Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:116-122

An-Nisa (The Women): Verses 116–122

Verse 116: Inna Allāha lā yaghfiru an yushraka bihi wa yaghfiru mā dūna dhālika liman yashā’u wa may yushrik bi-Allāhi faqad ḍalla ḍalālan ba‘īdan

Know that this verse is repeated in this Sūrah, and there are two benefits in its repetition:

1. Emphasis on Mercy: The general threats and general promises in the Qur'an sometimes appear contradictory. Since Allah (Exalted is He) repeated this verse, which indicates pardon and forgiveness, using the exact same wording twice in one Sūrah, and since consensus holds that repetition serves only for emphasis, this indicates that Allah has given special emphasis to the aspect of promise and mercy. This necessitates prioritizing the promise over the threat.

2. Contextual Link: The preceding verses were revealed concerning the thief of the shield. The verse, “And whoever opposes the Messenger...” (4:115) and the following verses were revealed concerning the apostasy of that thief. This verse fits well following the preceding context if the meaning were that the thief would have been deprived of mercy only if he had not apostatized. However, since he apostatized and associated partners with Allah, he became completely cut off from Allah's mercy. Allah then emphasized the gravity of Shirk (polytheism) by stating: “And whoever associates partners with Allah has certainly strayed far, far away.” This implies that whoever does not associate partners with Allah has not strayed far, and thus, he will certainly not be deprived of His mercy. This context clearly indicates that everything other than Shirk is definitively forgivable, whether repentance occurs or not.

Allah then clarifies the severity of Shirk:

Inna yud‘ūna min dūnihi illā ināthan wa in yad‘ūna illā shayṭānan marīdan

(They invoke nothing besides females, and they invoke none except a rebellious Satan.)

The particle ’an (إن) here means negation, similar to His saying: “And there is none of the People of the Scripture but will believe in him [Jesus] before his death” (4:159). The term yad‘ūna (they invoke) means they worship, because whoever worships something, he invokes it when in need.

There are several interpretations regarding the term ināthan (females):

• First Opinion: It refers to idols that they named with feminine names, such as Al-Lāt, Al-‘Uzzā, and Manāt. Al-Hasan said that every tribe among the Arabs had an idol they worshipped and named after a female. This interpretation is supported by the narration of ‘Ā’ishah (may Allah be pleased with her) reciting it as awthānan (idols), and Ibn ‘Abbās reciting it as athnan (plural of wathan).
• Second Opinion: Ināthan means the dead (amwāt). The justification for calling the dead "females" is twofold: (1) News about inanimate objects is often phrased in the feminine form (e.g., "These stones please me," like "This woman pleases me"). (2) The female is considered lesser than the male, and the dead is lesser than the living; by this analogy, the feminine name was applied to inanimate objects.
• Third Opinion: Some people worshipped angels, claiming they were the daughters of God, as stated: “Indeed, those who do not believe in the Hereafter name the angels with a female name” (53:27). The intent here is to question the ignorance of anyone who associates a female name with a created being, rather than the Creator of the heavens and the earth.

Then He said: wa in yad‘ūna illā shayṭānan marīdan (and they invoke none except a rebellious Satan).

The commentators say that a devil would manifest in each of those idols to the priests, speaking to them. Al-Zajjāj suggested that ash-shayṭān here refers specifically to Iblīs, evidenced by the subsequent verse: “I will surely take from among Your servants an appointed share.” Since Iblīs is the one who says this, it must refer to him.

Marīdan means one who is extreme in disobedience and completely distant from obedience. It is related to mārid (rebellious). Al-Zajjāj noted that a smooth wall is called mumarrad, and a tree that has lost its leaves is mardā’. A young man who has not grown a beard is called amrad because the place of the beard is smooth. Similarly, one extremely distant from obedience is called marīd or mārid because he is smoothed over (devoid) of obedience to God; nothing of that obedience adheres to him.

Verse 117: La‘anahu Allāhu wa qāla la’attakhidhanna min ‘ibādika naṣībāan mafrūḍan

(Allah has cursed him, and he said, "I will surely take from among Your servants an appointed share.")

First Issue: Al-Kashshāf states that “La‘anahu Allāhu” (Allah has cursed him) and “wa qāla la’attakhidhanna” (and he said, "I will surely take...") are two descriptions (ṣifatān) meaning "a rebellious Satan," combining Allah's curse with this heinous statement.

