Tafseer: {No by your Lord! They can have no Faith}

7/30/2019 Tafseer: {No by your Lord! They can have no Faith}

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{We sent no Messenger, but to be obeyed by Allaahs leave. If they, when they were unjust to

themselves, had come to you and begged Allaah s forgiveness, and the Messenger had begged

forgiveness for them, indeed, they would have found Allaah All-Forgiving, Most Merciful. * But no, by

your Lord (O Muhammad!), they can have no faith, until they make you judge in all disputes between

them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full

submission.} [Surah al-Nisaa (4): 64-65]

What follows is the Tafseer of the above Aayah from the following books of Tafaaseer:

Tafseer of Ibn al-Katheer.

Tafseer of al-Baghawee.

Tafseer of al-Sa`dee.

Tafseer of al-Shinqeetee.

Tafseer of al-`Uthaymeen from Sharh Riyaadhal-Saaliheen.

Imaam Ibn Katheer commented on the above verses, saying:

Allaah said:

{We sent no Messenger, but to be obeyed} meaning: obeying the Messenger was ordained for those to

whom Allaah sends them.

Allaahs statement:

{by Allaahs leave} Mujaahid said: None shall obey, except by My (Allaahs) leave, meaning: no one will

be able to obey them (the Messengers) except those whom (Allaah) aids.

As Allaah said in another Aayah:


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{And Allaah did indeed fulfill His promise to you when you were killing them (your enemy) with His

permission} meaning: by His Command, Decree, Will and because He granted you superiority over

them.

Allaahs statement:

{If they (hypocrites), when they had been unjust to themselves, had come to you and begged Allaahs

forgiveness, and the Messenger had begged forgiveness for them, indeed, they would have found Allaah

All-Forgiving, Most Merciful} Allaah instructs the sinners and the evildoers that when they commiterrors and mistakes, to come to the Messenger , so that they ask Allaah for forgiveness in his

presence and that they ask him to supplicate to Allaah to forgive them. If they do this, Allaah will forgive

them and award them His mercy and pardon. This is why Allaah said:

{they would have found Allaah All-Forgiving (One Who forgives and accepts repentance), Most Merciful}.

Allaah said:

{But no, by your Lord, they can have no faith, until they make you judge in all disputes between them,}

Allaah swears by His Glorious, Most Honorable Self, that no one shall attain faith until he refers to the

Messenger for judgment in all matters. Thereafter, whatever the Messenger commands is the

plain truth that must be submitted to inwardly and outwardly.

Allaah said:

{and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full submission.}

meaning: they adhere to your judgment, and thus do not feel any hesitation over your decision, and they

submit to it inwardly and outwardly. They submit to the Prophet s decision with total submission without

any rejection, denial or dispute.


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Al-Bukhaaree recorded that Ùrwah said: Al-Zubair quarreled with a man about a stream which both of

them used for irrigation. Allaahs Messenger said to Al-Zubair:

O Zubair! Irrigate (your garden) first, and then let the water flow to your neighbor. The Ansaari became

angry and said: Ò Allaahs Messenger! Is it because he is your cousin? On that, the face of Allaahs

Messenger changed color (because of anger) and said:

Irrigate (your garden), O Zubair, and then withhold the water until it reaches the walls (surrounding the

palms). Then, release the water to your neighbor. So, Allaahs Messenger gave Al-Zubair his full right

when the Ansaari made him angry. Before that, Allaahs Messenger had given a generousjudgment, beneficial for Al-Zubair and the Ansaari. Al-Zubair said: Ì think the following verse was revealed

concerning that case:

{But no, by your Lord, they can have no faith, until they make you (O Muhammad ) judge in all disputes

between them.} [Saheeh al-Bukhaaree (2359, 2362, 2708, 4585) and Saheeh Muslim (2357)]

Ibn Abu Haatim reported another but strange reason for the revelation of this Aayah:

On the authority of Àbdullaah ibn Luhaiàh that Abu al-Aswad said: Two people took their dispute to the

Prophet and he gave the judgment between them. The one who lost said: Give us permission

to take our dispute to Ùmar. The Prophet said: Go to him. So they went to Ùmar

and one of them said: O Ibn al-Khattaab! The Messenger made the judgment in my favor over

him, so he requested that matter be presented to you (for judgment) and here we are. He (Ùmar) said: Is

it so? The (other) man said: Yes! Ùmar said: Stay at your place till I come out and give you my judgment.

