Al-Nisa (The Women): (32) And do not wish for that...

Connection of the Verse (Nathm)

There are two perspectives on the connection of this verse:

First View (Al-Qaffal): Since the preceding verse forbade the unlawful consumption of wealth and the killing of souls, this verse commands what facilitates abandoning those prohibitions: that everyone should be content with what Allah has decreed for them. If one is not content, envy arises, which inevitably leads to unlawfully taking wealth and killing souls. Conversely, if one is content with what Allah has ordained, it enables them to refrain from injustice concerning both lives and property.

Second View (Regarding the Manner of Connection): The unlawful taking of wealth and killing are actions of the external limbs. Therefore, the command to cease them first purifies the exterior from ugly deeds—this is the Shari'ah (Law). Afterward, one is commanded to refrain from targeting people's souls and wealth through the heart, motivated by envy, so that the interior becomes pure from blameworthy characteristics—this is the Tariqah (Path).

Issues within the Verse

For us (the scholars of Tafsir), Tamanni means desiring something one knows or suspects will not occur. For instance, if Allah willed a disbeliever to believe, knowing he would not, that would constitute Tamanni.

The Mu'tazilah argue that the prohibition is against saying, "I wish such-and-such existed," or "I wish such-and-such did not exist." This view is weak because a mere utterance, without underlying meaning, is not Tamanni. The meaning of the word must be sought, which is precisely the desire for what is known or suspected to be unattainable.

Felicity is categorized as either psychological, physical, or external.

A. Psychological Felicity (Two Types):

1. Relating to the Speculative Faculty (Quwwah Nadharriyyah): Perfect intelligence, complete intuition, and knowledge surpassing that of others in both quantity and quality.
2. Relating to the Practical Faculty (Quwwah 'Amaliyyah): Chastity (the mean between apathy and debauchery), courage (the mean between recklessness and cowardice), and the application of practical wisdom (the mean between foolishness and cunning). The totality of these states is Justice ('Adalah).

B. Physical Felicity: Health, beauty, and a long life accompanied by pleasure and delight.

C. External Felicity: Abundance of righteous offspring, numerous kin, many friends and helpers, complete leadership, effective speech, being beloved by people, having a good reputation among them, and being obeyed.

These categories encompass the totality of felicity. Some are innate (no means of acquisition), and some are acquired. However, upon reflection, even the acquired aspects are purely a gift from Allah. The striving and effort are shared (in the means), but the attainment of felicity and reaching the desired goal is not shared equally. This explains why Allah favors some people over others in these aspects.

When a person observes various virtues possessed by another, and finds himself devoid of them or most of them, his heart becomes pained and his mind disturbed. Two states may then arise:

1. Wishing for the removal of those blessings from the other person.
2. Not wishing for their removal, but wishing for similar blessings for oneself.

Regarding State 1 (Wishing for removal): This is the blameworthy envy (Hasad Madhmum). The primary purpose of the world's Designer and Creator is to bestow goodness and generosity upon His servants. Whoever wishes for the removal of this bounty is effectively objecting to Allah regarding the primary purpose of creating the world and bringing forth the accountable beings. Furthermore, the envious person might believe himself more deserving of those blessings than the other, which constitutes an objection to Allah and a flaw in His wisdom. All of this leads one toward disbelief and the darkness of innovation, extinguishing the light of faith from the heart. Just as envy corrupts religion, it corrupts the world by severing affection, love, and loyalty, turning them into their opposites. This is why Allah forbade it, saying: {And do not wish for that by which Allah has made some of you exceed others}.

The Basis for Prohibition: The reason for prohibiting this envy differs based on theological foundations:

• Ahl al-Sunnah wa al-Jama'ah: Allah is the absolute Doer of what He wills: {He is not questioned about what He does, while they are questioned} (Al-Anbiya: 23). There is no room for objection to His action, nor can anyone dispute Him. Everything He does has no external cause. Thus, the doors of idle talk and objection are closed.
• Mu'tazilah: This path is also closed because Allah is the Knower of the unseen, more aware than His creation of the aspects of benefit and the subtleties of wisdom. This is why He said: {If Allah were to extend provision to His servants, they would transgress beyond bounds in the land} (Al-Shura: 27).

In both cases, every intelligent person must accept Allah's decree. The Prophet (PBUH) narrated that Allah said: "Whoever submits to My decree, is patient with My trial, and is thankful for My favors, I will record him as a truthful one and raise him on the Day of Resurrection with the truthful ones. Whoever is not content with My decree, is not patient with My trial, and is not thankful for My favors, let him seek a Lord other than Me."

This covers the case where one wishes for the removal of the blessing. Supporting this is the narration from Ibn Sirin, from Abu Hurayrah (RA), that the Messenger of Allah (PBUH) said: "A man should not propose marriage after his brother's proposal, nor should he bid over his brother's bid, nor should a woman ask for her sister's divorce to take her place, for Allah is her provider." All these sayings emphasize the prohibition of envy.

Regarding State 2 (Wishing for similar blessings): Some permitted this, but the verified scholars stated that this is also impermissible. That blessing might actually be a source of corruption for the person in their religion and a harm to them in this world. Therefore, the verified scholars stated that a person should not say, "O Allah, grant me a house like so-and-so's house, or a wife like so-and-so's wife." Rather, he should say: "O Allah, grant me what is beneficial for my religion, my worldly life, my afterlife, and my livelihood."