The Satan claimed several things here:

1. La’attakhidhanna min ‘ibādika naṣībāan mafrūḍan (I will surely take from among Your servants an appointed share).
   • Al-Farḍ in language means cutting off. Al-Farḍah is the notch at the edge of a river, and al-Farḍ is the groove in a bowstring where the string is tied. Al-Farīḍah is what Allah has obligated upon His servants, making it binding for their benefit, as in: “And [it is incumbent upon them] to pay a due portion [farīḍah] for them” (2:237).
   • The meaning is that the cursed Satan said: "I will take a determined, specific portion of Your servants," referring to those who follow his footsteps and accept his whispers. A narration from the Prophet (peace be upon him) states: "For every thousand, one belongs to Allah, and the rest belong to the people and Iblīs."

Objection: Reason and transmitted reports indicate that the party of Satan is greater in number than the party of Allah. * Transmitted Reports: Allah describes humanity: “...except for a small group of the believers” (34:20). Satan said: “I will surely mislead them all, except for Your sincere servants among them” (38:82-83). The sincere ones are few. * Reason: Sinners and disbelievers are more numerous than sincere believers, and they are all undoubtedly the party of Iblīs.

Resolution: Why did he say naṣīb (a share), which implies a lesser portion, when his party is larger? * This disparity applies only to the type of evil. If we include the multitude of angels alongside the believers, the believers would be the majority. * Furthermore, although believers are few in number, their status before Allah is immense. Conversely, disbelievers and sinners, despite their numbers, are like nothingness. For this reason, the term naṣīb was applied to Iblīs's followers.

2. Wa la’uḍillannahum (And I will surely mislead them). The Mu‘tazilah use this verse to support two major principles:
   • First Principle: The misleader is Satan, not Allah. They argue that since Satan claimed this, and Allah did not deny it (citing similar claims like “I will surely mislead them all” and “I will surely sit in wait for them on Your straight path” [7:16]), and since Allah mentions this quality of Satan in a context of blame, it prevents God from being described this way.
   • Second Principle: The Sunnis say that misguidance (iḍlāl) is the creation of disbelief and error by God. They argue that this is refuted because Iblīs described himself as a misleader, yet by consensus, he cannot create disbelief.

Rebuttal: This is the speech of Iblīs and is not proof. Moreover, Iblīs’s speech on this matter is contradictory: sometimes he leans toward absolute free will (“I will surely mislead them all”), sometimes toward absolute determinism (“My Lord, because You have misguided me” [28:39]), and sometimes he shows hesitation (“Our Lord, these are the ones whom we misled; we misled them just as we were misguided” [28:63]), implying that the disbelievers’ claim that they misled themselves must ultimately trace back to God.

3. Wa la’umammiyyannahum (And I will surely fill them with false hopes). When Satan claimed he would mislead creation, he followed it with this, suggesting that his most potent tool is casting false hopes (amānī) into people's hearts. The pursuit of false hopes leads to two things: greed (ḥirṣ) and longing (amal). These two necessitate most blameworthy characteristics and are inherent to human nature. The Prophet (PBUH) said: "The son of Adam grows old, but two things remain young in him: greed and longing." Intense greed leads one to undertake the horrors of this world and religion; if one intensely desires something, obtaining it may require disobeying God and harming others. Prolonged hope makes one forget the Hereafter, drowning them in the world, making them unlikely to repent or be affected by admonition, hardening their heart like stone or worse.

4. Wa la’amurunnahum falayubattikunna ādhāna al-an‘ām (And I will surely command them, and they will slit the ears of the livestock). Batk means cutting. A sharp sword is bāttik. Tabtīk is cutting into pieces. Al-Wāḥidī stated that tabtīk here unanimously means cutting the ears of the baḥīrah (a type of animal dedicated to idols). If a she-camel gave birth to five calves, and the fifth was a male, they would slit its ear and forbid themselves from using it. Others said it means they cut the ears of livestock as a ritual in worshipping idols, believing it to be worship when it is inherently disbelief and transgression.

