Anwar Al-Quran

Verses 141–147

4. An-Nisaa · The Women

Madinan176 verses

ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَرَبَّصُونَ بِكُمْ فَإِن كَانَ لَكُمْ فَتْحٌۭ مِّنَ ٱللَّهِ قَالُوٓا۟ أَلَمْ نَكُن مَّعَكُمْ وَإِن كَانَ لِلْكَٰفِرِينَ نَصِيبٌۭ قَالُوٓا۟ أَلَمْ نَسْتَحْوِذْ عَلَيْكُمْ وَنَمْنَعْكُم مِّنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۚ فَٱللَّهُ يَحْكُمُ بَيْنَكُمْ يَوْمَ ٱلْقِيَٰمَةِ ۗ وَلَن يَجْعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لِلْكَٰفِرِينَ عَلَى ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ سَبِيلًا

4:141—those who lie in wait for you: if there is a victory for you from Allah, they say, ‘Were we not with you?’ But if the faithless get a share [of victory], they say, ‘Did we not prevail upon you and defend you against the faithful?’ Allah will judge between you on the Day of Resurrection, and Allah will never provide the faithless any way [to prevail] over the faithful.1

إِنَّ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ يُخَٰدِعُونَ ٱللَّهَ وَهُوَ خَٰدِعُهُمْ وَإِذَا قَامُوٓا۟ إِلَى ٱلصَّلَوٰةِ قَامُوا۟ كُسَالَىٰ يُرَآءُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ وَلَا يَذْكُرُونَ ٱللَّهَ إِلَّا قَلِيلًۭا

4:142The hypocrites indeed seek to deceive Allah, but it is He who outwits them. When they stand up for prayer, they stand up lazily, showing off to the people and not remembering Allah except a little,

مُّذَبْذَبِينَ بَيْنَ ذَٰلِكَ لَآ إِلَىٰ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ وَلَآ إِلَىٰ هَٰٓؤُلَآءِ ۚ وَمَن يُضْلِلِ ٱللَّهُ فَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُۥ سَبِيلًۭا

4:143wavering in between: neither with these, nor with those. And whomever Allah leads astray, you will never find any way for him.2

يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَتَّخِذُوا۟ ٱلْكَٰفِرِينَ أَوْلِيَآءَ مِن دُونِ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۚ أَتُرِيدُونَ أَن تَجْعَلُوا۟ لِلَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ سُلْطَٰنًۭا مُّبِينًا

4:144O you who have faith! Do not take the faithless for friends instead of the faithful. Do you wish to give Allah a clear sanction against yourselves?

إِنَّ ٱلْمُنَٰفِقِينَ فِى ٱلدَّرْكِ ٱلْأَسْفَلِ مِنَ ٱلنَّارِ وَلَن تَجِدَ لَهُمْ نَصِيرًا

4:145Indeed the hypocrites will be in the lowest reach of the Fire, and you will never find any helper for them,3

إِلَّا ٱلَّذِينَ تَابُوا۟ وَأَصْلَحُوا۟ وَٱعْتَصَمُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَأَخْلَصُوا۟ دِينَهُمْ لِلَّهِ فَأُو۟لَٰٓئِكَ مَعَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ ۖ وَسَوْفَ يُؤْتِ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًۭا

4:146except for those who repent and reform, and hold fast to Allah and dedicate their religion [exclusively] to Allah. Those are with the faithful, and soon Allah will give the faithful a great reward.

مَّا يَفْعَلُ ٱللَّهُ بِعَذَابِكُمْ إِن شَكَرْتُمْ وَءَامَنتُمْ ۚ وَكَانَ ٱللَّهُ شَاكِرًا عَلِيمًۭا

4:147Why should Allah punish you if you give thanks and be faithful? And Allah is appreciative, all-knowing.

Tafsir

Commentary on this passage

Verse 141

1.The behaviour of hypocrites is same in every age that they keep contacts on both the sides and they talk to everyone according to their mood which is a blatant lie. And their hypocrisy is never separated from their falsehood. Infidels are better than them from this aspect because there is only corruption of belief in them. After this if he calls himself unbeliever it is not a lie. The hypocrite is faithless and due to his belief and is an evil doer due to his bad deeds, his punishment is very severe and much worse than infidels; because his faithlessness and bad deeds are the roots and keys of all evils.

Verse 144

2.In practical laws whenever the word faith (Eimaan) is used it denotes apparent Islam and that is why sincere believers and hypocrites are duty bound to follow the practical laws. The hypocrites think that infidels are more powerful and attachment with them is necessary and Islam wants to show that no one is powerful except Allah so we must be attached with Him and should do so with sincerity so that we become independent of everyone else.

Verse 147

3.It is a clear announcement that Allah does not want to punish His followers and He does not like to take revenge by preparing the hell. Allah punishes people according to their acts and people themselves force Him for chastisement by their evil actions otherwise Allah is the Merciful, the Forgiver. If only His slaves has been obedient and virtuous!

Footnotes

Explanations of words and phrases in these verses

  1. 1

    Allah has not given any way to the disbelievers over the believers. This is true from the aspect of belief also. The motions and distorted justifications of the infidels have no value in comparison to the proofs of Islamic beliefs. From the aspect of jurisprudence also this is a basis premise upon which many scholars have maintained that disbelief can under no circumstances be given precedence over Islam. The retaliation of a Muslim can be taken from a disbeliever but not vice versa.

  2. 2

    Zabzaba is the sound produced by the movement of the air. By comparing it to the feelings of a hypocrite a complete picture is given. No other simile could be so apt.

  3. 3

    The stages (Darajat) of Hell are called ‘Darakat’. They are same except that the ‘Darajat’ usually mean the ascending stages while ‘Darakat’ is used to indicate stages that go down and down. That is why ‘Darajat’ is used to describe the levels in Paradise and ‘Darakat’ is used for levels of Hell.

  4. Benefit

    The word ‘Fath’ is used for Muslims in ayat no. 141, while for the infidels the word ‘naseeb’ used. This indicates that the success of Muslims is real and if the opposite is seen in today’s world it is so because the Muslim of today is not a true Muslim and he has ignored Islam at every juncture of his life.