Yasin, abu mohammed, Naqshband66, Taalibah, Arslan., Maria al-Qibtiyya, member2, Arfatzafar, queenie, muslim11, ibn Ismail 1 guest appreciates this topic.
Q: What are the commonalities and differences between the following 2 verses?
Quote:
O those who believe, be upholders of justice - witnesses for Allah, even though against (the interest of) yourselves or the parents, and the kinsmen. One may be rich or poor, Allah is better caretaker of both. So do not follow desires, lest you should swerve. And if you twist or avoid (the evidence), then, Allah is all aware of what you do. [/quote](Surah al-Nisa', verse 135)
[quote]Be steadfast for Allah as witnesses for justice. And malice against a people should not bid you to not doing justice. Do justice. That is nearer to Taqwa. And fear Allah. Surely, Allah is all-aware of what you do.
(Surah al-Ma'idah, verse 8)
~~~
Alhamdulillah, we are blessed with a tradition that uncovers meanings for us through scholarship therefore insha'Allah lets rely solely on it rather than guessing... in fact, we should refrain from guessing at meanings altogether.
Please use any number of resources that are available both on and offline to look up the commonalities and differences as noted by scholars of Quranic sciences. Please provide your sources - whether book, audio or video (halalified).
The difference is how they deal with the impediments of justice. There are two impediments to justice:
(1) Love, kinship, relations with others.
(2) Hatred, malice against others.
The verse in Surah Nisaa covers the the first impediment, while the verse in Surah Ma'idah covers the second impediment.
Another important thing to notice is the order of the words. In surah Nisaa, Allah says "standing firm in justice, witnesses for Allah" while in surah Ma'idah He says "standing firm for Allah , witnesses in justice". Most Mufassireen believe this is to show that standing up for justice and being a witness for Allah are one and the same, such that you can exchange one for the other and it will still be the same.
Another reason for the change in words is given below:
It is obvious that a person who stands for justice will stand for none but Allah, and one who stands for none but Allah will do nothing but justice. But, when it comes to protecting personal interest or favouring friends and relatives, one may be tempted to justify the thought that the act of caring for relationships here is also for Allah. Therefore, by bringing in the word, 'al-qist' (justice) first at that point, the message given was that the concession which is contrary to justice cannot be for Allah. And in Surah al-Ma'idah, where the purpose was to enjoin justice with enemies, the word 'lillah' (for Allah) was brought in first, which took away the chances of sentimental attachments overpowering human nature. The point is, when you stand for Allah, the inevitable outcome should be an equal justice with enemies as well.
[summarized and paraphrased from Ma'ariful Qur'an]
Masha'Allah brother Arslan. Your turn insha'Allah.
I'll just add to commonalities by highlighting universal justice and pointing out that the impediments are also a commonality in that both verses call for the removal of them (though the impediments themselves are different).
This cannot be undone and I am sure it will be greatly appreciated.
We apologise but you have been denied access to report posts in this thread. This could be due to excessively reporting posts and not understanding our forum rules. For assistance or information, please use the forum help thread to request more information. Jazakallah
