Tafseer verse 135 of Surat An-Nisa Part 1

In the name of Allah, the Merciful and the Compassionate
Praise is to Allah, Lord of the Worlds, and may peace and blessings of Allah be upon our Master Muhammad, the truthful, the trustworthy. O Allah, we have no knowledge except what You taught us; You are [The Omniscient] and [The All-Wise]. O Allah, teach us what is beneficial, and make what you have taught us practical for us, and increase our knowledge; and show us the truth as a truth and grant us to pursue it, and show us the falsehood as a falsehood and grant us to avoid it. Make us of those who listen to the word and do the best of it, and make us, through your mercy, amongst your righteous worshippers.
O believing brothers, we are now with the lesson.59 of Surat an -Nisa’a, verse n.135. Allah, All-Mighty, said:
Oh, you who believe stand firmly for justice as witnesses for Allah, even as against yourselves or your parents or your near of kin, whether it be against rich or poor, Allah can best protect them. So do not follow your lusts, lest you deviate, for if you twist or turn, then indeed Allah is- Acquainted with what you do.
Surat An-Nisa’a 135
Dear noble brothers, as it is known for you that every verse started with Allah All-Mighty’s saying: [O you who believe], it meant that by your covenant of faith with Allah, you should follow His commandments and you should avoid He prohibits; because when Allah Azz Waa Gal talked to all people, He spoke of the fundamentals of religion.
[ O people! Worship your Lord, Who created you.
] Surat Al-Baqarah 21.
But when Allah talked to the believers, in particular, He spoke of the details of the religion.
Because you believed in Allah as the creator of you and you thought that He is the one who raised you up and guided you because you believed in His existence, oneness and perfectness because you believed in His beautiful names and His sublime qualities,and you believed in Him as a Well-Acquainted,All-knowing, All-Wise, Merciful and Just you should submit to His commandments. You should seek to know what He, All-Mighty, wanted from you to do. Some people believe in Allah, but they do not search for what Allah wants from them. This kind of faith does not move his adopter forward or backwards.
One of the necessities of faith is to believe in Allah and to believe in what He wants from you. You believe in Allah through the universe and through thinking, and you realize what He wants from you through the Prophet (p.b.u.h.).Thus, believing in Allah and His Prophet are interrelated. Believing in Allah means to believe in His existence, His perfectness and His oneness, and believing in the Prophet [p.b.u.h.] means to believe in what Allah wants you to do: Why did He create you? What do you have to do?
“Oh, you who believe, stand firmly [be Quawameen] for just.” verse n.135
Quawameen is the plural of Quawaam; Quawaam is the excessive form of Qua’am.
For example, if someone lies only for one time, it will be said about him that he is a liar, i.e.Kazab, but if lying is his style of life, it will be said about him that he is Kazzaab, i.e. the exaggerating form. This exaggerating form means continuity. When Allah says: be qua’aman with the just, it means for one time only.
But when Allah says to be Quawaman with just, it means to be Quawaman forever.
Al-Quast is Al-Adl i.e. the just, but what is the difference between them both?
Actually, Quasat is the past form of the verb Aquasat and Zalama is the past form of the verb Yazlm.
“And as for those who are unjust, they are firewood for hell.”
Surat Al-Jinn verse n.15.
It is narrated that someone visited an Emir [Al Hagaag Ibn Yusuf Al-Thaqafee] and said to him: you are Quasat and Aadal. The Emir said to his guests:
Do you know what does he say to me?
They said: he has praised you.
The Emir replied: No, but he told me you are unjust and infidel.
They asked: how?
He said: “and as for those who are unjust, they are firewood for hell.”
Surat Al-Jinn, verse n.15.
“Yet those who disbelieve in Allah ascribe others as equals with their Lord.”
Surat Al-An’aam verse n.1
Quasat means Zalama, i.e. to be unjust. Aquasat means to remove injustice.
Al-Adl, i.e. justice is to distribute people’s rights first. Thus, you are a just man. But if we say you are Muaq’asat, it means that you return requests back to their owners and you remove the injustice. Actually, Al-Adal is in the first stage. When you distribute your wealth among your children according to Allah’s approach, you are just. But when you are biased toward one of your children and you are unjust with the others, and someone is trying to adjust the unfair division this one is named Muaqa’sat, i.e. he removes the unjust which infected the other brothers. Allah orders us to eliminate injustice. Actually, unjust people cannot realize triumph [in their lives], even if they believe in Allah.
The evidence from the Quran:
“Which of the two parties deserves to feel secure, if only you knew?
Only those who have believed and have not polluted their faith by associating others with Allah have security and are rightly guided.”
Surat Al-Anaam, verse 82.
Some people believe in Allah. However, they spoil their faith with injustice.
Indeed, Allah, All-Mighty, supports the infidel just nation against the Muslim unjust nation.
Dear brothers, injustice is the most significant reason behind the collapse of nations. It is narrated by Aisha [may Allah be pleased with her]:
Quraish was interested in the woman from the Makhzoom tribe who had stolen. Who dares to speak about her matter with the Prophet (peace be upon him) to forgive her?
