And those women whom you enjoy thereby “for a term appointed,” give unto them their bridewealth (IK, Ṭ, Ṭs). Ibn ʿAbbās and Shiite commentators considered this verse, with or without the addition, to be a reference to mutʿah—a practice still legitimate in Shiite Islam, but considered by most Sunnis to have been forbidden by the Prophet at the end of his life or, according to most, by the second Caliph, ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb. Shiites claim that no verse in the Quran specifically abrogates it and that the Prophet never forbade it (Ṭs, Ṭū). The earliest Shiite commentaries attribute the verse’s interpretation as a reference to mutʿah to Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq (Qm). Those who connect the verse to mutʿah argue that the passage And those women whom you enjoy thereby, give unto them their bridewealth cannot refer to permanent marriage, because in permanent marriage at least half of the bridal payment must be paid even if the marriage is never consummated and so is not contingent on a man “enjoying” his wife, as this verse indicates (Ṭs, Ṭū); they also understand the next clause, but there is no blame on you for what you agree to after the obligation (has been fulfilled), as meaning that a couple may extend their temporary marriage beyond the established term if they both agree (IK, Ṭ). Al-Ṭabarī rejects this altered reading, because of the absence of the added phrase in the standard Quranic codex, and does not accept the interpretation of the verse as referring to mutʿah, as he considers the practice to have been decisively forbidden by the Prophet (Ṭ). Ibn Kathīr accepts the verse’s reference to mutʿah, but claims that its ruling regarding mutʿah was abrogated, although he notes that Ibn ʿAbbās continued to consider it legitimate in cases of necessity (ḍarūrah; IK). Al-Zamakhsharī notes Ibn ʿAbbās’ interpretation of this verse as a reference to mutʿah, but reports that Ibn ʿAbbās repented of his support for mutʿah on his deathbed (Z). Others consider the verse’s ruling regarding mutʿah to be abrogated by the verses on inheritance, since there is no inheritance for a temporary wife (Q), although the children of such a marriage do inherit. For those who read the verse as applying only to permanent marriage, there is no blame on you for what you agree to after the obligation (has been fulfilled) means, as in v. 4, that a variety of other financial arrangements and gifts, when agreed to by husband and wife, are legitimate once the stated bridal payment has been rendered (IK, Ṭ). The husband’s inability or failure to pay for his wife’s maintenance, for example, does not invalidate the marriage or nullify his right to sexual relations with his wife.

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# And whosoever among you has not the means to marry free, believing women, then [marry] the believing young women among those whom your right hands possess; God knows best your faith, the one of you is as the other, so wed them by the permission of their people, and give unto them their proper bride wealth, as married women, not as fornicators or paramours. And when they are married, should they commit an indecency, they shall be liable to half the punishment of free women. This is for the one among you who fears he will sin, but it is better for you to be patient. God is Forgiving, Merciful.

25 Free, believing women uses muḥṣanāt, discussed in 4:24c, to denote “free” women as opposed to slave women. A minority variant reading has almuḥṣināt—denoting the active rather than passive participle—indicating that such women actively make themselves sexually inaccessible, or chaste (Q, Ṭ). Although the previous verse was interpreted to make permissible sexual relations with captive or slave women, this verse indicates the permissibility of fully marrying slave women, but those belonging to others, not one’s own (Q, Ṭs). However, given that the word for “marry” (yankiḥa) can also mean to have sexual relations, some interpreted this verse to mean that a man unable to marry a free woman could have sexual relations with his slave woman (Z), although this seems to be a minority view. Most understood this verse to mean that a man could fully marry a slave woman if he was unable to marry a free, believing woman for lack of financial means, or if he fears he will sin, which some commentators interpret as a lack of patience to withstand the frustration of one’s sexual desires (IK, Q). Most understood this permission as applying only in cases of necessity (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs), because of the difficulties inherent in a slave woman’s having both a master (for she remains someone else’s slave) and a husband, and also because the children produced by the union were legally subject to the woman’s master (Q). Given the undesirable consequences of this situation, some said it was preferable to marry a free Jewish or Christian woman rather than a Muslim slave woman (Q, Z). The verse is also understood as limiting such marriages to believing slave women, thus prohibiting marriage to idolatrous slaves (Q; cf. 2:221). Al-Ṭabarī maintains that Jewish and Christian slave women are likewise forbidden as marriage partners by this verse, a position also taken by Mālikī, Shāfiʿī, and Twelver Shiite Law (Ṭs), although others assert that Jewish and Christian women —slave or free—were permissible as wives (Ṭ, Z; cf. 5:5). Although the permission to marry slave women is a mercy from God, it is better . . . to be patient and await a change in circumstances. Some legal scholars placed additional restrictions on this practice, such as limiting the number of slave wives, prohibiting a man from having both a slave and a free wife, and requiring the dissolution of a man’s marriage to a slave wife upon his marrying a free one (Q). God knows best your faith articulates the Islamic principle that the inner reality of faith can be determined only by God. Membership in the Muslim community was therefore based solely on one’s testimony of faith (shahādah) and outward compliance with the required practices of Islam (see 49:14c). Thus a slave woman who claimed to be a believing Muslim had to be accepted as such and could be married by a free Muslim man. Although the distinction between slave and free remained, a slave woman’s Islamic faith placed her in the same spiritual rank as other Muslims—the one of you is as the other—asserting the spiritual equality between all Muslims before God, regardless of social or worldly status (Q, Ṭs, Z). Marrying such slave women had to be done according to proper procedures: they were to be wed . . . by the permission of their people, that is, their masters (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z), and with proper bridewealth (Ṭ). Some viewed the bridal payment as belonging fully to the married slave woman, but most thought her master was entitled to it (Q, Ṭs, Z). Slave women were to be married as married women, not as fornicators, the latter referring to those who openly engage in sexual misconduct, or as paramours, referring to those who have illicit sexual relations with a single partner discreetly (Ṭ, Q, IK). In pre-Islamic Arabia open fornication was proscribed, but secret sexual misconduct was tolerated; the Quran clearly forbids both (cf. 6:151), but some reports note that the former is a worse sin because of its greater negative social consequences. After the slave women are married, they are liable to punishment for an indecency, meaning sexual misconduct, but only to half the punishment imposed on free women—that is, fifty lashes instead of a hundred (see 24:2). The halving of the punishment may reflect the greater vulnerability of slave women or their lower status. See, for the opposite example, 33:30, in which the women of the Prophet’s household, given their superior status, are liable to double the punishment for sexual misconduct.

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# God desires to make [this] clear unto you, and to guide you to the traditions of those who went before you, and to relent unto you. And God is Knowing, Wise.

# God desires to relent unto you, but those who follow lusts desire that you go tremendously astray.

# God desires to lighten [your burden] for you, for man was created weak.

26–28 The prohibitions and permissions regarding marriage detailed in vv. 22–25 are considered to be a reinstatement of marital laws established by previous prophets (Ṭ, Z). Those who follow lusts (v. 27) may refer explicitly to fornicators or more generally to those who follow their desires instead of the prescriptions of religion. Minority traditions suggest that these may be references to the People of the Book, particularly Jews, or Zoroastrians, who reportedly had a less restrictive view of legitimate marriage partners (Ṭ); the latter permitted marriage to nieces, for example. God desires to lighten [your burden] for you —that is, by allowing men of insufficient means to marry slave women—for man was created weak—that is, with a generally weak capacity to resist sexual desire and attraction to women for long (Ṭ). The Quran mentions that God lightened the burden for Muslims in other ways (8:66); and similar accommodations for human weakness are implied in permitting sexual relations between spouses on the nights of Ramadan (2:187) and in God’s reducing the number of daily prayers at the Prophet’s request during the Night Journey (IK). The Quran states that God desires ease for His servants (2:185), and other verses indicate that the religious obligations of Muslims are easier than those of earlier communities (7:157) and those they impose on themselves (3:93). Ibn ʿAbbās considered vv. 26–28 to be among the eight important verses in this sūrah that demonstrate God’s Mercy toward human beings (the others are vv. 31, 40, 48, 110, 147; R, Z).

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# O you who believe! Consume not each other’s wealth falsely, but trade by mutual consent, and slay not yourselves. Truly God is Merciful unto you.

# And whosoever does that in enmity and injustice, We shall cause him to burn in a Fire; and that is easy for God.

29–30 Consume not each other’s wealth falsely means that people should not seek to obtain wealth through means expressly forbidden in the Quran, including usury (ribā; 2:275–78; 3:130; 30:39), gambling (2:219; 5:90–91), and fraudulent mercantile practices (7:85; 17:35; 55:8–9; 83:1–3); such practices are presented as one of the key vices of the destroyed the people of the prophet Shuʿayb (11:84; 26:181–83). The command slay not yourselves was traditionally understood to mean that Muslims should not slay one another, as they are all members of the same religious community (cf. 4:92–93; 17:33). Except in certain cases where blood money can be given in place of punishment, the penalty prescribed for slaying a fellow believer is death, indicating that if a believer kills a fellow believer, it is as if one has slain oneself (Ṭ). Since the verse commands Muslims slay not yourselves (anfusakum), it also indicates that suicide is forbidden (Q). And whosoever does that in enmity and injustice—that is, whoever kills a fellow believer or, some say, transgresses any of the major rules established to this point in the sūrah—shall have Hellfire as a reward.

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# If you shun the grave sins that you are forbidden, We shall absolve you of your evil deeds and cause you to enter at a noble gate.

31 The Quran here makes a distinction between the grave sins (kabā’ir) and comparatively minor evil deeds (sayyiʾāt), promising that avoidance of the former will entail forgiveness for the latter. This is one of many Quranic examples of God’s merciful judgment of human beings and of His compensation and compassion for their inherent moral flaws. The Quran never explicitly identifies particular sins as either major or minor. Some maintain that the grave sins are transgressions of any of the moral laws established to this point in the sūrah (Ṭ). Other reports list seven grave sins. According to al-Ṭabarī, a widely cited list attributed to ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib includes associating other gods with God (shirk); killing a soul that God has not made it lawful to kill; slandering a chaste woman; consuming the wealth of orphans; usury; fleeing the battlefield; and returning to the Bedouin life after settling (settling and renouncing the Bedouin life were closely connected with adopting the Islamic religious and social lifestyle). All of these are denounced in the Quran, but other sins, such as theft, which are similarly denounced in the Quran, are missing from this list; and although the false accusation of fornication is listed as a major sin, fornication itself is not, nor is adultery. Alternate lists of seven sometimes omit shirk (perhaps for its obviousness) and the return to the Bedouin life, but include false testimony, disobeying one’s parents (Ṭ), or fornication (Z). Variant lists include apostasy, despairing of God’s Mercy, and witchcraft (Ṭ, Ṭs). Al-Ṭabarī considered the most authentic list to be found in a ḥadīth that identifies four major sins: shirk, killing someone, disobedience to parents, and false testimony (Ṭ). Ibn ʿAbbās maintained that no sin was minor, as long as one persisted in it, and no sin was a grave sin, as long as one repented (Aj, Ṭs, Z). Still others say that the grave sins include all that God has explicitly forbidden in the Quran or any sin for which God’s curse or a worldly or otherworldly punishment has been specified (Ṭ). Some argue that all acts of disobedience to God are grave sins and none can be considered “minor” except in relation to other sins (Ṭs), although if this were so, the Quranic differentiation between grave sins and evil deeds here and elsewhere (18:49; 49:7; 54:53) would be meaningless (R). Al-Rāzī suggests that grave sins may indicate varieties of kufr (disbelief), that is, disbelief in God, the prophets, the Last Day, or the Sacred Law. This would be consistent with v. 48, which states that God forgives all sins except shirk (idolatry; R). Those who avoid these sins will be absolved of their evil deeds—that is, minor sins (Ṭ)—and be made to enter at a noble gate, which might also be translated “to enter with a noble entry.” Some consider God’s forgiveness of the lesser sins to be the result of an “excess of reward” for having avoided major ones (Z). Al-Rāzī, however, does not view acts of obedience or disobedience as necessitating specific rewards or punishments that could be weighed against one another and rejects the implication that failure to avoid the grave sins necessarily means that lesser sins will not be absolved. Rather, he emphasizes God’s free and abundant Mercy toward human beings. Although Sufi commentators agree that the truly great sin is shirk (idolatry), they consider shirk to also mean an excessive attachment to worldly things, and even the assertion of the independent existence of one’s own soul in a way that would obscure pure devotion to and utter reliance upon God. Hence the Sufi saying, sometimes attributed to Rābiʿah al-ʿAdawiyyah (d. 183/801): “Your existence is a sin to which no other sin can be compared!” (K, Qu).

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# And covet not that by which God has favored some of you above others—unto men a share of what they have earned, and unto women a share of what they have earned—but ask God for His Bounty. Truly God is the Knower of all things.

32 God has favored some . . . above others in worldly provision, and this inequality engenders moral challenges—wealth and poverty, for example, challenge human beings to be generous and humble, respectively—and moral trial comes through both good things, such as wealth and children (64:15), and hardship (21:35). The assertion that God is the Knower of all things suggests that this differentiation is a matter of Divine Wisdom (Z). This verse was reportedly revealed either after the Prophet’s wife Umm Salamah or some other women complained that men received twice the share of inheritance (see vv. 11–12, 176) and had the possibility of attaining greater spiritual reward for their participation in jihād (v. 95), or after some men expressed the desire that their reward in the next life be double that of women, even as their share of inheritance in this life is doubled (IK, Ṭ, W, Z), and some women wished that their burden in the next life would be half that of men’s, like their share of the inheritance (Ṭs). Mujāhid notes that this verse was revealed in response to these complaints, along with either 33:35 (Ṭ) or 3:195 (IK), both of which indicate an otherworldly reward for righteous men and women explicitly and without differentiation (Ṭ). Rather than desiring what has been given to others, which can lead only to envy, every individual should ask God for His Bounty (Ṭ), which may include worldly goods, but which also refers to the bounty of faith and worship that leads to reward in the next life (Ṭ). A ḥadīth further encourages believers: “Ask God for His Bounty, for truly He loves to be asked” (Ṭs).

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# To each We have appointed heirs for what parents and kinsfolk leave. Those to whom you have given your oath, give them their share. Truly God is Witness over all things.

33 Heirs translates mawālī, which is etymologically related to awliyāʾ (“friends,” “allies”; sing. walī). Both terms are employed throughout the Quran to refer to various close relationships, including inheritance, kinship, servitude, friendship, and alliance. Here the term is a clear reference to heirs among one’s kinsfolk (Ṭ), indicating that kin relations are the legitimate heirs (heirs for what parents and kinsfolk leave; Z), but also that others to whom one has given one’s oath—that is, with whom one has made a pact of alliance—should be given their share of inheritance. This verse was revealed in regard to the reportedly common practice in Arabia of men adopting others as their sons in order to allot them some of their inheritance (Q, Ṭ, W) or the practice of two men entering into an agreement by which each would inherit from the other and avenge the other if one of them was killed (IK, Q, Ṭ). The famous “brothering” (mu’ākhāh), in which the Prophet established relations of “brotherhood” entailing inheritance between pairs of Makkan Emigrants and Madinan Helpers shortly after coming to Madinah, was an early Islamic version of such an alliance, but one with a spiritual and communal purpose. A minority understand this verse specifically in reference to this event (IK, Ṭ), while most consider the verse to be an abrogation of earlier forms of Arabic inheritance that allowed for inheritance between non-kin relations. Islamic inheritance was limited to blood kin who were assigned specified shares of the estate in vv. 11–12. The primacy of kin relations in inheritance was also established in 8:75 (Q, Ṭ), abrogating 8:72, which could be interpreted as allowing inheritance between the Emigrants and the Helpers (Ṭ). Some have understood the present verse to mean that, although such alliances between non-kinsfolk should no longer be made and kinsfolk are now the only legitimate heirs, pacts of alliance that had been made in the past should be respected (IK, Ṭ, Z). Others say that the share that this verse directs Muslims to give to those to whom they have made an oath refers to granting them a share among the bequests that they might make for up to one-third of their estate prior to its division among legal heirs; or it means rendering them the mutual support and counsel, but not the monetary inheritance, that the pact originally stipulated (IK, Q, Ṭ) A minority view counted one’s freed slaves among one’s mawālī and thus, according to this verse, among one’s legal heirs, but most consider that it is only a master who might inherit from a freed slave, but not vice versa (Q).

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# Men are the upholders and maintainers of women by virtue of that in which God has favored some of them above others and by virtue of their spending from their wealth. Therefore the righteous women are devoutly obedient, guarding in [their husbands’] absence what God has guarded. As for those from whom you fear discord and animosity, admonish them, then leave them in their beds, then strike them. Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them. Truly God is Exalted, Great.

34 This verse is the clearest statement of a man’s role and authority in the marital relationship as head of the household in relation to his responsibility to provide for his wife. Other verses suggest mutuality in the relationship between husband and wife (2:187, 233), but this verse indicates a hierarchy from a certain perspective between the two, at least on the social plane (see also 2:228). This verse identifies men as the upholders and maintainers (qawwāmūn) of women (the Arabic may also be translated “managers” or “guardians,” although not in the sense of guardians over minors or the mentally incompetent), and this has traditionally been understood to mean that men are entitled to expect certain kinds of behavior on the part of their wives and that they have the right and duty to supervise, educate, and discipline them (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs) or to command or prohibit them (Z). Men have this position by virtue of that in which God has favored some of them above others, which, because it repeats the almost identical phrasing in v. 32, likely refers to men’s greater share in inheritance relative to women, and by virtue of their spending from their wealth, that is, to support the women. Thus many interpret the verse as referring to the greater financial assets of men and their spending of these assets on the bridal gift and maintenance for their wives (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭb)—that is, these additional assets constitute a favor (combined with responsibility) God gives to men, but one that, in principle, comes back to women in the form of marital support (Q). For Ibn ʿAjībah, this is “acquired” authority, since men’s more authoritative position in the marital relationship is “acquired,” at least in part, by their fulfillment of the duty to support the women of their family including, but not limited to, their wives. Many commentators and the Mālikī and Shāfiʿī legal schools considered men’s authority and financial responsibility in marriage to be directly linked (Ṭs), so that a man who did not support his wife could no longer claim authority over her (Q), although for al-Qurṭubī such a situation constituted a nullification of the marriage contract. Many commentators also claimed, however, that the “favor” that God has given to men includes spiritual and worldly distinctions not necessarily related to financial matters. Among the distinctions they consider to have been given, if not exclusively, at least in many cases in greater measure to men are intelligence, authority, strength, and the responsibility for jihād; some also assert that all prophets and most scholars and religious authorities were men (Aj, IK, Q, Ṭs, Ṭb, Z). However, this is reading much into a verse that is located among, and echoes the language of, verses dealing specifically with inheritance and marital support and is more naturally read as a continuation of these discussions specifically. Righteous wives are those who are devoutly obedient (qānitāt), that is, obedient in a spiritual or religious sense. Given the context of the verse, most commentators gloss qānitāt here as women who exhibit obedience (ṭāʿah) generally, including or especially to their husbands (IK, Q, Z). However, it should be noted that all other instances of qānit in the Quran denote obedience to and worship of God, not human beings (cf. 2:116, 238; 3:17, 43; 16:120; 33:31, 35; 39:9; 66:12). Given its wider Quranic usage, qānitāt could be translated “pious” or “devout” women, in which case the term is not necessarily meant as a direct reference to a woman’s obedience to her husband. But insofar as obedience to one’s husband—within rational and religious limits—was considered to be religiously proper for a woman in marriage, some commentators suggested that devoutly obedient describes a wife who is obedient to both God and husband (Aj, Ṭs). Many connect the two by indicating that the husband has a moral duty to guide and discipline his wife toward proper religious devotion (Q, Ṭ). Righteous women also guard what God has guarded—that is, their chastity and their husbands’ property (IK, Q, Ṭ, Z), both of which God has made inviolable (has guarded) and both of which they have a duty to protect in their husbands’ absence. Again, although these are a woman’s responsibilities to her husband, they are presented here primarily as her responsibilities toward God—she is protecting what He has made inviolable. Some say guarding . . . what God has guarded means that a woman should guard herself as God has guarded her through various protections that He, and not the husband, has established on her behalf (Ṭb, Ṭs, Z). Those from whom you fear discord and animosity refers to those who have demonstrated these things through their actions. To fear here means to “know” (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs); in other words, it refers to demonstrated hostility, not merely the suspicion thereof. Discord and animosity collectively translates nushūz, which comes from a root meaning “to rise up” or “to be elevated” (cf. 58:11). It thus connotes an attitude of high-handedness, haughtiness, or arrogance. Nushūz is explained by different commentators as referring to various inappropriate behaviors on the part of the wife, most commonly, some form of disobedience toward the husband, which may include immodest behavior toward other men, coming and going without regard for the husband’s wishes, arrogant disregard for—or resistance to —the rights of the husband, loathing the husband, abandoning his bed, or desiring to leave him (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). This last seems more consistent with the use of the term in v. 128, which discusses the situation in which a woman fears nushūz from her husband and where the term is usually interpreted as referring to cruel treatment, aversion, or loss of affection. In the face of a woman committing nushūz, a husband is given a set of three sanctions to correct her behavior. These three sanctions are commonly understood as progressive (Q, Ṭb, Z), meaning that husbands should begin with verbal correction (admonish them); that is, they should remind their wives of their religious duties and obligations in the marriage (Q, Ṭ). If this does not succeed in changing the wife’s behavior, men may leave them in their beds, usually understood to mean refraining from sexual relations with them. A minority tradition indicates that it means to remain aloof from them and refuse to speak with them, and some permit men to have sexual relations with their wives without speaking to them in this situation (IK, Ṭ). However it is interpreted, such staying away from one’s wife should last no longer than one month, following Prophetic precedent (Q). Because refusing to share the bed of a wife who is already averse to her husband may serve to encourage or reward, rather than deter, her negative demeanor toward her husband, some commentators argue that this sanction should be meted out simultaneously with the third sanction, “striking” her (Ṭ). This last sanction is directly related to the occasion for the revelation of the verse, as it was reportedly revealed in relation to a woman or her family who came to the Prophet, complaining that her husband had hit her. The Prophet immediately ordered retaliation (qiṣāṣ; 2:178; 5:45) against the husband. This verse was then revealed, allowing a husband to strike his wife in certain circumstances, and the Prophet aborted the retaliation, saying, “I wanted one thing and God wanted another” (IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, W, Z). Perhaps considering the Prophet’s own dislike of husbands striking their wives as suggested in this widely transmitted report as well as reports indicating that he never struck his own wives, commentators generally indicate that striking one’s wife is to be used only as a last resort, and some prominent legal scholars, including al-Shāfiʿī, considered it something to be avoided (R). Some have indicated that it is justified only as a means of avoiding the more socially painful consequence of divorce—an interpretation consistent with the following verse, which stipulates that serious effort should be expended to try to reconcile and avoid divorce. The commentators are unanimous in asserting that to strike here refers only to a moderate and noninjurious form of physical force—“without violence” (ghayr mubarriḥ), using language found in a ḥadīth on this same issue (Q), and “without leaving a mark” (ghayr muʾaththir; IK, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z). This is based on a ḥadīth that lists the rights that a woman is owed from her husband: “That he feed her and clothe her, that he never strike her in the face or mar her beauty, and that he not abandon her, save in the house” (Ṭ). Some commentators assert that this “striking” should not even cause pain (Aj). Ibn ʿAbbās explained that it means hitting with a siwāk (a thin, flexible twig chewed on for dental hygiene; Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Islamic Law prohibits injurious violence against one’s wife, and some schools of Islamic Law consider it a legitimate reason for which a woman can seek a divorce. Some recent interpretations of strike them seek to avoid the sense of physical hitting entirely by invoking alternate idiomatic meanings of ḍaraba (“to strike”), arguing that the verb can mean simply to leave the wife, given other Quranic usages of ḍaraba, such as ḍaraba fi’l-sabīl (v. 94), which means to set out on a path, or ḍaraba fi’l-arḍ, which means to journey (2:273; 3:156; 4:101; 5:106; 73:20). Such interpretations are not entirely convincing, however, since the wider semantic range of ḍaraba they invoke is activated only by various prepositions and syntaxes not found in the present verse. To use an analogous example in English, “strike him” is unambiguous in its meaning, even if “strike a balance” or “strike a pose” are other idiomatic uses for the verb “to strike.” Moreover, the occasion of revelation is widely held to be the issue of a man’s right to strike his wife, and so one would expect the verse to address this issue specifically. It should be reiterated, however, that none of the classical commentators or Islamic legal scholars viewed this verse as a license to commit serious physical violence or inflict bodily harm on one’s wife; and given the steps one needed to take before reaching the point of “striking” one’s wife, it may be viewed as a ban on beating one’s wife in anger. Finally, commentators note that these sanctions are understood to be strictly for the purpose of altering the wife’s behavior, not for punishment, and they are to be abandoned once she has ceased the problematic behavior (Ṭ, Q, Z). Then if they obey you, seek not a way against them: if the wife returns to obedience to Islamic Law, then the husband has no right to act maliciously or harmfully toward her. If the woman repents of her behavior, it should be as if it never happened (Aj); and even if she agrees to obey while retaining feelings of aversion for her husband, he has no right to punish her for this, for she has no religious obligation to love her husband (Aj, Q, Ṭ, Ṭs).

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# And if you fear a breach between the two, then appoint an arbiter from his people and an arbiter from her people. If they desire reconciliation, God will bring about agreement between them. Truly God is Knowing, Aware.

35 If the problems between a husband and wife cannot be resolved between them, or if a husband cannot resolve his problem with his wife’s conduct through the means recommended above, two arbiters should be appointed. The arbiters should be trusted relatives of each spouse, since they are more familiar with the situation and have the interests of their respective family members at heart. The arbiters are charged with determining, if possible, which spouse is at fault and recommending either terms of reconciliation or a mutually agreed-upon divorce. The extent of the arbiter’s power to reconcile or separate the married couple is unclear. Some have suggested they bring their recommendations to the local authority for implementation; others have felt they have the power to reconcile or dissolve the marriage upon their own agreement; still others felt that any action taken has to be with the consent of the two spouses (Z). A report from ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib indicates that the two arbiters should have the power to dissolve the marriage upon their agreement, but that this power must be delegated to the arbiters by the married couple in advance. If the arbiters recommend separation and the wife is found to be at fault or their differences are simply irreconcilable, the wife might be asked or pressured to return part of her bridewealth to effect a mutual divorce, as in 2:229: If you fear that they will not uphold the limits set by God, there is no blame upon the two in what she may give in ransom; some indicate, however, that such a decision remains ultimately in her hands (Ṭ). If they desire reconciliation, God will reconcile them may refer to the arbiters (Ṭ), to the spouses, or both (Z).

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# Worship God, and ascribe not partners unto Him. And be virtuous toward parents and kinsfolk, toward orphans and the indigent, toward the neighbor who is of kin and the neighbor who is not of kin, toward the companion at your side and the traveler, and toward those whom your right hands possess. Truly God loves not one who is a vainglorious boaster,

36 This is one of several verses that place virtue toward parents immediately after the command to worship none but God (see also 2:83; 6:151; 17:23; 31:13–14) and enjoin kindness toward parents generally (46:15; 29:8). The Arabic word here used to denote virtuous behavior is iḥsān, which comes from a root meaning “beautiful”; various derivations from the root denote virtue, moral beauty, and goodness or doing what is beautiful and good. In relation to parents it has the meaning of filial piety. The list provided here of those to whom one should be virtuous, kind, and charitable is similar to other such lists in the Quran (cf. 2:83, 177, 215; 9:60; 16:90; 17:26; 30:38). Although the neighbor who is of kin is generally considered to refer to one’s family members, a minority tradition identifies it as a reference to Muslims generally, that is, those to whom one is close in religion. The neighbor who is not of kin, or al-jār al-junub, may mean nonfamily members or friends, but also those who are distant from oneself geographically or in religion. The word junub relates to something that is distant; the state of ritual impurity brought about by sexual relations is also referred to as junub (4:43), meaning distance from prayer, as one cannot pray until purifying oneself. This verse also enjoins virtue toward slaves (those whom your right hands possess), which may mean freeing them, an act repeatedly recommended as a form of expiation (cf. 4:92; 5:89; 58:3; 90:13), or simply treating them well. The companion at your side may refer to one’s traveling companion or more specifically to one’s wife. The verse thus enjoins kindness and virtuous behavior as a rule toward all, particularly toward those over whom one might have a certain power because they are dependents (elderly parents, needy family or orphans, wives) or lower in social status (orphans, non-Muslims, slaves). Al- Qurṭubī asserts that similar enjoinders to kindness toward others are found in all Divinely revealed books and can, in fact, be known through one’s intelligence even without a scriptural command.

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# those who are miserly and enjoin people to be miserly, concealing what God has given them from His Bounty. We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment.

# And those who spend their wealth to be seen of men, and believe not in God or the Last Day. Whosoever has Satan for a companion has an evil companion indeed!

# What harm would it have done them were they to believe in God and the Last Day, and spend of that which God has provided them. God knows them well.

