Surah 4. An-Nisaa'

And so, whenever they are told, "Come unto that which God has bestowed from on high, and unto the Apostle," thou canst see these hypocrites turn away from thee with aversion.⁸⁰

  - Mohammad Asad

The classical commentators see in verses {60-64} a reference to the hypocrites of Medina who, at the time of the Prophet, outwardly professed to be his followers but did not really believe in his teachings. It seems to me, however, that this passage goes far beyond the possible historical occasion of its revelation, inasmuch as it touches upon an often-encountered psychological problem of faith. People who are not fully convinced that there exists a reality beyond the reach of human perception (al-ghayb, in the sense explained in surah {2}, note [3]) find it, as a rule, difficult to dissociate their ethical views from their personal predilections and morally questionable desires - with the result that they are only too often "willing to defer to what the powers of evil tell them". Although they may half-heartedly concede that some of the moral teachings based on revelation (in this case, the Qur'an) contain "certain verities", they instinctively recoil from those teachings whenever they conflict with what their own idiosyncrasies represent to them as desirable: and so they become guilty of hypocrisy in the deepest, religious connotation of this word.

When it is said to them: "Come to be judged by the Rasool in accordance with what Allah has revealed, " you see that the hypocrites show their utmost hesitation in coming to you.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And then it is said unto them: Come unto that which Allah hath revealed and unto the messenger, thou seest the hypocrites turn from thee with aversion.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But how [will they fare] when calamity befalls them [on the Day of Judgment] because of what they have wrought in this world⁸¹ - whereupon they will come to thee, swearing by God, "Our aim was but to do good, and to bring about harmony"?⁸²

  - Mohammad Asad

Lit., "what their hands have sent ahead": an allusion to their ambivalent attitude and the confusion which it may have created in others.

I.e., they will plead that their aim was no more than a harmonization of the Qur'anic ethics with a "humanistic" (that is, man-centred) world-view: a plea which the Qur'an implicitly rejects as being hypocritical and self-deceptive (cf. {2:11-12}). As regards the phrase "whereupon they will come to thee", see verse {41} of this surah.

But see how they behave when they get into trouble as a consequence of their own doings? They come to you swearing by Allah that they desired nothing but to promote good and bring about a reconciliation.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

How would it be if a misfortune smote them because of that which their own hands have sent before (them)? Then would they come unto thee, swearing by Allah that they were seeking naught but harmony and kindness.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

As for them - God knows all that is in their hearts; so leave them alone, and admonish them, and speak unto them about themselves in a gravely searching manner:

  - Mohammad Asad

Allah knows what really is in their hearts; therefore, neglect their attitude, admonish them, and speak to them effectual words which may go deep into their hearts.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Those are they, the secrets of whose hearts Allah knoweth. So oppose them and admonish them, and address them in plain terms about their souls.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

for We have never sent any apostle save that he should be heeded by God's leave.⁸³ If, then, after having sinned against themselves, they would but come round to thee and ask God to forgive them - with the Apostle, too, praying that they be forgiven - they would assuredly find that God is an acceptor of repentance, a dispenser of grace.

  - Mohammad Asad

The expression "by God's leave" is to be understood, in this context, as "with God's help" or "by God's grace" (Zamakhshari, Razi). As so often in the Qur'an, the sudden change, within one and the same sentence, from the pronoun "We" or "I" to "He", or from "We" to "God", is meant to impress upon the listener or reader of the Qur'an the fact that God is not a "person" but an all-embracing Power that cannot be defined or even adequately referred to within the limited range of any human language.

We did not send any Rasool but to be obeyed by Allah's leave. If they would have come to you when they had wronged themselves to seek Allah's forgiveness and if the Rasool had also asked Allah's forgiveness for them, they would have found Allah Forgiving, Merciful.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

We sent no messenger save that he should be obeyed by Allah's leave. And if, when they had wronged themselves, they had but come unto thee and asked forgiveness of Allah and asked forgiveness of the messenger, they would have found Allah Forgiving, Merciful.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

But nay, by thy Sustainer! They do not [really] believe unless they make thee [O Prophet] a judge of all on which they disagree among themselves, and then find in their hearts no bar to an acceptance of thy decision and give themselves up [to it] in utter self-surrender.⁸⁴

  - Mohammad Asad

This verse lays down in an unequivocal manner the obligation of every Muslim to submit to the ordinances which the Prophet, under divine inspiration, promulgated with a view to exemplifying the message of the Qur'an and enabling the believers to apply it to actual situations. These ordinances constitute what is described as the sunnah (lit., "way") of the Prophet Muhammad, and have (whenever they are authenticated beyond any possibility of doubt) full legal force side by side with the Qur'an: see verse {80} of this surah.

Nay! O Muhammad - by your Rabb - they will never be true believers until they accept you as a judge in their disputes, then they do not find any resentment in their hearts against your verdicts and accept them with complete submission.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

But nay, by thy lord, they will not believe (in truth) until they make thee judge of what is in dispute between them and find within themselves no dislike of that which thou decidest, and submit with full submission.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Yet if We were to ordain for them,⁸⁵ "Lay down your lives," or, "Forsake your homelands," only a very few of them would do it⁸⁶ - although, if they did what they are admonished to do, it would indeed be for their own good and apt to strengthen them greatly [in faith],

  - Mohammad Asad

I.e., by means of the God-inspired commands issued by the Prophet (see preceding note).

Lit., "they would not do it, save for a few of them": the pronoun obviously relates to the half-hearted, who are not prepared to undergo the sacrifices which their faith demands of them. The reference to laying down one's life in the defence of faith and freedom and, if necessary, abandoning one's homeland, introduces, as it were, the long passage beginning with verse {71}, which deals with fighting in God's cause.

If We had commanded them to sacrifice their lives or to leave their homes, very few of them would have done it. Yet, if they would have done what they were commanded to do, it would have been better for them; not only would their faith have been strengthened,

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And if We had decreed for them : Lay down your lives or go forth from your dwellings, but few of them would have done it; though if they did what they are exhorted to do it would be better for them, and more strengthening;

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

whereupon We should indeed grant them, out of Our grace, a mighty reward,

  - Mohammad Asad

but We would have given them an extra great reward on Our own

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And then We should bestow upon them from Our presence an immense reward,

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

and indeed guide them onto a straight way.

  - Mohammad Asad

and also guided them to the Right Way.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

And should guide them unto a straight path.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

For, all who pay heed unto God and the Apostle shall be among those upon whom God has bestowed His blessings: the prophets, and those who never deviated from the truth, and those who [with their lives] bore witness to the truth, and the righteous ones: and how goodly a company are these!

  - Mohammad Asad

Whosoever obeys Allah and the Rasool will be in the company of those whom Allah has blessed - the Prophets, the truthful, the martyrs, and the righteous: What excellent companions they will be!

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Whoso obeyeth Allah and the messenger, they are with those unto whom Allah hath shown favor, of the Prophets and the saints and the martyrs and the righteous. The best of company are they!

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

Such is the bounty of God - and none has the knowledge which God has.

  - Mohammad Asad

This is the real grace from Allah and sufficient is Allah's infinite knowledge.

  - Muhammad Farooq-i-Azam Malik

Such is the bounty of Allah, and Allah sufficeth as knower.

  - Marmaduke Pickthall

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