An Enlightening Commentary into the Light of the Holy Qur'an vol. 4

Section 18

Surah An-Nisa', Verse 116

116. "Verily Allah does not forgive that (anything) be associated with Him, but He forgives less than that to whom He pleases; and whoever associates anything with Allah, has gone astray into far error."

Polytheism is an earnest deep disease. Therefore as long as it has not been rooted out in a person, morals and righteous deeds are not spiritually of avail.

Repentance is the remedy of polytheism. So, a polytheist should come out of the circle of paganism in order to be involved in the forgiveness and Mercy of Allah. The ways toward the forgiveness of Allah are: repentance, pardon, good deed, and avoidance of committing great sins.

"Verily Allah does not forgive that (anything) be associated with Him, but He forgives less than that to whom He pleases; and whoever associates anything with Allah, has gone astray into far error."

Surah An-Nisa', Verse 117

117. "They (the pagans) invoke in His stead but female things (the Idols), and they invoke none but Satan, the persistent rebel."

The previous verse considered the polytheists being in aberration. The reason of it is referred to in the above verse.

The pagans of Mecca used to worship some angels whom they called the daughters of God. That idea was a wrong and deluded thought. The verse says:

"They (the pagans) invoke in His stead but female things (the Idols), and they invoke none but Satan, the persistent rebel."

Surah An-Nisa', Verse 118

118. "Allah has cursed him (Satan) and he said, most certainly I will take of Your servants an appointed share."

The origin of all adversities and destructiveness of Satan is his being cursed.

"Allah has cursed him (Satan)..."

Satan is the early enemy of man, and it is for this reason that Satan does his utmost possible effort to mislead him. Then, we must be completely aware not to fall into his trap.

"…..and he said, most certainly I will take of Your servants an appointed share."

Surah An-Nisa', Verse 119

119. "And most certainly I will lead them astray and certainly I will arouse desires in them, and certainly I will bid them that they slit the ears of the cattle, and I will certainly command them that they alter the creation of Allah; and whoever takes Satan for a guardian rather than Allah, has indeed suffered a manifest loss. "

Satan has sworn to persuade some programs

1. He has said that he would take an appointed share from Allah's servants:

"... and he said, most certainly I will take of Your servants an appointed share..."

Satan knows that he has not the authority of leading all the servants of Allah astray. There are only the persons who indulge in their desires, and the people of weak faith and weak will who submit to Satan.

2. Therefore, the second thing that he has promised to do upon human beings is that he says:

"And most certainly I will lead them astray ..."

3. Then, he says:

"... and certainly I will arouse desires in them...."

4. Satan says that he will invite the servants of Allah to superstitious acts, including the following action:

"... and certainly I will bid them that they slit the ears of the cattle...."

This action refers to one of the disgraceful deeds of the Age of Ignorance. It was customary among the idol worshippers that they would split the ears of some certain cattle, or they cut their ears utterly. They believed that it was forbidden to ride on them and, thus, they took no benefit of them.

5. What Satan says in this stage is an irreparable damage that he causes against the basis of the prosperity of man. Satan says:

"...and I will certainly command them that they alter the creation of Allah..."

This sentence shows that Allah has settled monotheism and any other admirable attributes in the first nature of man, but some Satanic temptations and low desires deviate man from the straight path and lead him astray.

And, at the end of the verse, it refers to a general principle when it says:

"... and whoever takes Satan for a guardian rather than Allah, has indeed suffered a manifest loss."

Surah An-Nisa', Verse 120

120. "He promises them and fills them with (vain) desires, and Satan does not promise them except delusion."

When the verse of forgiveness of sins was revealed from the origin of Allah (Surah 'Ale-Imran. No. 3 verse 135), 'Iblis gathered his supporters by a cry and told them that all their efforts would result no avail when a person repented.

Each one of them said something about it, and one of the Satans said: "Whenever a person decides to repent, I will entangle him with vain desires and promises, so that he delays his repentance. Then, Iblis was contented. [^1]

"He promises them and fills them with (vain) desires, and Satan does not promise them except delusion."

Surah An-Nisa', Verse 121

121. "These are they whose abode is Hell, and they will find no refuge there from."

Hell will be an eternal place for some people and they will remain there forever.

"These are they whose abode is Hell....."

Being attentive to the fact that all misfortunes can, more or less, be avoided of but the punishment of the Hereafter which will be unavoidable, and also that there will be no return in Hereafter. Then, it is better to return from evil actions before passing away.

"... and they will find no refuge there from."