37–39 Many verses enjoin spending wealth for the good of others; and miserliness (bukhl or bakhal) is morally reprehensible, not only because it manifests a lack of charity, but also because it conceals what God has given . . . from His Bounty, indicating ingratitude for or even rejection of this Divine bounty. Such miserliness can be directly linked to disbelief, kufr, since kufr also connotes both “covering over, concealing” and “ingratitude”—hence the reference to the punishment of the disbelievers (or “the ungrateful” or “those who cover over”; kāfirīn) at the end of v. 37 (IK, R). Bounty (faḍl) connotes wealth beyond what one needs, and the morally appropriate way to deal with such excess is to expend it in pious ways, as elucidated in the previous verse; cf. 3:180; 9:76; 17:100; 25:67; 57:24; 92:8. “Miserliness” may also connote greed for the wealth of others and so lack of contentment with what God has provided (Ṭ, Z). Some early commentators indicated that these verses were addressed to the Jews of Madinah, who were “miserly” with their scripture and “concealed” some of the knowledge that God had bestowed on them in the Torah (R, Ṭ, Z). This interpretation, though found in many sources, seems to take the verse out of its obvious context as part of an explicit discussion about how to appropriately spend one’s wealth, and thus seems rather unlikely. Some commentators see the verse as criticizing “miserliness” in both wealth and knowledge. The verse also criticizes those who spend in charity, only to be seen of men. These verses may be addressed to the Madinan hypocrites who feigned belief in Islam for self-serving purposes. For other critiques of hypocritical, pious ostentation, see 2:264; 4:142; 8:47; 107:4–7.

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# Truly God commits not so much as a mote’s weight of wrong: if there is a good deed, He will multiply it and grant from His Presence a great reward.

40 This verse is one of many affirming that God does not engage in even the slightest injustice (see also 3:117; 11:101; 16:33, 118; 43:76). Some commentators assert that it is impossible to attribute injustice to God, as to be unjust means to transgress boundaries or the rights of others, and since God is Creator, He has no boundaries. Rather, it is He who establishes these rights and boundaries and so cannot be said to transgress them; according to certain theologians, He is capable of injustice, but proscribes it for Himself (R, Qu; cf. 6:12, 54, where He has prescribed Mercy for Himself). Mote’s weight translates mithqāl dharrah, which conveys something so small that it has no apparent weight at all (Ṭ; cf. 10:61; 34:3,22; 99:7–8). Dharrah can also mean “particle,” “speck,” or “atom” and is frequently glossed as referring to the tiniest of red ants or the smallest of seeds. The idea that God “multiplies” a good deed (ḥasanah, related to iḥsān)—that is, multiplies its reward (Ṭ, Q)—is an important aspect of God’s Justice and Mercy. God does not necessarily reckon as we reckon, and in His Mercy He reckons good deeds beyond their actual “weight”; see 6:160: Whosoever brings a good deed shall have ten times the like thereof; and 2:245, 261; 57:11, 18; 64:17, where the money spent in good works “multiplies.” Here the factor by which good deeds are multiplied is not specified, implying that God multiplies good deeds beyond measure. According to Ibn Masʿūd, on the Day of Judgment God settles all claims that one person might hold against another by granting the claimant the good deeds of the debtor. After all such debts and claims have been rectified, if individuals still have a mote’s weight of good to their credit, God multiplies it and they enter the Garden. However, if the claims against them far exceed their good deeds, they will perish (Ṭ). A tradition attributed to Abū Saʿīd al-Khudrī (d. 74/693) claims that eventually God will remove from Hellfire all those with a mote’s weight of good to their credit (Q), and many Ashʿarite theologians adduced this verse to argue that God would eventually remove all believers from Hellfire and that the reward for good deeds could not be nullified by the punishment for evil ones. Conversely, Muʿtazilites used the earlier part of the verse to assert that, since God does no injustice, all injustice originates from human beings, thus supporting their doctrine that human beings, not God, are the authors of their own deeds (R). Al-Rāzī makes a distinction between the multiplied reward God bestows for virtuous deeds and the great reward He bestows from His Presence at the end of the verse. The former is a reward for the physical acts one accomplishes in life; the latter refers to the “pleasure that is only obtained through direct vision [of God], being immersed in love and true knowledge”; it cannot be the reward for merely physical acts of obedience, but is only made possible by what God deposits in the “soul sanctified through [Divine] illumination, purity, and light.” The former grants “bodily happiness”; the latter provides “spiritual happiness.”

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# A How will it be when We bring forth a witness from every community, and We bring thee as a witness against these?

41 Cf. 16:89. As God sends a prophet to every community, this prophet stands as a witness on the Day of Judgment to his own community’s acceptance or rejection of his Divine message (cf. 16:84; 28:85; 57:19; also 4:159, where Jesus is said to be a witness against the People of the Book generally). Several verses assert that the Muslim community will collectively serve as witness over earlier communities, or for all of humanity, and that Muhammad will be a witness over the Muslims (2:143, 22:78), and also their intercessor (Qu). Although Islamic tradition views each prophet as the witness over his own religious community for all generations, the Prophet Muhammad reportedly implored God, “[I am] a witness over them so long as I remain among them, but when Thou takest me to Thyself, it is Thou who art the Watcher over them, and Thou art Witness over all things,” directly invoking the words Jesus speaks in 5:117. Some interpret the articulation of the Prophet’s role as witness in the present verse as a rebuke directed at the disbelievers of his own time, against whom he would stand as witness on the Day of Judgment. The Prophet was reported to have wept upon the recitation of this verse, contemplating the weight of this responsibility (IK, Q).

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# On that Day those who disbelieved and disobeyed the Messenger will wish that they were level with the earth, and they will conceal no account from God.

42 On that Day—that is, the day the prophetic witnesses will be called forth (v. 41)—the disbelievers and disobedient will be so terrified of being held to account that they will long to be level with the earth, that is, to be unnoticeable and so not accountable, in fact, to be nothing, for to be dust would be preferable to being punished in the Fire. This is similar to the lament of the disbelievers in 78:40: “Oh, would that I were dust!” The disbelievers’ wish to be level with the earth may also connote a desire that the earth devour them or cave in below them, for the earth is the active subject in the Arabic construction here. The Quran is emphatic about the impossibility of concealing anything from God, for even if people seek to lie about what they did in life, their own body parts will testify against them on the Day of Judgment (24:24; 36:65; 41:20–22).

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# O you who believe! Draw not near unto prayer when you are drunken until you know what you are uttering, nor in a state of ritual impurity—unless you are passing through—until you have washed. But if you are ill, or on a journey, or one of you has come from satisfying a call of nature, or you have touched women, and you find no water, then resort to clean earth, and wipe your faces and your hands. Truly God is Pardoning, Forgiving.

43 In Islamic Law, drinking alcohol or ingesting any intoxicating substance is forbidden. However, four verses address the consumption of wine or intoxicating drinks, and only one of them bans wine explicitly. The earliest of the four, 16:67, refers to the “strong drink” that people derive from the fruit of the vine as a sign of God’s merciful provision for human beings and contains no indication of wine’s harmful properties. In 2:219 it says that in drinking wine and gambling there is great sin, but [some] benefits. The present verse can be seen as a gloss on this, instructing Muslims to avoid drunkenness at the times of prayer. Finally, 5:90 instructs Muslims to avoid wine and gambling entirely, as they are of Satan’s doing. Although only this last verse amounts to an absolute prohibition against the consumption of alcoholic drink, Islamic jurisprudence, basing itself upon Prophetic sayings (aḥādīth) and practice (Sunnah), has consistently viewed this last revealed verse as the authoritative one that abrogates the legal implications of the other three. In the present verse, believers are asked to draw not near unto prayer in a state of drunkenness, that is, not to approach the prayer itself or the mosque (ṣalāh/ṣalawāt, or “prayer(s),” can also connote the place of prayer; cf. 22:40), or prepare themselves for prayer until they are sober and know what they are reciting. This part of the verse was reportedly revealed when some Companions of the Prophet attempted to pray after having drunk wine (when it was still permissible) and incorrectly recited a Quranic passage during the prayer (W, Z). After this verse was revealed, Muslims would drink wine only after they had completed the evening prayer (ʿishāʾ), and they continued this practice until wine was forbidden (Q). A minority tradition extends the meaning of “drunkenness” (sukārā) to include excessive sleepiness that would similarly impair one’s ability to pray properly. Such an interpretation would mean that the verse was not entirely abrogated by the later prohibition against drinking wine (Q, Ṭ). Ritual impurity translates junub, which denotes major ritual impurity and derives from a root meaning to be distant from something; in this case, one should keep oneself distant from prayer—and places of prayer—until one has properly purified oneself, just as one should avoid these when intoxicated. According to legal scholars, the state of junub also prohibits one from touching or reciting the Quran. Until you have washed refers to completing the major ritual ablution, which requires full immersion (as in a bath or shower). An exception is made for those passing through, that is, travelers in a state of junub who need to seek shelter temporarily in a mosque, or those Companions of the Prophet who needed to pass through the mosque to go out of their homes, because their homes were adjacent to the mosque in Madinah (Q). This verse also establishes an important easing of the rules of ritual purity by allowing the substitution of clean earth for water in circumstances where one is ill (and so unable to look for water or in fear that washing with water will increase one’s illness) or on a journey and unable to find water (see also 5:6 for a nearly identical set of injunctions related to purity). This part of the verse was reportedly revealed when the Prophet’s wife ʿĀʾishah lost a necklace while journeying with the Prophet and a group of Muslims. The Prophet ordered the group to make camp at the site, so that people could look for the lost necklace. There was no water at the site, and people began to complain that they were unable to wash for prayers. When the time for the dawn prayer came, this verse was revealed allowing ritual purification with clean earth (W). This way of performing the ritual ablution came to be known as tayammum, from the verb tayammamū (resort to), employed in this verse, and is most commonly performed using a clean piece of rock. A ḥadīth refers to the tayammum when it lists God’s having made dust (turāb) purifying for the Muslims as one of the blessings with which God favored Muslims over other peoples (Q). The term used for earth (ṣaʿīd) in clean earth may denote high, hard, or rocky ground. However, the term for clean (tayyib) may also mean “good,” “pure,” or “wholesome,” so some suggest that it refers to arable soil (Q). Al-Ṭabarī asserts that it refers to any pure or clean part of the surface of the earth. In either case, the dust (turāb) that attaches to one’s hands when striking the “earth” is the purifying substance, as is made clear in the ḥadīth above. Precious metals and gems are not suitable as sources of clean earth for the tayammum. There are differences among the legal schools as to whether the absence of water is a condition for the acceptability of the tayammum; how extensively one has to search for water; how ill one has to be before resorting to the tayammum; whether the tayammum removes the impurity or merely makes it temporarily acceptable for a Muslim to pray; and whether the prayer has to be repeated if water is found before the prescribed time of the prayer has elapsed (Q). They also disagree about the extent to which one would have to “touch women” in order to become impure. Some argue that this refers only to sexual intercourse, while others claim it means touching of any kind, regardless of whether the touching excited sexual desire (Q). Legal instructions for the tayammum require one to make the niyyah or intention to perform the tayammum then to touch the earth or rub a piece of stone twice, once to wipe the face and again to wipe the hands.

***

# Hast thou not considered those who were given a portion of the Book, who purchase error, and wish that you too should stray from the path?

# God knows best your enemies. God suffices as a Protector, and God suffices as a Helper.

44–45 The question is addressed to the Prophet, asking rhetorically if he has not seen—that is, been informed of—those who were given a portion of the Book. Most take this as a reference to the Jews, although they are not explicitly mentioned here. Nonetheless, this opens a sequence of verses critical of the Jews of Madinah and their response to the Prophet’s message. To purchase error is one of many mercantile metaphors used to describe the foolishness of acquiring transitory worldly gain by surrendering or “selling” things of spiritual value (see 2:16, 86, 175, and similarly 3:177; 4:74; 5:44; 16:95). Purchasing error here refers to the Madinan Jews’ rejection of the Prophet’s message, despite their having knowledge of the spiritual truth in their portion of the Book. The verse also criticizes them for trying to draw the Muslims into error as well by seeking to discredit the Prophet (Ṭ). The verse advises Muslims that such people are their spiritual enemies, against whom God is their sufficient Protector and Helper. It is reiterated elsewhere that God is the only true Protector and Helper (see 2:107, 120; 4:123, 173; 9:74, 116; 29:22; 33:18, 65; 42:9, 31; 48:22).

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# Among those who are Jews are those who distort the meaning of the word, and say, “We hear and disobey, ” and “Hear, as one who hears not!” and “Attend to us!” twisting their tongues and disparaging religion. And had they said, “We hear and obey” and “Listen” and “Regard us, ” it would have been better for them and more proper. But God cursed them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few.

46 Here the phrase are those who has been added in the translation, as it is assumed by most commentators to be elided in the Arabic. An alternate interpretation, favored by al-Ṭabarī, reads this as a continuation of the rhetorical question in 4:44: Hast thou not considered those who were given a portion of the Book . . . Among those who are Jews distort the meaning . . . (those who were given a portion of the Book is the subject of the sentence; distort, the verb beginning the predicate). In either reading, the Jews of Madinah are the particular object of the criticism in 4:44–55. Ibn Kathīr reads this as a general condemnation of Jews, although the historical context is primarily the Prophet’s conflict with the Madinan Jews. Here the criticism (repeated in 2:75; 5:13, 41) is that they distort the meaning of the word (lit. “they distort words from their places or contexts”). This may mean that they distort the words of the Torah (IK, Q) or that they rearranged the words of scripture (Z). A minority reading suggests it is the words of the Prophet that they distort (Q). The verse criticizes their mocking remarks to the Prophet. They acknowledge having received the Prophet’s message (We hear), but assert their defiance of it (and disobey). They command the Prophet to hear, but then mock that he hears not. Alternate translations could be “Hear, may you hear not!” (Ṭ, Ṭs, Z), which would clearly make it a curse or imprecation, or “Hear, may you not be heard!” that is, may your words or call not be accepted (Ṭ, Ṭs, Z). They are further accused of issuing the command Attend to us (rāʿinā), which might mean simply “Pay attention to us” or “Consider us,” but they alter the pronunciation or tone of the command, twisting their tongues, so that it becomes condescending and disparaging in connotation; and in disparaging the Prophet, they are disparaging religion. Some suggest that their deliberate mispronunciation of the word made it sound like a derogatory term in Hebrew (Z). They should have said, Listen and Regard us (using a different term, unẓurnā; see 2:104). For their insolence and denial, God cursed them, so that they believe not, save a few. This may also be translated “they believe not, save a little” (Q); cf. 2:88. Elsewhere the Quran pronounces a curse on any who conceal Divine Revelation or torment the Prophet (2:159; 33:57), two charges leveled here against the Madinan Jews.

***

# O you unto whom the Book has been given! Believe in what We have sent down, confirming that which is with you, before We blot out faces and turn them backwards, or curse them as We cursed those [who broke] the Sabbath. And the Command of God shall be fulfilled.

47 This passage calls on the People of the Book, but more specifically the Jews of Madinah, to believe in the revelations given to the Prophet, as they are said to confirm the previous scriptures given to the Jews (see, e.g., 2:89; 3:81; 6:92; 46:12). If not, a warning is issued that God will blot out faces and turn them backwards. Since the face is a symbol for or a manifestation of the state of the individual soul, Divine punishment is often said to be meted out upon faces (see, e.g., 3:106; 8:50; 20:111; 88:2). Some say blot out faces means that their facial features, notably their eyes, will be removed, so they will be blinded (Q); turn them backwards means that their eyes will be placed behind their heads, rendering them incapable of seeing what is before them, so that they have to walk backwards (Ṭ). Others say it is metaphorical, meaning they will be blinded to the path to truth and so turned back toward error (Q, Ṭ). It further warns that He may curse them as He cursed those [who broke] the Sabbath; see 2:65, where God curses Sabbath violators by saying, Be you apes, outcast. The present verse may thus suggest that the Madinan Jews will be cursed in this same manner for deriding the Prophet (Q, Ṭ). Several Madinan Jews reportedly converted to Islam after the revelation of this verse (Ṭ), and their conversion served to avert the punishment, threatened in this verse, from the Madinan Jews as a whole (Q). Others assert that the verse alludes to the Jews’ eventual exile from much of Arabia (Q, Ṭ, Z).

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# Truly God forgives not that any partner be ascribed unto Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whomsoever He will, for whosoever ascribes partners unto God has surely fabricated a tremendous sin.

48 The sin of shirk, ascribing partners to God in worship or in His role as Creator, is considered to be the only sin God will not forgive (see also v. 116). Although this term is often associated with idolatry in the crass form of worshipping humanly constructed idols—and indeed mushrikūn, the active participle from the same root, is often translated “idolaters”—it can also refer to those who worship human authorities, false deities, angels (see 17:40c; 53:26–27), jinn (6:100; 34:41), or natural phenomena (6:76–78) as having independent influence and authority over the world or human destiny. The sin of shirk could also be broadened to include subtler ways of setting up “equals” with God, such as loving or fearing anything but God. The present verse compelled many to examine their own hearts and excise all such forms of “hidden shirk” (Aj, Qu). Some say that this verse was revealed, in part, to clarify the assertion in 39:53 that God forgives all sins, making an exception for shirk (Ṭ). However, the possibility of forgiveness for shirk is precluded only for one who dies unrepentant (Z; see 67:10–11c). The verse does not guarantee forgiveness for sins other than shirk, but allows for its possibility (Ṭ). ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib reportedly said that this verse gave him the greatest hope (Q), and Ibn ʿAbbās considered it one of the eight most important verses about forgiveness (see 4:26–28c). Some have seen this verse as a continuation of the warning issued to the Madinan Jews in v. 47 and even claim that it indicates that Jews can be considered mushrikūn, although this has never represented the general opinion among Muslim scholars. Nonetheless al-Rāzī argues syllogistically that since v. 47 warns that the Jews’ failure to believe in the message of the Quran will bring certain punishment, this failure to believe is de facto an “unforgivable sin”; since the only unforgivable sin is shirk, their failure to believe in the Quran is tantamount to shirk. However, this interpretation collapses the categories of shirk and kufr into one, whereas the two are distinct in the Quran and Islamic Law. In the Quran, Jews and Christians are clearly identified as religious practitioners separate from the mushrikūn (see 22:17; 98:1c), even if it sometimes suggests they might be guilty of something that approximates shirk (cf. 5:72; 9:30). In other places Jews and Christians are explicitly included in the category of “those who believe in God and the Last Day” and who may, therefore, enjoy a blessed Afterlife (2:62; 5:69). This clearly shows that Jews cannot be considered to be mushrikūn—that is, those who take partners unto God in worship—since that unforgiveable sin would necessarily bar them from such blessings in the Hereafter. This verse can also be read as a mitigation rather than an intensification of the threat to the Madinan Jews: if v. 47 threatens punishment for the Jews’ failure to believe in the Quranic message, v. 48 could be read as offering hope that all other sins—perhaps even a failure to believe in the Quran and the Prophet on the part of the Jews (essentially kufr, or disbelief, but short of shirk)—are open to possible forgiveness. It is only shirk, theologically and legally distinct from kufr, that cannot be forgiven. Most early commentators read this verse as a general statement of hope to the believers concerning God’s willingness to forgive rather than as a particular threat to the Madinan Jews. Ibn ʿUmar reports that upon the death of a fellow Muslim who he and others knew had committed a great sin, they bore witness that he was among the people of Hell. When this verse was revealed, they ceased to do so, as they realized that even great sins were open to Divine Forgiveness (Th).

***

# Hast thou not seen those who deem themselves pure? Rather, it is God Who purifies whomsoever He will, and they shall not be wronged so much as the thread of a date stone.

# See how they fabricate lies against God! That suffices as a manifest sin.

49–50 These verses continue the criticism of the Madinan Jews (Q) or more likely of the People of the Book in general (Z) who deem themselves pure. Most commentators see this as a reference to spiritual assertions the Jews or the People of the Book are said to make elsewhere in the Quran, particularly their declaration that they are the children and the beloved of God (5:18) and that they have an exclusive claim on Paradise (2:111; Q, Ṭ, Z). Some say that it refers to a group of Madinan Jews who approached the Prophet, claiming that they were free of sin, that what they did during the day was forgiven at night (Q, Ṭ, W, Z), or that they could absolve one another of their sins through intercession (Q, Ṭ), although the Quran does not attest to any such claims being made explicitly by the People of the Book. The Quran warns people in general not to consider themselves pure (53:32). God alone knows those who are truly pure and those who are not. They shall not be wronged so much as the thread of a date stone indicates that God does not treat people unjustly even in the slightest way (cf. 4:77, 124; 17:71; 19:60). The thread of a date stone renders fatīl, which might also mean the bit of soil that one can find by scraping between one’s fingers; in either case, it is a common Quranic metaphor for insignificance. Such assertions of purity and sinlessness are said in v. 50 to be lies against God, a sin in itself. The claim of purity for one’s soul is unacceptable in Islam. Even the falsely accused prophet Joseph asserted, when the treachery of his would-be seductress was revealed, But I absolve not my own soul. Surely the soul commands to evil (12:53). Claims of purity for oneself were particularly odious to the Sufis, who warned that the carnal soul (nafs) was not the locus of purity in the human being, that being pleased with one’s own soul extinguished the lights of certitude (Su) and was the source of disobedience and heedlessness (Aj), and that anyone who was persuaded by others’ high opinions of their purity or by their own high estimation of themselves was veiled in ignorance (Qu).

***

# Hast thou not considered those who were given a portion of the Book, who believe in idols and false deities, and say of those who disbelieve, “These are guided more rightly than those who believe.”

# They are those whom God has cursed, and whomsoever God curses, thou wilt not find for him any helper.

51–52 Some of those who were given a portion of the Book—that is, some among the Jews and Christians—are here criticized for believing in idols and false deities (al-jibt wa’l-ṭāghūt). Al-jibt appears only in this verse; al-ṭāghūt, however, appears in several other verses and denotes a variety of false sources of authority, false objects of worship, and false causes (cf. 2:256c; 4:60, 76; 5:60; 16:36; 39:17). Some identify al-jibt and al-ṭāghūt as two idols of the Quraysh, although others consider al-jibt to refer to idols and al-ṭāghūt to soothsayers (Ṭ). It is also widely reported that these terms refer to two leaders of the Madinan Jews, Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf and Ḥuyayy ibn Akhtab (and perhaps other Madinan Jewish delegates), who visited the Makkans after Badr or Uḥud. When the Makkans insisted that they were good people who provided for the Kaʿbah pilgrims and maintained ties of kinship, while Muhammad turned away from the Kaʿbah and severed his ties of kinship, Kaʿb and Huyayy declared that the Makkans (those who disbelieve) were guided more rightly than those who believe (JJ, W). At the request of their hosts, the Jews reportedly paid homage to the idols al-jibt and alṭāghūt to convince the Makkans that they were willing to support them against the Prophet (Ṭ). Other reports identify al-jibt as a soothsayer and al-ṭāghūt as Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf (Ṭ); still others identify al-jibt as sorcery and al-ṭāghūt as Satan, or the reverse (Ṭ). Al-Zamakhsharī identifies Kaʿb and Huyayy as believers in aljibt for acceding to their hosts’ request to bow down to idols and as believers in ṭāghūt for obeying Satan in seeking to form an alliance against the Prophet. Al-jibt wa’l-ṭāghūt can also be taken to refer to all false objects of worship or false authorities to whom people turn instead of to God, whether idols, other human beings, or Satan (Ṭ), and so has a general application beyond the historical context of its revelation. Being cursed by God is said to mean being exiled from His Mercy (Ṭ, Ṭs).

***

# Or have they a share in sovereignty? If they did, they would not give men so much as the speck on a date stone.

53 This verse poses a rhetorical question whose answer is negative, meaning that they (the Madinan Jews) do not have a share in sovereignty (Q, Ṭ, Z). This is usually understood to mean a lack of earthly authority, although some see it as meaning spiritual authority (Z). The verse asserts that if they did have a share in sovereignty, they would deny their subjects, with regard to their rights (Q), even so much as a speck on a date stone (naqīr). Naqīr, which might also mean the inner pith of the date stone, is also used in v. 124 as a metaphor for insignificance. Al-Qurṭubī notes that the verse begins with the conjunction “or,” which does not seem to be connected with anything prior to it. He therefore suggests that something has been elided in the text and that the full meaning is “Are they more deserving of prophecy than him unto whom it has been sent, or have they a share in sovereignty?”

***

# Or do they envy men on account of what God has given them of His Bounty? We gave the House of Abraham the Book and Wisdom, and We granted them a mighty sovereignty.

54 Again addressing the Jews of Madinah, this verse asks if they envy the Bounty—that is, the prophecy—that God has given to the Prophet, or to the Arabs through the Prophet (Ṭ); cf. 2:90, 109, 213; 3:19; 42:14; 45:17, where differences among the religious communities are said to be the result of envy. It suggests that the envy of the Madinan Jews toward the Muslims prevented them from accepting the Prophet’s message as a confirmation of their own scripture (IK). Al-Qurṭubī cites a ḥadīth that says, “Envy consumes good deeds as fire consumes wood”; and the Prophet reportedly said, “I have not seen any oppressor who more resembles the oppressed than the envier” (Q). Envy is considered a sin against God, as it shows a lack of contentment with what one has been given by Him; it is said to have been the first sin committed in the celestial realm (referring to Satan’s envy of Adam; see 7:11–13) and the first committed on earth (referring to Cain’s envy of Abel; see 5:27–31; Q). This verse further asserts that God has given the House of Abraham revelation and inspiration: the Book and Wisdom (cf. 57:26). The Book is said to refer to the scriptures of Abraham and Moses (87:19) as well as to the Psalms (al-Zabūr) and the Gospel (Ṭs), while the Wisdom refers to Divine inspiration that did not take the form of a written “book” (Ṭ). God is also said to have given the House of Abraham a mighty sovereignty (mulk). In 2:124, Abraham is made an imām for mankind, a term that generally denotes religious authority, but can also mean political authority. Mulk here most likely refers to the kingdom of David and Solomon (Ṭ) or the combination of worldly and spiritual authority that they enjoyed (Ṭs). Others assert that the Bounty for which the Jews of Madinah envied the Prophet included the Quranic permission he received to marry women without a specified limit (33:50), thus exceeding the limit of four wives allowed other men (Ṭ). According to this interpretation, the reference to the sovereignty God bestowed upon the House of Abraham later in the verse is meant to remind the Jews that their own forebears, David and Solomon, possessed not only mighty kingdoms, but many wives as well, far exceeding the number of wives the Prophet married (Z). The invocation of the House of Abraham may also indicate that the Prophet and his forefathers could be considered, along with the Jews, to be the rightful heirs to Abraham’s legacy of Divine Revelation and Sovereignty (Z), given the Quranic story of Abraham’s establishment of his descendants and his religion in Arabia, specifically Makkah, through his own efforts and those of his son Ishmael (cf. 2:125–29; 14:35–37; 22:26–29). According to Shiite interpretations, based on a report attributed to Jaʿfar alṢādiq, the men who are envied in this verse are the Prophet and his family: the Bounty for which the Jews envy the Prophet is prophecy, and the Bounty for which they envy the Prophet’s family is the spiritual authority (imāmah) that was granted to them (Ṭs).

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# Among them are those who believe in him, and among them are those who turn away from him. And Hell suffices as a blazing flame!

55 Among the Jews of Madinah, there are those who believe in him, that is, in the Prophet and in his revelation as a confirmation of their own, and there are those who turn away from him. Him here might also refer to Abraham (Q, Ṭs, Z). Alternately, Among them are those who believe in him may be translated, “Among them are those who believe in it,” where “it” refers to the Quran (Q). And Hell suf ices as a blazing flame indicates that although the worldly punishment with which the Jews were threatened in v. 47 was averted when some of them accepted the Prophet’s message, the punishment of those who continued to disbelieve was deferred to the Hereafter, where they will suffer in Hell (Ṭ, Ṭs).

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# Those who disbelieve in Our signs, We shall surely cause them to burn in a Fire. As often as their skins are consumed, We shall replace them with other skins, that they may taste the punishment. Truly God is Mighty, Wise.

56 The image of the skins of those in Hell being consumed (naḍijat, lit. “roasted”) repeatedly and indefinitely, conveys the unending nature of the punishment. This is also among a number of verses that are understood by some commentators as suggesting that the pleasures and torments of the Afterlife as described in the Quran are meant to be taken literally rather than as metaphors for spiritual reward and punishment. Others say that skins refers to the garments made of pitch (14:50) that those in Hell will wear (Ṭ, Q) These are replaced as they are burned up, so that the condemned can be set alight again and again. The constant renewal of their skins has also been understood as indicating a continuous change in the attributes of those in Hell without any change in their essence.

***

# But for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, We shall cause them to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein forever. There they shall have spouses made pure, and We shall cause them to enter plenteous shade.

57 Cf. v. 122. To believe and to perform righteous deeds are frequently mentioned together as the basic criteria of those who deserve Paradise (see, e.g., 2:25; 5:9; 7:42; 30:15; 31:8; 32:19). With rivers running below is one of the most common characteristics of the paradisal Garden, and the image of ample shade is also found in many paradisal descriptions (13:35; 36:56; 56:30; 76:14; 77:41). A ḥadīth states, “There is a tree in the Garden such that one could ride in its shade for a hundred years without leaving it” (IK, Ṭ). The presence in the Garden of spouses made pure is likewise common (2:25; 3:15), and these spouses may be the same as the maidens said to await the righteous there (cf. 37:48; 38:52; 44:54; 52:20; 55:56, 72; 56:22; 78:33). The commentators explain the purity of these spouses as meaning that they are free of all suspicion, of all forms of ritual impurity, of all impure bodily fluids and waste, and of the reproductive functions of menstruation and pregnancy that characterize earthly women (IK, Ṭ), as well as of all vileness, imperfection, and sin (IK). Other verses indicate that the righteous among one’s earthly spouses will join one in the Garden (13:23; 36:56; 40:8; 43:70), and so another possible meaning of spouses made pure might be earthly spouses now purified in the paradisal state.

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# God commands you to return trusts to their rightful owners and, if you judge between men, to do so with justice. Excellent indeed is the instruction God gives you. Truly God is Hearing, Seeing.

