| Suran an-Nisa, 1-2
" With the name of Allah, The All-Merciful, the Very-Merciful.
O men, fear your Lord who created you from a single soul, and from it created its match, and spread from the two, many men and women. And fear Allah in whose name you ask each other (for your rights), and surely, Allah is watchful over you. [1] And give the orphans their property, and do not substitute what is bad for what is good, and do not eat up their property alongwith your own. It is, surely, a great sin."[2] (4:1-2)
Sequence
The last verse of Surah 'Al-Imran was concluded with an exhortation to Taqwa, the fear of Allah. The present Surah begins with Taqwa in the mode of command. The previous Surah mentioned some battles, described the manner of treating antagonists, condemned misappropriation in battle spoils and took up several other matters. In the earlier part of the present Surah, there are injunctions about rights related to one's own people which must be fulfilled while living and interacting with them, such as, the rights of orphans, relatives and wives (known as Huququl-'Ibad: the rights of the servants of Allah).
But, there are some rights which are justiciable, that is, their fulfillment can be enforced through law, like common transactions of buying and selling. The rights involved in lease, tenancy and wages can be settled through mutual agreements and arbitration; should a party fall short in fulfilling settled rights, these can be legally retrieved and enforced. But, the fulfillment of the rights of those in one's own charge - children, parents, husband and wife, and orphans - and the rights of other relatives which fall on each other - all depend upon civilized behaviour, respect, loving and caring, and above all on that genuinely heart-felt desire to do what is good for them. These are behaviour patterns which cannot be weighed on a scale of things. That they be determined fully and perfectly through mutual agreements is also much too difficult. Therefore, there is just no other method of their fulfillment except having the fear of Allah and the fear of what would happen in the life to come. This is known as Taqwa and the truth of the matter is that this power of Taqwa is more effective than the combined powers of government and law. Hence, the Surah opens with the command of Taqwa when it says: (O men, fear your Lord).
The word, 'ittaqu translated here as 'fear' means 'fear acting against your Lord' which perhaps is the reason why the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him used to recite this verse as part of his address while solemnizing a marriage. Therefore, reciting it in the Khutbah of Nikah is a perenniel revival of the Sunnah. Here, the form of address in the verse is worth attention. It says: (O men) which includes all human beings, men or women, and whether they are present at the time of the revelation of the Qur'an or shall continue to be born right through to the Day of Doom. Then, alongwith the command of 'ittaqu' (fear) the word used is 'Rabb' (Lord) which has been selected out of the most fair names of Allah. This is to point out that the fear of Allah so enjoined has a justification and wisdom of its own. The Being totally responsible for man's nurture the manifestations of Whose Lord-worthiness he witnesses every moment of his life, certainly deserves all the awe one is capable of. The very thought that anyone could rise in antagonism and defiance against Allah is terribly dangerous.
Immediately after, the text brings into focus the most exalted majesty of the Lord by saying that He created human beings, all of them, in His wisdom and mercy. Here it was quite possible to create and cause to be present, whatever it was to be, in more than one way.
But, He chose to have one way and one form, a very particular one, when he created all human beings from the one and only human being, that is, Sayyidna Adam (A.S), and thus it was that He tied all of them in a strong bond of brotherhood. So, it is not only the fear of Allah and the fear of Akhirah (Hereafter) which demand man's allegiance to the Lord of all creation, but this bond of brotherhood between human beings also requires that rights of humanity - of mutual sympathy, well-being and collective good - be fully discharged. And between man and man, let there be no one high or low in race or caste, in colour or language, and that all such distinctions be never made the criterion of good or bad, nobility or meanness. Therefore, it was said: meaning 'who has created you from a single soul (that is, Sayyidna Adam (A.S) who is the father of all human beings), and from it created its match (that is, his wife, Hawwa' (Eve), and spread from the two, many men and women (in the world)'.
In short, this verse serves as an introduction to injunctions which are going to appear in this Surah. The purpose here is to dissuade human beings from becoming the usurpers of Divine rights, while at the same time, by telling them that they all are the children of the same father, the wonderful humane dimension of love, mutual sympathy and concern was given as the working hypothesis of common living, so that the mutual rights of relatives, orphans and married couples could be fulfilled right from the heart at the very grass-root level.
