Women (Al-Nisa’)
Verses 97-100 GROUP_137 4.97-100
97
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَوَفَّاهُمُ الْمَلآئِكَةُ ظَالِمِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ قَالُواْ فِيمَ كُنتُمْ قَالُواْ كُنَّا مُسْتَضْعَفِينَ فِي الأَرْضِ قَالْوَاْ أَلَمْ تَكُنْ أَرْضُ اللّهِ وَاسِعَةً فَتُهَاجِرُواْ فِيهَا فَأُوْلَـئِكَ مَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَسَاءتْ مَصِيرًا
When the angels take the souls of those who have wronged themselves, they will ask, ‘What was wrong with you?’ They will answer, ‘We were too weak on earth.’ The angels will say, ‘Was God’s earth not spacious enough for you to have migrated to some other place?’ These are the ones whose abode shall be Hell, an evil destination—
98
إِلاَّ الْمُسْتَضْعَفِينَ مِنَ الرِّجَالِ وَالنِّسَاء وَالْوِلْدَانِ لاَ يَسْتَطِيعُونَ حِيلَةً وَلاَ يَهْتَدُونَ سَبِيلاً
except such weak ones among men, women and children, as are incapable of adopting any plan or of finding any way out.
99
فَأُوْلَـئِكَ عَسَى اللّهُ أَن يَعْفُوَ عَنْهُمْ وَكَانَ اللّهُ عَفُوًّا غَفُورًا
God may well pardon them. God is ever-pardoning and ever forgiving.
100
وَمَن يُهَاجِرْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللّهِ يَجِدْ فِي الأَرْضِ مُرَاغَمًا كَثِيرًا وَسَعَةً وَمَن يَخْرُجْ مِن بَيْتِهِ مُهَاجِرًا إِلَى اللّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ثُمَّ يُدْرِكْهُ الْمَوْتُ فَقَدْ وَقَعَ أَجْرُهُ عَلى اللّهِ وَكَانَ اللّهُ غَفُورًا رَّحِيمًا
Whoever emigrates for the cause of God will find many places of refuge in the land and plentiful provision. Those who leave home for the cause of God and His Messenger; but is then overtaken by death, shall be recompensed by God. God is most forgiving and ever-merciful.
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Commentary
(a) A believer naturally wants a free environment where his believing personality may find full opportunities to express itself. If he finds the environment unfavourable, he had better change his surroundings. This change of place is called hijrah (emigration). Thus, in the real spirit of hijrah, one should remove oneself from an unfavourable to a favourable situation. Let us take the example of a person who is associated with an organisation which is dominated by certain personali- ties. He realises that he may exist there only as a glorifier of those personalities and not as a glorifier of God. Now, if for the sake of self-interest he compromises with that atmosphere and fails to proclaim the truth as he sees it, and then, still in the same state, he breathes his last, it might be said that in that case, he had perpetrated an injustice against his soul. ( a) When a call of truth is raised, which demands that the believers respond to the call and expend their energies and their wealth on spreading this message, they refuse to come out of their cocoons of self-interest and expediency. Thus they fail to join the caller for truth and become his supporters. If they continue to remain in this state till the moment of their death, they will appear before God as having done an injustice to their own lives. However, those who are really helpless and incapable of extending any support are exempted from this condition.