58 Cf. 2:283; 23:8. Note also that one of the critiques made of some of the People of the Book is that they would be reluctant to return a trust (3:75). This verse begins a section (vv. 58–70) whose theme is the nature of authority. According to one report, this verse was revealed at the time of the conquest of Makkah. When the Prophet entered Makkah, he asked ʿUthmān ibn Ṭalḥah for the key to the Kaʿbah, which was in his possession. ʿUthmān initially refused, but it was eventually taken from him. The Prophet’s uncle ʿAbbās sought to become the new keeper of the Kaʿbah key, as he was already in charge of providing water for pilgrims to the shrine. But when this verse was revealed, the key was returned to its original keeper, who, upon learning of the revelation, proclaimed his belief in the prophecy of Muhammad (IK, Q, Ṭ, W). Without denying the particular historical context of the verse, most commentators interpret it more broadly, understanding return trusts to their rightful owners as a command to all trustees in both worldly and spiritual matters (Q, Z). Some take this as a command to obey those exercising legitimate authority —a command made more explicitly in v. 59—but it is more likely addressed to ruling authorities themselves, who should distribute among their people the charitable funds and spoils of war with which they have been entrusted (Ṭ). This interpretation better fits the context, as the next clause, commanding those who judge to do so with justice, seems to be addressed to authority figures rather than their subjects. This interpretation also makes vv. 58–59 a reciprocal pair: v. 58 commands ruling authorities to treat their subjects with justice, and v. 59 requires obedience to those authorities on the part of their subjects (Ṭ). Nonetheless, the verse is best understood as a general command to all who hold a “trust” of any kind, including deposits and securities as well as things borrowed or found (Q). The singular “trust” (amānah) is also used to denote the moral and spiritual responsibility humanity has accepted from God (33:72), and many commentators claim that, in the present verse, the command to return trusts also means fulfilling religious obligations, such as prayer and fasting (IK, Q). Shiite tradition also interprets this and the following verse in relation to the Shiite Imams. The fifth and sixth Imams, Muhammad al-Bāqir and Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq, interpreted return trusts to their rightful owners as a command to the Imams that they render the imamate to their rightful successors—a reference to the principle of naṣṣ, or designation, by which each Imam declares his successor before his own death (Ṭs, Ṭu). The command to judge . . . with justice should also be understood to have a general application, insofar as all human beings can be said to be both in charge of and responsible for something and so can be said to have authority over some matter (even if it is simply their own family or body), which they should execute justly (Q). The Divine Names Hearing and Seeing are also paired elsewhere (cf. 4:134; 22:61, 75; 31:28; 58:1) and together reinforce the notion of God’s Omniscience. The primacy of Hearing over Seeing may be linked to the primacy of sound in the creation of the world (God “speaks” the world into being through the command “Be!”; see, e.g., 2:117) and in the transmission of Divine Revelation as spoken word in Islam.

***

# O you who believe! Obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you differ among yourselves concerning any matter, refer it to God and the Messenger, if you believe in God and the Last Day. That is better, and fairer in outcome.

59 Cf. 3:32; 5:92; 24:54; 47:33; 64:12. Some interpret the command to obey God and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you as indicating that obedience to the Prophet is tantamount to or a means of obedience to God (Ṭ; cf. v. 80) and that obedience to those the Prophet has placed in authority is tantamount to obedience to the Prophet. A ḥadīth makes this clear: “Whoever obeys me has obeyed God, and whoever obeys my commander has obeyed me; whoever disobeys me has disobeyed God, and whoever disobeys my commander has disobeyed me” (IK, Ṭ, Ṭs, Z). Most understand obey the Messenger as commanding obedience to the Prophet, both during his lifetime and posthumously, by following his Sunnah (Ṭ; cf. 3:32c; 33:21c). A larger question surrounds the identity of those in authority among you. For some, this refers to the commanders the Prophet sent on military campaigns. One report connects this verse to an incident where ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir, an early Companion of the Prophet, granted amnesty to a man during a military campaign without consulting the designated commander, Khālid ibn al-Walīd, who was angered by this and refused to honor the amnesty. The two men took the dispute to the Prophet, who upheld the amnesty granted by ʿAmmār, but instructed him never again to disregard the authority of his military commander (IK, Ṭ, W). Others identify those in authority among you as Muslim religious and legal scholars (ʿulamāʾ), because of their knowledge of the Quran and the Sunnah, through which God and the Prophet are obeyed (Q, Ṭ). Still others consider this a reference to the Companions of the Prophet in general or Abū Bakr and ʿUmar (the first two Caliphs) in particular (Q, Ṭ). The general nature of the command to obey those in authority may suggest that even imperfect leaders should be obeyed. Some commentators cite a ḥadīth that indicates that one will be rewarded for obeying those in authority, regardless of the virtue of their character and rule (IK, Ṭ). The general statement this verse makes about obedience to authority has led some Muslims to view obedience, even to unjust rulers, as preferable to the chaos and social harm that may result from a revolt, and a well-known tradition states, “One day of anarchy is worse than a thousand years of tyranny.” Other traditions, however, forbid Muslims from obeying a leader who commands an act of disobedience toward God. Thus many argue that the command to obey those in authority among you applies only to just rulers who command obedience to God (Z). ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib observed that since this verse was immediately preceded by a command to rulers that they return trusts to their rightful owners and judge between men . . . with justice, the present command to obey those in authority among you refers only to those who rule justly (Q). If individual Muslims or a group of Muslims disagree with an authority, they are to refer the matter to God by consulting the Quran or to the Messenger by bringing the matter to him personally (as Khālid and ʿAmmār did in the above report) or by consulting his Sunnah (Q, Ṭ, Z). This is among a number of verses that establish the importance of obeying the Prophet or following his example even in matters not addressed by the Quran (cf. 3:31; 4:83; 24:63; 33:21). Some might argue that the command to refer disagreements to God and the Messenger limits Muslims to consulting only these two sources, the Quran and the Sunnah, rather than the interpretations of scholars or religious authorities, but this view is not consistent with v. 83, which recommends Muslims refer such matters to the Messenger and to those in authority among them (Q). Shiites interpret those in authority among you as a reference to the Shiite Imams and proof of their spiritual infallibility (ʿiṣmah), for they claim that God would only demand obedience to one preserved from religious error (Ṭs). Shiite commentators also extend the command to refer differences to God and the Messenger to apply to the Imams as well, because for Shiites the Imams “stand in the place of the Messenger after his death” (Ṭs). In the Sufi tradition, those in authority among you can also refer to Sufi shaykhs, or guides (Aj, Qu, Su), as well as to the “gnostics,” that is, those who have sought out and acquired spiritual knowledge of God (Aj).

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# Hast thou not seen those who claim that they believe in that which was sent down unto thee and in that which was sent down before thee, desiring to seek judgment from false deities, although they were commanded not to believe in them? But Satan desires to lead them far astray.

# And when it is said unto them, “Come to what God has sent down and to the Messenger, ” thou seest the hypocrites turn from thee with aversion.

60–61 For a discussion of false deities (ṭāghūt) as false authorities, see 4:51–52c. Vv. 60–65 were reportedly revealed in response to a dispute between a Madinan Jew and a Madinan hypocrite (see commentary on 3:167; 63:1–8). By some accounts, the hypocrite was a former Jew who claimed to have embraced Islam. The Jewish man wanted to take their dispute to the Prophet, knowing that he would judge honestly, but the hypocrite convinced him to take the dispute to a local soothsayer or to the Madinan Jewish leader Kaʿb ibn al-Ashraf. In v. 60, the men are chastised for seeking judgment from false authorities, instead of the Prophet (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs, W), because they were commanded not to believe in them (cf. 2:256). The last line of v. 60 implicates Satan, not God, in their having been led astray, and for some this serves as a refutation of the predestinarian theological view (jabr) that holds that God chooses to guide or mislead certain people (Ṭs, Ṭū). When this hypocrite and others like him are called to what God has sent down and to the Messenger, they turn away from the Prophet. The hypocrites turn from thee could also be translated, “the hypocrites bar [others] from thee,” referring to the hypocrite’s rejection of the Jew’s suggestion that they take their dispute to the Prophet. The behavior of the hypocrites who turn away when they are called to what God has sent down is contrasted by the description of the believers in 24:51, who, when they are called unto God and His Messenger, . . . say, “We hear and we obey.” For some, the present verse is a rebuke to all those who seek judgment outside of the Quran and the Sunnah (IK) or a general prohibition against seeking judgment from anyone who does not judge by God’s Law (Ṭs, Ṭū).

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# How will it be when misfortune befalls them because of what their hands have sent forth? Then they will come to thee, swearing by God, “We sought naught but virtue and harmony.”

# They are those whom God knows what is in their hearts. So turn away from them, and admonish them and speak to them about their souls with penetrating words.

62–63 The judgment wrongdoers receive in the next life is the result of what their hands have sent forth, an idea repeated over a dozen times in the Quran to emphasize that human beings are solely responsible for their fate in the Hereafter. Their actions are sent forth, to be confronted on the Day of Judgment (cf. 2:95; 5:80; 8:51; 18:57; 59:18; 62:7; 78:40; 82:5; 89:24). Here, however, the suggestion is that the misfortunes generated by their wrongdoing might also be visited upon them in this life (R). When confronted with their sins, the disbelievers, instead of repenting, defend their actions, saying, We sought naught but virtue and harmony, either deceptively or in self-delusion (cf. 2:11–12; 9:107). God knows the hypocrisy they hide in their hearts. The Prophet is instructed to turn away from the disbelievers—that is, to avoid openly punishing them; he is to admonish them and seek to persuade them with penetrating words rather than confronting them aggressively with force. Turn away here may also mean to refuse to accept their excuses (Ṭs). Some say that these two verses refer to a group of hypocrites who built another mosque just outside Madinah. Ultimately, this was revealed to the Prophet to be a challenge to his authority and a threat to his person, as they may have been using it to plot against him, and the mosque was destroyed. Yet, those who had built it claimed they did so only seeking what is best (9:107; Q). The verses may also continue the discussion of the two disputants seeking judgment, who excused their behavior by claiming that their intention was only the promotion of virtue and harmony (JJ).

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# We sent no messenger, save that he should be obeyed by God’s Leave. If, when they had wronged themselves, they had but come to thee and sought forgiveness of God, and the Messenger had sought forgiveness for them, they would surely have found God Relenting, Merciful.

64 This verse continues the discussion of the two men who wronged themselves by seeking judgment from someone other than the Prophet, stressing the necessity of obeying prophetic messengers: God sent them for no other purpose. For Muʿtazilite thinkers, this was proof that it was God’s Will that prophets be obeyed by all, and that He did not, as certain predestinarian thinkers asserted, intend that anyone disobey them or be misguided concerning them. For Ashʿarite commentators, like al-Rāzī, however, much hinges on the statement that the messengers are obeyed by God’s Leave. They see this as a strong proof of their theological position that obedience or disobedience on the part of any person exists by God’s Leave, not solely through the moral choices of the individual. That God intended the messengers to be obeyed is also seen as affirming their spiritual infallibility (R). The verse further suggests the intercessory role of the Prophet, for it asserts that if these two men sought forgiveness of God for themselves, the Prophet would also seek forgiveness for them, and they would then find God Relenting and Merciful. However, the Prophet’s seeking forgiveness for them is dependent upon their own repentance. In the Quran prophets often seek forgiveness for their people: the Prophet Muhammad is told to seek forgiveness for his followers (3:159; 24:62); Jacob agrees to seek forgiveness for his sons (12:97–98); and Abraham seeks forgiveness for his father (19:47; 60:4). But where there is no corresponding attitude of repentance on the part of those for whom forgiveness is sought, the prophet’s efforts on their behalf are said to be both inappropriate and ineffectual (see 9:80, 113–14; 63:5–6). The angels are also said to seek forgiveness for the believers (40:7) and for those on earth (42:5). For a further discussion of intercession (shafāʿah) and seeking forgiveness for others (istighfār), see 2:48c; 2:255c.

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# But no, by thy Lord, they will not believe until they have made thee the judge between them in their disputes, and find no resistance in their souls to what thou hast decreed, and surrender with full submission.

65 People cannot be considered believers until they make the Prophet the judge between them in their disputes and have no doubt or unease about his judgments (Ṭ). One report connects this verse to the case of a dispute brought to the Prophet for judgment by the Prophet’s early Companion and cousin al-Zubayr ibn al-ʿAwāmm (d. 36/656) and one of his neighbors concerning the use of a water channel. The neighbor was unhappy with the Prophet’s ruling and suggested that he had favored al-Zubayr, because al-Zubayr was his cousin. This verse was revealed, chastising his critical attitude toward the Prophet’s judgment (Ṭ, W). However, it seems more likely that the verse continues the discussion of the incident addressed in vv. 60–64, although it may also have been invoked in relation to the incident with al-Zubayr.

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# And had We prescribed for them, “Lay down your lives” or “Leave your homes, ” they would not have done so, save a few. And had they done what they were exhorted to do, it would have been better for them, and a stronger confirmation.

# Then We would surely have granted them, from Our Presence, a great reward,

# and We would surely have guided them unto a straight path.

66–68 Lay down your lives translates uqtulū anfusakum, which could also be rendered “slay yourselves” or, metaphorically, “mortify yourselves” (in the sense of killing your vain desires), as it is in 2:54, which refers to God’s command through Moses to the Israelites after the golden calf incident. Some see the present verse as addressing the Jews and as referencing the command in 2:54 as a way of suggesting that few of those in the Prophet’s time would have fulfilled such a command (Ṭ). The verse suggests that they would also have been unwilling to follow a Divine command to leave your homes, a command that tested many earlier prophets and prophetic communities, as well as Muhammad’s. It was, in part, the willingness of the Prophet’s Makkan followers to leave their homes and families and migrate to Madinah that earned them the high religious status of “Emigrants” that they were afforded in the first Muslim community. And in the Madinan period, prior to the conquest of Makkah, leaving one’s home and family and migrating, or making hijrah, to Madinah was a requirement of full membership in the Muslim community (8:72). Some see the present verse as continuing to address specifically the two men who sought judgment from someone other than the Prophet referenced in vv. 60–65 (Ṭ), although it may speak in general to all those whose claims of belief were questionable, whether they were certain Jews, Madinan hypocrites, or others. Had they done as they were told (which, in context, likely means to consult God and the Prophet in their affairs; see v. 59), it would have been better for them, in this world and the next, and would have been a stronger confirmation of their faith. It would have better convinced others of their sincerity and given them greater resolution in their own beliefs and actions, since the resolution of the hypocrite is always weak (Ṭ). The great reward from Our Presence (min ladunnā), also mentioned in v. 40, has been understood as a spiritual reward received from God’s very Presence that surpasses any physical reward or delight one can experience. It is sometimes associated with the vision of God or with being completely overwhelmed by love and knowledge of Him (R on 4:40). For straight path, see 1:6c.

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# Whosoever obeys God and the Messenger, they are with those whom God has blessed, the prophets, the truthful ones, the witnesses, and the righteous. What beautiful companions they are!

# Such is the Bounty from God, and God suffices as Knower.

69–70 Cf. 4:59 and commentary. Those who are obedient are among those whom God has blessed, that is, those who have been granted guidance and success in this life and Paradise in the next (Ṭ). Moreover, the verse indicates that they shall have the company of the most excellent in Paradise, including the prophets. This verse was reportedly revealed when some of the Prophet’s Companions expressed dismay at the thought that those who so enjoyed the Prophet’s company on earth would be denied it in the Hereafter since, as a prophet, Muhammad would be exalted far above them. This verse made clear that the obedient shall have the company of their prophet after death (JJ, Ṭs, W, Z). According to several aḥādīth, the Prophet assured his followers that if they love God, the Prophet, and the righteous, although they may have fallen short in their own works, they shall be “with those whom they love” in the next life. The truthful ones (ṣiddīqīn), which might also be translated “the sincere,” are those who believe in and follow the prophets in complete sincerity (Ṭ) or the most morally excellent among their companions (JJ, Z); in later usage, ṣiddīq came to denote something that approximates “saint.” The Prophet’s close Companion and the first Caliph, Abū Bakr, was given the epithet al-Ṣiddīq (the Truthful One), in part because he affirmed the truthfulness of the Prophet’s account of his miraculous Night Journey when many others doubted it, just as he believed in the first revelation. Witnesses (shuhadāʾ) could also be rendered “martyrs” and is sometimes glossed as meaning those who die in the way of God (Ṭ). However, limiting witnesses to those killed for the sake of religion does not seem consistent with the wider Quranic usage, as the term is also mentioned in the context of bearing witness to Divine covenants as well as testifying to the truth in a legal, religious, or spiritual matter. Al-Rāzī argues that the word refers to all who bear witness to the truth of religion, whether they do so by proof and argument or with sword and shield (R). The righteous (ṣāliḥīn) refers to those who do what is right both publicly and in secret (Ṭ). This passage echoes 57:19, where those who obey God and the Messenger are themselves described as the truthful (ṣiddīqūn) and witnesses (shuhadāʾ), whereas in the present verse it is said that those who are obedient shall be with the truthful and the witnesses. According to a Shiite report, Jaʿfar al-Ṣādiq considered the truthful ones and the witnesses as references to the Imams, and the righteous as a reference to their followers (Ṭs). Al-Rāzī sees vv. 68–69 as forming a commentary on 1:6–7, in which the believers pray to be guided upon the straight path and placed among those whom Thou hast blessed; the answer to this prayer is that those who obey God and the Prophet shall be granted both (R).

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# O you who believe! Take your precautions; then go forth in companies or go forth all together.

71 Take your precautions instructs the Muslims to take up arms or otherwise prepare themselves against their enemies. The commentators are clear that preparing oneself in this way does not signify a lack of trust in God, and in connection with this verse they frequently cite a ḥadīth in which the Prophet instructed a man, “Tether [your camel], then place your trust in God” (Aj, Q, R). For al-Qushayrī, taking such precautions means fleeing from all that is other than God. To go forth in companies means to go out to the enemy as separate military units or raiding parties, whereas go forth all together refers to the Muslims going to battle as a single army, under the leadership of the Prophet (Ṭ).

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# Among you indeed is one who would tarry; then, if misfortune should befall you, he would say, “God has blessed me, in that I did not accompany them.”

# But should a bounty come to you from God, he would surely say —as if there had been no affection between you and him—“Oh, would that I had been with them, so that I had attained a great triumph!”

72–73 Among those who would tarry is said to be the Madinan hypocrite ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy, who held back from joining the Prophet’s army at the Battle of Uḥud (3/625). He and other Madinan hypocrites lagged behind, so that they would not arrive in time to join the Prophet’s army in battle. If misfortune should befall the Prophet’s army, they would consider it providential that they were not with them (JJ). But should a bounty come . . . from God—that is, should the Prophet’s army win the battle—they would lament that they could not share in the honor and the spoils of the victory. Al-Rāzī notes that some commentators gloss one who would tarry (yubaṭṭiʾanna) as “one who would weigh down [the Muslim army] with hesitation and delay” and connect it with 9:38 (O you who believe! What ails you, that when it is said unto you, “Go forth in the way of God,” you sink down heavily to the earth?), since to “slow down” or “weigh down” is a common meaning of yubaṭṭiʾanna. Al-Rāzī, however, disagrees with this interpretation, since the verse suggests that the hypocrites simply lag behind so as to avoid the battle rather than to slow down the Muslim army.

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# Let them fight in the way of God, those who would sell the life of this world for the Hereafter. And whosoever fights in the way of God —whether he is slain or victorious—We shall grant him a great reward.

74 Fighting in the way of God means fighting for His religion and His commands and calling others to it (Ṭ). Cf. 22:39–40, where the first command given to the Muslims to fight indicates that the right to fight is granted for the protection of all those who remember God. Selling the life of the world for the Hereafter is one of several mercantile metaphors used to describe the sacrifices one should make for God. Cf. 2:207; and also 9:111, where it is said of the believers who fight in the way of God that God has purchased . . . their souls and their wealth in exchange for the Garden being theirs. By contrast, in 2:86 those Israelites who had broken the covenant are described as having purchased the world at the price of the Hereafter. Some commentators have interpreted the verb sell (yashrūna) here as meaning, by contrast, “purchase” (usually yashtarūna), so that the verse would be translated, “Let them fight in the way of God, those who would purchase the life of this world for [the price of] the Hereafter” (R, Z). In the latter interpretation, the statement is addressed to the hypocrites and those who would tarry (v. 72), who prefer the life of this world over that of the next, and who are admonished to fight in the way of God.

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# And what ails you that you fight not in the way of God, and for the weak and oppressed—men, women, and children—who cry out, “Our Lord! Bring us forth from this town whose people are oppressors, and appoint for us from Thee a protector, and appoint for us from Thee a helper.”

75 This verse indicates that fighting to relieve the oppressed is a legitimate basis for religious warfare (Q; also see 2:191–93; 8:39; and the essay “Conquest and Conversion, War and Peace in the Quran”). However, this verse is widely reported to relate specifically to those Muslims residing in Makkah who were oppressed and mistreated by their relatives and prevented from migrating to Madinah and so cried out to be “brought forth,” or delivered, from this town, that is, Makkah (IK, JJ, Q, R, Ṭ, Z). This verse urges the Muslims to fight to aid and liberate their suffering fellow Muslims in Makkah. Weak and oppressed collectively translates mustaḍʿafūn, which denotes both meanings. Cf. vv. 97–98, where certain wrongdoers seek to excuse their actions after death by claiming that they were weak and oppressed (mustaḍʿafūn) in the land. Their excuse is not accepted, but in v. 98 an exemption is given to those who were truly weak and oppressed among the men, women, and children. Ibn ʿAbbās claimed that he and his mother were among the women and children who were weak and oppressed in Makkah and who were thus excused by v. 98 (IK, Q, Z). Children are mentioned among the oppressed to make clear the extent of the cruelty of the Makkan idolaters, who would reportedly torture children in an effort to make their parents desist from their Islamic faith (R, Z); children here might also be a metaphorical reference to Muslim slaves, who were likewise incapable of leaving Makkah to join the community in Madinah (Z). The weak and oppressed Muslims of Makkah cry out for a protector (walī) and a helper; their prayer is answered when the Prophet and his army take control of Makkah in 8/630. After the conquest of Makkah, the Prophet reportedly appointed ʿAttāb ibn Asīd (or Usayd) to redress the injustices suffered by the Muslims in Makkah before its conquest (JJ, Ṭ, Z). This verse also highlights the importance and effectiveness of supplicating God for one’s needs, for when the oppressed of Makkah cried out to God for relief, He answered them in full (Ṭs). Some say that when the oppressed of Makkah supplicated God for relief, they specifically mentioned the suffering of their children to call down more effectively God’s Mercy upon them (Kā, Z). Ibn ʿAjībah reads this verse as encouraging all spiritual seekers to strive and fight against the baser human passions that oppress and weaken the true lights and mysteries of the spirit within. Like the oppressed of Makkah, these inner lights remain imprisoned in the carnal soul unless one fights to liberate them from the chains of base desire and spiritual heedlessness.

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# Those who believe fight in the way of God, and those who disbelieve fight in the way of false deities. Fight, therefore, against the allies of Satan. Surely the scheme of Satan is ever feeble.

76 To fight in the way of God here, as elsewhere, indicates to fight for the cause of justice and goodness, in obedience to God and in accordance with His Law (Sharīʿah). The disbelievers, by contrast, fight for false deities, which translates ṭāghūt (see 4:51–52c). According to al-Rāzī, God does not ordain the means or tactics for fighting, but only the proper intention and aim: the fighting must be for God alone. Fighting for any other reason—such as pride or a desire for spoils—amounts to fighting for false deities (R, Ṭs). In this verse, false deities is widely glossed as Satan (Ṭ), given the following exhortation to fight the allies of Satan (i.e., his “protectors” or “friends,” awliyāʾ). If the disbelievers are the allies (awliyāʾ) of Satan, the believers have God as their Protector or Ally (Walī; R). The feebleness of Satan’s guile lies in the fact that his allies fight out of fear or jealousy of the believers, while the believers fight for God and with hope for Paradise, and if they neglect to fight, they do so in fear of Divine retribution. Moreover, the disbelievers fight in doubt and fear of death, as they have no hope of reward in the Hereafter, and this makes them weak (Ṭ, Ṭs). The scheme (kayd) of Satan, or elsewhere of the disbelievers, is both intrinsically weak and rendered feeble and ineffectual by God (cf. 3:120; 8:18; 52:46). In the inward, spiritual fight against the base passions of the soul, true believers stand with God against the lower elements of their own souls, whereas disbelievers are allies of their own lower souls against God (ST). For Ibn ʿAjībah, fighting in the way of God means striving only to attain God’s Presence; whereas striving in one’s action for any worldly or otherworldly gain removes one from the ranks of the “allies” or “friends” (awliyāʾ) of God. Muslims who fight for the otherworldly reward of Paradise are still “believers,” but the true awliyāʾ strive for God alone (Aj).

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# Hast thou not seen those unto whom it was said, “Restrain your hands, and perform the prayer, and give the alms.” But when fighting was prescribed for them, behold, a party of them feared men, even as they should have feared God, or with greater fear, and they said, “Our Lord! Why hast Thou prescribed fighting for us? If only Thou wouldst grant us reprieve for a term nigh.” Say, “Scant is the enjoyment of this world, and the Hereafter is better for those who are reverent, and you shall not be wronged so much as the thread of a date stone.”

77 Those unto whom it was said, “Restrain your hands . . .” refers to a group of Muslims of Makkah who were told to refrain from fighting the disbelievers in Makkah while they (the Muslims) were still resident there (JJ) and to simply perform the prayer, and give the alms—the only two religious duties incumbent upon them at that time. Al-Rāzī asserts that the verse makes clear that prayer and alms, which demonstrate the proper attitude toward God and His creation, respectively, must precede striving or fighting in the way of God. Some list several prominent Companions among the group referenced here who came to the Prophet complaining of their humiliation at being unable to fight to redress the wrongs they had suffered at the hands of the disbelievers. The Prophet responded that he had been commanded to forgive, not to fight (IK, Q, R, Ṭ, W). Ibn Kathīr notes that the lack of permission to fight the disbelievers in Makkah was both because Makkah was a sanctuary that was supposed to remain free of violence and because the Muslims were yet small in number. However, the granting of permission to fight after the move to Madinah likely has less to do with the strength of the Muslims at that time, for when fighting was initiated in Madinah, the Muslims were still few and inadequately equipped in comparison to the Makkans. It likely has more to do with their having left the sacred precinct of Makkah and with the growing extent of the injustices that the Muslims had endured at the hands of the Makkans. When fighting was eventually prescribed for them once they were in Madinah, some of this same group were reluctant (cf. 47:20), fearing to face their enemies in battle even as they should have feared God, and they thus asked God to postpone this obligation for them until a term nigh, that is, until they could die a natural death (Ṭ). Their reluctance is explained as being the result of fear, not of religious doubt (Q, Z). Nonetheless, the attribution of such reluctance to the Muslim believers, some of whom were prominent Companions, seemed untenable to many commentators, and they considered this verse to be referring to others. Mujāhid reads vv. 77–83 as referring to the Jews, who refused to fight when commanded (5:21–24; IK, Ṭ). Al-Rāzī considers the possibility that the verse simply refers to the natural fear of death that all human beings, even the Companions, occasionally experienced, but asserts that the verse more likely addresses the Madinan hypocrites, since the degree of resistance to the Divine command manifest in this verse is unlikely to have come from believing Muslims. He suggests that this verse addresses the same group of hypocrites whose negative spiritual attitude is criticized in v. 78. Those fearful of fighting are admonished that the enjoyment of this world is scant and perishes; the Hereafter is better and is everlasting, more plentiful, and surer (R, Ṭ). You shall not be wronged; that is, God will not neglect to reward such people for whatever good they have done, despite their reluctance toward fighting (Z), so much as the thread of a date stone (fatīl; see 4:49–50c).

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# Wheresoever you may be, death will overtake you, though you should be in towers raised high. And if good befalls them, they say, “This is from God, ” but if evil befalls them, they say, “This is from thee.” Say, “All is from God.” What is with these people that they scarcely understand any tiding?

78 Towers (burūj) raised high refers to tall and seemingly impenetrable fortresses, according to most, but some claim that it refers to the “towers” or “constellations” (burūj) in the heavens (cf. 15:16; 25:61; 85:1; Q, R, Ṭ, Z). The verse addresses the attitude of Madinan hypocrites and those Jews who were reluctant to join the Muslims in battle. When some Muslims were killed at Uḥud, those who had stayed behind asserted that, had the slain Muslims remained with them, they would not have been killed (W). It also encourages the believing Muslims who were reluctant to fight because they feared men, even as they should have feared God (v. 77) to fight without fear of death (R), for death is always before them, wherever they might be, and death in the way of God brings eternal happiness (R, Ṭ; cf. 33:16). The verse indicates that everyone has an allotted time in this world, and once that time has elapsed, death cannot be escaped; if one is not killed in battle, for example, one will die some other way (Q). If good befalls them—that is, certain Jews or hypocrites of Madinah—they claim that it is a blessing from God, but if evil befalls them, they blame it on the Prophet. A drought occurred in Madinah shortly after the Prophet’s arrival there, and some Madinan Jews reportedly blamed it on the Prophet’s coming (JJ, Q). Others say that Madinah was thriving at the time of the Prophet’s coming to the city; but with the rise of the resistance of the Jews and hypocrites toward the Prophet, God withheld some of the bounty, as he had done in the case of other prophets (R; cf. 7:94: We sent no prophet to a town but that We seized its people with misfortune and hardship, that haply they would humble themselves). However, other commentators say that the present verse refers to those who, when they fought on the side of the Prophet, if they were victorious (as at the Battle of Badr in 2/624), would consider it a blessing God had ordained for them; but when they met with defeat or injury (as at the Battle of Uḥud in 3/625), would blame their failure on poor leadership on the part of the Prophet (Q, R, Ṭ). Cf. 7:131 and 27:47, where people accuse Moses and Ṣāliḥ, respectively, of bringing misfortune and ill-omen. However, this verse asserts that all is from God, both victory and defeat, blessings and afflictions—He favors people with the former and tries them with the latter, and all takes place according to His Decree (Ṭ). In 7:198, however, it is asserted that God tries people with both good and evil. Al-Zamakhsharī, a Muʿtazilite, argues that blessings and afflictions are not only for the purpose of Divine favor and trial, but also represent a Divine response to obedience and disobedience, respectively; al-Rāzī, however, argues that obedience and disobedience are also from God, supporting the Ashʿarite view, which emphasizes Divine agency in the creation of human moral acts (see the essay “The Quran and Schools of Islamic Theology and Philosophy”).

