Surah 4. An-Nisaa'

O YOU who have attained to faith! Be fully prepared against danger, whether you go to war in small groups or all together.⁸⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "and then go forth, [be it] in small detachments or all together" - the latter expression applying to what nowadays is called "total war". The term hidhr connotes not merely an effort to guard oneself against imminent danger but also the making of all necessary preparations with regard to (in this context) military organization, equipment, etc. The problem of war as such arises from the principles of ideological statehood postulated in verse {59} of this surah. Since the Muslims are expected to organize their communal life within the framework of a state based on the ideological premises laid down in the Qur'an, they must be prepared for hostility on the part of groups or nations opposed to the world-view and the social system of Islam and, conceivably, bent on its destruction: consequently, the concept of a defensive war in God's cause (jihad) plays a very prominent role in the socio-political scheme of Islam and is frequently alluded to throughout the Qur'an.

O believers! Prepare yourselves for encounter, then advance in detachments or all together as the occasion may require.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

O ye who believe! Take your precautions, then advance the proven ones, or advance all together.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And, behold, there are indeed among you such as would lag behind, and then, if calamity befalls you, say, "God has bestowed His favour upon me in that I was not present with them!"

  - Mohammad Asad

There will be someone among you who will surely lag behind, so that if you face any calamity, he will say: "Allah has been gracious to me that I did not accompany them."

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Lo! among you there is he who Loitereth; and if disaster overtook you, he would say: Allah hath been gracious unto me since I was not present with them!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But if good fortune comes to you from God, such a person⁸⁸ is sure to say - just as if there had never been any question of love between you and him -: "Oh, would that I had been with them, and thus had a [share in their] mighty triumph!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit.,"he".

But if you are blessed with grace from Allah, he will say, as if there was no friendship between you and him: "I wish I had been with them; I could have attained a mighty good fortune!"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And if a bounty from Allah befell you, he would surely cry, as if there had been no love between you and him: Oh, would that I had been with them, then should I have achieved a great success!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Hence, let them fight in God's cause - all who are willing to barter the life of this world for the life to come: for unto him who fights in God's cause, whether he be slain or be victorious, We shall in time grant a mighty reward.

  - Mohammad Asad

Let it be known that only those people should fight in the cause of Allah who are willing to exchange the life of this world for the Hereafter; and whoever fights for the cause of Allah, whether he dies or is victorious, will soon be granted a mighty reward.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Let those fight in the way of Allah who sell the life of this world for the other. Whoso fighteth in the way of Allah, be he slain or be he victorious, on him We shall bestow a vast reward.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And how could you refuse to fight⁸⁹ in the cause of God and of the utterly helpless men and women and children who are crying, "O our Sustainer! Lead us forth [to freedom] out of this land whose people are oppressors, and raise for us, out of Thy grace, a protector, and raise for us, out of Thy grace, one who will bring us succour!"

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "what is amiss with you that you do not fight" - implying that they have no moral excuse for such a refusal.

And what reason do you have not to fight in the cause of Allah, to rescue the helpless oppressed old men, women, and children who are crying: "Our Rabb! Deliver us from this town whose people are oppressors; send us a protector by Your grace and send us a helper from Your presence?"

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

How should ye not fight for the cause of Allah and of the feeble among men and of the women and the children who are crying: Our Lord! Bring us forth from out this town of which the people are oppressors! Oh, give us from Thy presence some protecting friend! Oh, give us from Thy presence some defender!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Those who have attained to faith fight in the cause of God, whereas those who are bent on denying the truth fight in the cause of the powers of evil. Fight, then, against those friends of Satan: verily, Satan's guile is weak indeed!⁹⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

Thus the Qur'an implies that "evil" is not an independent, esoteric factor of life, but rather a result of man's succumbing to the temptations arising from his own moral weakness and thereby "denying the truth". In other words, the "power" of the negative principle symbolized by Satan has no intrinsic reality ("Satan's guile is weak indeed"): it becomes real only through man's wilfully choosing a wrong course of action.

Those who are believers fight in the cause of Allah and those who are unbelievers fight in the cause of Taghut (forces of Shaitan): so fight against the helpers of Shaitan; surely, Shaitan's crafty schemes are very weak.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Those who believe do battle for the cause of Allah; and those who disbelieve do battle for the cause of idols. So fight the minions of the devil. Lo! the devil's strategy is ever weak.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

ART THOU NOT aware of those who have been told, "Curb your hands,⁹¹ and be constant in prayer and render the purifying dues"? But as soon a fighting [in God's cause] is ordained for them, lo, some of them stand in awe of men as one should stand in awe of God - or in even greater awe - and say, "O our Sustainer! Why hast Thou ordained fighting for us? If only Thou hadst granted us a delay for a little while!" Say: "Brief is the enjoyment of this world, whereas the life to come is the best for all who are conscious of God - since none of you shall be wronged by as much as a hair's breadth.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., from unrighteous violence, to which man so often inclines. The fact that most people have to be told to refrain from violence is contrasted, in the next sentence, with the unwillingness on the part of many of them to expose themselves to physical danger in a righteous cause.

