Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:105

"Indeed, We have revealed to you the Book in truth..."

It is narrated by more than one narrator from Qatadah ibn al-Nu'man (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: There was a household among us called the Banu Ubairiq: Bishr, Bashir, and Mubashir. Bishr was a hypocrite who used to compose poetry, satirizing the companions of the Messenger of Allah (may Allah be pleased with him), and then attribute them to some of the Arabs, saying, "So-and-so said such and such." When the companions of the Prophet (may Allah be pleased with him) heard that poetry, they would say, "By Allah, no one says this poetry except that wicked person." He would say—or the men would say—some verses, and they would say, "The son of Ubairiq said it."

They were people of need and poverty in both the pre-Islamic era and in Islam. Food for the people of Medina was dates and barley. When a man had some wealth, and a caravan from Syria arrived carrying fine white flour (darmak), he would buy from it and keep it for himself. A caravan arrived, and my paternal uncle, Rifa'ah ibn Zayd, bought a load of darmak and placed it in a storeroom of his, in which were his armor, his swords, and their accessories. A thief broke in during the night, tunneled into the storeroom, and took the food and the weapons.

When morning came, my uncle Rifa'ah came to me and said, "O nephew, do you know that we were set upon last night? They tunneled into our storeroom and took our food and our weapons." We investigated in the neighborhood and asked around, and it was said to us, "We saw the Banu Ubairiq lighting a fire this night, and we see nothing—to our best belief—but that it is some of your food." The Banu Ubairiq said, "And we are asking in the neighborhood; by Allah, we see no one as the culprit but Labid ibn Sahl, a man of ours known for righteousness and Islam." When Labid heard this, he drew his sword and came to the Banu Ubairiq, saying, "Am I a thief? By Allah, this sword will either clash with you, or this theft will be made clear!" They said, "Stay away from us, O man, for by Allah, you are not the one [we meant]."

We continued to inquire in the neighborhood until we had no doubt that they were the perpetrators. My uncle said to me, "O nephew, if you would go to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) and mention this to him..." So I came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) and said, "O Messenger of Allah, there is a household among us, a household of wickedness, who tunneled into my uncle Rifa'ah's storeroom and took his weapons and his food. Let them return our weapons; as for the food, we have no need for it." The Messenger of Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "I will look into that."

When the Banu Ubairiq heard this, they went to a man among them called Usair ibn 'Urwah and spoke to him about it. A group of people from the neighborhood gathered with him, and they came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) and said, "O Messenger of Allah, Qatadah ibn al-Nu'man and his uncle have targeted a household of ours, people of Islam and righteousness, accusing them of theft without proof or evidence."

Qatadah said: I came to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) and spoke to him. He said, "You have targeted a household whose Islam and righteousness were mentioned, and you accuse them of theft without proof or evidence!" I returned, and I wished that I had lost some of my wealth rather than have spoken to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) about that. My uncle Rifa'ah came to me and said, "O nephew, what have you done?" I informed him of what the Messenger of Allah (may Allah be pleased with him) had said to me. He replied, "Allah, the Exalted, is the One whose aid is sought."

We had not stayed long before the Quran was revealed: "Indeed, We have revealed to you the Book..." to the end of the verses. When it was revealed, the weapons were brought to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah be pleased with him), and he returned them to Rifa'ah. When I brought the weapons to my uncle—who was an old man who had grown up in the pre-Islamic era, and I used to think his Islam was tainted—he said, "O nephew, it is in the cause of Allah." Then I knew that his Islam was sincere.

Later, Bashir joined the polytheists and stayed with Sulafah bint Sa'd. Allah, the Exalted, revealed: "...And whoever opposes the Messenger..." Thereafter, Hassan ibn Thabit (may Allah be pleased with him) satirized Sulafah, saying: "You have been brought down by the daughter of Sa'd, And she has become one whose private parts are being disputed/plucked, You thought that what you did would remain hidden, While we have a Prophet among us, to whom the Revelation is sent." When she heard this, she loaded her belongings on her head and threw them into the Al-Abtah valley, saying, "You have gifted me the poetry of Hassan; you have never brought me anything good."

Ibn Jarir narrated from al-Suddi—and al-Tabari preferred this—that a Jew entrusted a coat of mail to Tu'mah ibn Ubairiq. He took it to his house, and the Jew dug a hole for it and buried it. Tu'mah went behind his back, dug it up, and took it. When the Jew came asking for his coat of mail, he denied it. The Jew went to some people of his own tribe and said, "Come with me, for I know the location of the coat of mail." When Tu'mah learned of this, he took the coat of mail and threw it into the house of Abu Mulayk the Ansar. When the Jews came seeking the coat of mail and could not find it, they confronted Tu'mah and some of his people, and insulted him. Tu'mah said, "Are you accusing me? They are seeking it in his [Abu Mulayk's] house." They looked into the house of Abu Mulayk and found the coat of mail. Tu'mah said, "Abu Mulayk took it." The Ansar defended Tu'mah and said to them, "Come with me to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah be pleased with him), and say to him: 'Defend me and refute the argument of the Jews.'" They went to the Messenger of Allah (may Allah be pleased with him), and he intended to do so, but Allah, the Exalted, revealed this verse. When Allah, the Exalted, disgraced Tu'mah through the Quran, he fled to Mecca and committed apostasy after his Islam. He stayed with Al-Hajjaj ibn 'Ilat al-Sulami. He tunneled into his house intending to rob him, but Al-Hajjaj heard the rustling in his house and the rattling of the leather bags he had. He looked and found it was Tu'mah. He said, "My guest and my cousin, you intended to rob me?" He cast him out, and he died in the Harrah (stony tract) of Banu Sulaym as an infidel. Allah, the Exalted, revealed regarding him: "And whoever opposes the Messenger..."

It is in the confirmation of the ruling an indication of the importance of the matter, just as in the attribution of the "revelation" to the pronoun of majesty, to exalt the affair of what is being attributed. The fronting of the object ("to you") is for the sake of concern and to arouse anticipation. His saying, the Exalted: "in truth" is in the position of a state (hal), meaning: "We have revealed the Quran to you while it is clothed in truth," "so that you may judge between the people"—the righteous among them and the wicked—"by that which Allah has shown you"—meaning by that which He has made known to you and revealed to you. "Ma" (that which) is a relative pronoun, and the referent is omitted, being the first object of "shown" (ara). It is derived from ra'a (to know), which takes one object, but it became transitive to two objects via the hamzah. It is also said that it is from "opinion" (ra'y), from their saying, "Al-Shafi'i held such an opinion," and making it a verb of knowledge would require three objects, two of which are omitted—meaning "by that which Allah has shown you to be the truth." This is far-fetched. As for taking it from the "vision of insight" (basirah) metaphorically, there is no need for that.

"And do not be for the treacherous"—who are the Banu Ubairiq, or Tu'mah, or whoever else is meant, or him and anyone who follows his path. The lam (in lil-kha'inin) is for causality; it is also said to be in the sense of "away from" ('an), meaning "do not be [a pleader] for their sake or on their behalf."

"an advocate"—meaning a disputer for those who are innocent. The prohibition is connected to an implied verb that the noble structure encompasses, as if it were said: "We have revealed the Book to you, so judge by it and do not be..." It is also said that it is a conjunction to "We have revealed" with the implication of "We said." It is permissible that it is a conjunction to "the Book," as it is revealed, but it is not hidden that this is very contrary to the apparent meaning.