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# Whatever good befalls thee, it is from God, and whatever evil befalls thee, it is from thyself. We sent thee as a messenger unto mankind, and God suffices as a Witness.

79 Note that the verse is addressed to the Prophet Muhammad, but is meant for his community, and indeed for human beings in general. This verse seems in some ways to contradict v. 78, which asserts that all is from God (v. 78)—the good and the evil. Here, the good one enjoys is from God (cf. 16:53), which He gives as a blessing or a trial from His Wisdom (Z). But the evil one experiences is from thyself (cf. 3:165), in the sense that one has earned it through disobedience and sin (Z, Ṭ), although some indicate that it nonetheless occurs through God’s Decree (Ṭ). See 42:30: Whatever misfortune befalls you is because of that which your hands have earned; and He pardons much; and 3:117; 10:44; 29:40; 30:9, where the Quran asserts that God does not wrong people, but rather they wrong themselves. Some say that the present verse refers to the defeat the Muslims suffered at Uḥud, which was brought about when some of the Muslims disregarded the command to hold back from pursuing the fleeing Makkans (Q; cf. 3:152–53). If v. 78 affirms the view that all things originate with God, this verse suggests that some evil—including the spiritual evil of failing to believe, or being led astray —is brought about in response to human disobedience. The Muʿtazilite al-Qāḍī ʿAbd al-Jabbār (d. 415/1025) notes the apparent conflict between this verse and the previous one and resolves it by claiming that when the evil refers to sin and disobedience, it is from oneself, but when it refers to adversity and misfortune, it is from God (R). However, others assert that good and evil in this context do not refer to acts of obedience or disobedience (as they do elsewhere), but only to good and bad fortune, since the verse speaks of the good and evil that befalls one, not the good and evil that one commits (Q). Al-Rāzī argues that even belief is a gift from God, since it is a “good,” and all good is from God; by extension, then, disbelief is from God as well—if God has power over the one, He has power over the other (R). As for whatever evil befalls thee, it is from thyself, al-Rāzī and others read this as a rhetorical question, meant to demonstrate that the opposite is true, so that it should read, “Whatever befalls thee, is it from thyself?” (Q, R).. Others emphasize that all goodness comes from God as a free and undeserved gift, or bounty (faḍl); whereas all evil is acquired or earned through human actions (Qu; Rb). Kāshānī reconciles the apparent contradiction in vv. 78–79, by indicating that, although everything comes from God insofar as He is the active cause (al-sabab al-fāʿilī) of all things, human beings are the passive or receptive cause (al-sabab al-qābilī) of evil, through their own receptivity to it. We sent thee—that is, the Prophet—as a messenger unto mankind, which indicates the universal scope of his prophetic mission (Z; see also 7:158; 21:107; 34:28).

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# Whosoever obeys the Messenger obeys God, and as for those who turn away, We have not sent thee as their keeper.

80 Regarding obedience to God and the Messenger, and the relationship between them, see 3:32, 132; 4:59; 5:92; 8:1, 20, 46; 24:54; 33:33; 47:33; 49:14; 58:13; 64:12. The statement that the Prophet is not the keeper of those to whom he delivers the message is found in various places in the Quran; see 6:107; 11:86; 42:6, 48. For similar statements, see 6:66; 10:108; 17:54; 39:41.

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# They profess obedience, but when they leave thee, a party of them conspire by night [to do] other than what thou sayest. But God records what they conspire by night. So turn away from them and trust in God. God suffices as a Guardian.

81 This verse concerns either the Madinan hypocrites (JJ) or those Muslims who were reluctant to fight with the Prophet out of fear (Ṭ). Conspire by night translates bayyata, which means to do something (usually secretly) at night. Rather than “scheming,” the word may simply mean that they reneged on the vows they had made to the Prophet when they went away from him at night (Ṭ). The verb bayyata may also mean simply to give much thought and contemplation to something (R); in this case, it would mean that the hypocrites pondered the benefit or harm to themselves in following the Prophet’s commands before deciding if they should obey them as they had promised to do (Q). God records (lit. “writes”) what they do at night in the book of their deeds (Z), or He records it by mentioning it in this verse of the Quran (R). Turn away from them means to leave them as they are, without disputing or seeking vengeance against them (Z; see 4:62–63c), and without revealing their night scheming (R).

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# Do they not contemplate the Quran? Had it been from other than God, they would surely have found much discrepancy therein.

82 Do they not contemplate the Quran (cf. 47:24) is meant here to indicate that if those who conspire by night (v. 81) were to contemplate the Quran, they would understand the Divine provenance of the Prophet’s commands (Ṭ); if the Quran were of human composition, they would have found much discrepancy —that is, inconsistency, shortcomings, self-contradiction, and falsehoods (cf. 41:42)—therein (Q, Ṭ, Ṭs). Although there are different recitations (qirāʾāt) of the Quran, different numberings of the verses, and even different legal rulings found in the abrogated (mansūkh) and abrogating (nāsikh) verses (regarding abrogation, see 2:106c), all of these apparent differences are considered to be true in themselves (Ṭs). The fact that the Quran includes both the abrogated and abrogating verses indicates that the Prophet did not seek to conceal these differences or to “revise” or “refine” the Quranic message to create a superficial consistency. This verse represents one of several challenges the Quran poses to its detractors in order to convince them of its Divine origin. Elsewhere the Quran challenges those who disbelieve to produce a single sūrah like it (2:23; 10:38), suggesting that they will be unable to do so. But this verse can also have a more general application. For some, the assertion that there is no discrepancy in the Quran should discourage people from arguing over the meaning of the Quran’s difficult, ambiguous, or symbolic verses (cf. 3:7). Ibn Kathīr argues that one should understand and interpret difficult verses in such a way that they are consistent with those that are clearly understandable, since there is no discrepancy in the Quran’s message. According to a widely reported ḥadīth, the Prophet became visibly angry when he witnessed some of his Companions arguing loudly using different verses of the Quran against one another and warned that previous religious communities had been destroyed by such disputes (IK). Others, however, consider this verse as giving license and encouragement to pondering the Quran in search of its meaning, thereby invalidating simple, unthinking imitation of others’ opinions (taqlīd) regarding the Quran, and legitimizing the use of analogical reasoning in its interpretation and application (Q, Ṭs).

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# And whenever tidings come unto them, whether of security or fear, they spread it about, whereas had they referred it to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, those of them whose task it is to investigate would have known it. Were it not for God’s Bounty toward you, and His Mercy, you would surely have followed Satan, save a few.

83 This verse, like vv. 77–82, addresses the doubts and inappropriate actions of the Madinan hypocrites and/or those Muslims whose faith was weakened by adversity (JJ); or it specifically refers to those who conspire by night in v. 81 (Ṭ). These people would spread rumors of the success or defeat of the military parties the Prophet had sent out, leading to apprehension and perhaps misinformation among the Muslims. By spreading the information so indiscriminately, they also risked allowing this information to fall into the hands of their enemies (Ṭ, Z); since they sometimes attributed these reports to the Prophet, if they turned out to be false, the Prophet’s credibility would suffer (R). In addition to the general meaning, this verse likely refers specifically to the events leading up to what is known as the “Lesser Badr,” when rumors of a large Makkan army spread fear among the Muslims (see 4:84c). As in all difficult matters, they should have first referred these reports to the Messenger and those in authority (v. 59), who could properly ascertain the truth of the tidings (Z). Those in authority may refer to the Prophet’s close Companions (JJ, Z), his commanders (R, Ṭ), or those possessed of intellect and religious understanding (R, Ṭ). It is their responsibility to investigate such reports by making appropriate inquiries (Ṭ). For Shiites, those in authority among them refers to the Shiite Imams (Ṭs). Al-Rāzī sees this verse as legitimizing the practice of analogical reasoning, qiyās, by which rulings on new situations or issues are derived from existing rulings; qiyās is a kind of “investigation,” and the people of religious authority and knowledge have been delegated this task by this verse, according to his reading. God’s Bounty and His Mercy may refer to His sending the Prophet and the Quran, through which the believers are rightly guided and have not followed Satan (R, Z). God’s Bounty and Mercy may also refer to the victories God had granted the believers; without them, even the believers might have followed Satan, all save a few who possessed keen insight and unshakeable resolve (R). The few may also refer to those possessed of religious authority and understanding (whose task it is to investigate). Some consider all save a few to qualify other statements earlier in the verse, so that it might be read they spread it about . . . all save a few (Ṭ). The believers and the Prophet Muhammad are elsewhere reminded of how much they owe to God’s Bounty and His Mercy in saving them from both physical and moral harm (cf. 2:64; 4:113; 24:10, 14, 20, 21).

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# So fight in the way of God. Thou art accountable only for thyself, and urge on the believers. It may be that God will restrain the might of the disbelievers, for God is stronger in might and more severe in punishment.

84 The command to fight in the way of God is made both to the Muslim believers and to previous religious communities in the Quran; see 2:190, 244; 3:167; 4:74. Thou art accountable only for thyself are words spoken to Muhammad; see 24:54; 4:80c, where it is stated that the Prophet is not the keeper of those to whom he brings the message. Also see 5:25, where Moses similarly asserts that he has no power over anyone save himself and his brother. From this verse the Prophet understands that he has been instructed to fight in the way of God, regardless of how many join with him or hold back, for it is God Who will grant him victory, not his army (Z). God is stronger in might and more severe in punishment than the disbelievers, in this case, the Makkans. Some say that this refers to the would-be battle known as the “Lesser Badr.” After the Muslims’ defeat at Uḥud, the Qurayshī leader, Abū Sufyān, and the Prophet agreed to meet the following year at Badr for another military contest. When the time came, Abū Sufyān was reluctant to go and sent a spy to spread disinformation in Madinah about the overwhelming Makkan force that awaited them at Badr in order to dissuade them from going to battle (this is possibly what v. 83 is referring to when it castigates the spreading of rumors about the security or fear of the Muslims in relation to their enemies). After the defeat at Uḥud and as false rumors of a massive Makkan army spread, most Madinans were reluctant to join the Prophet for this battle. The Prophet reportedly declared, “By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, I shall go forth, even if alone!” (JJ). The Prophet thus went forth with only seventy men to meet Abū Sufyān’s army, but when they arrived at the agreed-upon place, no one was there, and the campaign was aborted (R).

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# Whosoever intercedes for a good cause shall receive a share of it; and whosoever intercedes for an evil cause shall share in its burden; and God is Sustainer of all things.

85 Whosoever intercedes for a good cause by aiding individual Muslims, protecting their rights, defending them, or supplicating God on their behalf (Z) will receive a share of the good that is brought about. For the spiritual implications of intercession, see 2:255c. Although this verse applies to intercession in general, many commentators understand it in the context of the battles between the Madinan Muslims and the Makkans spoken of in the previous verses. Whosoever intercedes for a good cause by supporting and equipping the Muslim army shall receive a share of the reward for participating in the religious cause; and whosoever intercedes for an evil cause by supporting or equipping the army of the enemies of religion shall receive a share of its burden, that is, of the punishment of those who fight on their behalf (Ṭ). Given the context of the two previous verses, it may mean that when the Prophet calls his community to fight in the way of God, he shares in the reward they will receive for answering the call, although, as v. 84 makes clear, he will not be held accountable if they do not. In this reading, those who intercede for an evil cause refers to the Madinan hypocrites who tried to dissuade the Madinans from responding to the Prophet’s call (R). The Divine Name Sustainer (Muqīt) literally means “Nourisher,” and many commentaries gloss it as “Powerful,” “Preserver,” or “Witness” (Q, Ṭ).

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# And when you are offered a greeting, respond with a greeting that is better, or return it; surely God takes account of all things.

86 When one is offered a greeting (taḥiyyah), which is usually understood to be the proper Islamic greeting, “Peace be upon you (al-salāmu ʿalaykum),” one should respond with a greeting that is better, such as, “And upon you be peace, and the Mercy of God, and His Blessing,” or simply return it, that is, respond in a similar manner by saying, “And upon you be peace (wa-ʿalaykum al-salām),” or simply, “And upon you.” Cf. 6:54; 7:46; 10:10; 11:69; 13:24; 14:23; 15:52; 16:32; 19:62; 25:75; 33:44; 39:73; 51:25; 56:26, where this greeting is attributed to or enjoined upon the believers, the prophets, the people of Paradise, or the angels. Note that in 33:56 believers are told to offer greetings of peace to the Prophet, and Muslims continually do this throughout their prayers and devotions. Peace (alSalām) is also one of the Divine Names (59:23), and thus God’s Name is effectively invoked at both the beginning of the initial greeting (al-salāmu ʿalaykum) and the end of its appropriate response (wa-ʿalaykum al-salām; R). A ḥadīth says, “Peace is among the Names of God that He has made manifest on earth; so spread it among yourselves” (ST). God Himself issues greetings of peace upon the people of Paradise (36:58) and upon the prophets (11:48; 37:79, 109, 120, 130). Returning a greeting of peace is incumbent upon all Muslims as a matter of religious practice (Aj, R). A ḥadīth informs believers that spreading greetings of peace along with sharing food with others, maintaining family relations, and praying in the middle of the night are acts that will grant one Paradise (R). According to Ibn ʿAbbās, if a man passes by a group of Muslims and gives them greetings of peace but receives no response, “The Holy Spirit is removed from them, and the angels return the man’s greeting” (R, Z). One ḥadīth says, “By Him in Whose Hand is my soul, you will not enter the Garden until you believe, and you will not believe until you love one another. Should I not tell you that which, if you do it, will make you love one another? [It is] to spread greetings of peace among yourselves” (IK). In general, a younger person should initiate the greeting to an older person; a smaller group should initiate the greeting to a larger one; a passer-by should initiate the greeting to one who is sitting or standing by (R, Z); and a person visiting someone’s home should greet the hosts before entering (24:27; R). Offering a greeting of peace is sometimes optional—and in some cases may even be inappropriate, as when a person is engaged in something more important, such as praying (Q, R)—but responding to one is required (IK, Q, R, Ṭ). Some commentators suggest that responding to a greeting with one that is better is appropriate when the original greeter is a fellow Muslim, but if the original greeter is a non-Muslim, one should simply return the greeting in a similar manner (IK, Q, R, Ṭ). A few commentators assert that one should not greet disbelievers or those who engage in immoral or inappropriate behavior at all (JJ, R), but this seems to conflict with Quran 25:63; 28:55; and 48:39, which all suggest a greeting of peace as the proper response to such persons. When one is in the presence of non-Muslims or even wrongdoers, some suggest offering a conditional greeting, such as the one Moses gave in the presence of Pharaoh, Peace be upon him who follows guidance! (20:47; Z). Most commentators, however, understand the present verse as requiring Muslims to accept and respond in kind to any greeting of peace that they are offered, even if offered by a disbeliever (IK, R) or by an unknown person in a situation of warfare, since there is little harm in accepting and reciprocating a greeting of peace (R); see 8:61: And if they incline toward peace, incline thou toward it, and trust in God. Despite the requirement to respond to such a greeting, many assert that, according to tradition (sunnah), a Muslim should not initiate the greeting with a non-Muslim (IK, Q, R,). Yet, it is important to remember the Quranic precedent of the prophet Abraham, who initiated a greeting of peace to his father, although his father was an idolater who threatened to persecute him (Q); cf. 19:47. The word for greeting, taḥiyyah, is derived from the root meaning “life” and originates in the pre-Islamic practice of greeting people with the statement, “May God give you life (ḥayyāka’Llāh).” In the canonical prayer, Muslims say, “All salutations belong to God (al-taḥiyyātu li’Llāh),” which means that all security from harm comes from God (Q, R). Surely God takes account of all things, that is, He is Ḥasīb, the one who takes account; in this case the meaning is that He takes account of even the small things one does, such as extending proper greetings. But ḥasīb can also mean one who suffices, as in the etymologically related Quranic phrase ḥasbī Allāh, meaning God suf ices me (39:38).

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# God, there is no god but He. He will surely gather you all unto the Day of Resurrection, about which there is no doubt. And who is truer than God in speech?

87 This is one of many assertions of God’s Oneness (cf. 2:163, 255; 3:2, 6, 18, 62; 6:102, 106; 7:158; 9:31; 16:2; 20:8, 14, 98; 23:116; 27:26; 28:70, 88; 35:3; 39:6; 40:3, 62, 65; 44:8; 59:22–23; 64:13; 73:9). For the idea that human beings shall be gathered together unto a Day or at the Hour about which there is no doubt, see 3:9, 25; 6:12; 18:21; 22:7; 40:59; 42:7; 45:26, 32. And who is truer than God in speech also appears in v. 122, although the word for speech in the present verse is ḥadīth, and in v. 122 it is qīl.

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# What is with you that you are [divided into] two groups concerning the hypocrites, when God Himself has cast them back for that which they have earned? Do you seek to guide those whom God has led astray? Whomsoever God leads astray, thou wilt not find a way for him.

# They wish that you should disbelieve, even as they disbelieve, that you may be on a level with them. So take them not as protectors till they migrate in the way of God. But if they turn their backs, then seize them and slay them wherever you find them, and take no protector or helper from among them,

# save those who seek refuge with a people with whom you have a covenant, or those who come to you with hearts reluctant to fight you, or to fight their own people. Had God willed, He could have given them authority over you, and then surely they would have fought you. So if they withdraw from you, and do not fight you, and offer peace, God allows you no way against them.

88–90 These verses have been reported to concern different incidents or a set of similar incidents in the Islamic community’s early Madinan years. All of these incidents involve a group of professed believers in Islam who either refuse to settle in Madinah, refuse to remain there, or refuse to meet their obligations (namely, to fight in the way of God; v. 84) as Muslim residents of Madinah. One account of the revelation of this verse relates it to a group of Muslims, resident in Madinah, who set out with the Muslims for the Battle of Uḥud (3/625), but then decided to return to Madinah (IK, Q, Ṭ, W, Z). Also see 3:167, where this same group claims, disingenuously, Had we known there would be fighting, we would have followed you. The Prophet’s Companions divided into two groups over what to do with them; some wanted to kill the deserters, and others wanted to let them be (IK, R, Ṭ). These verses were then revealed, indicating that God Himself had removed them (cast them back) because of their own misdeeds; thus they reverted to the status of idolaters whose lives and property were no longer protected (Ṭ). This context does not seem to fit vv. 89–90, however, which are addressed to a group of “hypocrites” who had left Madinah entirely or were resident outside it. Other accounts connect this verse more plausibly to a group of Makkans who came to Madinah and embraced Islam, but then left the city after seeking the Prophet’s permission to do so and never returned (Ṭ, W, Z) or left the city after having committed crimes against the believers (R). In another account, they claim to have left Madinah to avoid a plague that had broken out there (Q, Ṭ). But in v. 89, their hypocrisy and disbelief are exposed, and the Muslims are warned not to take them as protectors (awliyāʾ) till they migrate in the way of God, that is, until they commit to settling in Madinah. But if they turn their backs—that is, if they turn against the believers as, according to one report, they did by eventually choosing to settle with the idolaters (Ṭs, Z)—they should be considered enemies, and the Muslims are instructed to seize them and slay them wherever they find them. However, some reports say that this group eventually sought shelter with another group who had a treaty with the Prophet (Ṭ). Thus v. 90 offers this exception: save those who seek refuge with a people with whom you have a covenant. The present verses are also sometimes said to refer to a group of Makkans who claimed to be Muslim, but were secretly aiding the idolaters. When they approached Madinah, a group of Companions wanted to kill them, while another argued against killing a group of people who (they thought) believed as they believed, even if they had not committed to living in and fighting for the Madinan community. The Prophet took no clear stand on the issue, and then this verse was revealed, indicating their hypocrisy (IK, Ṭ). These verses may also concern a group of people residing in Makkah who claimed to be believers in Islam, but did not migrate to Madinah (Q, R, Ṭ, Z), indicating that such people cannot be considered the protectors (awliyāʾ) of the Muslims until they migrate to Madinah (Ṭ). Cf. 8:72, where only those who believe, and migrate, and strive with their wealth and themselves in the way of God, and those who sheltered and helped —that is, the Anṣār, the natives of Madinah who had embraced Islam—are protectors (awliyā) of one another. However, the situation addressed in vv. 88–90 concerns not half-committed Muslims, but disbelievers putting on an air of belief, who wish that you should disbelieve, even as they disbelieve. In this case, the Muslims are similarly told that they are not obligated to them till they migrate. But if the disbelievers turn their backs—that is, renounce their religion—then they can be seized and slain wherever they are found. The exception to this course of action again involves the Prophet’s treaty obligations, as it does in 8:72, but in a different way: if such false believers (hypocrites) seek refuge with a people with whom the Muslims have a covenant and withdraw . . . and do not fight, then no permission is granted to fight them. In any of these cases, v. 88 indicates that it is God who has cast them back from their claims of belief and returned them to the status of disbelievers because of their deeds; thus neither the Prophet nor the Muslims can expect to be able to guide them back, for whomsoever God leads astray, thou wilt not find a way for him. For some the statement that God cast them back for that which they have earned and that they are thereafter led astray supports the view that a failure to believe, or being led morally astray, is a Divine punishment that comes as a consequence of disobedience (Ṭs). Those with an Ashʿarite perspective stress the overpowering influence of the Divine “leading astray” suggested here and understand the assertion in v. 88 that whomsoever God leads astray, thou wilt not find a way for him to indicate God’s ultimate power over human moral fate (Q, R). Vv. 89–90 address how the Muslims in Madinah should deal with those who leave the community or have been cast back to disbelief. If such people openly turn their backs on the Muslims, the Muslims are instructed to seize them and slay them, for they are now to be considered enemies. But if they seek refuge with a treaty people or if they have hearts reluctant to fight—that is, they are neither with you nor against you (IK)—and under these conditions withdraw, do not fight, and of er peace, then the Muslims have no way against them and should let them be. The Quran forbids Muslims from fighting those who do not fight or harm them and urges them to agree to peace when their opponents seek peace (2:190; 4:94; 8:61; 60:8; 49:9). Some scholars have argued that later revelations (9:5, 29) speak of fighting the idolaters and disbelievers without mention of their having initiated hostilities toward the Muslims, and thus they consider those later verses to have abrogated the present verses and other verses that instruct the Muslims to desist and make peace with those who do the same. Yet even in those later verses, the Quran leaves open the possibility of treaties and other arrangements with the disbelievers, and it seems untenable to think that these two verses (9:5, 29), revealed in the particular context of the Muslim expansion throughout the Arabian Peninsula in the final years of the Prophet’s life, would abrogate the theme of maintaining peace and forbearance even in the face of one’s detractors and enemies, which is ubiquitous throughout the Quran. For an examination of the issue of abrogation especially as it relates to the issue of fighting or opposing nonMuslims, see 2:256c.

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# You will find others who desire to be secure from you, and secure from their own people, yet whenever they are tempted back to hostility, they are plunged back into it. So if they withdraw not from you, nor offer you peace, nor restrain their hands, then seize them and slay them wheresoever you come upon them. Against these We have given you clear warrant.

91 If the previous verse prohibits fighting hypocrites who refuse to fight the Muslims, this verse gives the believers a clear warrant to do so against those who turn hostile. This latter group discussed here is variously identified as a group of Makkans who came to profess their belief to the Prophet, but then returned to Makkah and idolatry (Ṭ; cf. 4:88–90c) or as the tribes of Asad and Ghaṭafān (JJ, R, Z). In this verse, hostility translates fitnah, a term with a semantic range that includes civil strife or sedition (2:191–93, 271; 8:39), temptation or trial (2:102; 3:7), and oppression. Some commentators understand fitnah here to mean that they were tempted back to idolatry or disbelief (Ṭ, Q) and indicate that the ease with which they returned to idolatry suggests that they were truly idolaters at heart (Q). The instruction to seize them and slay them wheresoever you come upon them is similarly given in relation to idolaters or those who have initiated hostilities against the Muslims (see 2:191; 4:89; 9:5). Ibn ʿAjībah typologically compares the “hypocrites” in vv. 89–91 with certain aspects of the soul. The aspect of the soul that commands to evil (cf. 12:53) is analogous to those described in v. 89, who are not only hypocritical with regard to their own faith, but who also have the evil intention of turning believing Muslims from their faith; whereas those described in the present verse are analogous to the wavering aspect of the soul that is always torn between obedience and disobedience. When this aspect of one’s soul urges toward disobedience, it must be fought without restraint.

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# It is not for a believer to slay a believer, unless it be in error. Whosoever has slain a believer in error, let him set free a believing slave and pay compensation to the victim’s family, unless they remit it in charity. If he belonged to a people at war with you, but was a believer, then a believing slave is to be set free. And if he belonged to a people with whom you have a covenant, let him pay compensation to the victim’s family, and let him set free a believing slave. Whosoever finds not [the means], let him fast two consecutive months as a penance from God. God is Knowing, Wise.

92 For other prohibitions against killing, see 5:32; 25:68; for its repercussions, punishment, or reparations, cf. 2:178–79; 5:45; 17:33. Several aḥādīth indicate how seriously God takes the killing of Muslims; one states, “The killing of a believer is graver with God than the perishing of the world itself” (Q). The present verse addresses the accidental, unintentional, or unwitting killing of a believer and was reportedly revealed when a Muslim Emigrant, ʿAyyāsh ibn Abī Rabīʿah, killed a former disbeliever who had once flogged him severely for his adherence to Islam. The former disbeliever had, unbeknownst to ʿAyyāsh, embraced Islam and had come to Madinah, where ʿAyyāsh killed him (Ṭ, W, Z). Another report indicates that this verse was revealed when the Companion Abu’lDardāʾ killed an enemy whom he came upon unexpectedly on the outskirts of a battle. When the man saw Abu’l-Dardāʾ, he confessed the shahādah, the Muslim testimony of faith in the One God and the prophethood of Muhammad, but Abu’lDardāʾ killed him anyway, not accepting his confession as he should have (Ṭ, Z). In such cases, the slayer must free a Muslim slave in his possession and pay compensation (diyah, or “blood money”) to the victim’s family. The amount was set by most Islamic legal scholars as one hundred camels, or a thousand gold pieces (dīnārs) for those who do not own camels (Q, Ṭ), to be paid over three years by the slayer’s paternal relatives (JJ) and divided among the victim’s heirs with the rest of his estate according to the proportions mandated in vv. 11–12 (Z). The victim’s family may remit it out of charity, which is in the spirit of other verses that seek to promote unity and forgiveness among Muslims even after grievous injury (e.g., the substitution of blood money for the execution of the killer in the case of an intentional killing in 2:178 and 5:45; and the swiftness of reconciling and making peace between believers fighting among themselves in 49:9). Freeing a believing slave is an expiation for other offenses, such as breaking a pledge (5:89) or renouncing a wife through the unacceptable preIslamic practice of ẓihār (for this practice, see 58:1–2 and commentary), and is also a praiseworthy form of charity (90:13). This form of expiation is particularly meaningful here: in response to the loss of one life, another is given a new life through freedom (Z). Most commentators require that the freed slave be an adult who has freely chosen Islam and practices observantly (Ṭ). If the victim is a believer, but hails from an enemy clan or tribe, then a slave is to be freed in expiation, but no compensation is paid to the victim’s family (Ṭ); if the victim hails from a nonMuslim clan with whom the Muslims have a treaty (such as the protected People of the Book, or dhimmīs), then compensation is also paid. Most agree that the victim need not be a Muslim, since Islamic Law requires compensation for the death of a dhimmī, although some say it is half that for a Muslim (Q, Ṭ). For those who are poor, a fast of two consecutive months serves as expiation in place of freeing a slave, as it does in the case of engaging in a pre-Islamic practice of divorce called ẓihār (58:4), but there is debate about whether this fasting eliminates the need for compensating the victim’s family as well (Ṭ). In the case of ẓihār, feeding the poor is another possible expiation for those unable to fast, and some scholars maintain that this is also a possible expiation for unintentional killing (JJ). Although there is the possibility of a Divine relenting here, some assert that there is no such relenting for the one who kills a believer intentionally, as stated in the following verse.

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# Whosoever slays a believer willfully, his recompense is Hell, abiding therein. God is wroth with him, and curses him, and prepares for him a mighty punishment.