Surah An-Nisa', Verse 122

122. "But (as for) those who believe and do righteous deeds, shortly we will admit them into gardens beneath which rivers flow. Therein they will abide forever. Allah's promise is the truth, and who is truer of word than Allah? "

We recited in the previous verses that: whoever takes Satan for a guardian rather than Allah has indeed suffered a manifest loss; and, Satan promises them and fills them with desires, and Satan does not promise them except delusion. Here, comparing them, the Qur'an states the fate of the believing persons. It says:

"But (as for) those who believe and do righteous deeds, shortly we will admit them into gardens beneath which rivers flow. ..."

This bounty is not like the fleeting and transitory bounties of this world, but:

"... Therein they will abide forever..."

This promise is not alike with the false promises of Satan, but it is a true promise from the side of Allah:

"…Allah's promise is the truth…."

It is evident that none can be truer in speech than Allah, because breach of promise is either for inability or ignorance or need, all of which are far from His Holy presence. It says:

"... and who is truer of word than Allah?"

Surah An-Nisa', Verse 123

123. "It is not your vain desires, nor the vain desires of the people of the Book. Whoever does evil shall be recompensed for it, and, besides Allah, he will find for himself neither a guardian nor a helper."

Muslims were proud of the holy Prophet (S) as the seal of the prophets, and that they are the best Ummah (community). The People of the Book boasted of their background, too. They said that they would not remain in Hell Fire but a few days. This verse was revealed to correct the imagination of both groups, and assigned 'the action of a person' as a document.

Therefore, vain imaginations and baseless hopes must be avoided of. It says:

"It is not your vain desires, nor the vain desires of the people of the Book."

Islam is founded on realities, not on untruth, delusions or desires of individuals. (Untruth, originated from anyone and from any school, is condemned to destruction.)

However, Allah is just and His reward or retribution is based upon the 'action' that individuals perform.

"... Whoever does evil shall be recompensed for it, and, besides Allah, he will find for himself neither a guardian nor a helper. "

Surah An-Nisa', Verse 124

124. "And whoever does deeds of righteousness, whether male or female, and is a believer, then these shall enter Heaven and they shall not be dealt with a jot unjustly."

It seems that the Arabic word /naqir/ is taken from the sense of 'pecking', and it is applied for the hole of a date-stone, as if it has been pecked.

In the previous verse the meaning was about 'whoever does evil', and here, in this verse, it is about whoever does deeds of righteousness, the reward or retribution of both is based upon 'deed'.

Thus, the factor of entering into Heaven is 'faith and good deed' not the race or claims or desires (which were mentioned in the previous verse).

All races, colours, nations and classes are equal for enjoying the grace of Allah.

"And whoever does deeds of righteousness ..."

Males and females are equal in reaching the spiritual virtues:

"...whether male or female, and is a believer...."

The reward of a believing good-doer is Heaven; and the righteous deeds are valuable even though they are small.

"... then these shall enter Heaven and they shall not be dealt with a jot unjustly."

Surah An-Nisa', Verse 125

125. "And who is better in religion than the one who surrenders himself entirely to Allah while he is righteous and follows the creed of Abraham, the upright one? And Allah took Abraham as a Friend."

In the verse before this verse, the word was upon the fruit of Faith and deed and it implied that merely belonging to a doctrine or a school of thought has no effect. Yet, in order that no misunderstanding arises from the former discussion, in this verse, the preference of the religion of Islam over all religions has been stated by the following sense:

"And who is better in religion than the one who surrenders himself entirely to Allah while he is righteous and follows the creed of Abraham, the upright one? ..."

In this verse, three things have been considered as the criterion of the best creed:

The first thing is the absolute submission before Allah (s.w.t.). The verse says:

"...the one who surrenders himself entirely to Allah..."

The second thing is righteousness. The purpose of that, here, is doing any righteousness by the heart, the tongue, and action.

"….while he is righteous…"

The third thing is to follow the creed of Abraham, the upright. The verse continues saying:

"... and follows the creed of Abraham, the upright one? ..."

Then, at the end of the verse, it reasons its emphasis on the creed of Abraham as follows:

"… And Allah took Abraham as a Friend."

According to the Islamic literature, this rank of Abraham, being chosen as a friend by Allah, was because of his abundant prostrations, feeding the indigent, his midnight prayers, accepting the problems, and his hospitality. [^2]

Surah An-Nisa', Verse 126

126. "And to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, and Allah encompasses all things."

This verse points to the absolute sovereignty of Allah and His domination over all things. It says:

"And to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth, and Allah encompasses all things."

It refers to the fact that Allah elected Abraham (as) as His friend, never for the reason of His need to him, because Allah (s.w.t.) is free from any want, but for the virtues and the extraordinary conspicuous attributes that Abraham had.

[^1]: Tafsir-ul-Burhan, Vol. 1, P. 464.

[^2]: At-Tafsir-ul-Burhan, vol. 1, p. 417.