Women (Al-Nisa’)
Verses 64-70 GROUP_129 4.64-70
64
وَمَا أَرْسَلْنَا مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلاَّ لِيُطَاعَ بِإِذْنِ اللّهِ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُواْ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآؤُوكَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُواْ اللّهَ وَاسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ الرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُواْ اللّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا
All the messengers We sent were meant to be obeyed by God’s leave. If they had come to you and sought forgiveness from God whenever they wronged themselves, and the Messenger had prayed for forgiveness for them, they would have found that God is ever-forgiving and merciful.
65
فَلاَ وَرَبِّكَ لاَ يُؤْمِنُونَ حَتَّىَ يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ ثُمَّ لاَ يَجِدُواْ فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِّمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُواْ تَسْلِيمًا
By your Lord, they will not be true believers until they seek your arbitration in their disputes and find within themselves no doubt about what you decide and accept it wholeheartedly.
66
وَلَوْ أَنَّا كَتَبْنَا عَلَيْهِمْ أَنِ اقْتُلُواْ أَنفُسَكُمْ أَوِ اخْرُجُواْ مِن دِيَارِكُم مَّا فَعَلُوهُ إِلاَّ قَلِيلٌ مِّنْهُمْ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ فَعَلُواْ مَا يُوعَظُونَ بِهِ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَّهُمْ وَأَشَدَّ تَثْبِيتًا
If We had commanded them, ‘Lay down your lives or leave your dwellings,’ they would have not done it, save a few of them. If they had done what they were instructed to do, it would have been better for them, as well as more strengthening [for their faith],
67
وَإِذاً لَّآتَيْنَاهُم مِّن لَّدُنَّـا أَجْراً عَظِيمًا
and We would have given them a great reward of Our own,
68
وَلَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ صِرَاطًا مُّسْتَقِيمًا
and guided them to a straight path.
69
وَمَن يُطِعِ اللّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُوْلَـئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللّهُ عَلَيْهِم مِّنَ النَّبِيِّينَ وَالصِّدِّيقِينَ وَالشُّهَدَاء وَالصَّالِحِينَ وَحَسُنَ أُولَـئِكَ رَفِيقًا
Whoever obeys God and the Messenger will be among those He has blessed: the messengers, the truthful, the witnesses, and the righteous. What excellent companions these are!
70
ذَلِكَ الْفَضْلُ مِنَ اللّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللّهِ عَلِيمًا
That is God’s favour. Sufficient is God’s infinite knowledge.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
Commentary
(a) A prophet is not sent to the world to raise a group of followers who will wax eloquent in his praise and cover him in glory. A prophet comes so that people should learn the code of conduct for their lives and adopt it in practice. One should be so thoroughly committed to doing so, that even in controversial situations, when conflicting interests have caused strained relations, one will not fail to obey the Prophet’s teachings. The true believer will simply suppress his ego and conscientiously follow the guidance of the Prophet. He will willingly accept his ways, even if they are detrimental to his interests and run counter to his way of thinking. He will remain mentally alert to any inadvertent mistake on his part, soon realizing that he had strayed from the Prophet’s path to the path of Satan. He will immediately repent, mend his ways and seek forgiveness. On the contrary, one who is not able to adhere to the straight path of the faith, when the dictates of faith clash with his feelings and desires, cannot be expected to remain steadfast in times of harder trial. At such trying times one has to give proof of one’s faith by making sacrifices for it. (a) By pursuing a course of selfishness and opportunism in life, the individual incurs the greatest loss, i.e. he fails to find the straight path (as explicitly laid down in the Book of God and sayings of the Prophet) which could have led him to his Lord. One who does not think objectively, who is opportunistic in his thinking, will fail to find that straight path, no matter how clearly it may have been shown to him. This results from his viewing religion, not from a correct perspective, but from the standpoint of his own desires and convenience, so that an image of religion moulded by his own perceptions is formed in his mind. Though a claimant of faith, he remains deprived of it. How could such a person be eligible for Paradise, which is to be inhabited only by those who have embraced the Faith, rising above all considerations of self-interest and expediency, who have stood by the covenant of God, being witnesses for the truth to the ultimate extent, and having lead totally pious lives?