93 There is some debate about what it means to kill another willfully and about the kind of assault or injury that would indicate that killing was the ultimate intent. Some say that in any assault with a deadly weapon, such as a sword, murder can be assumed to be the intention. Others say striking a person with a strong, heavy object (e.g., a piece of iron) can also indicate murderous intent (Ṭ). Questions arose over cases where a deliberate assault on someone using a nonlethal weapon (e.g., a wooden stick or a whip) resulted in death, although harming the victim, rather than killing him, was the actual intent. Some maintain that the perpetrator is required to pay the full compensation to the victim’s family, but not liable to execution; others hold that he is liable to physical retaliation as well (Q). Some hold that the killing of a believer intentionally is a sin for which there is no forgiveness; although others maintain the possibility of forgiveness for one who is contrite (Ṭ), a possibility clearly indicated in 25:68–71. Critics of the latter view, however, assert that the present verse was revealed after 25:68–71 and thus may abrogate the possibility of forgiveness suggested in 25:68–71 (Q); or that the possibility of forgiveness mentioned in 25:68–71 was meant only for those who committed murder and other serious offenses prior to accepting Islam (Ṭ). The Muʿtazilites, who maintained the certainty of the Divine punishments mentioned in the Quran, asserted that eternal punishment was the inevitable fate of all those who intentionally killed a believer; and one ḥadīth asserts that any who participate in the killing of a believer intentionally will arrive on the Day of Judgment with the words, “Despair of God’s Mercy!” written on their brow (Z). This view seems inconsistent, however, with other verses indicating that idolatry (shirk) is the only unforgiveable sin (vv. 48, 116) and that God accepts the repentance of His servants (see, e.g., 9:104; 20:83; 42:25). Most scholars therefore accepted the possibility of repentance and forgiveness even for an intentional killer (Q); and some asserted, based on a ḥadīth, that punishment of the killer in this world serves as an atonement for him in the next (Th). Al-Ṭabarī upholds the possibility of forgiveness, citing 39:53: Say, “O My servants who have been prodigal to the detriment of their own souls! Despair not of God’s Mercy. Truly God forgives all sins. Truly He is the Forgiving, the Merciful. AlRāzī also considers forgiveness possible, arguing that if the sin of disbelief (kufr) can be forgiven by God, then surely killing can as well.

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# O you who believe! When you go forth in the way of God, be discerning, and say not unto him who offers you peace, “You are not a believer, ” seeking the ephemeralities of the life of this world, for with God are abundant spoils. Thus were you yourselves beforehand, but God has been gracious to you. Therefore be discerning. Truly God is Aware of whatsoever you do.

94 Following the strong prohibitions against killing another believer found in the previous verses, Muslims are here instructed to be discerning and exercise great caution that those whom they fight are truly enemies of God and the Prophet (Ṭ). To this end, they should accept the claims of belief on the part of all those they encounter, even enemies in battle, lest, it is implied, they render themselves liable to the extreme punishments God imposes upon those who kill fellow believers. And since peace is the greeting of Muslims (see v. 4:86 and commentary) and that by which they are known, anyone who of ers you peace should not be dismissed as a disbeliever (Ṭ). The offering of peace here may also mean an offer to cease hostilities, rather than a greeting (R, Ṭ). This verse was reportedly revealed in relation to several incidents in which Muslims either pursued a man from an enemy tribe in order to kill him and take his possessions as booty, only to have him profess his belief in Islam once they had reached him, or came upon a presumed enemy who offered them a greeting of peace (Ṭ, W). In these various cases, the Muslims assumed that the man made the statement insincerely, only to save his life, and so killed him anyway and took the booty. In all these cases, the Prophet denounced the actions of his followers, and this verse was revealed to indicate that Muslims must accept a profession of belief from anyone who utters it, not reject it seeking the ephemeralities of the life of this world, that is, the booty they could acquire by killing the person (W). The verse supports the Islamic idea that the true character of a person’s faith is known only to God, and so human beings must accept others’ claims of belief at face value. Indeed, in one of the accounts that reportedly occasioned this verse, the Prophet rebukes a Muslim for having killed a former enemy who had confessed belief because he thought his confession was insincere, asking him if he had opened his victim’s heart to test the truth of his claims to belief. The killer later died, and it is said that when they tried to bury him, the earth itself repeatedly spat him out, symbolizing the ultimate and otherworldly rejection of one guilty of such a crime (R, Ṭ). In addition to warning of the harsh consequences Muslims face for rashly killing someone who may be a fellow believer, this verse also implicitly reminds Muslims that when they fight, they do so only for the sake of religion, self-defense, or the defense of the helpless (cf. 4:75), not for booty—for with God are abundant spoils. So once the enemy professes belief, even if insincerity is suspected, hostilities should cease (cf. 2:190–93; 4:90; 8:39; 60:8). When encountering a profession of faith from one they thought a disbeliever, Muslims are to remember thus were you yourselves beforehand, meaning either that previously they were disbelievers or that some of them, while in Makkah, hid their belief out of fear of persecution (R, Ṭ). The verse ends by repeating for emphasis the command that Muslims be discerning in these matters and reminding them that God is Aware of all that they do.

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# Those who stay behind among the believers—except for the disadvantaged—and those who strive in the way of God with their goods and lives are not equal. God favors those who strive with their goods and their lives a degree above those who stay behind. Unto both God has promised that which is most beautiful. But He favors those who strive with a great reward above those who stay behind:

95 This verse, which Ibn ʿAbbās says was revealed in relation to those who fought in the Battle of Badr (2/624; Q, Ṭ), establishes the moral superiority of those believers who strive (mujāhidūn) and sacrifice their wealth and themselves in the way of God over those who stay behind (lit. “sit”) and do not make such sacrifices, favoring the former by a degree (cf. 9:20). It could also be translated “in degree,” allowing for the possibility that the mujāhidūn may be raised above others by more than one degree (as suggested by the use of the plural in v. 96, degrees conferred by Him). The moral nobility and reward of the mujāhidūn are mentioned throughout the Quran (see, e.g., 2:218; 5:54; 8:74; 9:41–44), and striving in the way of God is presented as a test of spiritual character (cf. 3:142; 9:16; 47:31). Striving can be done with one’s goods and/or one’s life—that is, by supporting the struggle financially or physically (cf. 49:15; 61:11; but also 9:86– 88, where certain wealthy men are criticized for wanting an exemption from fighting, presumably for having supported the struggle financially). This verse follows the long list of injunctions concerning fighting that begins in v. 71. AlRāzī speculates that the confirmation here of a great reward for those who strive in God’s way was meant to counter any doubt or hesitation Muslims might feel after the severe warnings of caution about whom one could fight or kill in the preceding verses. According to many commentators the verse was initially revealed without except for the disadvantaged. One of the Prophet’s blind Companions (or a group of them) complained that he was unable to participate in battle given his condition. The Prophet was then overcome by a new revelation of the verse that included except for the disadvantaged (Q, R, Ṭ, W). The disadvantaged may include those with physical deficiencies or infirmities or those who lack equipment and resources (R). See 4:32c, where women in the community also complained to the Prophet about the greater spiritual reward men could earn through jihād, a possibility not usually open to women. There is some debate as to whether the added clause means that the disadvantaged are, unlike capable nonstrivers, actually equal in merit to the mujāhidūn who strive in the way of God or simply that they are exempt from the obligation to do so. Al-Rāzī argues that it likely means that they are equal, since the ultimate purpose of all religious duties is “to illuminate the heart with the knowledge of God,” and so to the extent that disadvantaged ones, who are exempt from jihād, can nonetheless achieve this to the same degree as the mujāhidūn, they are equal. This is similar to the implication in 4:32 that though women are usually unable to participate in jihād, they enjoy the same possibility for merit and reward through fulfilling the other religious duties incumbent upon them (see 4:32c). Others suggest that the reward of the disadvantaged is equal to that of the strivers, because reward in the Hereafter is based on God’s favor, not solely on individual merit, and because reward accords with intention, not action (Q). Some commentators read those who strive in the way of God as referring not only to those who go out into battle, but also to those who strive to enjoin right and forbid wrong (22:41; Su) or to those who strive against the negative tendencies of their own soul (Aj, R)—both common ethical interpretations of jihād, or “striving,” in the Quran. However, the exemption for the disadvantaged in this verse suggests that here the Quran is primarily addressing physical (not just moral) struggle. To both groups—those who strive, and those who stay behind or, some say, only to the mujāhidūn and the disadvantaged who stay behind (Q)— God has promised that which is most beautiful, that is, Paradise. This reflects the fact that jihād is a collective rather than an individual duty—incumbent upon the Muslim community as a whole, but not upon every individual in it (R). Yet within the context of Paradise, the verse suggests that the reward of the strivers will surpass that of (capable) nonstrivers.

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# degrees conferred by Him, and forgiveness and mercy. Surely God is Forgiving, Merciful.

96 Degrees here seems to be an elaboration upon the degree or the great reward by which God favors the mujāhidūn over others in v. 95. These degrees may represent the level one attains in Paradise, the degrees of forgiveness or mercy received from God (R), or even the degrees of closeness to God one obtains by striving to please Him (Aj). The use of the plural degrees in this verse, rather than the single degree, as in v. 95, may indicate that while the mujāhid is favored in this world by a single degree (namely, the spoils of war he acquires thereby), he is favored many degrees or in multiple ways in the Hereafter (R); or it may indicate that the mujāhidūn are favored by a single degree over the disadvantaged who are unable to strive, but by degrees over those who stay behind without a legitimate excuse (Q). Alternately, it may mean that the multiple degrees of favor are for those who strive and sacrifice in every way: “with their lives and their wealth and their heart, [the last being] the noblest form of striving” (R). According to a ḥadīth, “There are a hundred degrees in Paradise that God has prepared for those who strive in His way, the distance between each two degrees being as the distance between Heaven and earth” (IK).

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# When the angels take the souls of those who were wronging themselves, [the angels] say, “In what state were you?” They say, “We were weak and oppressed in the land.” [The angels] will say, “Was not God’s earth vast enough that you might have migrated therein?” These shall have their refuge in Hell—what an evil journey’s end!

97 The souls of those who were wronging themselves is widely considered to refer to those Makkans, such as ʿAlī ibn Umayyah and Abu’l-Qays ibn al-Walīd (IK), who claimed to accept Islam (some say hypocritically), but failed to migrate to Madinah (R, Ṭ, W). Some of these were compelled to join and fight alongside the Makkan idolaters at the Battle of Badr. The use of the gerund wronging themselves is meant to indicate that they were taken while in the state of wrongdoing (R), for some of them died in the battle, and when the angels came to take their souls, they offered the excuse of oppression. But the response is that oppression is no excuse for believers who neglected the difficult, but possible, solution of emigrating elsewhere. According to some reports, some of these Makkan believers who were compelled to fight at Badr were taken as prisoners of war by the Muslims, and 8:70 was then revealed, indicating that, in having been captured rather than killed in this state, they had the possibility of Divine forgiveness (Ṭ). When the angels take the souls may also be read, grammatically, in the past tense: “When the angels took the souls.” The verse can thus be understood as having both a general application and a particular, historical one (R, Z). Several verses mention the great spiritual merit and reward acquired by those who migrate for the sake of religion (2:218; 4:66–67, 100; 9:20; 16:41; 22:58; 59:9), and a ḥadīth indicates that those who migrate for the sake of preserving and practicing religion share a special bond with both Abraham and the Prophet Muhammad, who were commanded to do likewise (Q, Z); but the present verse and others reflect the fact that migration to Madinah was also considered essential in order for the newly converted to attain full status within the Muslim community from the period between 622, when the Prophet migrated there, until the conquest of Makkah in 630 (cf. 4:89; 8:72). Those who did not migrate and supported the disbelievers out of purported helplessness shall, like them, have their refuge in Hell. The early commentator al-Suddī (d. 127/744) claims that once this verse was revealed, all those who had embraced Islam but not migrated to Madinah were considered disbelievers (kuf ār) until they migrated (Ṭ), although this seems to be a harsher verdict on those who failed to migrate than what is found in 8:72. Al-Qurṭubī suggests that the fact that angels question them reproachfully about their state at all indicates that they were wrongdoing Muslims, not disbelievers.

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# But not so the [truly] weak and oppressed among the men, women, and children, who neither have access to any means nor are guided to any way.

# As for such, it may be that God will pardon them, for God is Pardoning, Forgiving.

98–99 Although religious oppression in their native land is not a valid excuse for those with the option to migrate elsewhere—in this case, to Madinah in particular—the Quran here offers the possibility that God will forgive those who are genuinely weak and oppressed, such that they lack the physical capacity or financial means to migrate, or are not guided to any way; that is, they have no knowledge of how to reach Madinah (Ṭ). Cf. 4:75 and commentary, where the believers are admonished to fight for the cause of the weak and oppressed, understood by some as referring to those Muslims in Makkah who were unable to migrate to Madinah. It is reported that after the midday prayer the Prophet would regularly pray for the release of the believers still trapped in Makkah among the idolaters (Ṭ, Ṭs). Ibn ʿAbbās, who claims to have been among those truly weak and oppressed in Makkah, says that after v. 97 was revealed, the Muslims in Madinah wrote of the verse to those in Makkah, informing them that they could claim no excuse for not migrating. So they attempted to leave, but the idolaters caught up with them and tormented them, and the Makkan Muslims understood it to be a punishment from God. After this, 29:10 was revealed, criticizing their continued weakness in the face of oppression, and when the Makkan Muslims were informed of it, they despaired of their moral fate until 16:110 was revealed, indicating that if they attempted again to migrate and succeeded thereafter in joining the Muslims in striving in God’s way, they would be forgiven (Ṭ). Al-Rāzī warns, however, that migrating from one’s native land is difficult for anyone, and claiming that one was unable to migrate simply because it would entail hardship is not acceptable; the excuse of weakness and oppression is acceptable from only those in circumstances that truly prevent them from migrating.

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# Whosoever migrates in the way of God will find upon the earth many a refuge and abundance, and whosoever forsakes his home, emigrating unto God and His Messenger, and death overtakes him, his reward will fall upon God, and God is Forgiving, Merciful.

100 For other verses on the reward that accrues to one who migrates for the sake of religion, see 2:218; 4:66–67; 9:20; 16:41; 22:58; 59:9. Here, the Quran seeks to lessen the hesitation some believers might feel about migrating by indicating that for those who succeed, there will be the earthly rewards of finding many a refuge and abundance, and for those who die in the attempt, there will be reward with God in the next life. Many a refuge translates murāghim, which may also mean “many wide-open spaces,” “much freedom to roam” (Ṭ), or “many paths by which to leave” (Z). In connection with this verse or the previous ones, some commentators relate the account of an elderly Muslim in Makkah who, upon hearing of the warning in v. 97 to those who do not emigrate, instructed his sons to aid him in leaving Makkah, though he was infirm and had to be carried on a bed. He is said to have died en route to Madinah (Ṭ, W). Upon hearing of his death, some Muslims suggested his reward would have been greater had he reached Madinah, while the Makkan disbelievers mocked his fate; this verse was thus revealed indicating that God Himself undertakes the reward of such a person (R, Z). According to al-Zamakhsharī, the Divine reward mentioned in this verse applies to anyone who dies while traveling away from home for any religious purpose, including seeking knowledge, making the ḥajj, participating in jihād, escaping religious persecution, cultivating asceticism, or seeking lawful provision. This interpretation suggests that there is something spiritually edifying or meritorious in undertaking the hardships of traveling for any good purpose, and the Quran encourages its readers to journey upon the earth to learn about God’s creation and the moral fate of others (see, e.g., 3:137; 6:11; 16:36; 27:69; 35:44) and suggests that it may be a mode of acquiring spiritual understanding (18:60–82). In Sūrah 106, the safe journeys of the Quraysh in summer and winter are mentioned as a Divine favor.

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# When you travel upon the earth, there is no blame upon you for shortening your prayers if you fear that the disbelievers may attack you; verily the disbelievers are your manifest enemy.

# When thou art with them and leadest them in prayer, let one group of them stand with thee in prayer, taking their arms with them. When they have performed their prostrations, let them withdraw to the rear, and let another group come that has not prayed and let them pray with thee, taking precaution and their arms. The disbelievers wish you to be heedless of your arms and your baggage that they might assault you all at once. There is no blame on you if you lay aside your arms when you are troubled by heavy rain or illness. But take your precaution. Surely God has prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment.

101–2 These verses contain accommodations in religious practice for those who are traveling (cf. 2:184–5; 4:43; 5:6). One may shorten or alter the performance of the canonical prayers specifically in the situation of fear of enemy attack; it was widely understood, on the basis of Prophetic precedent, that those traveling a substantial distance could also shorten those canonical prayers consisting of four cycles of recitation and prostration (rakaʿāt) to two cycles. When someone questioned why the Muslims continued to shorten their prayers when traveling, even when they were in no danger, the Prophet said, “It is a charitable gift God has given you; so accept His charity!” (Ṭ). However, some question remained as to whether this accommodation applied to all travelers or only to those who feared enemy attack. According to one report, the first part of v. 101, When you travel upon the earth, there is no blame on you for shortening your prayers, was revealed in response to a group of merchants who traveled on business and asked the Prophet about how they should pray on their journeys. Later, however, when the Muslims were in danger of being attacked by the idolaters while on a military campaign, the remainder of the verse was revealed along with v. 102, indicating the ways in which Muslims should take caution and keep guard when saying their prayers while in danger of attack (Ṭ). Al-Ṭabarī indicates that separating the two parts of v. 101 in this way is grammatically problematic. However, there do appear to be two different alterations to the canonical prayer suggested in these two verses. The first is simply a shortening of the prayer from four to two cycles—an accommodation based upon Prophetic Sunnah that applies to all travelers and is known as the “traveling prayer” (ṣalāt al-safar; Q). The second, described in detail in v. 102, is the “prayer of fear” (ṣalāt al-khawf), which is performed while armed. The standing and bowing portions of the prayer are performed together by the prayer leader and all the lines of those following him; but during the prostration (sujūd), the front line prostrates along with the prayer leader, while the back line stands guard and prostrates only after the others have stood up. They then alternate positions. Thus the prayer leader prays two cycles of prayer, but each line prostrates with the prayer leader during only one of the prostrations, standing guard during the other. Some say that when the Prophet and his Companions prayed the “prayer of fear,” one line would pray along with the Prophet for two cycles of the prayer, while the other stood guard; then they would alternate, so that the Prophet prayed a total of four cycles of prayer, but each line participated in only two of them (Ṭ). This verse was reportedly revealed when the Prophet and the Muslim army were facing an army of Makkan idolaters at ʿUsfān, led by Khālid ibn al-Walīd, who was at that time one of the fiercest Makkan warriors against the Prophet and his community. When the idolaters saw the Muslims praying the midday (ẓuhr) prayer, they decided to attack them while they were in the vulnerable state of praying. This verse was thus revealed between the midday and later afternoon (ʿaṣr) prayers, so that the defensive practice could be implemented during the ʿaṣr prayer and the attack avoided (Ṭ, W). Some assert that when praying the “prayer of fear” while traveling, the two cycles normally said while traveling are halved again to one (Ṭ). For accommodations to prayer in a state of fear, see 2:239, where Muslims are allowed to pray on foot or on horseback when they fear enemy attack. Although Muslims are supposed to pray the “prayer of fear” while holding their weapons for protection, one may put them down if it becomes too difficult because of rain or illness. Some say this was revealed in relation to the Companion ʿAbd alRaḥmān ibn ʿAwf, who was wounded at the time (Ṭ). The humiliating punishment for the disbelievers is Hellfire (Ṭ).

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# When you have completed the prayer, remember [and invoke] God, standing, sitting, or lying on your sides. Then when you are secure, observe proper prayer, for prayer at fixed hours is prescribed for the believers.

103 After the Muslims have finished the shortened “prayer of fear,” they are instructed to continue to worship by remembering and invoking God (both meanings are found in the Arabic udhkurū Allāh)—that is, through the repeated affirmation of His Oneness, by uttering the formula of glorification (tasbīḥ), or by making a personal supplication to God for themselves or for victory (Q, Ṭ)—in any position that they are able to in their constrained condition, standing, sitting, or lying on their sides (cf. 3:191). Elsewhere, Muslims are enjoined to remember God much as they face battle (8:45). However, the injunction to remember God in these various circumstances indicates more generally the importance of the spiritual aspiration of remembering God (dhikruʾLlāh) at all times and serves as the scriptural basis for the Sufi teaching about invoking and remembering God at all moments of life, that is, being dāʾim al-dhikr (in constant remembrance). The importance of the remembrance or invocation (dhikr) of God is a major theme throughout the Quran. Certain passages indicate that dhikr, in addition to its ordinary meaning of invocation and remembrance, also refers to a specific or even somewhat ritualized form of invocation connected with prayer (2:239; 7:206; 87:15), congregational worship in sacred places (2:114; 24:36), worship during the ḥajj (2:198–203), and glorifications of God, often said to be uttered morning and evening (3:41; 7:205; 20:33–34; 33:41–42; 43:13). But when they are secure, no longer in a state of fear of enemy attack, Muslims should return to the normative mode of prayer, with the full number of prayer cycles (rakʿāt). The verse then reiterates that prayer at the prescribed times is incumbent upon the Muslims. Indeed, the importance of praying at fixed times is implicit in the accommodations made to the prayer in the previous two verses, since substantial changes to the length and mode of prayer may be made in order to accommodate meeting the fixed times of prayer even in cases of extreme danger. Others say that this means that once one is secure, one should finish the prayers by saying the parts that were omitted (Ṭ). Ibn ʿAjībah also gives a spiritual meaning to this latter command, suggesting that when one has completed the physical prayer, one should immerse oneself in the “prayer of the heart” until one becomes secure in the Holy Presence; once secure in that Presence, one should perform the “prayer of witnessing and seeing,” which is the “constant prayer” (see 70:22–23). Other Sufi commentators stress the distinction between the canonical prayer, done at specified times and when one is secure, and the practice of invoking or remembering God—that is, the “presence of the heart”—which should be constant (Qu). Prayer at fixed hours is prescribed for the believers is considered the scriptural basis for the obligatory canonical prayers and is often cited in daily Muslim life. These words are inscribed in many places of worship and cited in various texts.

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# Slacken not in the pursuit of these people. If you are suffering, verily they suffer even as you suffer, while you hope from God that for which they do not hope. Surely God is Knowing, Wise.

104 This verse was reportedly revealed after the Battle of Uḥud (3/625), encouraging the Muslims to continue to pursue Abū Sufyān, the leader of the idolaters (JJ). When the Muslims complained of their weakness from the wounds they had suffered at Uḥud, the verse reminded them that the idolaters suf er even as you suf er, but lack the hope the Muslims have for reward in the next life (Ṭ) and for victory and Divine support even in this life, as promised throughout the Quran (IK)—a hope that should give them, in the form of strength and encouragement, an advantage that the idolaters can never have (IK, JJ, Ṭ).

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# Verily We have sent down unto thee the Book in truth, that thou mightest judge between men according to what God has shown thee. So be not an advocate for those who betray their trust.

# And seek forgiveness of God; surely God is Forgiving, Merciful.

# And plead not on behalf of those who betray their own selves. Surely God loves not the one given to treachery and sin.

105–7 These verses indicate that one of the purposes of the revelation to the Prophet was that he might judge between men according to what God has shown him—that is, according to what God has taught him (R). Some scholars adduce this phrase to demonstrate that the Prophet had been given permission to perform ijtihād—that is, to derive independent rulings from the principles and laws contained in the Quran (IK). These three verses were reportedly addressed to the Prophet in relation to an incident in which Ṭuʿmah ibn Ubayriq, a Muslim who was likely a hypocrite (munāfiq; R), had stolen a piece of armor and hid it among the belongings of one of the Jews of Madinah in order to avoid discovery and later accused him of the theft. The Prophet initially attempted to defend Ṭuʿmah at the behest of the latter’s relatives, but in v. 105 he was warned not to defend those who betray their trust, and in v. 106 he was instructed to seek forgiveness for his initial willingness to do so (IK, JJ, Ṭ). V. 107 again warns against advocating for those who betray their own selves. The parallelism between those who betray their trust in v. 105 and those who betray their own selves in v. 107, which both refer to the same people, reflects the Quranic idea that one’s moral or immoral actions ultimately affect only oneself (see v. 111). Hence the assertion found throughout the Quran in relation to wrongdoers that God does not wrong people, but that they wrong themselves (see, e.g., 2:57; 3:117; 7:160). Here in betraying one’s trust, one ultimately betrays oneself. The Prophet is instructed to apply the rulings of the Quran without favoritism toward anyone—even on behalf of a (perhaps nominal) fellow Muslim against a member of another religious community (R). Because here the Quran admonishes the Prophet to avoid advocating for those who are treacherous and to seek forgiveness, a few have argued that these verses indicate that the Prophet was initially willing to advocate for the lying Ṭuʿmah, which would seem to cast doubt on the commonly accepted theological principle of ʿiṣmah, which holds that all prophets are protected against the commission of any major sin. Al-Rāzī responds to this argument by noting that the report of this incident indicates that, although the Prophet was concerned about the situation and willing to get involved, he took no decisive action right away, but waited for the guidance of revelation, which eventually came. The instruction to the Prophet to seek forgiveness of God, he further argues, may be read as an instruction to seek forgiveness for others—namely, for those who tried to persuade him to advocate for Ṭuʿmah.

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# They seek to hide themselves from men, but they cannot hide from God. He is with them when they conspire by night with words displeasing to Him, and God encompasses whatsoever they do.

108 This verse, along with vv. 109–14, continues to address the issue of those who betray their own selves (v. 107) through wrongdoing and treachery. They may hide their shameful actions from others (as they nearly did in the case of Ṭumʿah), but, as the Quran frequently repeats, nothing can be hidden from God. Here and elsewhere hypocrites and wrongdoers are accused of conspiring or devising schemes by night, that is, in private and away from the gaze of others (see 4:81; 34:33). God encompasses whatsoever they do could more literally be rendered, “God is encompassing (muḥīṭ) of whatsoever they do”; the same or a similar phrase also appears in 3:120; 4:126; 8:47; 11:92; 41:54, where it tends to be used in an ominous way in relation to disbelievers and their wrongdoing. Muḥīṭ is considered a Divine Name and on its own is usually rendered AllEncompassing (see 85:20).

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# There you are, pleading on their behalf concerning the life of this world! But who will plead with God on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection, or be a guardian for them?

109 In There you are, pleading on their behalf, “you” is in plural rather than singular and thus refers not to the Prophet (who is admonished against advocating for the treacherous in vv. 105–7), but to those who would seek to defend the Ubayriq clan or others engaged in similar wrongdoing or to plead for the Prophet’s support on their behalf. As the Quran emphasizes in 2:270; 3:56; 71:25, and many other places, wrongdoers will have no advocate or defender before God on the Day of Judgment.

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# Whosoever does evil or wrongs himself, and then seeks forgiveness of God, he will find God Forgiving, Merciful.

110 The promise of forgiveness is here likely extended to both the treacherous wrongdoers and those who would wrongfully seek to defend them (Ṭ).

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# And whosoever commits a sin, commits it only against his own soul, and God is Knowing, Wise.

111 The meaning here is that through immoral actions, one ultimately harms or wrongs only oneself, since God is not harmed by such actions and the offense given to other creatures endures only in this life. Yet, the effect of both moral and immoral actions endures for those who commit them in the form of congruous reward and punishment in the next life. Throughout the Quran, the wrongdoers are repeatedly referred to as those who wrong themselves, and in several places, including here, the correspondence between moral and immoral acts and their reward and punishment amounts to a kind of moral reflexivity, where actions are ultimately done only to or for oneself (see, e.g., 2:9, 272; 3:69; 6:123; 8:60; 9:34–35; 10:23; 29:6; 35:18).

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# And whosoever commits an offense or a sin, and then casts it upon one who is innocent, bears the burden of calumny and a manifest sin.

112 This verse continues to address the incident involving Ṭuʿmah ibn Ubayriq, who, after committing theft, blamed it on a Jewish resident of Madinah (see 4:105–7c). Although an offense or a sin and calumny and a manifest sin may seem to be rough pairs of synonyms or nouns placed in apposition for greater effect, the commentators understand these terms as referring to different kinds of acts. They suggest various distinctions between an offense and a sin: offense refers to an error or a wrong done unintentionally, whereas sin denotes an intentional wrongful act (R, Ṭ); of ense denotes a minor infraction and sin a major one (R, Z); or of ense is a “victimless” sin that spiritually harms only the one who commits it, while sin is an action that harms another (R). Al-Rāzī asserts that those who blame another will be burdened both with calumny, meaning that they will experience great shame in this life, and with a manifest sin, which indicates their greater punishment in the Hereafter.

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# Were it not for God’s Bounty toward thee, and His Mercy, a party of them would have plotted to lead thee astray, but they lead astray only their own souls, and they can do thee no harm in the least. God has sent down unto thee the Book and Wisdom, and has taught thee what thou knewest not; God’s Bounty toward thee is great indeed.