Have you not seen those who were told to restrain their hands from fighting, establish Salah (regular prayers) and pay Zakah (regular charity). Now when at length they are commanded to fight, lo! A group of them fear people as they should have feared Allah, or even more than that, and say: "Our Rabb! Why have You ordered us to fight? Could you delay its implementation for a while?" Tell them: "The enjoyment of this worldly life is short, life of the hereafter is much better for those who fear Allah, and rest assured that you will not be wronged equal to the fiber of a date-stone.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Hast thou not seen those unto whom it was said: Withhold your hands, establish worship and pay the poor due, but when fighting was prescribed for them behold, a party of them fear mankind even as their fear of Allah or with greater fear, and say: Our Lord! Why hast thou ordained fighting for us? If only Thou wouldst give us respite yet a while! Say (unto them, O Muhammad): The comfort of this world is scant; the Hereafter will be better for him who wardeth off (evil); and ye will not be wronged the down upon a date stone.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Wherever you may be death will overtake you - even though you be in towers raised high." Yet, when a good thing happens to them, some [people] say, "This is from God," whereas when evil befalls them, they say, "This is from thee [O fellowman]!"⁹² Say: "All is from God." What, then, is amiss with these people that they are in no wise near to grasping the truth of what they are told?⁹³

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., they do not realize that the evil happening may possibly be a consequence of their own actions or their own wrong choice between several courses open to them, but are prone to attribute it to the failings of others.

Lit., "something [which they are] told" - i.e., a truth which their own reason as well as the teachings of all the prophets should have made obvious to them.

As for death, no matter where you may be, death is going to reach you even if you are in fortified towers. When such people are blessed with some benefit, they say: "This is from Allah;" but if they suffer a loss, they say: "this is because of you." O Muhammad tell them: "Everything is from Allah." What is the matter with these people that they do not understand a word?

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Wheresoever ye may be, death will overtake you, even though ye were in lofty towers. Yet if a happy thing befalleth them they say: This is from Allah; and if an evil thing befalleth them they say: This is of thy doing (O Muhammad). Say (unto them): All is from Allah. What is amiss with these people that they come not nigh to understand a happening?

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Whatever good happens to thee is from God; and whatever evil befalls thee is from thyself.⁹⁴ AND WE have sent thee [O Muhammad] as an apostle unto all mankind: and none can bear witness [thereto] as God does.

  - Mohammad Asad

There is no contradiction between this statement and the preceding one that "all is from God". In the world-view of the Qur'an, God is the ultimate source of all happening: consequently, all good that comes to man and all evil that befalls him flows, in the last resort, from God's will. However, not everything that man regards as "evil fortune" is really, in its final effect, evil - for, "it may well be that you hate a thing the while it is good for you, and it may well be that you love a thing the while it is bad for you: and God knows, whereas you do not know" ( 2:216 ). Thus, many an apparent "evil" may sometimes be no more than a trial and a God-willed means of spiritual growth through suffering, and need not necessarily be the result of a wrong choice or a wrong deed on the part of the person thus afflicted. It is, therefore, obvious that the "evil" or "evil fortune" of which this verse speaks has a restricted connotation, inasmuch as it refers to evil in the moral sense of the word: that is to say, to suffering resulting from the actions or the behaviour of the person concerned, and this in accordance with the natural law of cause and effect which God has decreed for all His creation, and which the Qur'an describes as "the way of God" (sunnat Allah). For all such suffering man has only himself to blame, since "God does not wrong anyone by as much as an atom's weight" ( 4:40 ).

Whatever benefit comes to you O people, it is by Allah's grace; and whatever loss you suffer, it is the result of your own doings. We have sent you, O Muhammad, as a Rasool to mankind. Allah is your All-Sufficient Witness.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whatever of good befalleth thee ( O man ) it is from Allah, and whatever of ill befalleth thee it is from thyself. We have sent thee ( Muhammad ) as a messenger unto mankind and Allah is sufficient as witness.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Whoever pays heed unto the Apostle pays heed unto God thereby; and as for those who turn away - We have not sent thee to be their keeper.

  - Mohammad Asad

Anyone who obeys the Rasool, in fact, obeys Allah. As for those who pay no heed, they should know that We have not sent you as a taskmaster over them.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whoso obeyeth the messenger obeyeth Allah, and whoso turneth away: We have not sent thee as a warder over them.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

And they say, "We do pay heed unto thee"⁹⁵ - but when they leave thy presence, some of them devise, in the dark of night, [beliefs] other than thou art voicing;⁹⁶ and all the while God records what they thus devise in the dark of night. Leave them, then, alone, and place thy trust in God: for none is a worthy of trust as God.

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "And they say, 'Obedience'" - a reference to the hypocrites of Medina, in the time of the Prophet, and - by implication - the hypocritical "admirers" and half-hearted followers of Islam at all times.

I.e., they surreptitiously try to corrupt the message of God's Apostle. The verb bata denotes "he spent the night"; in the form bayyata it signifies "he meditated by night [upon something, or upon doing something]", or "he devised [something] by night" (Lisan al-'Arab), i.e., in secrecy, which is symbolized by "the dark of night".