5. Wa la’amurunnahum falayughayyirunna khalq Allāh (And I will surely command them, and they will change the creation of Allah). Commentators have two views:
   • First View: Changing Allah's creation means changing Allah's religion. This is the view of Sa‘īd ibn Jubayr, Sa‘īd ibn al-Musayyab, Al-Hasan, Al-Ḍaḥḥāk, Mujāhid, Al-Suddī, Al-Nakha‘ī, and Qatādah. This is supported by two points: (1) Allah created humanity upon the fiṭrah (natural disposition) of Islam when He brought them forth from Adam’s loins like specks of dust, making them testify that He is their Lord, and they affirmed it. Whoever disbelieves has changed the fiṭrah Allah created people upon, as the Prophet (PBUH) said: "Every child is born upon the fiṭrah, but his parents make him a Jew, a Christian, or a Magian." (2) Changing Allah's religion means declaring what is lawful as unlawful, or vice versa.
   • Second View: This change refers to altering outward conditions. This includes: (1) Practices like hair extensions (waṣlāt) and tattooing (wāshimāt), as narrated by Ibn Mas‘ūd, because women use these acts to facilitate adultery. (2) Eunuchizing, slitting ears, and blinding eyes, as narrated from Anas, Shahr ibn Ḥawshab, ‘Ikrimah, and Abū Ṣāliḥ. This is why Anas disliked castrating sheep, and the Arabs would blind the eye of the lead stallion when their camels reached a thousand. (3) Effeminacy (takhannuth), according to Ibn Zayd. I would add that lesbianism (saḥāqāt) should be included here, as takhannuth is a male resembling a female, and saḥāq is a female resembling a male. (4) Al-Zajjāj narrated that some believed Allah created livestock for riding and eating, yet they forbade them (like the baḥīrah and wāṣilah). They also created the sun, moon, and stars for human benefit, yet the polytheists worshipped them, thus changing Allah's creation.

I propose another interpretation based on the meaning: Harm and illness enter something in three ways: confusion, deficiency, and nullification.

• Satan casts most people into the illness of religion through wa la’umammiyyannahum (false hopes). The person obsessed with false hopes occupies his mind in devising subtle meanings, stratagems, and gentle means to achieve sensual and wrathful desires. This is a spiritual illness of confusion.
• Deficiency is indicated by falayubattikunna ādhāna al-an‘ām (slitting the ears of livestock), as slitting the ear is a form of deficiency. When a person becomes completely absorbed in worldly pursuits, his resolve and judgment weaken regarding the Hereafter.
• Nullification is indicated by falayughayyirunna khalq Allāh (changing the creation of Allah). Change results in the nullification of the original state. Whoever persists in seeking immediate pleasures while ignoring spiritual happiness will continuously increase his desire for the world and aversion to the Hereafter until his heart is completely transformed, never remembering the Hereafter or ceasing to love the world. His movement, stillness, speech, and action will all be for the world, which constitutes a change of creation. Human spirits entered this physical world as travelers heading toward the Day of Resurrection. Forgetting their destination and becoming attached to perishable sensory things is truly a change of creation, as Allah says: “And do not be like those who forgot Allah and thus He made them forget themselves” (59:19), and “For indeed, it is not the eyes that are blind, but blind are the hearts which are in the breasts” (22:46).

Verse 118: Wa man yattakhidh ash-shayṭāna waliyyan min dūni Allāhi faqad khasira khasrānan mubīnā

When Allah recounted Satan’s claims of misguidance, He warned people against following him: “And whoever takes Satan as an ally instead of Allah has certainly suffered a clear loss.” No one chooses to take Satan as an ally instead of Allah. Rather, the meaning is that when a person does what Satan commands and abandons what the Merciful commands, he has effectively taken Satan as his ally and abandoned Allah’s protection.

It is called a clear loss because obedience to Allah yields great, permanent benefits free from harm, whereas obedience to Satan yields temporary benefits mixed with overwhelming grief, sorrow, and pain. Combining the two is rationally impossible. Whoever desires Satan’s protection forfeits the noblest and greatest goals for the basest and most contemptible ones—this is absolute loss.

Verse 119: Ya‘iduhum wa yumannīhim wa mā ya‘iduhum ash-shayṭānu illā ghurūrā

(He promises them and fills them with false hopes, but Satan promises them nothing except delusion.)