113 God’s Bounty and Mercy toward thee—that is, the Prophet—can be understood to mean in this context that He revealed to the Prophet the true guilt of Ṭuʿmah and so prevented the Prophet from being led astray by Ṭuʿmah’s fellow clansmen, who misrepresented Ṭuʿmah’s innocence and sought to have the Prophet pardon and intercede on behalf of their guilty kinsman. In doing so, He protected the Prophet from committing an error in judgment with regard to both Ṭuʿmah and the innocent man he had accused and thereby prevented Ṭuʿmah’s advocates from bringing spiritual harm to the Prophet. Thus God preserved the Prophet’s ʿiṣmah, that is, his protection from sin and moral error. This verse also indicates the same moral reflexivity suggested in v. 111, for in seeking to lead the Prophet astray, they misled only themselves. According to al-Ṭabarī, Ṭuʿmah’s would-be advocates knew that their attempt to solicit the Prophet’s defense of Ṭuʿmah was effectively an attempt to lead the Prophet astray, since they had been warned by the prior revelation in v. 105, be not an advocate for those who betray their trust, and thus knew that defending the treacherous Ṭuʿmah was not acceptable to God. See also 3:69, where, in seeking to lead others astray, the disbelievers mislead only themselves; and 39:41, where the soul’s going astray is said to harm none but itself. From a theological perspective, some understand God’s Bounty toward the Prophet in this verse to be a reference to his prophethood; they consider His Mercy to be a reference either to the special aid He rendered to the Prophet or more specifically to the Prophet’s ʿiṣmah, or moral inerrancy (R, Ṭs, Z), which mainstream Islamic doctrine attributed to all prophets. In other verses, however, God’s Bounty and Mercy are used in reference to God’s revelation of a particular guidance to the believers as a whole—a guidance that similarly prevents them from making serious errors of judgment—and so does not seem to relate only to the specific qualities given to the prophets (see 4:83; 24:10, 14, 20, 21). In the present verse, God protects the Prophet from being led astray by teaching him what he did not know, either in the sense of revealing to him the hidden nature of affairs and the inner intentions of people or simply in the sense of instructing him in religious Law (Z), the Book and Wisdom (R). The Quran elsewhere speaks of God granting various prophets both the Book and Wisdom (2:129, 151, 231; 3:81, 164; 4:54; 5:110; 62:2); the Book refers to the scripture itself, and Wisdom to religious knowledge and understanding more generally. For al-Rāzī, the reiteration of the greatness of God’s Bounty, after describing His Revelation of the Book and Wisdom and His teaching the Prophet what he did not know, is a clear indication that knowledge is the “noblest of the bounties and virtues” that God may bestow.

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# There is no good in most of their secret converse, save for him who enjoins charity or kindness or reconciliation between men. And whosoever does that, seeking God’s Good Pleasure, We shall grant him a great reward.

114 In itself, secret converse (najwā) is morally neutral. It can be positive, as in this verse, where it may be used to enjoin charity or kindness or reconciliation, for which one can expect a great reward. But as this verse and others indicate, secret converse may also portend plotting and ill intentions. Cf. 58:7–10, where secret converse is said to be known to God, but forbidden when it is done with a view to sin, enmity, and disobeying the Messenger. The believers are then told to converse in secret with a view to piety and reverence. The next line warns that secret converse is only from Satan, presumably when it is ill-intentioned (see 114:4–6, in which God’s protection is sought against the stealthy whisperer, who is Satan, or against jinn and men). A ḥadīth warns, “The speech of the Children of Adam always works against them, not for them, except when it is to command the right and forbid the wrong, or to invoke God” (Z). Hypocrites in general (v. 81), and Ṭuʿmah’s clansmen in particular (v. 108) are also said to conspire by night (bayyata), and so, presumably, in secret. Here as elsewhere, the Quran praises those who do good deeds seeking God’s good Pleasure, meaning with pure intention, not for worldly purposes or to seek the pleasure or praise of others (Z); see 2:207, 265; 60:1.

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# But whosoever opposes the Messenger, after guidance has been made clear to him, and follows a way other than that of the believers, We shall leave him on [the path] he has taken, and We shall cause him to burn in Hell—what an evil journey’s end!

115 This verse likely closes the discussion of the incident involving Ṭuʿmah, who is said to have returned to Makkah after his theft was revealed and abandoned Islam (R, Z). The verse thus issues a warning to those who, like Ṭuʿmah, break with the Prophet after having recognized his spiritual guidance. Opposes the Messenger means to become his enemy, despite being aware that he is a prophet bringing right guidance; following a way other than that of the believers indicates disbelief (kufr; Ṭ). For al-Rāzī, this verse is evidence for the moral inerrancy (ʿiṣmah) of the Prophet, since if he were errant, it would not always be a punishable sin to oppose him. The legal scholar al-Shāfiʿī and some other major commentators considered this verse proof of the authority of communal consensus (ijmāʿ), one of the four sources of Islamic Law in the Shāfiʿī school. In making a connection between one who follows a way other than that of the believers and those who oppose the Messenger, this verse can be taken to indicate that both the Messenger and the “way of the believers” represent authoritative sources of guidance that cannot be rightly opposed (R, Z). Insofar as the verse indicates the necessity of following the Prophet and the “way of the believers,” Al-Rāzī also holds that it is proof that right guidance requires external examples to be followed and cannot be based simply upon one’s own intuitive knowledge or inherent sense of right and wrong. For Shiites, however, the verse is not understood to mean that one must follow the path of the believers as individual human beings who are fallible, whose state of belief cannot be definitively ascertained, and whose status as “believers” may change over time. For leading Twelver Shiite commentators, the “way of the believers” refers to the way prescribed by the teachings of their Imams (Ṭs, Ṭū), since they considered these teachings to be Divinely guaranteed and complementary to the teachings of the Prophet. The warning that one who opposes the Prophet and the way of the believers will be left by God on [the path] he has taken means that he will be left to continue on the path of error (Z) or of worshipping idols or false deities, and though he may seek the help of those deities on the Last Day, they will not avail him (Ṭ). Al-Rāzī says that some assert that this verse was abrogated by later verses such as 9:29, which enjoins Muslims to fight those who do not believe in God . . . and who follow not the Religion of Truth and thus takes a more aggressive stance against apostates, in this world, rather than leaving the consequences of their actions to the Hereafter.

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# Truly God forgives not that any partner be ascribed unto Him, but He forgives what is less than that for whomsoever He will. Whosoever ascribes partners unto God has surely gone far astray.

116 See 4:48 (a nearly identical verse) and commentary.

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# They call upon only females in His stead; they call upon none but a defiant Satan, Ę whom God has cursed, who said, “Assuredly I shall take of Thy servants an appointed share, ę and surely I shall lead them astray, and arouse desires in them. I shall command them and they will slit the ears of cattle; I shall command them and they will alter God’s creation.” Whosoever takes Satan as a protector apart from God has surely suffered a manifest loss. 117–19 Females here likely refers to the three female deities worshipped by the pagan Makkans, al-Lāt, al-ʿUzzā, and Manāt, who are mentioned by name in 53:19–20 and whom the pagan Makkans believed to be the “daughters” of Allāh (Z). Other Makkan deities were also female, and the verse may reference them as well. One minority opinion considers females to be a reference to the angels that the Makkans name . . . with female names (53:27; Ṭ), who were also considered by the Makkans to be the daughters of Allāh (Z). The female character of these idols, deities, and “angels,” referenced explicitly here and in the passages in Sūrah 53, was for some medieval commentators a particular reason to belittle these idolatrous practices. A number of commentators considered the female to be lowlier and closer to pure “matter” than the male (Q, R), making the Makkan worship of female idols even worthier of ridicule in their eyes. Elsewhere, the Quran rebukes the Makkans for assigning these “daughters” to God, when they themselves were dismayed by the birth of a daughter (see 16:57–58). Minority opinions attributed to ʿĀʾishah and Ibn ʿAbbās, however, eliminated the female reference entirely by reading the word ināth (“females”) as “idols” (uthun or awthān; Q, R, Z), both possible readings on the basis of the early consonantal text of the Quran, although this is not among the approved readings of the verse according to the Islamic science of variant recitations (qirāʾāt). Certainly, even if the Quranic condemnation here pertains directly to the worship of these false female deities, it can be understood as extending to all false and idolatrous objects of worship. In calling upon these females, their devotees are, in effect, worshipping them (R); and in doing this they are unwittingly calling upon or worshipping the defiant Satan, for it is Satan who deceives them into idol worship, so when they engage in that act, they obey him (Z). Al-Qurṭubī claims that each idol worshipped in preIslamic Arabia had its own “satan” that accompanied it, and this satan would speak by inspiring words in the idol’s custodian or priestess, who would then relate them to the people. Cf. 22:3 and 37:7, which also make reference to a defiant demon. However, in vv. 118–19, this satan is identified as the one who said, Assuredly I shall take of Thy servants an appointed share, making it clear that “satan” here refers not to an unspecified demon (although it is presented in the indefinite form), but to the defiant Satan in the story of Adam’s creation who vows to lead human beings astray; see 7:16–18; 17:62. He arouses in them desires (v. 119) for both good things in this world, such as long life and increased wealth, and good things in the next, such as undeserved Divine forgiveness (Z). The practice of slitting the ears of cattle was part of a pagan ritual of the Makkans. They would slit the ears of female camels who had given birth five times, with the fifth offspring being male, to indicate that they should no longer be used (Z). Al-Ṭabarī says that this practice was part of the pagan ritual known as baḥīrah, mentioned in 5:103. For other pagan rituals concerning livestock, see 6:136–39. V. 119 asserts that it is also by Satan’s command that people alter God’s creation which, following upon the previous reference to slitting the ears of livestock, refers to various, unacceptable forms of mutilation perpetrated on animals, but especially on human beings—including tattooing and castrating men to serve as eunuchs, practices condemned by Islamic legal scholars, but found, historically, in some parts of the Islamic world (Z). Muslims do practice male circumcision, however, and some legal schools consider female circumcision (the cutting of the skin around the clitoris), if it is limited in nature, to be sunnah. In general, rules regarding circumcision tend to be discussed as matters of ritual purity, rather than as forms of “altering God’s creation.” Neither practice is mentioned in the Quran, and the tradition on which female circumcision is based is not accepted by all; some Muslims consider female circumcision a form of bodily mutilation that should be prohibited in Islam and it is not practiced in most Islamic countries. Another opinion understands alter God’s creation as meaning to alter His original religion, given that God’s creation and the “upright religion” are identified with each other in 30:30: Set thy face to religion as a ḥanīf, in the primordial nature from God upon which He originated mankind—there is no altering the creation of God; that is the upright religion. In the latter verse, both God’s creation and His religion are associated with the primordial nature (fiṭrah) endowed by God. When the pagan Arabs performed these rituals on livestock or human beings, they were both engaging in practices not ordained by God, and so altering His pure religion, and altering the nature of these creatures, and so violating the original nature of God’s creation.

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# He makes them promises and stirs in them desires, but Satan promises naught but delusion.

120 God’s promises are true, as is repeatedly asserted (see, e.g., 3:152; 4:122; 7:44; 10:4), but Satan’s promises are false and naught but delusion (see also 17:64). In 14:22 Satan himself asserts that God’s promise was true, but that he (Satan) had failed in his promises. See also 31:33; 35:5–6, where Satan is identified as the Deluder.

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# Such will have their refuge in Hell, and will find no refuge therefrom.

121 Hell or “the Fire” is described, perhaps with ironic intention, as a refuge for disbelievers and wrongdoers throughout the Quran; see, for example, 3:151; 4:97; 8:16; 13:18; 24:57; 45:34; 79:39. That those condemned to Hell will find no refuge is also mentioned in 14:21; 41:48; 42:47; 75:11.

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# But for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, We shall cause them to enter Gardens with rivers running below, abiding therein forever. God’s Promise is true, and who is truer in speech than God?

122 For the often repeated description of Paradise as a Garden with rivers running below, see 2:25 and commentary.

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# It will not be in accordance with your desires nor the desires of the People of the Book. Whosoever does evil shall be requited for it, and he will find no protector or helper for himself apart from God.

# And whosoever performs righteous deeds, whether male or female, and is a believer, such shall enter the Garden, and they shall not be wronged so much as the speck on a date stone.

123–24 These verses relate to the debate between the adherents of different religions as to which is better or truer. Your desires and the desires of the People of the Book may indicate the desire of the Muslims and the desire of Jews and Christians, respectively, to claim the superiority of their own religion (Ṭ; see 2:111–13). Or they may be claiming special leniency when it comes to Divine Judgment regardless of their acts because of their membership in a particular religious community (Z); for examples of such claims by the People of the Book, see 2:80; 3:24; 5:18. Another opinion asserts that the verse is directly addressing the idolaters and that your desires thus refers to the desire or claim of the idolaters that they will not be resurrected and punished for their deeds. Al-Ṭabarī considers the latter interpretation more likely, since desires here translates amānī, which is etymologically related to the term used for the false desires Satan arouses in people to lead them astray in vv. 119–20, and so should be associated with those who are actually astray (such as the Makkan idolaters), rather than with the believing Muslims. In either case, the Quran negates these claims, indicating that there will indeed be punishment and reward in the Hereafter, and it will based not solely upon membership in a particular religious community, but upon individual belief and the performance of righteous deeds, for whosoever does evil shall be requited for it, and whosoever performs righteous deeds, whether male or female, and is a believer, such shall enter the Garden (for similar statements about human moral potential and reward made explicitly to both genders, see 3:195; 40:40). The condition and is a believer may be meant to indicate particularly a Muslim believer, as the term is used throughout the Quran to refer to believers in the Quranic message specifically; however, the Quran also asserts that anyone who believes in God and the Last Day and works righteousness (2:62; 5:69) will have a blessed Afterlife and explicitly includes faithful Jews and Christians among those to whom this applies. It is thus possible to understand the condition of being a believer here in the more general sense of anyone who believes in God and the Last Day. The condition of being a believer is mentioned explicitly in v. 124 as a requirement for the reward of righteous deeds, but in v. 123 the punishment for evil deeds is presented as applicable to all. This reportedly troubled some of the Prophet’s Companions, who feared punishment for their missteps despite their belief in Islam and found it hard to reconcile this verse with other verses that assert that minor sins may be forgiven or “removed” by good deeds (see, e.g., 4:31; 11:114). The Prophet assured them that, for believers, the hardships they suffer in life—from major calamities to suffering the prick of a thorn—will serve as expiation for their sins or, from a different perspective, that punishment for such sins was meted out through the adversities in this life, both great and small (R, Ṭ). As the reported concerns of the Prophet’s Companions would seem to indicate, such verses must be understood in the larger context of the Quran’s discussion of God’s judgment of human beings, a discussion that leans heavily toward affirming God’s capacity to forgive and suggesting multiple compensations for human shortcoming. See, for example, 6:160: Whosoever brings a good deed shall have ten times the like thereof; but whosoever brings an evil deed shall be recompensed only with the like thereof, and they shall not be wronged. See also the essay “Death, Dying, and the Afterlife in the Quran.”

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# And who is better in religion than the one who submits his face to God, and is virtuous, and follows the creed of Abraham, as a ḥanīf? And God did take Abraham for a friend.

125 True religious superiority, however, is attained on the individual, not communal, level by submitting one’s face to God—a symbolic expression meaning the submission of one’s whole self to God—as well as being virtuous and following the pure creed of Abraham, as a ḥanīf (cf. 2:130; for ḥanīf, see 2:135c; 30:30c). Vv. 124–25 can be understood as bringing together the three levels of religious commitment mentioned in the famous ḥadīth of Gabriel: outward submission through righteous acts (islām), correct and sincere faith (īmān), and virtue (iḥsān) achieved through a constant awareness of God. In v. 124, otherworldly reward is promised for those who perform righteous deeds and hold correct belief; but in v. 125, being virtuous is connected with submitting one’s face to God, indicating that the “best” religion is achieved by those who manifest true virtue through complete, rather than merely outward, submission to God. In the present verse, such complete submission to God is directly connected to Abraham. The Quran suggests that Muslims have an advantage over other monotheists in following the creed of Abraham, since the claim that Abraham was a Jew or a Christian is rejected (2:140; 3:65–67) and elsewhere Abraham and his creed are explicitly connected to the Prophet Muhammad and his religious community (2:135; 3:68; 6:61; 16:123). Moreover, in the Quran the exclusively Islamic practice of the ḥajj as well as the reverence for the Makkan ḥaram are initiated by Abraham himself (2:125–26; 3:97; 22:26–30; R). Here Abraham is famously identified as the intimate friend of God (khalīl). Of all the laudatory comments made about Abraham in the Quran, it is his identification here as God’s intimate friend that gives Abraham his most well known honorific title in Islam, Khalīl Allāh. Although this particular honorific is used primarily for Abraham, some argue that it is a quality belonging to all the prophets, including Muhammad (Ṭs). Khalīl indicates a friendship so close that one loves and hates whatever one’s friend loves and hates and thus chooses allies and enemies in accordance with the allies and enemies of one’s friend (Ṭ). The Quran indicates that this is the ideal relationship that all believers should have with God, since it warns that the enemies of God should also be the enemies of the believers, and that the believers should not take the enemies of God as their friends (see, e.g., 60:1). Abraham demonstrates this himself, according to the statement in 9:114, which says that he used to pray for forgiveness for his father, but when it became clear to him that he was an enemy of God, he repudiated him. Sufi authors and commentators understand khalīl as referring to a fullness of love (maḥabbah) and say that Abraham was called Khalīl Allāh because love of God permeated (takhallala, from the same root as khalīl) every aspect of his being (Aj; Ibn ʿArabī, Fuṣūṣ al-ḥikam, faṣṣ 5).

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# Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God encompasses all things.

126 Encompasses here translates kāna muḥīṭ (see 4:108c). The active participle, Muḥīṭ, is one of the Divine Names and on its own is often translated All-Encompassing (85:20). In the Quran, the Divine Name Muḥīṭ is usually mentioned in connection with a rebuke or threat to the disbelievers or hypocrites, although when it is invoked by Muslims, as with other Divine Names, it does not pertain necessarily to Divine rebuke. Here it is used in a more universal and metaphysical sense—God encompasses all things. This verse closes the previous discussions of belief, hypocrisy, and idolatry and initiates a brief return, in the next four verses, to a discussion of marital issues addressed earlier in the sūrah.

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# They seek a ruling from thee concerning women. Say, “God gives you a ruling concerning them, and that which has been recited to you in the Book concerning the orphan girls—to whom you give not what is prescribed for them though you desire to marry them—and also the helpless among the children: that you should uphold justice for the orphans. Whatever good you do, surely God knows it well.”

127 This verse and v. 129 extend the discussion of orphans, marriage, and dealing justly with one’s wives initiated in v. 3. When the Prophet was asked for a ruling . . . concerning women, this verse was revealed, instructing him to remind them that they should already know the rule, for they already have that which has been recited to you in the Book concerning the orphan girls. ʿĀʾishah contended that the present verse was issued as a clarification of v. 3 (Ṭ, Q; see also 4:3c) and was meant to prevent male guardians from either marrying orphan girls without giving them their full bridal gifts or refusing to marry them to themselves or others, so as later to assume the girls’ inheritance, should the guardian outlive them. The first of these seems consistent with the rebuke concerning orphan girls that follows: you give not what is prescribed for them though you desire to marry them, thus reiterating the insistence that orphan girls be married properly, with a bridal payment, to avoid their exploitation (see v. 3c; W). However, though you desire to marry them employs the verb raghiba, which, when used with certain prepositions, means to desire or prefer something, but when used with other prepositions, means the opposite—to dislike or be averse to something. In the present verse, the preposition has been elided, opening the verb to both meanings. Thus some commentators understand the Arabic to mean “though you desire not to marry them” and consider it to refer to the latter practice of refusing to either marry undesirable orphan girls or marry them off to others (cf. v:19), in hopes that the girls would predecease them, allowing them to take the girls’ inheritance portions for themselves (JJ, Q, Ṭ). Open as it is to both meanings, this part of the verse thus precludes both ways of mistreating orphan girls, both marrying them off without giving them their rightful bridal payment or refusing to marry them in order to keep their inheritance for oneself. Given that the verse also mentions the helpless among the children and orphans in general, many early commentators considered the reminder about that which has been recited to you in the Book to refer to the general rulings about inheritance in vv. 11–12. As noted in the commentary on those verses, some of the Prophet’s Companions were unhappy with the command to give allotted shares of the inheritance to women and young children, who did not inherit according to pre-Islamic Arabian custom. According to a report from the early authority Saʿīd ibn Jubayr (d. 95/714), their dissatisfaction with the inheritance provisions for women and children led them to persist in questioning the Prophet about this and seeking, through him, further Divine clarification. According to this report, the present verse represents the Divine response to their questioning, apparently rebuking them for seeking a ruling on a matter for which a ruling has already been clearly prescribed and thereby affirming the rules of inheritance in vv. 11–12 (Ṭ). All of these reported interpretations of this verse, however, collectively indicate that some of the Prophet’s Companions, discontented with the new rules for inheritance, perhaps particularly as they pertained to orphan girls, complained about them, attempted to circumvent them (see commentary on 4:3, 11, 12), or hoped to have them changed by a new Divine decree. In this verse all such efforts are rebuffed and the earlier Quranic rulings are thereby implicitly reaffirmed.

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# If a wife fears animosity or desertion from her husband, there is no blame upon them should they come to an accord, for an accord is better. Souls are prone to avarice, but if you are virtuous and reverent, surely God is Aware of whatsoever you do.

128 This verse continues as part of the ruling . . . concerning women requested by some of the Prophet’s Companions in the previous verse (R). Animosity translates nushūz, which has as its root meaning high-handedness, arrogance, or aloofness and is also used in v. 34, where it is men who fear nushūz (translated discord and animosity) from their wives. Both this verse and v. 34 speak of one who “fears” animosity from a spouse, but in both cases this is understood to mean that the animosity has been clearly displayed and is not merely suspected (Q; see 4:34c). A wife’s nushūz toward her husband in v. 34 is widely understood as disobedience, or a failure to respect his marital or conjugal rights due to lack of affection, or to aversion and a desire to separate from him. In the present verse, a husband’s nushūz is construed differently, although somewhat analogously, as neglect of his wife because of a desire or inclination toward other women or wives or as a desire to divorce her due to a loss of affection or an aversion toward her (JJ, Ṭ). It is clear that the Quran recognizes that such unilateral feelings of aversion on the part of either husband or wife may lead to divorce and in both cases allows for extraordinary measures to prevent it. A husband may discipline his wife to counter her animosity or disrespect toward him (v. 34), while a woman facing animosity or desertion from her husband is, by contrast, encouraged to arrange an accord with him. According to most commentators, this means agreeing to give her husband part of her bridal payment or other property or forfeiting some of her rights as a wife (e.g., to conjugal relations or financial maintenance) in order to remain married to her husband and avoid desertion or divorce (JJ, R, Ṭ). Because of the possibility of polygamy in Islam, this may mean agreeing to allow her husband to spend more time or money on another (perhaps younger or more desirable) cowife; and in relation to this verse, some cite the case of Sawdah bint Zamʿah, an older wife of the Prophet who agreed to give her allotted “night” with the Prophet to his young wife ʿĀʾishah (Q, Ṭ). This and similar instances cited by commentators in connection with this verse indicate that arrangements in which one wife agrees to a certain inequality of companionship or conjugal rights in relation to a cowife is permissible only in the case of the consent of the cowives themselves (Q). In Islamic Law, divorce is permitted but discouraged and considered reprehensible (makrūh); a well-known ḥadīth says that divorce is the most odious of all lawful things unto God. Thus here and elsewhere the Quran encourages various means of avoiding divorce (see 2:228–30; 4:35), indicating that a “settlement” that avoids this is better. Souls are prone to avarice (shuḥḥ) addresses the greed and selfishness innate to both men and women (Q) who would put their own interests and desires above those of their spouse or the marital union. Cf. 59:9; and 64:16: Whosoever is shielded from the avarice (shuḥḥ) of his soul, it is they who shall prosper. Some early commentators suggest that it is the selfishness or avarice of the wife in particular that is intended here, since it is she who is being asked to forfeit some of her marital rights, which she may hold dearly and be reluctant to forfeit (Ṭ). But the text does not indicate that the comment is gender-specific and may well reference the husband’s avarice or selfishness in seeking younger women (Q, R) or additional children, both of which are identified in 3:14 as earthly passions and the enjoyment of the life of this world that cannot compare to the beautiful rewards of the Hereafter. The promise to those who are virtuous and reverent in these matters—that is, those who overcome their avarice and agree to compromise for the sake of their spouse—is that God takes notice of their actions and, it is implied, will reward them for it.

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# You will not be able to deal fairly between women, even if it is your ardent desire, but do not turn away from one altogether, so that you leave her as if suspended. If you come to an accord and are reverent, truly God is Forgiving, Merciful.

129 This verse presents a means of reconciling the command given at the beginning of the sūrah that men deal justly among multiple wives or take only one (v. 3), and the reality, acknowledged in v. 128, that in a situation where men can take more than one wife and there are no barriers to a man divorcing his wife, a woman is vulnerable both to the diversion or loss of her husband’s affection in favor of another and to desertion because of her husband’s right to unilateral divorce. You will not be able to deal fairly between women acknowledges that affection and attraction are involuntary feelings that a husband cannot always apportion “equally” between his wives. This reality was noted by many commentators in their discussion of v. 3, where they explain that the command given there is to treat wives equally in tangible measures, such as the amount of time and money spent on each wife, and that it does not require equality in more intangible things, such as love and affection. Many say that the present verse was revealed in relation to the Prophet’s wife ʿĀʾishah, whom the Prophet is said to have loved above his other wives, although he maintained strict equality between them in the tangible matters of financial support and time spent with each (IK, Ṭ, Ṭb). In a ḥadīth, the Prophet says with regard to his equal rotation among his wives, “O God, this is my division of that which I control [i.e., his time], so do not blame me for that which Thou controlest, and I do not [i.e., his affection for particular wives]” (Ṭ, Z). Although v. 128 suggests remedies that might be used to avoid divorce, should a less favored wife find herself in danger of losing her husband, the present verse addresses the issue from the perspective of the husband. The verse can be understood as recommending that the husband cooperate in his wife’s attempt to seek a peaceful settlement, since the command do not turn away from one altogether, so that you leave her as if suspended, implies that he accept her offer to limit her demands on him in exchange for avoiding divorce or desertion. As if suspended is understood as referring to a wife’s being suspended or “imprisoned” between effectively having no husband, since he avoids her company, and yet not being widowed or divorced (Ṭ) and thus free to marry another. The Quran elsewhere demands that a woman be released in full after divorce or widowhood, freeing her to pursue marriage elsewhere without restriction (see 2:229–31; 4:19 and commentary). In connection with this verse, some commentators cite a ḥadīth that says, “Whosoever has two wives, and inclines toward one of them and away from the other, will come on the Day of Resurrection leaning to one side” (IK, Ṭ, Z). The verse ends by reiterating the importance of an accord made with an attitude of reverence, indicating that it will engender God’s forgiveness for such human shortcomings.

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# If the two separate, God will enrich both out of His Abundance, and God is All-Encompassing, Wise.

130 Although the Quran recommends or requires several remedies to avoid divorce (see vv. 35, 128), if divorce is the outcome, this verse asserts that God continues to care for both spouses and will enrich them out of His Abundance by providing the possibility of new spouses better suited and more pleasing or beneficial to them (R, Ṭ). Cf. v. 32 where both men and women are told to ask God for His Bounty, rather than envying one another concerning what the other has been given.

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# Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. We have enjoined those who were given the Book before you, and We enjoin you to reverence God. But if you disbelieve, [know that] unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God is Self-Sufficient, Praised.

# Unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God suffices as a Guardian.

# If He so wills, He can remove you, O mankind, and bring others [in your stead], and God has full power to do so.

131–33 The promise in v. 130 that God will enrich both separated spouses is followed by a threefold repetition of the frequent Quranic assertion that unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. The first of these immediately follows the promise of God’s enrichment of the separated spouses, thus inspiring trust in a better future for them both through a reminder of the extent of the Divine Abundance mentioned in v. 130. Those who were given the Book before you refers to Jews and Christians who, like Muslims, are similarly enjoined to be reverent toward God. According to al-Rāzī, this indicates that the command to reverence God is a Divine Law (sharīʿah) common to all religious communities. But should they choose disbelief over reverence of God, they are reminded again that unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth. Self-Suf icient translates Ghanī, a term that is sometimes rendered “rich,” but that denotes not primarily great wealth, but rather complete independence of everything else; it could be translated “free of need.” Being Self-Suf icient, He is neither increased by acts of obedience and worship, nor diminished by human disobedience and disbelief (R). The third repetition precedes the warning in v. 133 that God can remove human beings altogether and replace them with others, emphasizing God’s Independence and Self-Sufficiency in relation to His creatures (see 6:133, where a similar warning is likewise preceded by an assertion that God is Self-Suf icient; 5:54; 14:19; 47:38). Nearly all commentators read this in a universal way, meaning that God can completely remove existing human beings and bring others—or another kind of creation entirely. According to one report, when this verse was revealed, indicating that God could bring others in their stead, the Prophet put his hand on the back of Salmān al-Fārsī (Salmān the Persian), saying, “It is this people [that is meant], that is, the Persians” (Q, Z).

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# Whosoever desires the reward of this world, with God is the reward of this world and the Hereafter. God is Hearing, Seeing.

134 Several passages of the Quran affirm the idea that God rewards people in both this world and the next, a concept that is often associated in the Quran with the prophets and their immediate followers (although it is not limited to them). See 12:56–57, where Joseph is given the worldly reward of being “established” in the land, a statement that is followed by a reminder that the reward of the Hereafter is better; 3:146–48, where the reward of this world and the next is said to have been given to those who fought patiently alongside the prophets; and 29:27, where Abraham is given by God a reward in this world and in the Hereafter he shall truly be among the righteous. Moses is also said to have been rewarded with wisdom and knowledge when he reached maturity, thus during his life (28:14). Conversely, this verse can also be read as applying in a negative sense to the Madinan hypocrites—perhaps, again, to the advocates of Ṭuʿmah ibn Ubayriq, which is the reported context for vv. 105–15 (see commentary on 4:105–7, 112–13)—who outwardly manifest belief in order to obtain the reward of this world, namely, the booty they might acquire through fighting alongside the Prophet or the general protection they receive as Muslims in Madinah (Ṭ). The reward of . . . the Hereafter is therefore an ironic and ominous allusion to the “reward”—that is, the punishment—they will have in the next life for their hypocrisy (Ṭ). Indeed, the “reward of this world” is sometimes counterposed to the reward of the Hereafter (see, e.g., 3:145; 33:28–29, where the wives of the Prophet are asked to choose between the good of this world and the reward of the next). A well-known ḥadīth says that those who made the migration from Makkah to Madinah “for the sake of worldly benefit or for a woman” shall have that for which they migrated, implying that their reward for migrating will come in this life rather than in the Hereafter. Yet there is no reason that this verse must be read only in the negative sense, and other commentators acknowledge that those who struggle sincerely for the sake of religion may have the reward of both this world and the next (Z). See 2:201: But among them are those who say, “Our Lord, give us good in this world and good in the Hereafter, and shield us from the punishment of the Fire!” This verse is a common prayer offered by Muslims, often on a daily basis.

