An-Nisa 4:27
The Women · Juz 5 · Page 83
وَٱللَّهُ يُرِيدُ أَن يَتُوبَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَيُرِيدُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ ٱلشَّهَوَٰتِ أَن تَمِيلُواْ مَيۡلًا عَظِيمٗا ٢٧
Allāh wants to accept your repentance, but those who follow [their] passions want you to digress [into] a great deviation.
Tafsir · in English
Ma'arif al-Qur'an
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Commentary on 4:26–27
Sequence
Mentioned in the previous verses were details of injunctions. Now, in the present verses, Allah Almighty points to his blessings and favours saying that your being obligated with these injunctions is for your own good, even though you may not be able to understand its manifestation in details. Then, along with it, there is the motivation to follow the divine injunctions. Finally, there is the message of alert against the evil intentions of the misguided who wish ill of you and would like you to stray far away from the straight path.
Commentary
Following the description of several injunctions relating to marriage, the present verses say that Allah Almighty is making His injunctions very clear and explicit for you, and He is putting you in line with the ways of the noble prophets and the righteous who have come earlier. Do not think that these details of what is unlawful and what is not are there for you alone. The fact is that communities, earlier than you, were also charged with such injunctions. Those who acted in accordance with them were rewarded with Allah's favour.
As for those who follow the dictates of their desires, which includes fornicators, adulterers and nations and peoples adhering to false creeds who just do not recognize the restrictions of halal and haram and make no distinction between lawful and unlawful would very much like you too to move away from the straight path and start giving ear to their false intentions and crooked ways. Be on your guard against them. There are creeds where it is all right to marry women - marriage with whom is not proper. Then there are many atheists who favour the very elimination of the institution of marriage as something out of tune with modern times. Not content with what they call "living together", there are people in some countries who are talking about women as a shared item of enjoyment. All this comes from people who take orders from their desiring self. Some Muslims, subscribing to Islam yet weak in their faith, when they keep company with disbelievers and atheists of such inclinations, fall a prey to their lustful claims and begin to think that their own religion is out-dated and that the position of the enemy is the very epitome of human progress. They do not realize that they have been framed into believing that people with such ideas are modern and forward-looking, something they start wishing their own religion could have permitted. Refuge with Allah from such spineless surrendering! The best policy is to take the warning given by Allah Almighty and stay away from owning and practicing ideas and ways of people with dispositions so wicked.
Page 83
4:27
وَٱللَّهُ يُرِيدُ أَن يَتُوبَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَيُرِيدُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ ٱلشَّهَوَٰتِ أَن تَمِيلُواْ مَيۡلًا عَظِيمٗا ٢٧
Allāh wants to accept your repentance, but those who follow [their] passions want you to digress [into] a great deviation.
4:28
يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ أَن يُخَفِّفَ عَنكُمۡۚ وَخُلِقَ ٱلۡإِنسَٰنُ ضَعِيفٗا ٢٨
And Allāh wants to lighten for you [your difficulties]; and mankind was created weak.
4:29
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَا تَأۡكُلُوٓاْ أَمۡوَٰلَكُم بَيۡنَكُم بِٱلۡبَٰطِلِ إِلَّآ أَن تَكُونَ تِجَٰرَةً عَن تَرَاضٖ مِّنكُمۡۚ وَلَا تَقۡتُلُوٓاْ أَنفُسَكُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِكُمۡ رَحِيمٗا ٢٩
O you who have believed, do not consume one another's wealth unjustly1 but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allāh is to you ever Merciful.
1 translator’s note
- i.e., unlawfully or under false pretense. ↩
4:30
وَمَن يَفۡعَلۡ ذَٰلِكَ عُدۡوَٰنٗا وَظُلۡمٗا فَسَوۡفَ نُصۡلِيهِ نَارٗاۚ وَكَانَ ذَٰلِكَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ يَسِيرًا ٣٠
And whoever does that in aggression and injustice - then We will drive him into a Fire. And that, for Allāh, is [always] easy.
4:31
إِن تَجۡتَنِبُواْ كَبَآئِرَ مَا تُنۡهَوۡنَ عَنۡهُ نُكَفِّرۡ عَنكُمۡ سَيِّـَٔاتِكُمۡ وَنُدۡخِلۡكُم مُّدۡخَلٗا كَرِيمٗا ٣١
If you avoid the major sins which you are forbidden, We will remove from you your lesser sins and admit you to a noble entrance [into Paradise].
4:32
وَلَا تَتَمَنَّوۡاْ مَا فَضَّلَ ٱللَّهُ بِهِۦ بَعۡضَكُمۡ عَلَىٰ بَعۡضٖۚ لِّلرِّجَالِ نَصِيبٞ مِّمَّا ٱكۡتَسَبُواْۖ وَلِلنِّسَآءِ نَصِيبٞ مِّمَّا ٱكۡتَسَبۡنَۚ وَسۡـَٔلُواْ ٱللَّهَ مِن فَضۡلِهِۦٓۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِكُلِّ شَيۡءٍ عَلِيمٗا ٣٢
And do not wish for that by which Allāh has made some of you exceed others. For men is a share of what they have earned, and for women is a share of1 what they have earned. And ask Allāh of His bounty. Indeed Allāh is ever, of all things, Knowing.
1 translator’s note
- This may refer to shares of inheritance, wages and reward in the Hereafter. ↩
4:33
وَلِكُلّٖ جَعَلۡنَا مَوَٰلِيَ مِمَّا تَرَكَ ٱلۡوَٰلِدَانِ وَٱلۡأَقۡرَبُونَۚ وَٱلَّذِينَ عَقَدَتۡ أَيۡمَٰنُكُمۡ فَـَٔاتُوهُمۡ نَصِيبَهُمۡۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيۡءٖ شَهِيدًا ٣٣
And for all, We have made heirs to what is left by parents and relatives. And to those whom your oaths have bound [to you] - give them their share.1 Indeed Allāh is ever, over all things, a Witness.
1 translator’s note
- By bequest, as only those relatives mentioned in verses 11 and 12 inherit fixed shares. ↩