Upon deep reflection, no supplication is better than what Allah taught His servants in the Qur'an: {Our Lord, give us in this world [that which is] good and in the Hereafter [that which is] good and protect us from the punishment of the Fire} (Al-Baqarah: 201). Qatadah narrated from Al-Hasan that he said: "No one should wish for wealth, for perhaps his destruction lies therein, as was the case with Thaalabah." This is the meaning intended by the phrase in this verse: {And ask Allah of His bounty}.

Several accounts are mentioned:

1. Mujahid: Umm Salamah (RA) said, "O Messenger of Allah, men go out on raids (Jihad) and we do not, and they receive double our share of inheritance. We wish we were men!" Then the verse was revealed.
2. Al-Suddi: When the verse on inheritance was revealed (giving men double the share of women), the men said, "We hope to be favored over women in the Hereafter just as we are favored in inheritance." The women said, "We hope that our burden will be half of the men's, just as our inheritance is half." Then the verse was revealed.
3. When Allah ordained that the male share of inheritance be double the female share, the women said, "We are more in need, as we are weak, and they are more capable of earning a living." Then the verse was revealed.
4. One woman came to the Prophet (PBUH) and said, "The Lord of men and women is one, and You are the Messenger to us and to them. Our father is Adam and our mother is Eve. What is the reason Allah mentions men and not us?" She then asked about the precedence of men in Jihad. The Prophet (PBUH) replied: "Indeed, for a pregnant woman among you is the reward of a fasting, praying person. When she goes into labor, no one knows the reward she receives. And when she nurses, for every suckle, she has the reward of saving a soul."

{For men is a share of what they have earned, and for women is a share of what they have earned}

This statement can relate to worldly affairs, the Hereafter, or both.

A. Relating to Worldly Affairs (Three Views):

1. Each group has a share of the worldly delights they earn, so they should be content with what Allah has allotted.
2. Each has a decreed share of the inheritance as Allah judged, so they must be content and refrain from objection. In this context, Iktisab (earning) means attainment and acquisition.
3. In the Jahiliyyah (Age of Ignorance), women and children were not inherited from. Allah abolished this practice with this verse, clarifying that everyone—male or female, young or old—has a share.

B. Relating to the Hereafter (Three Views):

1. Everyone has a measure of reward they deserve through Allah's grace and kindness, so they should not wish for otherwise.
2. Everyone receives recompense for the acts of obedience they performed. They should not waste this by engaging in blameworthy envy. Interpretation: Do not waste your own wealth by wishing for others' wealth.
3. Men have a share for what they earned by being responsible for the maintenance of women (spending). Women have a share for what they earned by guarding their chastity, obeying their husbands, and managing the household affairs (cooking, baking, safeguarding clothes, managing provisions). In this interpretation, the "share" is the reward.

C. Relating to Both: Since the wording is general and there is no contradiction, it can encompass all these meanings.

{And ask Allah of His bounty}

Ibn Kathir and Al-Kisai recited {واسألوا} (Was'alu) without the hamza (glottal stop), provided it is an imperative command preceded by a waw or fa. The rest of the reciters used the hamza throughout the Qur'an.

• The first group transferred the vowel of the hamza to the preceding letter (sin) and omitted the alif of connection (as it is no longer needed).
• The second group followed the original form. They all agree on {وليسئلوا} (Wa liyas'alu) having the hamza, as it is a command directed at a third person (absent one).

Abu Ali al-Farisi stated that {من فضله} (of His bounty) is in the position of the second object in the view of Abu Al-Hasan. In the view of Sibawayh, the second object is omitted, and the adjective stands in its place, as if one were saying: "Ask Allah for His favor out of His bounty."

{And ask Allah of His bounty} is an indication that a person should not specify things in their request or supplication. Instead, they should ask Allah for what constitutes the means of their well-being in religion and worldly life, absolutely and generally.

{Indeed, Allah is ever, of all things, Knowing}

This means that Allah knows what is truly beneficial for those who ask. Therefore, the supplicant should limit themselves to general requests and be cautious about specifying things in their supplication, as what they specify might actually be pure harm or detriment. And Allah knows best.

{Forbidden to you are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, the daughters of your brother, the daughters of your sister, your wet nurses who gave you suck, your foster-sisters who shared your milk, the mothers of your wives, and your stepdaughters who are in your guardianship [born] of your wives whom you have entered. But if you have not entered them, there is no blame upon you. And the past is past. And the lawful wives for you are those beyond these, that you seek [them] through your wealth in marriage, desiring chastity, not illicit sex. And for those of them from whom you derive enjoyment, give them their due compensation as an obligation. And there is no blame upon you for what you mutually agree upon after the obligation. Indeed, Allah is ever Knowing and Wise.} (This is verse 23, but the excerpt jumps to verse 24, which is the next section in the source text provided, though the user input stopped at verse 23's end in the Arabic text provided.)

(Note: The provided Arabic text excerpt ends after discussing the preceding verse (32) and then immediately begins the heading for the next verse (33), which deals with prohibited degrees of marriage. I will translate the heading and the beginning of the next verse as presented in the source structure.)

< {Forbidden to you are your mothers, your daughters, your sisters, your paternal aunts, your maternal aunts, the daughters of your brother, the daughters of your sister, your wet nurses who gave you suck, your foster-sisters who shared your milk, the mothers of your wives, and your stepdaughters who are in your guardianship [born] of your wives whom you have entered. But if you have not entered them, there is no blame upon you and the lawful wives for you are those beyond these, that you seek [them] through your wealth in marriage, desiring chastity, not illicit sex. And for those of them from whom you derive enjoyment, give them their due compensation as an obligation. And there is no blame upon you for what you mutually agree upon after the obligation. Indeed, Allah is ever Knowing and Wise.} >