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# O you who believe! Be steadfast maintainers of justice, witnesses for God, though it be against yourselves, or your parents and kinsfolk, and whether it be someone rich or poor, for God is nearer unto both. So follow not your caprice, that you may act justly. If you distort or turn away, truly God is Aware of whatsoever you do.

135 Establishing and upholding justice in society is a key concern of the Quran. God establishes justice by setting the Balance within creation itself (15:19; 55:7; 57:25), by commanding justice among human beings through revelation (7:29; 16:90; 42:17; 57:25), and by weighing deeds in a set balance on the Day of Judgment (21:47). In 3:18, God is described as upholding justice (qāʾiman bi’l-qisṭ), employing an Arabic phrase similar to the one used here and in v. 127 for the human effort to maintain justice. Thus as God commands justice, the believer is expected to do so as well. God is said to love those who are just (5:42; 49:9; 60:8), and those who slay the upholders of justice are placed on a par with those who deny God’s signs and kill His prophets (3:21). Cf. 5:8, O you who believe! Be steadfast for God, bearing witness to justice, which presents something of a rearranged version of the statement in the present verse be steadfast maintainers of justice, witnesses for God. Taken together the two verses indicate that standing for God and for justice are deeply linked. Al-Ṭabarī rephrases the meaning of this part of the present verse as follows: “Uphold justice for [the sake of] God when you bear witness.” Other commentators confirm that the real meaning of this verse is that one’s testimony should never be for the sake of oneself or for another, but only for the sake of God (Bḍ, Z) and in justice; that is, truthful witnessing is a claim that God has over the human being. The Sufi Rūzbihān al-Baqlī says in his commentary, “The spirit of Oneness (tawḥīd) will not find root in a person’s heart, so long as God has a claim upon him that he has not fulfilled.” The Quran requires the presence of witnesses for commercial transactions (2:282), the transfer of wealth to orphans upon maturity (4:6), and adjudicating serious criminal charges (4:15; 24:2–9). In order to judge between people “with justice,” as God commands (4:58; 5:42), society has to depend upon people honestly and fully witnessing to the truth, without regard for the ultimate consequences of their truthful testimony, which is not in their hands. According to this verse, testimony should not be swayed either by self-interest (though it be against yourselves) or ties of kinship (or [against] your parents or kinsfolk). One should note that one has a duty to testify not only against others, but even against oneself, and that truthful witnessing takes precedence even over the kindness and deference the Quran asserts one owes to parents and kinsfolk. Given the command here to testify truthfully, even against kinsfolk, this part of the verse may also be addressed to the specific case of Ṭuʿmah ibn Ubayriq and his clan, discussed in vv. 105–15 (Ṭ; see 4:105–7c; 4:112c; 4:113c). Testimony should also not be swayed by the wealth or poverty of the parties in question. A witness might be moved to alter testimony in favor of a wealthy individual in order to gain favor or, conversely, in favor of a poorer individual out of sympathy (JJ). One reported occasion for this revelation is an incident in which the Prophet was inclined to rule in favor of a poor man, thinking him incapable of truly harming the wealthier man (Ṭ, W). But readers are reminded that God is nearer unto both, meaning that He is the ultimate caretaker of both (as in v. 130, God will enrich both out of His Abundance), and that it is His task to establish ultimate justice between the rich and the poor (Ṭ). It is not people’s prerogative to bend the laws to achieve what they may consider ultimately just; that would be following their caprice. In a similar vein, believers are warned elsewhere not to be swayed in judgment by either hatred for a people (5:8) or pity for the accused (24:2). True justice is served by simply bearing witness to what one knows objectively and directly, not by passing along hearsay. See 24:13, where it is said that those who accuse an innocent woman of indecency without bringing four witnesses are simply liars in the Eyes of God. That you may act justly uses the verb taʿdilū, which can mean either “to be just” or, somewhat paradoxically, “to deviate.” The former meaning is likely here, as in the translation: follow not your caprice, that you might act justly (R). However, it might also mean either “follow not your caprice, lest you deviate [from the truth in your testimony]” (Bḍ, Z) or “follow not your caprice, lest you deviate [from justice].” All interpretations of this phrase, however, sum up the larger meaning of the verse, which is that one must not allow one’s desires or predilections to cause one to deviate from the service of justice through truthful testimony. The verse ends with a reminder that God is Aware, should any distort testimony or turn away from giving testimony altogether, thereby concealing the truth (Ṭ).

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# O you who believe! Believe in God and His Messenger, and the Book He sent down upon His Messenger, and the Book He sent down before. Whosoever does not believe in God and His angels and His Books and His messengers and the Last Day has wandered far astray.

136 This is one of two verses in the Quran (the other is 2:177) that articulates a list of required Muslim beliefs that closely matches the list contained in the ḥadīth of Gabriel, where faith, or īmān, comprises belief in God, His angels, His messengers, His books, the Last Day, and the Divine Decree. The present verse begins with a positive command to believe in God, His Messenger, the Book He sent down upon His Messenger (i.e., the Quran), and the Book He sent down before. Although Book is used in the singular here, it refers to all previous revealed books, that is, to “scripture” used as a collective noun. After the positive command, a warning is issued against disbelieving in five specific things: God, His angels, His Books (all revealed scriptures, including the Quran), His messengers (all prophets, minor and major), and the Last Day (the Resurrection and Final Judgment). See 2:285, where in a similar list the “Last Day” is not mentioned, but the return to God is (unto Thee is the journey’s end). Most commentators argue that a failure to believe in any one item on this list or a failure to believe in any one prophet or message is effectively a failure to believe in all of them (see vv. 150–51; R, Ṭ, Z); and since the existence of angels, messengers, and the Last Day is affirmed in scripture, a failure to believe in these things reflects a hypocritical, selective, or insufficient belief in scripture itself. To the extent that only Muslims believed in the Quran and the Prophet Muhammad along with the other books and messengers, Muslims were sometimes considered “believers” in the fullest sense. Thus when the Quran refers to “believers,” it is often, but not always, understood to specify Muslim believers. Most commentators view this verse as a command to Muslims to believe not only in the Quran, but also in all previous revealed scripture (Z). Since the verse addresses those who are already “believers,” this specific list of required beliefs may be meant to reinforce, or better inform, their existing faith; alternately, the verse may be addressed to the hypocrites who claim belief (and so are addressed, satirically, as “O you who believe”), but whose faith is not complete or sincere (R). Another interpretation, however, understands O you who believe as addressed specifically to Jews and Christians, insofar as these two groups believe in the previously revealed scriptures, the Torah and Gospel, respectively (R, Ṭ, Z). Even commentators who read the verse as primarily addressed to Muslims cite an occasion for the revelation in which a group of Madinan Jews came to the Prophet and declared that, although they believed in his message and the message of the Torah, they did not believe in the other scriptures and prophets. This verse then came down, commanding belief in all of them (R, Z). It is important to note that other verses clearly mention that there are Jews and Christians who believe in the Prophet and the Quran while remaining Jews and Christians (see 3:199 and commentary), thus indicating that such Jews and Christians should be considered believers by the standards of the present verse.

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# Those who believe and then disbelieve, and then believe and then disbelieve, and then increase in disbelief, God will not forgive them nor guide them unto any way.

137 Following upon the articulation of required beliefs in the previous verse, this verse warns those who waver in their belief. By acknowledging the possibility of returning to belief after having apostatized, the verse indicates the possibility of communal (legal) acceptance of a former believer who leaves the community of faith, but then repents and seeks to reenter it. However, the verse also suggests that each time one falls away from belief, the possibility for a full return is diminished, as it leads to an “increase” in disbelief. For those who continue to waver in this way, “increasing” in disbelief, the Quran issues a rare warning that God will not forgive them and that they will be bereft of His Guidance. Because the act of apostasy is mentioned three times before the warning is issued, some commentators have asserted that the repentance of an apostate from the faith should be accepted only three times. Most, however, argue that repentance is always accepted (Ṭ), even if continued acts of apostasy make full and lasting repentance unlikely, either because of the negative effect of repeated apostasy upon the soul (Z) or because such wavering indicates that belief was never firmly rooted in such a heart (R). The possibility of forgiveness is thus closed only to one who continues increasing in disbelief until death and dies in that state (R, Ṭ)—the state in which one dies being, for some, the true indicator of faith or lack thereof (R). The latter position is supported by vv. 145–46, where it is said that the hypocrites are in the lowest depths of the Fire . . . save those who repent and make amends. Muʿtazilites and others argued that God will not . . . guide them meant that they would not be guided in the Hereafter to the paradisal Garden, that is, after their disbelief had been fully confirmed by their having died in this state (R, Ṭs) or, alternately, that He removes His Guidance from them in this life as a punishment (Ṭs, Ṭū). For Ashʿarites it is simply an assertion that God does not guide disbelievers, even in this life (R). The reference to “increasing” in disbelief is understood by Ashʿarite theologians as supporting their doctrinal assertion that there were degrees of both faith and disbelief (R). Contrary to the Muʿtazilites, Ashʿarites held that acts of obedience or sin increased one in faith or disbelief, respectively. Some assert that the verse applies to Jews or Christians who, having believed in their scriptures, then manifest disbelief by refusing to accept prophets and scriptures that come after their own or by compromising their belief in their own scriptures (Ṭ); see 3:72. Early Shiite tafsīr traditions considered this to be a reference to Muslims who manifested belief during the lifetime of the Prophet, but later refused to accept the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib—an authority that, for Shiites, was alluded to in the Quran and openly affirmed by the Prophet before his death (Qm). The most likely interpretation, however, is that it refers to the hypocrites in the Prophet’s community who wavered in their belief (Ṭ). It is likelier that it applies to hypocrites, rather than Jews and Christians, since other verses of the Quran assert the possibility of salvation for those who are Jews and Christians (2:62; 5:69); so the failure of individual Jews and Christians to become Muslims would not itself seem to close off the possibility of their eventual salvation. Moreover, this verse is followed immediately by a lengthy discussion of the hypocrites in vv. 138–46, thus making the hypocrites the more likely referent.

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# Give glad tidings to the hypocrites that for them awaits a painful punishment.

138 Following the assertion of God’s lack of forgiveness for those who waver in their belief and ultimately die in disbelief, this verse instructs the Prophet to give glad tidings (bashshir) to such hypocrites of the punishment that awaits them. Glad tidings is usually used to mean the good news of salvation the Prophet brings to the righteous believers, for the Quran elsewhere asserts that on the Day of Judgment, there shall be no glad tidings for the guilty (25:22). But, as here, the Quran occasionally uses this term in an ironic or mocking tone when warning of the fate of disbelievers (see 3:21; 9:3, 34; 31:7; 45:8; 84:24) or when mentioning the fact that, in the pre-Islamic period, the Arabs often reacted to the “glad tidings” of the birth of a daughter with grief and rage; see 16:59; 43:17.

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# Those who take disbelievers as protectors instead of believers—do they seek might through them? Truly might belongs to God altogether.

139 The concept of protectorship (walāyah) was an important social principle in the tribal culture of pre-Islamic Arabia, denoting a bond of complete loyalty and mutual defense. In the Quran, the concept is powerfully invoked to express religious, rather than tribal, association and alliance as well as power and authority. The believers are repeatedly reminded that God is their ultimate Protector (Walī), that the Prophet and their fellow believers are their only true protectors (awliyāʾ) in the human realm (see, e.g., 2:107, 257; 3:68, 122; 4:45; 5:55; 6:14, 127; 7:196; 8:72; 9:71, 116), while idolaters seek protection vainly from their idols (e.g., 2:257, 13:16) and disbelievers seek protection with Satan and each other (e.g., 7:30; 8:73; 16:100). The believers are repeatedly warned not to seek the protection of those outside their religious community, including Jews and Christians (3:28; 4:89, 144; 5:51, 57), or even their own family members, if they are not believers (9:23). In the present verse, those who take disbelievers as protectors instead of believers are the hypocrites mentioned in the two preceding verses. In seeking strength from those outside the community of believers—that is, with the Jewish clans (R, Z) or with the idolaters (Ṭs)—they violate bonds of loyalty to the religious community of the believers, showing their perfidy and opportunism and manifesting their lack of trust in the sufficiency of God’s protection. The verse mocks the idea of seeking strength or might (ʿizzah) through such alliances of protection, when might belongs to God altogether. See 63:8, where might (ʿizzah) belongs to God, the Messenger, and the believers; and 29:41: The parable of those who take protectors apart from God is that of the spider that makes a house. Truly the frailest of houses is the spider’s house, if they but knew.

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# He has already sent down upon you in the Book that when you hear the signs of God being rejected and mocked, do not sit with them till they engage in some other discourse, or else you will surely be like them. Truly God will gather the hypocrites and the disbelievers in Hell all together—

140 In the same vein as v. 139, this verse suggests that the sincerity of one’s religious faith or even one’s true religious identity is revealed not only by one’s actions and words, but also by the character of those with whom one chooses to associate. It is not enough simply to avoid “rejecting” or “mocking” the signs of God; one must also refuse to sit passively among those who do, thereby lending silent support and tacit approval to their impious discourse (Z). Both in “seeking protection” with the disbelievers, mentioned in v. 139, and in sitting with those who mock the signs of God—here, likely meaning the Quranic message specifically—one shows oneself to be a hypocrite. The verse indicates that God has already sent down a prohibition against sitting with people engaged in such discourse. This may be a reference to the general prohibition against associating with disbelievers indicated in v. 139 (Ṭ), but may also be a reference to the Makkan verse 6:68: And when thou seest those who engage in vain discourse about Our signs, turn away from them till they engage in other discourse. And if Satan should cause thee to forget, then once thou hast remembered, sit not in the company of wrongdoing people. To sit among such people is to be like them. That God will gather the hypocrites and the disbelievers in Hell all together reinforces this same point about guilt through the choice of association: in choosing protectors and friends from among the disbelievers, the hypocrites have shown themselves to be disbelievers as well and share in their ultimate fate. People’s religious character is manifested in the company they keep, and so, conversely, those who seek the company of the righteous can be assumed to be “like them” and perhaps also to be with them in the Hereafter; see 4:69–70c. For al-Ṭabarī, this verse serves as a warning not to sit with people engaged in vain or immoral discourse of any kind. An early Shiite interpretation of this verse understood the signs of God that are rejected and mocked to be a reference to the Shiite Imams (Qm); although Shiites may not have always been in a position to challenge those who denigrated the Imams and their followers, they were not to remain in the company of those engaged in such discourse.

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# those who wait upon you, and if a victory comes to you from God, they say, “Were we not with you?” But if the disbelievers have some success, they say, “Did we not overwhelm you, and did we not protect you from the believers?” God will judge between you on the Day of Resurrection, and God will not grant the disbelievers a way over the believers.

141 The hypocrites reveal their hypocrisy, in large part, through their reluctance to join the Muslims in their battles against the disbelievers and in their desire to share in the benefits of Muslim victories while avoiding the negative consequences of possible defeat (cf. vv. 72–73); in v. 139, a similar concern with self-preservation moves them to seek alliances of protection with those outside the Muslim community. The present verse, however, suggests not only that they are reluctant to assume the risks of battle, but that they are, in fact, in communication with the Muslims’ enemies. When the Muslims are victorious, the hypocrites say to the Muslims, Were we not with you? in order to claim a share of the spoils (Ṭ). But when the Muslims are defeated, they approach the Muslims’ enemies to claim that it was their own treacherous failure to join the battle that had helped undermine the Muslim effort, thus aiding the disbelievers in their victory over the Muslims, saying, Did we not protect you from the believers? God denies the disbelievers a way over the believers, that is, a way to triumph over them or a proof against them, on the Day of Resurrection. Some, however, understand this as a promise that the believers, as a community, will not suffer ultimate defeat at the hands of the disbelievers in this world (IK, Q). On the basis of this last part of the verse, legal scholars held that a disbeliever (i.e., any non-Muslim) should not possess a Muslim slave—for such enslavement would clearly grant the disbeliever a “way over” the Muslim—and thus it was illegal to sell a Muslim slave to a disbeliever (IK). Should a slave embrace Islam while under the ownership of a disbeliever, the disbeliever is required to sell or free the slave; if the non-Muslim owner fails to do so before his death, the Muslim slave becomes his heir (Q).

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# Verily the hypocrites seek to deceive God, but it is God Who deceives them. When they perform the prayer, they perform it idly and to be seen of men, and they remember God but little—

142 Cf. 2:9, where the hypocrites seek to deceive others, but deceive only themselves. Here it is God Who deceives them, in that He allows them to be protected by their hypocritical claims of belief in this life (Ṭ, Z). This leads them to assume, incorrectly, that their hypocrisy has gone undetected and that they will not be punished. Al-Suddī and other early commentators read this verse in connection with 57:13: On the Day when men who are hypocrites and women who are hypocrites will say to those who believe, “Wait for us that we may borrow from your light,” it will be said, “Turn back and seek a light!” Thereupon a wall with a gate will be set down between them, the inner side of which contains mercy, and on the outer side of which lies punishment (see also 2:17). They thus assert that on the Day of Resurrection, the hypocrites will be given a light with which they will walk with the Muslims, just as they did in the life of the world, but then it will be suddenly snatched away from them and extinguished, and they will be left in darkness when they reach the “wall” that separates them from the believers (Ṭ, Z). Their prayer is done idly, that is, without sincerity or the proper intention of drawing near to God (Ṭ) or else reluctantly and without hope of reward or fear of punishment from God (R, Z), but only to be seen of men and so gain social advantage by it. See 107:4–6, where the shallowness of praying only to be seen is demonstrated by the fact that such prayer is not accompanied by moral action; and v. 38, which criticizes those who spend their wealth (i.e., give charity) to be seen of men. They remember God but little indicates that they do not avail themselves of the various means for remembering God that are an intrinsic part of faithful Muslim life. For example, they rarely (or only hypocritically) invoke or remember God through formulas such as “Praise be to God (al-ḥamdu li’Llāh; Ṭ, Z). Insofar as “remembering God” is a synonym for prayer itself, it is clear that they remember God but little in this way, because they pray only in public settings, never when out of sight of others (R, Z). Moreover, even when praying in public, they may not recite the requisite quiet or silent invocations of God that are part of the prayer, but merely perform the outward motions and utterances (R).

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# wavering between this [and that], being neither for one group nor for the other. Whomsoever God leads astray, thou wilt not find a way for him.

143 According to al-Zamakhsharī, the hypocrites “waver” between “this and that”—that is, between faith and unbelief—under the influence of Satan and their own passions. However, the next line of this verse asserts the theologically difficult idea that it is God who leads certain people astray; and when He does so, they are helpless (see 2:7c). For such persons, the Quran says, there is no way (here; 4:88; 42:46), no guide (7:186; 13:33; 39:23, 36; 40:33), and no protector (18:17). The Muʿtazilites generally interpreted such “misguidance” on God’s part as the withdrawal of His “Divine Favor” (luṭf) and Guidance as a punishment for disobedience. Although the Ashʿarites usually accepted this possibility as well, they also held that God may simply choose to mislead certain people (R). Some also asserted that verses such as this refer to God’s “leading astray” in the Hereafter those whose worldly actions had condemned them (R). The many passages in this sūrah and elsewhere that criticize the hypocrites led al-Rāzī to assert that hypocrisy was a more evil state even than disbelief, a sentiment that seems to be in the same vein as the Biblical statement in Revelation 3:16: “Because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” The idea that hypocrisy is worse than even disbelief is also apparently borne out by v. 145.

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# O you who believe! Do not take the disbelievers as protectors instead of the believers. Do you wish to give God a clear warrant against you?

144 This verse repeats the criticism of those who would seek protectors outside the believing community. See 4:139 and commentary.

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# Surely the hypocrites will be in the lowest depths of the Fire, and thou wilt not find for them any helper,

145 This verse supports the idea that hypocrisy is among the worst of human moral conditions, perhaps even worse than disbelief, since hypocrites are said to be in the lowest depths of the Fire. Some commentators argue that hypocrisy is indeed worse than disbelief, since it compounds a lack of belief with belittling Islam and deceiving the believers (Bḍ, R, Z). Moreover, their deceit allows them to act as spies for the disbelievers, compromising the Muslim cause from within and betraying the secrets of the Muslims to their enemies (R; see v. 141).

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# save those who repent and make amends, and hold fast to God, and devote their religion entirely to God. Those are with the believers, and God will grant the believers a great reward.

146 Even for hypocrites, the door to Divine Forgiveness remains open for those who repent of their hypocrisy and come sincerely to believe in God, His Messenger, and the Quran. They must also make amends by performing righteous acts and following the commands and prohibitions of the religion and hold fast to God, that is, to the covenant with God that all human beings have undertaken, according to the Quran, to recognize His Lordship (see 7:172 and commentary). Finally they are required to devote their religion entirely to God, that is, to do all of these things for God and not for any other purpose, hoping for His Reward and fearing His Punishment, and through a desire to draw near to Him, seeking “His Face” (Aj, Ṭ; see 2:272; 13:22; 92:20) or “His Good Pleasure” (R; 2:207, 265; 4:114). The explicit requirement that the former hypocrites devote their religion entirely to God is necessary, according to al-Ṭabrisī, because hypocrisy is a sin of the heart, and so full repentance from it requires a “repentance of the heart,” for which merely changing one’s outward actions is not enough. For those who truly repent in this way, they will be with the believers and receive their reward, not with the disbelievers (as in v. 140) or in the lowest depths of the Fire (as in v. 145).

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# Why should God punish you if you give thanks and believe? God is Thankful, Knowing.

147 In Arabic there is a semantic connection between repentance and forgiveness, both of which can be signified by the verb tāba, which literally means “to return.” Repentance and forgiveness represent a mutual “turning” between two parties toward each other. The previous verse set out the conditions for the true repentance of the hypocrite, and in this verse there is a Divine relenting or turning away from the threatened punishment of the hypocrite. Also here a similar semantic reciprocity exists between the repentant hypocrite’s act of “giving thanks” (using the verb shakara) and the Divine Attribute Thankful (Shākir), literally “the Thankful One,” both derived from the same root. The audible reciprocity in the Arabic conveys a tone of mutual relenting and reconciliation after the dire warnings to the hypocrites in vv. 137–45.

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# God loves not that evil should be spoken of openly, save by one who has been wronged. God is Hearing, Knowing.

148 Given that this verse follows upon a discussion of the repentance of hypocrites, some say that the evil that should not be spoken of openly is the former hypocrisy of the repentant hypocrite. Once hypocrites have repented, they should no longer be vilified or reminded of their previous hypocrisy (R). The verse also has a general application, however, for it reflects the principle in Islamic ethics that one should conceal the faults of others or even one’s own, except, of course, when one is called upon to witness to a particular act (see v. 135). Evil should not be spoken of openly, so that the moral dignity of the individual and the wider community may be maintained. Al-Rāzī gives as the occasion for the revelation of this verse, an incident in which Abū Bakr was verbally abused in a gathering with the Prophet present. Abū Bakr remained quiet for a while and then began to refute the man’s claims. As he did this, the Prophet rose to leave. Abū Bakr asked the Prophet why he sat through the man’s abuse of him, but left when Abū Bakr responded. The Prophet responded: “Verily an angel was answering on your behalf, but when you responded to him, the angel left and Satan came in, and I do not remain in a gathering once Satan comes.” This verse was then revealed. Despite Abū Bakr’s case, the verse does make an exception for one who has been wronged, who may make open claims about the injustice suffered in order to seek justice or aid against the one who committed the injustice (Ṭ). Similarly, those who have been wronged are given a general right to defend themselves or retaliate against those who have wronged them (42:41). The invocation of the Divine Names Hearing and Knowing at the end of the verse serve to reassure that whether evil is spoken of openly or concealed, it is known to God (see 6:3; 21:110; 87:7).

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# Whether you display a good deed openly or conceal it, or pardon an evil, truly God is Pardoning, Powerful.

149 After allowing one to speak openly of the wrong one has suffered at the hands of another, the Quran now urges one to pardon an evil that one has suffered and reminds readers that Pardoning is a Divine Attribute that one should seek to emulate (Z). In this verse, God is described as both Pardoning and Powerful. To pardon when one has the “power” to retaliate is the nobler moral option than pardoning when one has no such power (Q), and to pardon from a position of power approximates the Divine Attributes mentioned here.

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# Truly those who disbelieve in God and His messengers, and seek to make a distinction between God and His messengers, and say, “We believe in some and disbelieve in others, ” and seek to take a way between—

# it is they who are truly disbelievers, and We have prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating punishment.

150–51 In v. 136 and 2:285, faith is defined, in part, by a belief in God and all of His prophets and revealed books. The comprehensive nature of belief according to Islam means that to be selective in the prophets and books one recognizes or to believe in God, but not in all His prophets and revelations is, to enter the realm of disbelief. Here the Quran warns against making such a distinction between God and His messengers, for those who truly believe in God will also follow His messengers. See 3:31, where the Prophet is instructed: Say, “If you love God, follow me, and God will love you and forgive you your sins.” Elsewhere the Quran indicates that one should not make such distinctions between or among the messengers themselves (2:136, 285; 3:84). Those who believe in God but not in His messengers or believe in some messengers but not others seek a way between—that is, a way between belief and disbelief (Z); but v. 151 states that such people are truly disbelievers, indicating that there is no path between belief and disbelief and that those who reject any essential element of belief are in the category of disbelievers (Z). Many commentators consider this to be a reference to the Jews and Christians who rejected the prophecy of Muhammad. As such, it marks a shift from the lengthy discussion of the hypocrites in vv. 137–47 to one about the People of the Book, which is the focus of the rest of the sūrah.

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# But those who believe in God and His messengers and make no distinction between any of them—unto them He will give their rewards. God is Forgiving, Merciful.

152 The threat of punishment for disbelievers who seek to make a distinction between belief in God and His prophets is followed here by a corresponding promise of reward for those who believe without making such distinctions. The reminder that God is Forgiving, Merciful is understood by some to be an indication that all believers will ultimately be forgiven their misdeeds in the next life; even if they may be punished for them for a time, their punishment will not be eternal (R, Ṭ).

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# The People of the Book ask thee to bring a book down upon them from Heaven; indeed, they asked a greater thing of Moses, for they said, “Show us God openly, ” whereupon the thunderbolt seized them for their wrongdoing. Then they took up the calf, even after clear proofs had come to them. Yet, We pardoned this and We gave Moses a manifest authority.

153 The People of the Book here refers specifically to the Jews and, according to some reports, to certain Madinan Jewish leaders (Th, Z). Their request that the Prophet bring a book down upon them from Heaven as a proof of his prophethood is understood as a request that he bring an inscribed tablet similar to the one Moses brought (R, Ṭ, Z); see 28:48, where the Madinan Jews ask why the Prophet was not given the like of that which was given to Moses. See also 17:93, where unspecified disbelievers, likely the Makkan idolaters, assert that they will not believe in the Prophet until he brings down a book they can read. Some understand the request made of the Prophet in the present verse to be a request for a book or written document addressed exclusively to the Jews or one explicitly validating the prophethood of Muhammad (Ṭ). The Israelites’ request to Moses, Show us God openly, is also recounted in 2:55, where they make the request explicitly as a condition of their belief in Moses’ prophethood. In both accounts, it is understood that the request is made by the seventy leading Israelites whom Moses took as representatives to the covenant making at Sinai (R, Th, Z; cf. 7:155; Exodus 24), and in both God responds with a thunderbolt that, in 2:55–56, is said to have struck them dead, after which they were revived. Cf. 7:143, where Moses himself asks to see God, but is told Thou shalt not see Me and is instructed instead to look at the mountain. In 2:260, Abraham also requests to be “shown” God’s power of resurrection, and because he affirms that he does so within the context of sincere belief, the response is not a punishing thunderbolt; moreover, the request is granted. The cases of Abraham and Moses indicate that the human desire to see the Divine is not in itself blameworthy; rather, it depends on the intention with which the request is made. The Israelites’ making and worshipping the calf and God’s forgiveness thereof is mentioned elsewhere (2:51–54, 92–93), and fuller accounts of the incident are found in 7:148–56 and 20:86–97. That clear proofs had come to them refers to their having been struck down upon their request to see God “openly,” which should have made it clear to them that the God they must worship, unlike the calf they crafted for themselves, cannot be seen in visible form (Ṭ). Clear proofs can refer to the many miraculous acts performed by Moses, such as the parting of the sea (Q), although elsewhere these are referred to as clear signs (see 17:101; 28:36). The manifest authority given to Moses may refer either to the proof of his truthfulness and the veracity of his prophethood (Q, Ṭ) or to the authority with which he was able to command the Israelites to repent and atone for having worshipped the calf (Z; see 2:54).

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# And We raised the Mount over them, at [the making of] their covenant, and We said to them, “Enter the gate, prostrating, ” and We said to them, “Do not transgress the Sabbath.” And We made with them a solemn covenant.

