Tafsir of An-Nisa' 4:135

An-Nisā’ (The Women): Verse 135

There are several issues concerning this verse:

There are several perspectives on how this verse connects to what precedes it:

1. Elevation of Status: Since the preceding verses discussed women, marital discord (nushūz), and reconciliation, this verse follows by commanding the believers to uphold the rights of God (Allah) and to bear witness for the sake of reviving God's rights. Essentially, it is as if the address is: If you occupy yourself with achieving your own desires, you are acting for yourself. If you occupy yourself with achieving what God has commanded, you are acting for God. Clearly, the latter station is higher and more noble, making this verse a reinforcement of the preceding obligations.
2. Perfection of Human Conduct: After God forbade people from limiting their pursuit to worldly rewards and commanded them to seek the reward of the Hereafter, this verse follows by explaining that the perfection of human happiness lies in one's speech, actions, movement, and stillness being solely for God. This elevates them to the highest ranks of humanity, bordering on the ranks of angels. Conversely, reversing this state makes one like a beast whose ultimate goal is finding fodder, or a predator whose highest aim is harming an animal.
3. Reinforcement of Justice (Qist): This Surah previously commanded justice, such as in the verse, "And if you fear you will not deal justly with the orphan girls..." (4:3). It also commanded bearing witness regarding the orphans' wealth, and later, spending oneself and one's wealth in the cause of God. Furthermore, the Surah recounted the story of Ṭuʿmah ibn Abīrqa and his people conspiring to defend him with lies and false testimony against a Jew. In these verses, God commands reconciliation with wives, which is understood as a command for believers to uphold justice and bear witness for God against everyone, even themselves. Thus, this verse serves to confirm all the types of obligations mentioned previously in this Surah.

• Qawwāmīn: This is an intensive form of qā’im (one who stands up for).
• Qisṭ: This means justice or fairness.

Therefore, this is a command from God to all accountable persons to be extremely diligent in choosing justice and strictly avoiding oppression or deviation.

The phrase "witnesses for God" (shuhadā’a lillāh) means you must establish your testimonies purely for the sake of God, just as you were commanded to establish them, even if the testimony is against yourselves, your fathers, or your relatives.

There are two interpretations for a person bearing witness against themselves:

1. It means confessing a right against oneself, as confession is similar to testimony in that both obligate the fulfillment of a right.
2. It means testifying even if the testimony brings harm upon yourselves or your relatives, such as testifying against someone from whom harm might be expected from a tyrannical ruler or others.

There are three possible grammatical analyses for the word shuhadā’:

1. It is in the accusative case (ḥāl) describing the state of the qawwāmīn (those who stand firm).
2. It is the predicate (khabar) of the implied verb kūnū (Be), meaning the command kūnū has two predicates.
3. It is an adjective (ṣifah) describing qawwāmīn.

The command to uphold justice (qisṭ) is mentioned before the command to bear witness for several reasons:

1. Self-Accountability vs. Others: Most people are accustomed to commanding others toward good, but when the matter concerns themselves, they neglect it. The ugliest wrong committed by them is excused, while the same wrong committed by others is contested. God, the Exalted, alerts them to this flawed approach by commanding them first to uphold justice, and then to bear witness against others. This indicates that the proper way is for a person to be stricter with themselves than with others.
2. Nature of the Obligation: Upholding justice primarily involves warding off the harm of punishment from others who have the right, whereas bearing witness is a statement. Warding off harm from oneself is prioritized over warding off harm from others.
3. Action vs. Speech: Upholding justice is an action (fiʿl), while testimony is speech (qawl). Action is stronger than speech.

Objection: God stated in Surah Al ‘Imrān (3:18), "God bears witness that there is no deity except Him, and [so do] the angels and those who possess knowledge, [upholding] justice (qā’iman bi-l-qisṭ)," where testimony precedes upholding justice. Why is the order reversed here?

Response: In the verse from Al ‘Imrān, God’s testimony refers to His creation, and His upholding of justice refers to His maintenance of justice among those creatures. Thus, testimony must precede justice there. However, concerning the accountability of people, upholding justice refers to the person being mindful of justice and opposing oppression. It is understood that unless a person is characterized by upholding justice, their testimony against others will not be accepted. Therefore, in the verse "God bears witness," the testimony must precede upholding justice. But here, the testimony must follow the upholding of justice. Whoever contemplates this will realize that these subtle points can only be reached through divine aid. And God knows best.

Then God Almighty said: "Whether he [the person testified against] is rich or poor, for God is more worthy of both of them."

This means: Whether the person being testified against is rich or poor, do not conceal the testimony, whether out of desire to please the rich or out of pity for the poor. God is more concerned with their affairs and welfare. Grammatically, it would have been more appropriate to say, "for God is more worthy of him (bihi)," since the preceding phrase "whether he is rich or poor" implies a singular person. However, the pronoun refers back to the meaning (the rich person and the poor person) rather than the literal wording. That is, God is more worthy of the poor and the rich. In the recitation of Ubayy, it is read as bi-him (of them), referring back to "parents and relatives" mentioned earlier. Abdullah ibn Mas‘ūd recited it as in yakun ghaniyyun aw faqīrun (If a rich one or a poor one exists), treating kāna as a complete verb (not requiring a predicate).

Then God Almighty said: "So do not follow [your] desires, lest you deviate from justice."

The meaning is: Abandon following desires so that you become characterized by justice. The precise meaning is that justice is the abandonment of following desires. If one abandons one of two opposites, the other is necessarily achieved. Thus, the implication of the verse is: Do not follow desires in order to be just; rather, abandon following desires so that you may be just.

Then God Almighty said: "And if you distort or refuse, then indeed, God is ever, with what you do, Acquainted."

There are two primary recitations for the word "distort":

1. The majority recitation is "wa in talwū" (with two wāws). This has two interpretations:
   • It means to push away or turn aside, from the saying, lawā ḥaqqahu (he delayed or pushed away his right).
   • It means twisting or altering, from the saying, lawā al-shay’ (he twisted the thing). Hence, iltawā al-amr means the matter became complicated and difficult, likened to a twisted object.
2. The recitation of Ibn ‘Āmir and Ḥamzah is "wa in talū" (with a single lām and a hamza, written as talū). This also has two interpretations:
   • The root walāya means to turn toward and engage with something. The meaning is: If you turn toward it [the testimony] and complete it, or if you turn away from it, God is Acquainted with what you do, and He will recompense the doer of good who engages with it with good, and the wrongdoer who turns away with wrong. In essence: If you twist away from establishing it or turn away from establishing it.
   • Al-Farrā’ and Al-Zajjāj suggested that the original form was talwū, where the wāw was changed to a hamza, and then the hamza was dropped, its vowel being cast onto the preceding consonant, resulting in talū. This is considered the weaker explanation.

As for the phrase "then indeed, God is ever, with what you do, Acquainted," this serves as a threat and warning to the sinners and a promise of reward for the obedient.

"O you who have believed, believe in God and His Messenger and the Book which He has sent down upon His Messenger and the Scripture which He sent down before. And whoever disbelieves in God, His angels, His books, His messengers, and the Last Day has certainly strayed far astray."