Surah 4. An-Nisaa, Ayah 97
| إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَوَفَّاهُمُ الْمَلَائِكَةُ ظَالِمِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ قَالُوا فِيمَ كُنْتُمْ ۖ قَالُوا كُنَّا مُسْتَضْعَفِينَ فِي الْأَرْضِ ۚ قَالُوا أَلَمْ تَكُنْ أَرْضُ اللَّهِ وَاسِعَةً فَتُهَاجِرُوا فِيهَا ۚ فَأُولَٰئِكَ مَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ ۖ وَسَاءَتْ مَصِيرًا |
| Transliteration | : | 'inna 'alladhena tawaffaa -hum al- malaa'ikah z.aalime anfus -him qaalo fe ma(a) kuntum qaalo kunnaa mustad.cafen fe al- 'ard. qaalo 'a- lam takun 'ard. 'allaah waasicah fa- tuhaajiro fe -haa fa- 'olaa'ika ma'waa -hum jahannam wa- saa'at mas.er(an) |
| Pickthall | : | Lo! as for those whom the angels take (in death) while they wrong themselves, (the angels) will ask: In what were ye engaged? They will say : We were oppressed in the land. (The angels) will say: Was not Allah's earth spacious that ye could have migrated therein? As for such, their habitation will be hell, an evil journey's end; |
| Asad | : | Behold, those whom the angels gather in death while they are still sinning against themselves, [the angels] will ask, "What was wrong with you?"123 They will answer: "We were too weak on earth." [The angels] will say: "Was, then, God's earth not wide enough for you to forsake the domain of evil?"124 For such, then, the goal is hell - and how evil a journey's end! |
| Malik | : | When the angels of death cause those people to die who have wronged their souls, they ask: "What was your condition?" They reply: "We were oppressed in the earth." The angels say: "Was not the earth of Allah spacious enough for you to emigrate and go somewhere else?" Hell will be their abode and it is a very evil refuge! |
| Yusuf Ali | : | When angels take the souls of those who die in sin against their souls they say: "In what (plight) were ye?" They reply: "Weak and oppressed were we in the earth." They say: "Was not the earth of Allah spacious enough for you to move yourselves away (from evil)?" Such men will find their abode in Hell what an evil refuge! 615 |
Note - 123Lit., "in what [condition] were you?" - i.e., while
alive. This refers to people who evade without valid
excuse, all struggle in God's cause.
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Note - 124Lit., "was not God's earth wide, so that you could
migrate therein?" The term hijrah (lit., "exodus"),
derived from the verb hajara ("he migrated"), is used in
the Our'an in two senses: one of them is historical,
denoting the exodus of the Prophet and his Companions
from Mecca to Medina, while the other has a moral
connotation - namely, man's "exodus" from evil towards
God - and does not necessarily imply the leaving of one's
homeland in the physical sense. It is this wider, moral
and ethical meaning of the term hijrah to which the above
passage refers - just as the preceding passage (verses
{95-96}) referred to "striving hard in God's cause"
(jihad) in the widest sense of the term, embracing both
physical and moral efforts and the sacrifice, if need be,
of one's possessions and even one's life. While the
physical exodus from Mecca to Medina ceased to be
obligatory for the believers after the conquest of Mecca
in the year 8 H., the spiritual exodus from the domain of
evil to that of righteousness continues to be a
fundamental demand of Islam: in other words, a person who
does not "migrate from evil unto God" cannot be
considered a believer - which explains the condemnation,
in the next sentence, of all who are remiss in this
respect.
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Note - 615The immediate occasion for this passage was the question
of migration (hijrat) from places where Islam was being
persecuted and suppressed. Obviously the duty of Muslims
was to leave such places, even if it involved forsaking
their homes, and join and strengthen the Muslim community
among whom they could live in peace and with whom they
could help in fighting the evils around them. But the
meaning is wider. Islam does not say: "Resist not evil."
On the contrary it requires a constant, unceasing
struggle against evil. For such struggle it may be
necessary to forsake home and unite and organise and join
our brethren in assaulting and overthrowing the fortress
of evil. For the Muslim's duty is not only to enjoin good
but to prohibit evil. To make our assault we must be
prepared to put ourselves in a position from which such
assault would be possible, and Allah's earth is spacious
enough for the purpose. "Position" includes not only
local position, but moral and material position. For
example, we must shun evil company where we cannot put it
down, but organise a position from which we can put it
down.
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Lit., "in what [condition] were you?" - i.e., while alive. This refers to people who evade without valid excuse, all struggle in God's cause. |
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Lit., "was not God's earth wide, so that you could migrate therein?" The term hijrah (lit., "exodus"), derived from the verb hajara ("he migrated"), is used in the Our'an in two senses: one of them is historical, denoting the exodus of the Prophet and his Companions from Mecca to Medina, while the other has a moral connotation - namely, man's "exodus" from evil towards God - and does not necessarily imply the leaving of one's homeland in the physical sense. It is this wider, moral and ethical meaning of the term hijrah to which the above passage refers - just as the preceding passage (verses {95-96}) referred to "striving hard in God's cause" (jihad) in the widest sense of the term, embracing both physical and moral efforts and the sacrifice, if need be, of one's possessions and even one's life. While the physical exodus from Mecca to Medina ceased to be obligatory for the believers after the conquest of Mecca in the year 8 H., the spiritual exodus from the domain of evil to that of righteousness continues to be a fundamental demand of Islam: in other words, a person who does not "migrate from evil unto God" cannot be considered a believer - which explains the condemnation, in the next sentence, of all who are remiss in this respect. |
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The immediate occasion for this passage was the question of migration (hijrat) from places where Islam was being persecuted and suppressed. Obviously the duty of Muslims was to leave such places, even if it involved forsaking their homes, and join and strengthen the Muslim community among whom they could live in peace and with whom they could help in fighting the evils around them. But the meaning is wider. Islam does not say: "Resist not evil." On the contrary it requires a constant, unceasing struggle against evil. For such struggle it may be necessary to forsake home and unite and organise and join our brethren in assaulting and overthrowing the fortress of evil. For the Muslim's duty is not only to enjoin good but to prohibit evil. To make our assault we must be prepared to put ourselves in a position from which such assault would be possible, and Allah's earth is spacious enough for the purpose. "Position" includes not only local position, but moral and material position. For example, we must shun evil company where we cannot put it down, but organise a position from which we can put it down. |