We established that Satan’s main strategy is casting false hopes (amānī) into the heart. Slitting ears and changing creation are consequences of these hopes. Therefore, Allah highlights the core issue: these hopes yield nothing but ghurūr (delusion/deception).

Ghurūr is when a person believes something to be beneficial and pleasurable, only to discover later that it contains the greatest pain and harm. All worldly affairs are like this, and a wise person must not heed any of them.

An example: Satan casts into a person’s heart the hope that his life will be long, that he will attain his worldly desires, and that he will overcome his enemies, thinking that fortune turns and things might become easy for him as they did for others. Yet, all of this is ghurūr. His life might not be long, or if it is, he might not attain his desires. Even if he lives long and achieves his desires perfectly, he will inevitably face the greatest grief and regret at death. The more delicious and desired something is, and the longer one is accustomed to it, the more painful its separation becomes, leading to intense sorrow. Thus, this verse emphasizes the fundamental principle in this matter.

Another interpretation: Satan promises them that there is no Resurrection or Reckoning, so they strive to fulfill their worldly pleasures.

Verse 120: Ulā’ika ma’wāhum jahannam wa lā yajidūna ‘anhā maḥīṣā

(Their refuge will be Hell, and they will find from it no escape.)

Ghurūr is the state a person enters when he finds something outwardly pleasing, but when the reality is revealed, his suffering becomes immense. Indulging in worldly delights and committing sins, though pleasurable in the moment, results in the punishment of Hell, the wrath of Allah, and distance from His mercy. This reinforces the idea that it is nothing but ghurūr.

Maḥīṣ means a refuge or escape route. Al-Wāḥidī stated this verse can be understood in two ways: (1) They must inevitably enter it. (2) Eternal dwelling, which is the portion of the disbelievers. This is plausible because the pronoun in “and they will find” refers back to those previously mentioned—those whom Satan claimed he would take as an appointed share. It is most likely that Satan’s share belongs to the disbelievers.

Verse 121: Walladhīna āmanū wa ‘amilū aṣ-ṣāliḥāti sanudkhiluhum jannātin tajrī min taḥtihā al-anhāru khālidīna fīhā abadan wa‘da Allāhi ḥaqqan wa man aṣdaqu min Allāhi qīlā

After mentioning the threat, Allah follows it with the promise: “And those who believed and did righteous deeds, We will admit them into Gardens beneath which rivers flow, wherein they will abide forever. [This is] the true promise of Allah, and who is more truthful than Allah in statement?”

Note that in most verses promising reward, “khālidīna fīhā abadan” (abiding therein forever) is mentioned. If khulūd (abiding) implied eternal permanence, this would be redundant, which goes against the principle of conciseness. Therefore, khulūd here means a very long stay, not absolute eternity. However, in verses of threat, khulūd is mentioned, but abada (forever/eternity) is only mentioned concerning the disbelievers, indicating that the punishment of the sinners (fussaq) is finite.

Wa‘da Allāhi ḥaqqan (The promise of Allah is true). Al-Kashshāf says these are two maṣdars (verbal nouns). The first confirms the promise itself (as if saying, "a promise, a promise"). Ḥaqqan is a source confirming the second part: "That truth is truly true."

Wa man aṣdaqu min Allāhi qīlā (And who is more truthful than Allah in statement?). This is a third, eloquent confirmation. The purpose of these confirmations is to contrast them with the false promises and vain hopes Satan offers his followers, emphasizing that Allah’s promise is more worthy of acceptance and belief than the word of Satan, who is the greatest liar.

Hamzah and Al-Kisā’ī recited aṣdaqu with an indication of the letter Zāy (i.e., pronouncing the Ṣād as if it were Zād), as is done for every silent Ṣād followed by a Dāl in the Qur'an (e.g., 16:9, 15:94). Qīlā is a maṣdar of Qāla (to say), like qawlan or qīlan. Ibn Al-Sikkit said al-qayl and al-qāl are nouns, not maṣdars.

Then Allah said:

Verse 122: Laysa bi-amānikum wa lā amānī Ahlil-Kitābi may ya‘mal sū’an yujza bihi wa lā yajid lahu min dūni Allāhi waliyyan wa lā naṣīrā

(Neither your wishes nor the wishes of the People of the Scripture will avail you. Whoever does evil will be recompensed for it, and he will not find for himself besides Allah any protector or helper.)