They said only Usama Ibn Zaid, the most beloved one to the Prophet, can speak with the Prophet [about that woman].
Usama talked to the Prophet [p.b.u.h.].The Prophet said: Do you interfere to stop applying one of Allah’s sentences?
Then the Prophet (p.b.u.h.) stood up and held a speech saying: Nations before you were eradicated [by adopting this approach in life]: when the noble man committed the crime of robbery they left him [they did not punish him]; but when the weak man committed this crime, they applied the sentence against him. I swear by Allah if Fatimah, the daughter of Muhammad stole, I would cut her hand.
This Hadith is agreed upon.
This Barmakee man, who was in the most elite position during the ruling of the Khalifah Haroun Al-Rashid and was suddenly imprisoned, said to his visitor, who asked him: what happened to you?
The Barmakee man replied: It may be a supplication of an oppressed man infected me.
Oppression is darkness on the Day of Judgment.
Some scholars say that life can go on by infidelity with justice, but it cannot go on by faith with injustice.
Raise any motto, call yourself any name say: I am a great believer, I am a Muslim; but if you are unjust, this belonging is absolutely useless.
It is narrated that Gabber ibn Abed Allah said: Allah Azz wa Gal bestowed His Prophet Khayber. The Prophet [p.b.u.h.]charged Ibn Rawahah to evaluate the dates of Khyber. The people of Khyber are Jews. They tempted him with the gold of their wives as a bribe to decrease its evaluation.
It is narrated by Gabber ibn Abed Allah that he said: Allah bestowed Khyber to the Prophet [p.b.u.h.] who let them [ the Jews] stay as they were, and he made it between him and them. He dispatched Abed Allah Ibn Rawahah to estimate [the value of Khyber’s dates] and he said to them:
Oh, people of Jews, you are the most hated people to me because you have killed the prophets of Allah and you lied to Allah. However, my hatred for you would not make me unjust to you. I estimated twenty thousand wasak[kind of weights] of dates. If you accepted this estimation, it would be for you, and if you refused, it would be for me. They said: by this [just] ruling heavens and earth were ruled; we accepted this ruling and let us. {Narrated by Ahmad}
Now, check what they have said:” By this ruling heavens and earth were ruled.”
Dear brothers, listen to this word: By Allah and by Allah and by Allah, if the Prophet’s companions understood Islam as we know it nowadays, Islam would not get out of Makah. How did Islam reach China in the east and how did it reach Spain in the west? How did it reach these countries?
Islam reaches these countries through justice.
When we oppress each other, we do not deserve Allah’s support, as the following verses clarify:
“Which of the two parties deserves to feel secure, if only you knew?
Only those who have believed and have not polluted their faith by associating others with Allah have security and are rightly guided.”
Surat Al-Anaam, verse 82.
Dear brothers, it is narrated that one of the great judges during the Ommiad’s ages asked the Khalifah to emancipate him from his judicial position. When the Khalifah asked this judge about the reason for this decision, he said: By Allah, yesterday someone knocked on my house door and he left a plate of wet dates [with my servant]. I was known in this city for my love of the newly gathered soaked dates. I asked the servant boy: Who brought this plate?
The boy replied: A man.
He said: Describe this man for me.
The boy said: he is that and that…i.e. this is his description.
The judge realized that this man was one of the disputants at him. Thus, he returned the plate of wet date back. The next day, this judge said: By Allah, when the two disputants entered, I wished that the one who presented me with the plate of wet dates be the one who had the right on his side even though I haven’t taken the scale; but what would happen with me if I had taken the plate?????????????
THIS IS JUSTICE.
During modern history, it is also narrated that a massive city in Europe was completely destroyed after the Second World War. The prime minister asked his ministers one by one.
He asked the industry minister: how are matters going in your ministry? He replied: all plants are burnt.
He asked the minister of agriculture the same question who replied, saying: all fields are burnt.
He asked the same question to the treasury secretary, who replied that the treasury was empty. He asked all the ministers until he asked the minister of justice: what about justice in the country?
The minister of justice replied: justice in the country is in a satisfactory state.
The prime minister said: Thus, we are all in an acceptable state.
Justice is a significant value.
Within Islamic societies, there is injustice. Allah only knows its amount; injustice is from the father to his kids, from a husband to his spouse, and from an employee to his workers. Injustice and discrimination are the major causes of nations` collapse. To be just for an hour is better than worshipping Allah for sixty years.
It is narrated in the books that a stone complaint to Allah saying I worshipped you for fifty years and you, Allah, put me in a privy?
It is said: O stone, be polite. I have not put you with an unjust judge.
When we are just, we deserve triumph. But when we are unjust, we do not earn victory from Allah Azz Wa Gal.
What did Jews say to Abed Allah Ibn Rawahah?
They said: By this approach, heaven and earth are ruled.
It was narrated that Al-Noamaan Ibn Basheer said: My father bestowed me a gift, my mother Omrah bent Rawahah said to him: Go to the Prophet [ peace be upon him ]and make him witness your gift to your son.
My father went to the Prophet [peace be upon him] and said to him I gave my son Al-Noamaan a gift and his mother Omrah asked me to make you witness it.
