| An-Nisa (The Women): (5) And do not give the foolish...

This is the third type of ruling mentioned in this Surah.

The connection of this verse to the preceding ones is as if Allah is saying: Although I have commanded you to give the orphans their wealth and to give women their dowries, I said that only if they are rational, mature, and capable of safeguarding their wealth. However, if they are not mature, or not rational, or if they are mature and rational but are foolish spendthrifts (sufaha'), then do not give them their wealth. Instead, hold onto it for them until their foolishness ceases. The purpose of all this is to be cautious in protecting the wealth of the weak and incapable.

In this verse, there are several issues:

Issue 1: Regarding the Addressee

There are two opinions regarding the addressee of this verse:

The First Opinion: It is an address to the guardians (awliyā'). It is as if Allah said: "O guardians, do not give the wealth of those under your guardianship who are foolish (sufaha')." The evidence for this being an address to the guardians is His subsequent statement: {And provide for them therein and clothe them} (An-Nisa 4:5). Furthermore, under this opinion, the connection of the verse to what precedes it is well-established, as we have explained.

Objection: If this is the case, it should have been said: "And do not give the foolish their wealth" (amwālahum), so why did He say {your wealth} (amwālakum)?

Answer: There are two responses:

1. Allah attributed the wealth to them not because they owned it, but because they had the authority to manage it. The slightest cause is sufficient for a valid attribution.
2. This attribution is made to maintain unity of type as if it were unity of person. Similar examples are His saying: {There has certainly come to you a Messenger from among yourselves} (At-Tawbah 9:128), {and those whom your right hands possess} (An-Nisa 4:36), {then kill yourselves}, and {then you are the ones who kill yourselves} (Al-Baqarah 2:85). It is known that a man was not killing himself, but some were killing others, and they were all of one type. Similarly here, wealth is something that the human species benefits from and needs. Therefore, due to this generic unity, attributing the wealth of the foolish to their guardians is appropriate.

The Second Opinion: This verse addresses the fathers. Allah forbade them from giving their wealth, or part of it, to their children if the children are foolish and incapable of managing the wealth, due to the potential for waste. Under this opinion, the attribution of the wealth to them is literal. The purpose of the verse, in this view, is to urge the preservation of wealth and striving so that it is not lost or destroyed. This implies that a person is not allowed to consume all his wealth and destroy it. When his death approaches, he must bequeath his wealth to a trustworthy person to safeguard it for his heirs.

We mentioned that the First Opinion is stronger for two reasons. What supports this preference is that the apparent meaning of the prohibition implies ḥarām (unlawfulness). The Ummah is agreed that it is not forbidden for a person to gift whatever he wishes of his wealth to his young children or women. However, they are agreed that it is forbidden for a guardian to give the wealth of the foolish to them. Given this, the verse must be interpreted according to the first opinion, not this second one. And Allah knows best.

Issue 2 (Related to the first): The verse concludes with {and speak to them with kind words}. This command is more fitting concerning orphans, as a person is naturally compassionate toward his own child and would only speak kindly to them. This command is more necessary for unrelated orphans. However, it is not impossible for the verse to apply to both interpretations.

Al-Qadi said: This [applying it to both] is far-fetched because it requires interpreting {your wealth} (amwālakum) both literally and metaphorically.

The response to this is that the phrase {your wealth} implies an exclusive possession that allows for disposition. This exclusivity exists both for wealth owned by the guardian and for wealth owned by the ward (which the guardian must manage). This difference lies in a concept external to the meaning derived from {your wealth}. Since the word conveys a single meaning common to both situations, it is not far-fetched to apply the term to both.

Issue 2: The Meaning of Sufahā' (The Foolish)

They mentioned several interpretations for the intended meaning of sufahā':

The First Opinion: Mujahid and Juwaybir, citing Ad-Ḍaḥḥāk, said that sufahā' here means women, whether they are wives, mothers, or daughters. This is the view of Ibn 'Umar. Evidence cited is the narration from Abu Umamah that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Beware, the Fire is created only for the foolish," repeating it three times. "Beware, the foolish are women, except for a woman who obeys her guardian."

Objection: If women were intended, it should have been said as-sufahā' (masculine plural) or as-sufaihāt (feminine plural, like gharā'ib for gharībah).

Response (from Al-Zajjaj): It is permissible for sufahā' to be the plural of safīhah (feminine form of foolish), just as al-fuqarā' (the poor) is the plural of faqīrah (a poor woman).

The Second Opinion: Az-Zuhri and Ibn Zayd said that sufahā' here refers to foolish children. They interpret it as: Do not give your wealth, which is your sustenance, to your foolish son, lest he waste it.

The Third Opinion: Ibn 'Abbas, Al-Hasan, Qatadah, and Sa'id ibn Jubayr said that sufahā' refers to women and children. They argued that if a man knows his wife is a wasteful spendthrift, and his son is a wasteful spendthrift, he should not empower either of them over his wealth to spoil it.

The Fourth Opinion: Sufahā' refers to everyone who lacks the intellect to safeguard wealth, including women, children, and orphans—anyone described with this characteristic. This opinion is preferable because specialization without evidence is not permissible. We mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah that foolishness (sifh) is lightness of intellect. Thus, the sinner is called foolish because he has no weight with people of religion and knowledge. The deficient in intellect is also called foolish due to the lightness of his mind.

