Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:75

"And why do you not fight in the way of Allah..."

This is an address to those commanded to fight, delivered in the form of iltifat (shift in mode of address). It serves as an exaggeration in urging and inciting them to fight, which is the intended purpose of the interrogative. "Ma" (what) is the subject, and "lakum" (for you) is its predicate. His saying, "la tuqatiluna" (that you do not fight), is in the position of a state (hal), and the governing agent is the concept of "existence" (al-istiqrar) or the prepositional phrase itself, as it contains the meaning of a verb. That is: "What is with you that you are not fighting?" The intended meaning is that you have no excuse for abandoning the fight.

"...and [for] the oppressed..."

This is either a conjunction connected to the Majestic Name (Allah) in the phrase "in the way of Allah," meaning: "in the way of the oppressed." This refers to rescuing them from captivity and protecting them from the enemy. This is narrated from Ibn Shihab. It has been argued that rescuing them is "the way of Allah," not "the way of the oppressed," but the answer to this is that even if it is the way of Allah, the Exalted, it has a specific relation to them, so there is no obstacle in attributing it to them. The possibility that "fighting in their way" refers to fighting to open the road from Mecca to Medina and pushing back the polytheists' blockade—so that the departure of the oppressed might be facilitated—is very weak.

Alternatively, it is a conjunction connected to the word "way" (sabil) by way of an omitted genitive (mudaf). This is the view of al-Mubarrad; that is: "and in the salvation of the oppressed." It is also permissible to make it accusative by assuming an implied verb, such as "I mean" or "I specify," for the way of Allah encompasses all doors of goodness, and rescuing the oppressed from the hands of the polytheists is among the greatest and most specific of them.

The meaning of "the oppressed" (mustad’afin) is: those whom the polytheists sought to render weak and humiliated, or the weak ones among them. The sin and ta’ are for intensity.

"...from among the men, the women, and the children..."

This is an elaboration of "the oppressed." They are the Muslims who remained in Mecca either because the polytheists prevented them from leaving or because they were too weak to migrate. It is narrated from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them) that he said, "I and my mother were among the oppressed." Among them, Salama bin Hisham, al-Walid bin al-Walid, and Abu Jandal bin Suhayl were mentioned. The mention of the children is solely to complete the solicitation of pity, to draw attention to the extremity of the polytheists' oppression, and to herald the answering of the coming supplication and the proximity of the time of salvation. This is an exaggeration in urging them to fight.

From this, it is known that this verse is not a valid proof for the validity of a child's Islam, based on the argument that were it not for that [the child being Muslim], it would not be obligatory to rescue them. Furthermore, the restriction of the obligation to rescue solely to Muslims is open to scrutiny; for the child of a Muslim is expected to embrace Islam, so it is not unlikely that it is obligatory to rescue him so that he may attain the rank of the fortunate.

It has been said that the meaning of "children" (wildan) is slaves and bondwomen. According to the first view, it is the plural of walid (boy) and walida (girl). Another view is that it is the plural of walad, like wural and wurlal. According to the second view, it is the same, except that walid and walida mean slave and slave-girl.

In the Sihah, it is stated: Al-walid is the boy or the slave, and the plural is wildan; al-walida is the girl or the slave-girl, and the plural is wala’id. Thus, the expression "wildan" is used as a form of predominance (taghlib) to include both males and females.

"...who say, 'Our Lord, bring us out of this city the people of which are wrongdoers...'"

They refer to the polytheism that is a grave wrong and to the harming of the believers and preventing them from migrating. The description is an attribute of the "city." Its masculine form is used due to the masculine form of the noun to which it is attributed, for if an active or passive participle is attributed to something other than the person it truly describes, its gender follows the apparent noun that it governs. The injustice is not attributed to the city itself metaphorically—as in His saying, "And how many a city have We destroyed which was insolent in its livelihood," or "Allah presents an example: a city which was safe and secure... then it denied the favors of Allah"—because the intended meaning is Mecca, as Ibn Abbas, al-Hasan, and al-Suddi and others have said. Thus, the text is honored by not attributing the wrongdoing directly to the city, out of reverence for the city which Allah has honored.

"...and grant us from Yourself a protector..."

Someone to manage our affairs until He saves us from the hands of the wrongdoers. Both prepositional phrases are connected to "grant" due to the difference in their meanings. Their placement before the direct object is to demonstrate concern for them and to highlight the desire for the postponed object by bringing forward its conditions. The precedence of the particle lam over min ladunka is for haste in highlighting that the one asked for is beneficial to them and desired by them. It is also permissible that "from Yourself" is connected to an implied state relative to "a protector." The same applies to His saying, "and grant us from Yourself a helper."

75

This means: a firm argument. This was said by 'Ikrimah and Mujahid. Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said: "The meaning is, appoint for us a guardian from the believers who will take charge of us, look after our interests, preserve our religion and law for us, and help us against our enemies." Allah, the Exalted, answered their prayer by facilitating for some of them the exit to Medina, and He provided for those who remained the best guardian and the most powerful helper. He conquered Mecca at the hands of His Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), who then took charge of them—meaning, he championed them and supported them with such support—and then he appointed 'Attab bin Asid over them, who was eighteen years old. He protected them and helped them until they became the most powerful people in it.

It is also said that the meaning is: "Grant us from Yourself guardianship and help," meaning: "Be You our Guardian and our Helper." The repetition of the verb and its dependents is for the sake of exaggeration in supplication and pleading.