| An-Nisa (The Women): (9) And let those fear who, if they left behind them weak offspring, would be fearful for them...

Issues in the Verse:

The conditional sentence, {لو تركوا من خلفهم ذرية ضعافا خافوا عليهم} (if they left behind them weak offspring, they would be fearful for them), serves as the predicate for the relative pronoun {الذين} (those).

The meaning is: Let those fear who possess the characteristic that if they left behind weak offspring, they would fear for them. What they should fear for is not explicitly stated in the verse, and we will mention the exegetes' views on this later.

Undoubtedly, the verse {وليخش الذين لو تركوا من خلفهم ذرية ضعافا خافوا عليهم} mandates caution regarding weak offspring. There are several interpretations among the exegetes:

The First View: This addresses those who sit with a sick person nearing death and say: "Your offspring will not avail you anything before God, so bequeath your wealth to so-and-so." They continuously urge him to make bequests to outsiders until nothing of his wealth remains for the heirs. The admonition to them is: Just as you dislike your own children remaining weak and hungry without wealth, fear God and do not compel the sick person to deprive his weak children of his wealth.

The essence of this argument is: You would not accept such an action for yourself, so do not accept it for your Muslim brother. Anas reported that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "A servant does not truly believe until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."

The Second View: Habib ibn Abi Thabit narrated that he asked Muqsim about this verse. He said: It refers to the man who is at the point of death and intends to make bequests to outsiders. Those present with him say: "Fear God and keep your wealth for your children." This is despite the fact that this very person would love to be bequeathed to himself.

Thus, in the first view, the verse is interpreted as prohibiting those present from encouraging the bequest (to outsiders). In the second view, it is interpreted as prohibiting those present from forbidding the bequest (to his own children). The first view is stronger because the phrase {لو تركوا من خلفهم ذرية ضعافا} (if they left behind them weak offspring) aligns more closely with the first interpretation.

The Third View: It is possible that the verse addresses the person whose time is near, and the intent is to forbid him from making excessive bequests so that his heirs are not left destitute and starving after his death.

If this verse was revealed before the ruling of bequeathing one-third was established, it meant not to exhaust the entire estate through bequests. If it was revealed after the ruling of one-third, it still means not to exhaust the estate. Furthermore, if it was revealed after the one-third ruling, it implies that one should even bequeath less than one-third if one fears for one's offspring. Many Companions narrated that they bequeathed little for this reason, saying: "One-fifth is better than a quarter, and a quarter is better than a third." The narration of Sa'd supports this, where the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "A third, and a third is much. For you to leave your heirs wealthy is better than leaving them dependent, begging from people." (Page V09 P161)

The Fourth View: This is an instruction to the guardians of orphans. It is as if God Almighty is saying: Let the one who fears for his own children after his death fear for the wealth of the weak orphan who is in his custody, being the offspring of another. The purpose of the verse, under this interpretation, is to motivate the guardian to preserve the orphan's wealth by making him realize that he should treat the orphan's property with the same care he would wish for his own offspring if he left them wealth.

Al-Qadi (the Judge) said: This interpretation is more fitting with the preceding and succeeding verses concerning orphans. God Almighty concluded the call to preserve the orphan's wealth by reminding them of their own situation and their offspring when they contemplate it, which is undoubtedly one of the strongest incentives for this purpose. (Page V09 P161-162)

The author of Al-Kashshaf mentioned that {ضعافا} (weak) has been recited as {ضعفاء} (weak, plural of ḍaʿīf) and {ضِعافى} (ḍiʿāfā), similar to the variations in {سكارى} (drunkards).

Al-Wahidi stated that Hamzah recited {ضعافا خافوا عليهم} with Imālah (inclination of the alif sound towards kasrah) in both words. He explained that Imālah is appropriate for words on the pattern faʿāl where the first letter is a strong, emphatic letter followed by a kasrah (like ḍiʿāf, ghilāb, khabāb). This is because the sound ascends with the emphatic letter and then descends with the kasrah, so it is preferable not to ascend again with emphasis after the kasrah to maintain a consistent sound flow. As for the Imālah in {خافوا} (they feared), it is good because it seeks the kasrah found in the root khafa.

Then the verse continues: {فليتقوا الله وليقولوا قولا سديدا} (So let them fear Allah and speak words of justice). This serves as a confirmation of what preceded. It is as if He is saying: Let them fear Allah regarding the matter and caution previously mentioned, and let them speak words of justice when they urge others to do an action. "Words of justice" (qawlan sadīdan) means what is equitable and correct in speech.

Al-Kashshaf stated that the "words of justice" from the guardians (of orphans) is not to harm the orphans and to address them as they would address their own children, with warmth, saying, "O my son," or "O my child," when addressing them. The "words of justice" from those sitting with the sick person is to say, when he intends to make a bequest: "Do not be extravagant in your bequest, and do not deprive your children," similar to the Prophet's saying to Sa'd. The "words of justice" from the heirs during the division of inheritance towards the present relatives who do not inherit is to use gentle words and honor them.

{إن الذين يأكلون أموال اليتامى ظلما إنما يأكلون فى بطونهم نارا وسيصلون سعيرا}

(Indeed, those who devour the property of orphans unjustly are only consuming into their bellies fire. And they will be burned in a Blaze.)