Towards the end of verse 1, the exhortation to fear Allah has been beamed at man from yet another angle. Is'nt it that man demands his rights from others in the name of Allah and exacts what he wants from them? It means that one who expects others to fear Allah should do that himself as well. The last word, wal-arham, is there to warn that any shortcoming in taking good care of near relations, whether from the side of one's father or mother, should be avoided.
The second verse emphasizes the rights of orphaned children and establishes rules to protect their property.
The commentary which follows takes up the last two aspects of near relations and orphans in some detail.
Commentary
Treating Near Relations Well
The word, 'al-arham' in verse 1 is the plural of rahim. Rahim is womb. The womb of the mother is the home of.the child until born. Since this womb is the source of blood relationship, the act of maintaining relations in that line is called silatur-rahim in Arabic (literally, umbilical link or bond or relationship). The converse of it, that is, showing carelessness and indifference towards natural linkage based on blood relationship is identified as qat'-al-rahim (literally, umbilical delinkage, meaning cutting off relationship with one's kin).
The noble ahadith have laid great emphasis on bonds of kinship. The Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him has said:
"Whoever likes to have his livelihood made plentiful and his age extended for him should maintain good relations with his near of kin." (Mishkat, p. 419)
This hadith tells us about two benefits that issue forth from treating near relations well. The merit of the Hereafter vouchsafed, this fair treatment of one's kin has its benefits in this life as well, that is, it removes straightenings from his livelihood and blesses his age with more good years.
Sayyidna 'Abdullah ibn Salam Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him says: When the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him came to Madinah al-Tayyibah and I presented myself before him, the very first words from him which fell into my ears were:
"O men, make a practice of greeting each other with salam, and feed people (for the pleasure of Allah), and treat near relations well, and pray by night while people sleep - you will enter Paradise in peace." (Mishkat, p. 108)
In another hadith, it has been reported that Ummul-Mu'minin (the Mother of the Faithful) Sayyidah Maymuna Radhi-Allahu Anha: Allah be pleased with her had freed her bond woman. When she told the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him about it, he said:
"Had you given her to your maternal uncle, your reward would have been greater." (Mishkat, p. 171)
Although, Islam motivates people to free slaves and rates it as one of the finest acts of merit, yet the status of treating relatives fairly has been given more importance. There is another narration on the same subject in which the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him has been reported to have said:
"Charity to the needy is just charity, while to a near relative it becomes two fold: charity and kinship." (Mishkat, p. 171)
Hence, a simple change in the end-use of charity yields two types of merits.
As opposed to this there is the attitude of cold-shouldering or severing of blood relationships. How stern are the warnings given in hadith reports against this can be imagined from the following two ahadith:
The Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him said:
1. A breaker of (blood) relationships shall not enter Paradise. (Mishkat, p. 419)
2. Mercy shall not descend upon a people among whom there is a breaker of (blood) relationships. (Mishkat, p. 420)
The statement in the last sentence of this verse: (and surely, Allah is watchful over you) motivates human hearts to fulfil rights as and when they are due because Divine watchfulness implies awareness of whatever there is in human hearts - intentions, scruples, motives - everything. Doing things half-heartedly, formally, or for fear of possible embarrassment, without any genuine desire to serve, shall remain acts unacceptable to Allah. Incidentally, from here we find out why Allah should be feared - because He is watchful over everyone, always. As pointed out elsewhere too, this is typical of the usual style of the Holy Qur'an when it does not introduce laws in sheer cold print like the laws of the governments of this world, but puts them forth in the manner of education, training and affection by not restricting itself to the word of law alone, but by combining it with the grooming of minds and hearts as well.
The Rights of the Orphans and the Protection of Their Property
The first verse stressed upon the care and concern for kinship in an absolute sense. Then came the general emphasis on the fulfillment of rights that issue forth from it. Now, the second verse carries the command td protect the properties of the orphans, as well as the prohibition of any misappropriation therein because the guardian of an orphaned child is usually one of his relatives. Therefore, this too has a bearing on the fulfillment of the rights of kinship.