Issue 3: The Nature of Foolishness

The foolishness mentioned here is not a quality of blame or disobedience to Allah. Rather, they are called foolish due to the lightness of their intellect and the deficiency in their discernment regarding the safeguarding of wealth.

Issue 4: The Command to Safeguard Wealth

Allah has commanded the responsible adults in several places in His Book to safeguard wealth. He says: {And let not your hand be chained to your neck, nor extend it all the way out, lest you sit down blameworthy and destitute} (Al-Isra 17:29), and {And those who, when they spend, are neither wasteful nor tight-fisted} (Al-Furqan 25:67). Allah encouraged safeguarding wealth in the verse on debt by commanding writing, witnesses, and collateral. Reason also supports this, because a person cannot attend to the interests of this world and the Hereafter unless his mind is free from worry. This freedom is only achieved through wealth, as it enables one to bring benefits and repel harms. If one desires the world for this purpose, the world becomes one of the greatest means assisting him in attaining the happiness of the Hereafter. But if one desires it for its own sake, it becomes one of the greatest obstacles to acquiring the happiness of the Hereafter.

Issue 5: The Meaning of {which Allah has made for you to stand upon}

The meaning of {which Allah has made for you to stand upon} (qiyāman) is that your standing (sustenance and livelihood) is not achieved except through this wealth. Since wealth is the cause of standing and self-sufficiency, it is called qiyām by attributing the name of the effect to the cause, as a form of hyperbole. It means this wealth is your standing and the pursuit of your livelihood.

Nafi' and Ibn 'Amir recited it as {qayyam} (qayyam), and it can be said that qayyim and qayyam are interchangeable, like {the upright religion of Abraham} (millatan qayyiman). Ibn 'Umar recited it as {qawwāman} (with a waw). The qawām of a thing is what it is established by, like saying malāk al-amr (the pivot of the affair) for what it is established by.

Issue 6: Legal Ruling on Restricting the Spendthrift

Imam Ash-Shafi'i (may Allah have mercy on him) said: If a mature person is a wasteful spendthrift and spoils wealth, he should be placed under legal restriction (ḥajr). Abu Hanifah (may Allah be pleased with him) said he should not be restricted.

Evidence for Ash-Shafi'i: He is a safīh (foolish), so he must be restricted. We say he is safīh because, linguistically, as-safīh is one whose weight is light. Undoubtedly, one who wastes wealth without benefit has no weight in the hearts of the rational, so he is light in their estimation. Therefore, he must be called safīh, and if this is established, it necessitates that he falls under the scope of {And do not give the foolish your wealth}.

Then Allah Almighty said: {And provide for them therein and clothe them, and speak to them with kind words}.

After forbidding the giving of wealth to the foolish, Allah commanded three things:

1. {And provide for them therein} (wa-rzuqūhum fīhā): Meaning, spend on them. The meaning of rizq (provision) from a person is the established allowance for a known period. It is said: "So-and-so provided for his family," meaning he allocated funds for them. He said {therein} (fīhā) and not {from it} (minhā) so that it is not a command to allocate some of their wealth as provision for them. Rather, He commanded them to make their wealth the place for their provision by trading in it and making it profitable, so that their provisions come from the profits, not from the principal capital.
2. {and clothe them} (wa-kswūhum): The meaning is apparent.
3. {and speak to them with kind words} (wa-qūlū lahum qawlan ma'rūfan).

Allah commanded this because beautiful speech affects the heart and removes foolishness. Conversely, speaking contrary to what is known (ma'rūf) increases the foolish person in foolishness and deficiency.

The commentators mentioned several interpretations for kind words (qawlan ma'rūfan):

1. Ibn Jurayj and Mujahid: It is a beautiful promise of kindness and connection. Ibn 'Abbas said: It is like saying, "If I profit from this journey of mine, I will do what you deserve, and if I gain in my raid, I will give you."
2. Ibn Zayd: It is supplication, such as saying, "May Allah grant well-being to us and you; may Allah bless you." In summary, anything that calms the soul and is loved, whether speech or action, is ma'rūf. Anything that is rejected, disliked, and causes aversion is munkar (reprehensible).
3. Al-Zajjaj: The meaning is: Teach them, along with feeding and clothing them, about their religion concerning knowledge and action.
4. Al-Qaffal (may Allah have mercy on him): Kind words mean that if the person under guardianship is a child, the guardian informs him that the wealth is his, and the guardian is merely its custodian, and that when his childhood ends, the wealth will be returned to him. Similar to this verse is His saying: {So as for the orphan, do not oppress} (Ad-Duha 90:9), meaning do not treat him with dominance as you treat slaves. Also, {But if you turn away from them, seeking a mercy from your Lord which you hope for, then speak to them a gentle word} (Al-Isra 17:28). If the person under guardianship is foolish, he should be admonished, advised, encouraged to pray, urged to abandon wastefulness and extravagance, and informed that the consequence of wastefulness is poverty and neediness of people, and similar types of speech. This interpretation is better than all the others narrated.

7 < {And test the orphans until they reach the age of marriage. Then if you perceive in them sound judgment, then deliver to them their property. And do not consume it extravagantly and hastily, before they grow up. And whoever, being self-sufficient, should abstain, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him eat in a fair manner. And when you deliver their property to them, then bring witnesses against them. And sufficient is Allah as an Accountant.} > 7 !