154 The Mount (al-Ṭūr) refers to Mt. Sinai here and wherever it is found in the Quran (2:63, 93; 19:52; 20:80; 28:29, 46; 52:1), although the full name “Mount Sinai” is given in two places (Ṭūr Saynāʾ, 23:20; Ṭūr Sīnīn, 95:2). The raising of the Mount over the Israelites is widely understood to refer to God’s lifting of the mountain from its place and causing it to hover over the Israelites at the making of the covenant, as a sign warning them to make and/or keep the covenant (R; see also 2:63, 93). However, this image may simply be meant to convey their awe at the immensity of the mountain before them (see 2:63–64c). Enter the gate, prostrating refers to the command to enter the land that had been promised to the Israelites; see 2:58; 5:21–23; 7:161. The importance of the Israelites’ keeping of the Sabbath and the severe consequences of breaking it are also mentioned in 2:65; 4:47; 7:163. The covenant between God and the Israelites is mentioned in many places (e.g., 2:40, 83–84; 5:12, 70); see also the essay “The Quranic View of Sacred History and Other Religions.”

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# Then for their breaking of their covenant, and their disbelieving in the signs of God, and their slaying of the prophets without right, and their saying, “Our hearts are uncircumcised, ”—Nay! Rather, God has set a seal upon them for their disbelief, so they believe not, save a few—

155 The Israelites’ breaking of their covenant is mentioned elsewhere in the Quran; see 2:83–85; 5:13. Their disbelieving in the signs of God refers to the Quranic claim that they did not accept all of the messages and prophets sent to them (Ṭ), including Jesus. Slaying of the prophets without right is a claim made against the Israelites in several places; see 2:61, 91; 3:181–83; 5:70. For Biblical references to the slaying of minor prophets by the Israelites, cf. Jeremiah 2:30; 26:20–23; Luke 13:34. Our hearts are uncircumcised also appears in 2:88 and is meant to express, metaphorically, their deliberate lack of receptivity to the prophetic messages sent to them (Ṭ); cf. 41:5. Uncircumcised translates ghulf, which can also mean “enwrapped” (Ṭ), and as this term appears only in the context of a claim by Israelites or Jews who are unfaithful to their covenant, it also carries an additional spiritual resonance. As Israelites or Jews, they were “circumcised” bodily and outwardly, as a mark of their membership in the covenant community. Their claim, then, that their “hearts” are uncircumcised suggests that their acceptance of the covenant, like their circumcision, was only outward and had not penetrated into their hearts. Cf. Leviticus 26:41 and Jeremiah 9:26, where disobedient Israelites are referred to as having “uncircumcised hearts.” Their claim that their hearts are uncircumcised is met with the more emphatic assertion that God Himself has set a seal upon their hearts. This concept of a seal placed upon people’s eyes, ears, or hearts—that is, upon the principal human faculties of learning and understanding—is invoked in many other places (see, e.g., 2:7; 7:100–101; 9:93; 16:108; 30:59; 63:3). The idea that a seal has been placed as a barrier to religious understanding has been understood by some in the predestinarian sense of an inherent insensitivity or nonreceptivity toward revelation. Many Islamic theologians, however, understand this seal upon hearts as being a Divinely imposed punishment in response to moral transgression and disobedience (see, e.g., 10:74; 2:7c). Here the seal is expressly imposed as a punishment for their disbelief (kufr); their breaking of the covenant and the other transgressions mentioned in this verse and in vv. 156–57 are the reason for God’s forbidding them certain good things that had been made lawful unto them in v. 160. The assertion that they believe not, save a few may also be rendered, “they believe not, save a little”—meaning that they believe only in some of the prophets and messages (R, Ṭ)—and is found elsewhere in connection with the People of the Book (e.g., 2:88; 4:46).

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# and for their disbelief, and their uttering against Mary a tremendous calumny,

156 The tremendous calumny against Mary refers to the implied accusation of indecency against her when she, as an unmarried woman (in the Islamic tradition), brought forth her son Jesus (Z); see commentary on 19:27–28. AlQushayrī identifies Mary as a “friend [of God]” or “saint” (waliyyah, fem. of walī) and indicates that two kinds of people will be chastised for their attitude toward such saintly persons: those who exaggerate concerning their station, such as, in Mary’s case, those who considered her to be Divine (see 5:116); and those who denounce them—for example, those who accused Mary of indecency rather than recognizing the miracle of her son’s birth (Qu).

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# and for their saying, “We slew the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, the messenger of God”—though they did not slay him; nor did they crucify him, but it appeared so unto them. Those who differ concerning him are in doubt thereof. They have no knowledge of it, but follow only conjecture; they slew him not for certain.

157 Although the Quran addresses and criticizes the Christian belief in the Trinity (v. 171; 5:73) and the divinity of Jesus (5:17, 72, 116; 9:31), this is the only passage that addresses the belief in Christ’s crucifixion and death. It does not come in the context of a critique of Christian belief, however, but rather as part of a lengthy passage criticizing historical incidents of Jewish unfaithfulness to their covenant. It is important to note that here the critique is not aimed directly at the belief in Christ’s crucifixion and death, but rather at the Jews’ claim to have killed him. Their claim, seen as their way of mocking and dismissing Jesus’ prophethood (Z), is understood in the context of the Quranic assertion that the Israelites or Jews rejected some of the prophets that had been sent to them (in v. 155 and elsewhere). Although the verse only directly criticizes a Jewish claim to have killed and crucified Jesus, it is widely understood in the Islamic tradition as meaning that Jesus was not crucified or killed at all; it only appeared so unto them, that is, to the Jews as well as to most of Jesus’ followers. Various accounts are given to explain how it appeared so unto them. According to some commentators, when the Jewish authorities came to arrest Jesus, he was among a group of his followers. They did not know who among them was Jesus, because a Divine ruse had made them all appear the same, and one of Jesus’ followers was thus taken and killed in his place (IK, Ṭ, Z). Some accounts indicate that one of Jesus’ followers in particular volunteered to sacrifice himself by assuming Jesus’ likeness (IK, Ṭ, Z). According to one account, this follower was crucified (i.e., publicly exposed) after being killed (IK). This follows the order mentioned in the verse itself: they did not slay him; nor did they crucify him, and in general, Muslims understood crucifixion as a punishment carried out after death in most, but not all, cases. Another account from Wahb ibn Munabbih (d. early second/eighth century), an early commentator who brought his knowledge of Judeo-Christian teachings to bear on Quranic interpretation, claims that it was one of Jesus’ perfidious followers (presumably Judas) who, after attempting to betray Jesus, was made to assume Jesus’ appearance and was killed in his stead. (IK, Ṭ, Z). Because most accounts indicate that it appeared not only to the Jews, but also to all or most Christians, that Jesus had been killed, al-Ṭabarī argues that no blame or accusations of dishonesty can be leveled at Christians who believe in Jesus’ death and crucifixion. The idea that someone was killed in Jesus’ stead after having assumed his likeness, voluntarily or otherwise, is found widely throughout the commentary tradition. A notable exception to this is al-Rāzī, who finds the idea that God would perpetrate such a deception in the physical realm, particularly as it relates to individual identity, unacceptable. If we cannot rely on our senses to identify individuals, then the proper application of Islamic Law, which is dependent upon physical witnessing and upon the certainty of people’s identities in matters of marriage and so forth, would be called into doubt. It is worth noting, however, that there are other Quranic accounts of providential Divine “deception,” such as when God is said to have altered the believers’ perception of the enemy army at Badr, so that they would not be discouraged by the enemy’s greater size (see 8:43 and commentary). Those who dif er concerning him may refer specifically to the Jews, who were unsure whether they had really killed Jesus (Ṭ, Z) and so follow only conjecture regarding the matter. Others, however, consider this to refer to the Christians who differ over Jesus’ nature—divine or human—and thus on the issue of whether he was crucified only in his “human” aspect, but not in his “divinity” (Q). Concerning him can also be read as “concerning it,” meaning the entire affair of the crucifixion, a reading preferred by al-Zamakhsharī. They slew him not for certain may refer to Jesus, indicating certainty that he was not slain, in contrast to the “doubts” and “conjectures” of those who dif er concerning him. This last line of the verse, however, may be read idiomatically to mean “they did not kill [their doubt] about the matter”; that is, they remained in a state of doubt and conjecture (M, Q).

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# But God raised him up unto Himself, and God is Mighty, Wise.

158 See also 3:55 and commentary. The present verse, along with 3:55, represents the source of the Islamic belief that Jesus, as in the Christian tradition, ascended directly to God. Raised up here translates rafaʿa, which literally means “to raise,” rather than baʿatha, which is used elsewhere to mean “to resurrect” after death. The verse is thus understood as referring to Jesus’ direct ascension from the earthly realm to the Presence of God without the intervening event of death. The Quran is clear elsewhere, however, that Jesus is not Divine (5:116). Logically, then, he must share in human mortality. Islamic tradition holds Jesus will return near the end times to fight the Antichrist (al-Dajjāl) and will thereafter eventually die and be resurrected with the rest of humanity. Cf. 19:33, where Jesus affirms his future death and “resurrection,” saying, Peace be upon me the day I was born, the day I die, and the day I am raised alive (ubʿathu ḥayy an , from baʿatha). The Gospel account indicates that Jesus’ followers witnessed, or at least believed in, his death, resurrection, and ascension. However, because the Quran seems to present death and direct ascension in contradistinction to each other when it says, They slew him not for certain. But God raised him up unto Himself (vv. 157–58), some Islamic accounts understand these as representing two separate beliefs about Jesus’ fate. Ibn Kathīr, for example, indicates that some of Jesus’ followers witnessed his ascension and so were aware that he had not died, while others witnessed his “seeming” death and so believed the Jewish account that they had slain him. It should be noted, however, that the idea of resurrection even in this life, rather than between this world and the next, is not unacceptable from the Quranic perspective; see, for example, 2:259, where God caused a man to die for a hundred years, then raised him up (baʿathahu, referring to resurrection, not ascension).

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# There is not one of the People of the Book, but will surely believe in him before his death, and on the Day of Resurrection he will be a witness against them.

159 Some commentators understand this verse to mean that all of the People of the Book, although here primarily Jews, will believe in Jesus before Jesus’ own death, that is, after he returns near the end of time to fight the Antichrist or Dajjāl (see 4:158c; IK, Ṭ, Z). Another interpretation holds that the verse means that all of the People of the Book would believe in Jesus before their own deaths (IK, Ṭ, Z), although this seems to be a far less plausible explanation, for most Jews die without having accepted the prophethood of Jesus. Some commentators add that their “belief in him” immediately before death will be of no avail to them, just as Pharaoh’s declaration of belief in “the God of the Children of Israel” as he was drowning brought him no benefit (see 10:90–91). On the Day of Resurrection, Jesus will serve as a witness against all of the People of the Book. That is, he will bear witness that he delivered the Divine message entrusted to him and that in doing so he affirmed his own status as a human messenger of God (Ṭ), thus refuting both the claims of his divinity made by Christians and the rejection of his prophethood by the Jews.

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# And for the wrongdoing among those who are Jews, We forbade them certain good things that had been made lawful unto them, and for their turning many from the way of God,

160 After the discussion of the fate of Jesus and his ascension to God, refuting the Jews’ claim to having killed him, this verse resumes the thread of criticism toward the Jews begun in v. 155. For all of these offenses, the Quran asserts that the Jews were forbidden certain good things (ṭayyibāt) that had been made lawful to them. Ṭayyibāt is usually employed to mean earthly provisions granted by God and refers explicitly to food in several places; see 2:172; 5:5; 20:81; 23:51; as well as 2:57; 7:160, where it is used in reference to the manna and quails God provides the Israelites in the desert. The present verse refers to the prohibition of certain foods for the Jews; see also 3:93: All food was lawful unto the Children of Israel, save what Israel had forbidden for himself, before the Torah was sent down; and 6:146, where they are forbidden clawed animals and the fat of oxen and sheep.

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# and for their taking usury, though they had been forbidden it, and for their consuming men’s wealth falsely. And We have prepared for the disbelievers among them a painful punishment.

161 Engaging in ribā (usually rendered usury) is strongly denounced and forbidden in several verses (2:275–79; 3:130; 30:39, where it is contrasted with the spiritual profit one gains through charity), and the present verse indicates that this prohibition had been ordained for the Jews as well (as it is in Exodus 22:25; Leviticus 25:36–37), but that they did not adhere to it. For the practices that constituted their consuming men’s wealth falsely, see 4:29–30c. See also 9:34, where certain Jewish and Christian religious authorities (rabbis and monks) are said to consume the wealth of people falsely. As a result of the forbidden financial practices of which some Jews are here accused, some Islamic legal scholars questioned whether engaging in commerce with the Jews was permissible; however, both the Quran (see 5:5) and the known practices (sunnah) of the Prophet indicate that such commerce is lawful (Q). At the end of the verse, it is specifically the disbelievers among the Jews (i.e., those who neglected or broke their covenant in the ways mentioned in vv. 155–61) who will face a painful punishment in the Hereafter.

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# But those among them who are firmly rooted in knowledge, and the believers, believing in that which was sent down unto thee and in that which was sent down before thee, those who perform the prayer and give the alms and believe in God and the Last Day—unto them shall We grant a great reward.

162 After the discussion of “disbelieving” Jews in vv. 155–61, this verse mentions those among the Jews who are firmly rooted in knowledge (on this phrase, see 3:7c), which means to possess certain religious knowledge (Qu). This epithet was reserved for those who had knowledge of both legal and theological issues (R); for those who combined knowledge of the teachings and religious duties of the religion with their implementation in practice (R); or for those who possessed inner knowledge. If and the believers is understood to be a further description of the righteous among the Jews, it indicates that it is possible for believing and pious Jews to remain Jews, even as they accept both their own scripture and that which has been sent down unto Muhammad, and in fact to receive a great reward in the Hereafter for their belief and good deeds. Many commentators mention that, historically, this verse refers to certain Madinan Jewish scholars, such as ʿAbd Allāh ibn Salām, who accepted the validity of Muhammad’s prophethood (R, Ṭs, Z). The believers here can also be read as a specific reference to Muslim believers (R, Ṭ, Ṭs,). In the latter case, those firmly rooted in knowledge both among the Jews and the believing Muslims shall be granted a great reward. Because those who perform the prayer (muqīmīna ’l-ṣalāh) is in the accusative, unlike the other descriptors here, some commentators suggest the verse should be translated “the believers, believing in that which has been sent down unto thee and in that which has been sent before thee [and in] those who perform the prayer,” in which “those who perform the prayer” is a reference to the angels (Ṭ) or the prophets (R, Z) and thus one of the objects of belief (Ṭ). Since performing the prayer and giving alms are joined together so frequently in the Quran, however, it seems unlikely that they were meant to be separated in this way, and some commentators note that the shift from the nominative to the accusative in a list can be used to indicate praise for the characteristic thus distinguished by the shift in case (Ṭs, Z).

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# Verily We have revealed unto thee, as We revealed unto Noah and the prophets after him, and as We revealed unto Abraham and Ishmael and Isaac and Jacob and the Tribes, and Jesus and Job and Jonah and Aaron and Solomon, and unto David We gave the Psalms,

163 Many similar verses present lists of God’s messengers through whom He conveyed revelation, all of which Muslims are to accept (e.g., 2:136; 3:84; 6:83–89; 19:49–58). In this particular context, some see it as a response to those asking the Prophet to bring a book down upon them from Heaven (v. 153), refuting their claim that God had not sent a book to anyone after Moses (Ṭ, Z). The Psalms given to David translates al-Zabūr, which, when used in the singular and in the definite, and certainly when it is connected explicitly with David, is generally assumed to refer to the Psalms (17:55; 21:105), some of which JudeoChristian tradition considers to be of Davidic authorship. When this term is used in the plural (zubur) and not associated with David as a prophet, it is rendered simply as “scriptures” (e.g., 3:184; 16:44; 26:196). This is the first place in the Quranic text where the Biblical figures of Job and Jonah are identified as prophets; for more on Job, see 6:84; 21:83–84; 38:41–44; and for Jonah, see 6:86; 10:98; 37:139–48; 68:48–50.

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# and messengers We have recounted unto thee before, and messengers We have not recounted unto thee; and unto Moses God spoke directly,

164 Although the Quran contains mention of twenty-six prophets, Islamic tradition holds that there were many more, in fact, 124,000. Here, as in 40:78, the Quran explicitly indicates that there are prophets not mentioned in the Quran, whose stories God has not recounted to Muhammad or his followers, thus alluding to the universal reality of revelation and keeping the door open for sacred figures of other religious traditions, such as the Buddha and Confucius, to be considered prophets to their religious communities, as they were later by some Muslim scholars familiar with these other religious traditions. This verse mentions the distinction given to Moses as a prophet in Islam: God spoke to him directly (see also 2:253, where being spoken to by God is cited as a particular distinction given to some prophets). This is the basis of Moses’ prophetic title in Islamic tradition, Kalīm Allāh (one who speaks with God). That is also why some Muslims refer to Jews as kalīmīs. In Exodus 33:11 and Deuteronomy 34:10, this ability to speak directly with God is also said to set Moses apart from other prophets of Israel.

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# messengers as bearers of glad tidings and as warners, that mankind might have no argument against God after the messengers. And God is Mighty, Wise.

165 The two functions of the prophets as bearers of glad tidings and as warners are mentioned together throughout the Quran (e.g., 2:213; 6:48; 7:188; 11:2; 17:105; 18:56; 25:56; 33:45; 34:28; 48:8). The Quran indicates that God sends guidance and warning to all peoples (13:7; 35:24); and although it recounts many examples of God destroying a people for their wrongdoing (e.g., 7:59–99), it also asserts that He does this only after a prophet has come to them with a warning (26:208; 28:59). In the present verse, the messengers are sent so that mankind might have no argument against God, that is, no claim that they were not properly guided and warned, so that they might seek to avoid punishment for their evil actions (cf. 5:19; 20:134).

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# But God Himself bears witness to that which He has sent down unto thee—He sent it down with His Knowledge—and the angels bear witness. And God suffices as a Witness.

166 Cf. 3:18, where God bears witness, along with the angels and the possessors of knowledge, to God’s Oneness.

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# Verily those who disbelieve and who turn from the way of God have certainly wandered far astray.

# Verily those who disbelieve and do wrong, God will not forgive them, nor will He guide them to any path,

# save the path of Hell, to abide therein forever; and that is easy for God.

167–69 The Quran repeatedly chastises those who turn from the way of God, which may refer to placing intellectual or physical obstacles in the way of those who would seek to follow Divine Guidance, and so deliberately attempting to lead them astray, or else turning away from the way of God oneself. Although the Quran emphasizes God’s infinite capacity for forgiveness and the universality of His Guidance in the form of prophetic messages (see 4:165c), it also indicates that He will not forgive certain sins. Here, in v. 168, those who disbelieve and do wrong—that is, by turning from the way of God (v. 167), among other things—are deprived both of God’s Forgiveness and His Guidance. See vv. 48, 116, where it is said God will not forgive that any partner be ascribed unto Him (shirk). See also v. 137, which indicates that God will not forgive those who waver between belief and disbelief and gradually increase in disbelief; 9:79–80, where He does not forgive the disbelievers who ridicule the believers; and 47:34, where He does not forgive those who disbelieve and turn from the way of God. Even in these cases as well as the present one, God’s Forgiveness remains open to sincerely repentant disbelievers or wrongdoers (R, Z).

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# O mankind! The Messenger has come to you with the truth from your Lord; so believe! It is better for you. But if you disbelieve, unto God belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth, and God is Knowing, Wise.

170 Here people are urged to believe because it is better for them. That is, one believes for the benefit of oneself, not for God, who possesses whatsoever is in the heavens and the earth and so is neither enriched nor diminished by the belief or disbelief of His creatures.

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# O People of the Book! Do not exaggerate in your religion, nor utter anything concerning God save the truth. Verily the Messiah, Jesus son of Mary, was only a messenger of God, and His Word, which He committed to Mary, and a Spirit from Him. So believe in God and His messengers, and say not “Three.” Refrain! It is better for you. God is only one God; Glory be to Him that He should have a child. Unto Him belongs whatsoever is in the heavens and whatsoever is on the earth, and God suffices as a Guardian.

171 From the Quranic perspective, if the error of the Jews is in their failure to recognize certain prophets who had been sent to them, the error of the Christians is to exaggerate in their religion by ascribing divine status to their prophet, Jesus (R). In this verse, then, O People of the Book is addressed primarily to Christians. The verse asserts the Quranic view of Jesus as only a messenger of God, meaning a human messenger like Muhammad and the prophets who preceded him (see also 5:75). The understanding of Jesus as a messenger of God is consistent with several Gospel verses that state that Jesus was sent by the Father (see, e.g., John 5:23; 5:30; 5:36–37; 6:39; 6:44; 6:57; 8:16; 8:18; 8:29; 8:42; 10:36; 12:49; 14:24; 17:21; 17:25; 20:21.) Yet, the Quran ascribes unique distinctions to certain prophets, which then become the basis of their honorific titles in Islamic tradition. For example, God is said to have taken Abraham for a friend (v. 125), the basis of his honorific title Khalīl Allāh (the intimate friend of God), and to have spoken to Moses “directly” (v. 164), the basis of his honorific title Kalīm Allāh (one who speaks with God). In the present verse, the uniqueness of Jesus among the messengers is affirmed in several ways, including his title Rūḥ Allāh (“Spirit of God”). He is referred to here and in certain places, however, as the Messiah (al-Masīḥ), a term that in Arabic is understood to refer to his having been purified by God of sin (Ṭ). This is not unrelated to the concept of being “anointed,” the root meaning of the word in Hebrew. He is also identified as God’s Word (see also 3:45; 19:34), an idea that has clear resonance with the Gospel tradition, where Jesus is identified as the “Word” of God (see John 1). Christian and Islamic tradition, however, derive different theological conclusions from this appellation. In the Islamic context, the identification of Jesus as God’s Word does not preclude or overshadow his function as the bringer of the Gospel, which, like the Torah and the Quran, represents God’s Word and message to humanity. Some commentators interpret His Word here as the tidings Mary received of his miraculous conception in her womb or as an allusion to the Divine Creative Command Be! by which Christ was formed in Mary’s womb (see 3:45, 59; R, Ṭ). However, while all created beings are brought into existence through God’s Word, Christ alone is specifically identified as “a Word from God.” Some might argue, therefore, that Jesus, by virtue of being identified as God’s Word, somehow participates (uniquely) in the Divine Creative Command, although this is not the traditional Islamic understanding of Jesus’ identification as a Word from Him (3:45). The miracle of Jesus’ virgin birth is also alluded to here in that he is identified as God’s Word committed to Mary (alqāhā ilā Maryam), which could also be rendered “cast upon Mary.” Cf. 66:12, where it is said that God breathed His Spirit into Mary. Consistent with the implicit representation in 66:12 of Jesus as God’s “Spirit” breathed into Mary, in the present verse Jesus is also identified as a Spirit from God. Cf. 2:87, 253; 5:110, where Jesus is strengthened . . . with the Holy Spirit. It is on this basis that Jesus is given the honorific title of “Spirit of God” (Rūḥ Allāh) in the Islamic tradition. Some commentators, however, understand Jesus’ description as a Spirit from God metaphorically and consider Spirit here to be either a reference to Jesus’ purity or a metaphor for God’s Mercy (raḥmah; R). In addition to reaffirming the full humanity of Jesus, the present verse commands Christians to say not “Three.” This is understood as a command to abandon the doctrine of God as Trinity. Here they are merely told to refrain from asserting this doctrine, as it is better for them. In 5:73, Christians who call God “Three” are more seriously criticized, but this verse is embedded in a larger discussion that seems to be addressing those Christians who took not only Jesus, but also his mother, Mary, to be divine (see 5:73c). In both the present verse and 5:73, however, the orthodox doctrine of the Trinity as three “persons,” or hypostases, “within” the One God is not explicitly referenced, and the criticism seems directed at those who assert the existence of three distinct “gods,” an idea that Christians themselves reject. Al-Rāzī is aware that Christians do not believe in three separate gods, but rather in three qualities (ṣifāt) in a single Divine Essence, but argues that the claim that the Divine Reality inhered in the human form of Christ belies the idea that the trinitarian concept ultimately posits a single Divine Essence. He also contrasts the Christian doctrine of aspects, or hypostases, within a single Divine Essence with the Islamic doctrine of God’s Names and Qualities, which, unlike the Christian hypostases, are not understood as aspects of God that can be seen as multiple, distinct entities (R). Despite these strong criticisms of Christian trinitarian doctrine as well as the implication through juxtaposition in 5:72–73 that Christian beliefs in the divinity of Jesus, and in God as the third of three can be understood as a kind of shirk (ascribing partners unto God), Islamic Law never considered Christians to be “idolaters” (mushrikūn) and accepted Christians’ own assertions of monotheistic belief, maintaining the clear distinction the Quran itself makes between idolaters (mushrikūn) and the People of the Book. Having addressed the Christian belief in the divinity of Jesus and in the trinitarian concept of God, the present verse concludes by refuting the Christian belief in the divine sonship of Jesus: Glory be to Him that He should have a child. For other rejections of the notion of Jesus’ divine “sonship” or of God’s having offspring of any sort, see 2:116; 6:100–101; 9:30; 10:68; 16:57; 17:111; 43:16.

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# The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant of God; nor would the angels brought nigh. Whosoever disdains His service, and is arrogant, He will gather them unto Himself all together.

# As for those who believe and perform righteous deeds, He shall pay them their rewards in full, and will increase them from His Bounty. But as for those who are disdainful and arrogant, He will punish them with a painful punishment, and they will find no protector or helper for themselves apart from God.

172–73 Here again the exclusive humanity of Jesus is asserted: The Messiah would never disdain to be a servant (ʿabd) of God. The Arabic term for “servant” (ʿabd) can also mean “slave” and describes the relationship of all human beings, ultimately, to God; it also designates those pious persons who willingly choose to submit their will to the Will of God. Jesus is God’s servant, of course, in both senses. To reject or disdain servanthood in relation to God is nothing but unjustifiable arrogance, and all those who are disdainful and arrogant will receive a painful punishment. Some commentators view the assertion of Jesus’ “servanthood” in relation to God as a response to a statement made by the Christian delegation from Najrān in their discussion with the Prophet. The delegates reportedly took exception to the Islamic claim that Jesus was a (mere) “servant” (or as they may well have understood, “slave”) and “messenger” of God and considered it an insult to Jesus. This verse asserts in response that rejecting or disdaining “servanthood” is a form of arrogance in relation to the Divine that Jesus, and even the angels, would never display (R). The Najrān delegation, likely under the influence of Abyssinian Monophysite doctrine, may well have held that Jesus’ divinity completely overwhelmed his humanity, and so would have been particularly averse to such a description of Jesus. However, it should be noted that orthodox Christian doctrine maintains the full humanity of Christ as a theological necessity, even if it holds that this humanity is inseparable, mysteriously, from his divinity. Although the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are all of the same essence and thus equally divine in orthodox Christian doctrine, the Father is the cause and the principle of the divine nature, which is in the Son and in the Spirit, and thus has some degree of superiority.

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# O mankind! Verily there has come unto you a proof from your Lord. And We have sent down unto you a clear light.

# As for those who believe in God and hold fast to Him, He will cause them to enter into His Mercy and Bounty, and will guide them unto Himself upon a straight path.

174–75 These verses conclude the discussion of the People of the Book and their beliefs, implying that the Quran has now brought them convincing proof (burhān, which denotes an irrefutable argument) and a clear light through which they may now understand the importance of being faithful to their covenant with God and the truth about their own prophets and revelations.

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# They seek a ruling from thee. Say, “God gives you a ruling concerning the one without a direct heir. If a man dies having no child, but he has a sister, then unto her belongs half of what he leaves, and he will inherit from her if she has no child. If there be two sisters, then unto them belongs two-thirds of what he leaves. If there be brothers and sisters, then unto the male a share equal to that of two females.” Thus does God make [this] clear unto you, lest you should go astray. And God is Knower of all things.

176 This final verse revisits the issue of inheritance addressed in vv. 11–12, and particularly the case, mentioned in v. 12, of the one who dies without direct heir (kalālah), that is, without a father or son (or, in some interpretations, without a parent or child). V. 12 says one-third of the estate of such a person is to be divided among the siblings of the deceased, but does not differentiate the shares according to gender or number of the siblings. The present verse increases the portion of the estate to be divided among the siblings and delineates the division among the siblings more specifically. Thus if the deceased has but a single sister, she will inherit fully half of his estate; two (or more) sisters will inherit twothirds. In the case of there being both brothers and sisters, two-thirds of the estate is to be shared between them, with a brother receiving twice the share of a sister, following the general principle that a male relative inherits twice the share of a similarly related female relative. In all of these cases, the remainder of the estate is to be either divided up among more distant relatives (uncles, aunts, cousins, nephews, nieces) or rendered to the public treasury (bayt al-māl) of the Islamic state (Ṭū). The revisiting of this issue was, according to one report, occasioned by a complaint from the early Companion Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh (d. 78/697); according to the earlier ruling, his nine sisters would have had to share a mere third of his estate (Q, Ṭ, W). The early commentators differed over how the inheritance was to be divided if the deceased left a daughter as well as a sister, but no son. Some understood this to mean that if a person died leaving a daughter and a sister, each received half of the estate. Ibn ʿAbbās and the Twelver Shiite legal school, however, held that the presence of a surviving daughter, like that of a son, meant that the deceased was not technically a kalālah (one dying without a parent or child to inherit from him) and so precluded any inheritance for a sister (Q, Ṭ, Ṭū). According to several reports from the Prophet’s Companion al-Barā’ ibn ʿĀzib, this was the final verse of the Quran revealed to the Prophet, although other verses, such as 5:3 and particularly 2:281, are more widely attested as the final Quranic verse (JJ, Q, Ṭ). Other verses sometimes considered to be the final passage of the Quranic revelation include 9:128–29 and 110:1–3.

Source: The Study Quran, by Sayyed Hossein Nasr and 4 Others

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