The Prophet said: Do you have any other kids than him? The father replied: yes.
The Prophet said: Did you give them all as you had given Al-Nomaan?
The father said no.
Some scholars said that the Prophet said: this is unjust.
Other scholars said that the Prophet said: Make someone else witness this. [This is an unjust distribution among his kids].
This Hadith is agreed upon and narrated by Al-Noamaan Ibn Basheer.
It is narrated by Abou Horairah that the Prophet [peace be upon him] said: A man and a woman behaved obediently to Allah’s commandments for sixty years, but when death became near them, they distributed the inheritance unjustly. Thus, they deserved hell.
Narrated by al-Bukhari, Muslim, al-Tirmidhi, al-Nasa`ee, Abou-Dawood, Ibn-Majah.
Where is justice in Muslims` life?
How many brothers did they prohibit their sisters from their inheritance?
How many fathers did they discriminate from the second wife against their sons from the first wife?
How many employers did not give their workers their fees?
Because the worker was poor and obliged to work, he accepted a tiny part of his fees. The Prophet [peace be upon him] said: Give the worker his fees before his sweat becomes dry. [Narrated by Ibn-Majah by Abed-Allah Ibn Omar]
Dear brothers, the most significant achievement you can do as a believer is to go to sleep at night and you have not oppressed anyone along your daylight.
It is narrated in a Hadith by Ibn-Abbas [may Allah be pleased with him] that the Prophet, peace be upon him, had dispatched Mo’aaz to Yemen and said to him: Fear the supplication of the oppressed man because there is no barrier between it and Allah Azz Waa Gal.
This Hadith is agreed upon.
You should fear the supplication of the oppressed man even if he is an infidel because Allah Azz Waa gal replies to this supplication not because this man deserves the response but because Allah’s name is Al-Adal, i.e. the just. He, All-Mighty, responds to the needy even if he is not qualified to be answered but because Allah is the Merciful.
Dear brothers, you should count until one milliard before you oppress even an ant. It was narrated by Abed Allah Ibn Omar [may Allah be pleased with him] that the Prophet, peace be upon him, said: “A woman was tortured because of a cat. This woman locked in this cat until it died because of starvation. Thus, she entered hell and he said, Allah knows best. She did not feed it or make it drink water when she locked it in, and she did not let it eat from the vermin of the land.
How many Muslim houses suffer from injustice?
The daughter-in-law may have been wronged because all the family members treated her with haughtiness and suppression. Also, a girl may be aggrieved by her brothers who did not give her anything [of her inheritance].
When injustice is prevalent in Muslims `lives, houses works, and dealings, we all are not qualified to be conquered by Allah Azz Waa gal.
Allah Azz Waa gal makes the just infidel nation triumph over the unjust Muslim nation.
Do you see what Muslims do against each other?
Allah Azz Waa gal is the just, and the just rejects the injustice. Count till one billion before you oppress an ant. A woman entered the fire because she locked in a cat; she neither fed it nor let it eat from the vermin on the earth. When a cat is aggrieved, the one who wronged it deserves fire hell; thus, what about what is more than a cat? What about nations and people who are wronged? Their land is occupied, their wealth is stolen and their blood is easily shed for unjustified reasons.
O you, who believe, stand up firmly for justice as witnesses for Allah
Allah Azz Waa gal did not say be Quameen with justice. Still, He uses the exaggerated form of this word saying Quawaam, i.e. it is a continuous doing during all your lifetime.
Do not speak except with the truth, do not take another one right even if he is weak and you are more powerful and eloquent than him because Allah is his protector.
Oh, my Lord, how many times I disobeyed you and you did not punish me; he had a whisper in his mind: Oh, my servant, I had punished you but you were not aware. These general pains and this unjust treatment Muslims encounter from the Major countries are actually because we treat each other unjustly. A significant amount of capital is input into Western banks, where they are frozen and confiscated while Muslim people are in urgent need of them.
If we open the file of injustice, the lesson will not end at dawn. Injustice is darkness in the Day of Judgment. Try, as far as you can, not to oppress anyone even with a word, with a frown face or with a gesture of neglect because Allah will account. Also, The Prophet, peace be upon him, said in his Hadith if you kiss the first son and you do not kiss the second one also, you are unjust; justice is to that extent, and you have to give them equality.
O you, who believe, stand up firmly for justice as witnesses for Allah even as against yourselves.
Surat Al-Nisa`a, verse n` 135.
Now, you should witness for the sake of Allah. You should see the truth. It means that you should say the truth not for the sake of Dick or Tom at all but to support the fact and to invalidate the untruth.
The witnesses should accept when they are summoned.
Al-Baqarah, verse n` 282.
Why are you charged to witness the truth?
Someone asked me to witness for his sake, no. Not for the sake of Tom or for the sake of Dick, not to satisfy Zaid or to dissatisfy Abeid. You should witness for Allah’s sake and to do Allah’s right and you should not decline to witness. For example, a man rode a taxi and the driver was wronged. He did not commit any mistakes but there was an accident. This rider took one or two hours to witness before the traffic judge.