The word, 'al-yatama in the first sentence of verse 2: (And give the orphans their property), is the plural of al-yatim (the orphan). Literally, it means the lone or the unique. Therefore, a pearl that resides in its shell all alone is called Ad-Durr al-Yatim (literally, 'the orphan-pearl'). In the terminology of Islamic law, a yatim is a child whose father has died. Incidentally, among animals, a yatim is an offspring whose mother has died (Qlmus). When a child attains maturity, that is, becomes pubert, he is no more referred to as yatim in the terminology of Islamic law as it has been clarified in a hadith which says: that is, 'Orphanhood ends with puberty'. (Mishkat, p. 284)
If orphaned children have property, either gifted to them or received by them through someone's inheritance, then, the responsibility of protecting this property, as well as the orphan himself, falls on the shoulders of the person who is the guardian of the orphan. It does not matter whether the guardian of the orphan was appointed by the father of the orphan himself before his death, or by the government. It is part of the guardian's duty that he should certainly cover all costs incurred on the necessary maintenance of the orphan from what he owns, but he should not give what the orphan owns into his possession before he has reached the age of maturity because he, being an immature minor, may lose it somewhere. So, the statement: 'give the orphans their property', in this verse, has been clarified a little later in verse 5 where it has been said that the property of the orphans should be given to them after it is certain that they have become mature and do have the ablity to distinguish between what is good for them and what is not.
Therefore, the meaning of 'give the orphans their property' in this verse should be taken in the sense of protecting their property so that it could be given to them at its appropriate time. Furthermore, there is a clear hint in this sentence towards the extent to which the guardian of the orphan is responsible for his welfare. It is being said here that his responsibility is not limited to just that he himself refrains from eating up or squandering the property of the orphan, but it is also an integral part of his duties that he should do everything possible to protect, guard and conserve the property in the best of state, capable of being handed over to him when mature.
The second sentence: prohibits the substitution of bad things for the good ones. There were people who would let the number of things owned by the orphan stay unaltered, but would take something good from there and substitute it with something bad they themselves had. For example, swapping a lean goat for a healthy one, a bad coin for a good one, and things like that. Since, this too is a breach of trust in respect of the property of the orphan, and in the event that someone driven by his naughty self comes up with the excuse that he has not 'taken' what belonged to the orphan, he has rather 'exchanged' it. So, the Holy Qur'an has forbidden it explicitly. Now, this forbiddance not only covers the substitution of one's bad things for the orphan's good things, but it also covers any attempt by the guardian to enter into any deal with some other person which results in a loss for the orphaned child.
The third sentence: (and do not eat up their property alongwith your own) obviously aims to forbid the eating up of the orphan's property through impermissible methods whether it is consumed from the jointly-held property of the guardian and the orphan, or that it is held separately and consumed from there. But, the general practice is that the guardian would hold what belongs to the orphan with his own personal holdings, would himself consume out of there and let the orphan do the same. Since no separate accounting is involved here, even a religiously observing Muslim may fall into thinking that there was no sin in doing so. It was for this particular reason that the prohibition of consuming what belongs to the orphan by pooling it with one's own was mentioned here and warning was given to either keep the property of the orphan absolutely separate and spend from it separately so that there remains no danger of any excess; or should one elect to have a joint-expense system, then, the accounts maintained should be so clear that one can be sure of not having spent anything belonging to the orphan on his own person or in his interest. A detailed explanation of this has already appeared in (2:220) - Section 27 of Surah al-Baqarah, Volume 1 of this commentary.
The style of expression here gives a hint that those who misappropriate the property of orphans are generally the people who have properties of their own as well. So, it is by implication that such people have been reproached for stooping down to eat up the property of the orphans unlawfully while they have their own lawful belongings at hand - a shameful act indeed.
It will be noted that verse (2) mentions the prohibition of "eating" the property of the orphan because "eating" is one of the major end-uses of what one possesses. But, in common usage, every act of using up, consuming and exhausting is referred to as "eating up" - whether this be by 'using' or by 'eating'. The expression, "la ta'kulu" (do not eat up) in the Holy Qur'an carries this very sense of the usage, included in which are all sorts of impermissible uses. Therefore, spending anything from the property of the orphan unlawfully by any means whatsoever is absolutely haram (forbidden).
The verse ends with the admonition, (It is, surely, a great sin.) Here, the word 'hub', as said by Sayyidna ibn 'Abbas, comes from the Ethiopean language. It means: 'major sin'. It is used in Arabic for the same meaning. The sense is that any unlawful appropriation or use of the orphan's property, be it because of lack of supervision or substitution of something bad for something good or because of consuming the orphan's assets as mixed up with one's own, is a great sin after all.
The stern warning to those who eat up the property of an orphan appears later towards the end of this section (4:10). [Ma'ariful Qur'an]
» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 3rd February 2012
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