They will say: "We are at your service!" Yet when they leave you, some of them meet together secretly at night to plot against what you have said. Allah notes down all their plots. Therefore, leave them alone and put your trust in Allah. Allah is your all sufficient trustee.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And they say: (It is) obedience; but when they have gone forth from thee a party of them spend the night in planning other than what thou sayest. Allah recordeth what they plan by night. So oppose them and put thy trust in Allah. Allah is sufficient as Trustee.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Will they not, then, try to understand this Qur'an? Had it issued from any but God, they would surely have found in it many an inner contradiction!⁹⁷

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the fact that it is free of all inner contradictions - in spite of its having been revealed gradually, over a period of twenty-three years - should convince them that it has not been "composed by Muhammad" (an accusation frequently levelled against him not only by his contemporaries but also by non-believers of later times), but could only have originated from a supra-human source. See also 25:32 and 39:23 .

Why don't they research the Qur'an? Don't they realize that if it was from someone other than Allah, they would find many discrepancies in it.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Will they not then ponder on the Qur'an? If it had been from other than Allah they would have found therein much incongruity.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

AND IF any [secret] matter pertaining to peace or war comes within their ken, they⁹⁸ spread it abroad - whereas, if they would but refer it unto the Apostle and unto those from among the believers⁹⁹ who have been entrusted with authority, such of them as are engaged in obtaining intelligence¹⁰⁰ would indeed know [what to do with] it. And but for God's bounty towards you, and His grace, all but a few of you would certainly have followed Satan.

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., the half-hearted followers of Islam spoken of in the preceding verses (Zamakhshari). The above reference to peace or war - lit., "security or danger (khawf)" - is connected, firstly with the basic principles of statecraft mentioned in verse {59} of this surah and, secondly, with the discourse on fighting in God's cause beginning with verse {71}.

Lit., "from among them".

Lit., "those from among them who elicit [the truth]", i.e., the special organs of the state entrusted with gathering and evaluating political and military intelligence.

Whenever they hear news of peace or of danger, they spread it quickly; but if they would report it to the Rasool and to the responsible people in the community, it would come to the knowledge of those who could draw the right conclusions. If it had not been for Allah's grace and mercy, all of you with the exception of a few, would have followed Shaitan.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And if any tidings, whether of safety or fear, come unto them, they noise it abroad, whereas if they had referred it to the messenger and such of them as are in authority, those among them who are able to think out the matter would have known it. If it had not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy ye would have followed Satan, save a few (of you).

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Fight thou,¹⁰¹ then, in God's cause - since thou art but responsible for thine own self - and inspire the believers to overcome all fear of death.¹⁰² God may well curb the might of those who are bent on denying the truth: for God is stronger in might, and stronger in ability to deter.

  - Mohammad Asad

Although primarily addressed to the Prophet, the "thou" in this sentence relates to every believer. The above exhortation is to be understood in the context of a war already in progress, and not as an incitement to war.

The term harad signifies "corruption of body or mind" or "corruption in one's conduct", as well as "constant disquietude of mind" (Qamus). According to Raghib, the verbal form harradahu means "he rid him of all harad" - analogous to the expression marradahu, "he rid him of illness (marad)". In the two instances where this verb occurs in the Qur'an (in this verse as well as in 8:65 ), it has the imperative form: "Render the believers free of all disquietude of mind" or tropically, "of all fear of death" - and may, thus, be suitably expressed as "inspire the believers to overcome all fear of death". The usual rendering of the phrase harrid al-mu'minin as "urge [or "rouse" or "stir up"] the believers" does not convey the full meaning of the verb harrada, notwithstanding the fact that it has been suggested by some of the classical philologists (cf. Lane II, 548).

Therefore, O Muhammad, fight; in the path of Allah, you are accountable for no one except for yourself. Urge the believers to fight, it may be that Allah will overthrow the might of the unbelievers, for Allah is the strongest in might and severe in punishment.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

So fight (O Muhammad) in the way of Allah Thou art not taxed (with the responsibility for anyone) except for thyself and urge on the believers. Peradventure Allah will restrain the might of those who disbelieve. Allah is stronger in might and stronger in inflicting punishment.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Whoever rallies to a good cause shall have a share in its blessings;¹⁰³ and whoever rallies to an evil cause shall be answerable for his part in it: for, indeed, God watches over everything.¹⁰⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "shall have a share (nasib) therefrom". Since the term nasib has here a positive meaning, it can be suitably rendered as "a share in its blessings".

The noun kifl is derived from the root-verb kafala "he made himself responsible [for a thing]". Tabari explains it in this context as denoting "a share in the responsibility and the sin". The expression minha ("out of it") indicates the part played by the transgressor in the evil enterprise, to which the pronoun ha ("it") refers.

Anyone who intercedes for a good cause shall have a share in it, and anyone who intercedes for an evil cause shall also get a share in its burden. Allah has control over everything.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whoso interveneth in a good cause will have the reward thereof, and whoso interveneth in an evil cause will bear the consequence thereof. Allah overseeth all things.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall