Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:119

Surah An-Nisa' 4:119

ﲠ ﲡ ﲢ ﲣ ﲤ ﲥ ﲦ ﲧ ﲨ ﲩ ﲪ ﲫ ﲬ ﲭ ﲮ ﲯ ﲰ ﲱ ﲲ ﲳ ﲴ ﲵ

And I will mislead them, and I will arouse in them [sinful] desires, and I will command them so they will slit the ears of cattle, and I will command them so they will change the creation of Allah." And whoever takes Satan as an ally instead of Allah has certainly sustained a clear loss.

Tafsir

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Verse range: 4:119

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وﻻضلنهم

Verily, I will mislead them, from the true path,

وﻻمنينهم

and surely, I will arouse in them false desires; tempting them to feign repentance, arousing false hopes in them, encouraging them to delay and procrastinate with righteous deeds, deceiving them.

وﻻمرنهم فليبتكن آذان اﻻنعام

and certainly, I will order them to slit the ears of cattle, Qatadah and As-Suddi stated, meaning, slitting their ears to designate them as Bahirah, Sa'ibah, and a Wasilah.

وﻻمرنهم فليغيرن خلق الله

And indeed I will order them to change the nature created by Allah. According to Al-Hasan bin Abi Al-Hasan Al-Basri, means tattooing. In his Sahih, Muslim recorded the prohibition of tattooing the face, which in one of its wordings states: "May Allah curse whoever does this.'' It is also recorded in the Sahih that Ibn Mas`ud said, "May Allah curse those who have tattoos and those who do it, who pluck their (facial) hairs and the one who does it for them, and those who make spaces between their teeth for the purpose of beauty, changing what Allah has created.'' He then said, "Why should not I curse whom the Messenger of Allah has cursed, when the Book of Allah commands it,'' referring to the Ayah,

وما ءاتكم الرسول فخذوه وما نهكم عنه فانتهوا

And whatsoever the Messenger gives you, take it; and whatsoever he forbids you, abstain (from it). (59:7) Allah's statement,

ومن يتخذ الشيطان وليا من دون الله فقد خسر خسرانا مبينا

And whoever takes Shaytan as a Wali (protector or helper) instead of Allah, has surely suffered a manifest loss. means, he will have lost this life and the Hereafter. Indeed, this is a type of loss that cannot be compensated or restored. Allah's statement,

يعدهم ويمنيهم وما يعدهم الشيطان إﻻ غرورا