So he came out with a sword and struck the one who (was dissatisfied) and said let us go to Ùmar and

killed him. The other person ran away from there and came to the Prophet and said: O

Messenger of Allaah! By Allaah! Ùmar has killed my companion and had not I ran away from there he

would have killed me also. The Prophet said: I did not think that Ùmar would have been soeager to kill a believer!So Allaah revealed the Aayah:


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{But no, by your Lord, they can have no faith, until they make you (O Muhammad ) judge} till the end of

the Aayah. That persons blood was spilled in vain and Ùmar was absolved from killing him. And Allaah

disliked that this incident be repeated again and said:

{And if We had ordered them (saying), Kill yourselves (i.e. the innnocent ones kill the guilty ones) or

leave your homes, very few of them would have done it; but if they had done what they were told, it

would have been better for them, and would have strengthened their (Faith);} [Surah al-Nisaa (4):66]

This narration was also reported by Ibn Mardoyah on the authority of Ibn Luhaiàh from Abu al-Aswad. (Ibn

Katheer said): But this narration is strange and it is Mursal (has a broken chain) and Ibn Luhaiàh is

Dhaèef (weak) and Allaah knows best.

Another Reason: In his Tafseer, Al-Haafiz Abu Is-haaq Ibraaheem bin Àbdul-Rahmaan bin Ibraaheem bin

Duhaym recorded that Damrah narrated that two men took their dispute to the Prophet , and

he gave a judgment to the benefit of whoever among them had the right. The person who lost the dispute

said: I do not agree. The other person asked him: What do you want then? He said: Let us go to Abu

Bakr al-Siddeeq. They went to Abu Bakr and the person who won the dispute said: We went to the

Prophet with our dispute and he issued a decision in my favor. Abu Bakr said: Then the

decision is that which the Messenger of Allaah issued. The person who lost the dispute still rejected the

decision and said: Let us go to Ùmar bin Al-Khattaab. When they went to Ùmar, the person who won

the dispute said: We took our dispute to the Prophet and he decided in my favor, but this

man refused to submit to the decision. Ùmar bin Al-Khattaab asked the second man and he concurred.

Ùmar went to his house and emerged from it holding aloft his sword. He struck the head of the man who

rejected the Prophets decision with the sword and killed him. Consequently, Allaah revealed:

{But no, by your Lord, they can have no faith}.--end of quote from Tafseer al-Quraan al-Àdheem.

*******

Imaam al-Baghawee commented on the verses, saying:

[After mentioning the incident between al-Zubair and the Ansaaree which was mentioned by Ibn Katheer

above, Imaam al-Baghawee narrated:]


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And it is reported that the name of the Ansaaree man was Haatib bin Abu Baltaàh. So when this Ansaaree

man came out, he passed by al-Miqdaad. Al-Miqdaad asked: In whose favor was the judgment? The

Ansaaree man said: He has judged in the favor of the son of his uncle (i.e. his cousin). A clever Jew who

was with al-Miqdaad said: May Allaah destroy those who bear witness that he is the Messenger of Allaah

but still accuse him for the judgment he makes between them. By Allaah! Once we (i.e. our forefathers)

sinned in the lifetime of Moosaa and Moosaa called us for repentance from it. He (Moosaa) said:

Kill yourselves (i.e. the innocent kill the wrong doers among you). So we did that and the killing reached

Seventy thousand in the obedience of our Lord till He was pleased with us.

Mujaahid said: This Aayah was revealed about the hypocrites and the Jews who took the matter to Ùmar

(instead of the Prophet ).

--end of quote from Tafseer al-Baghawee.

*******

Shaikh Àbdul-Rahmaan al-Sa`dee commented:

Allaah informs us that He has enclosed herein the matter and has urged us to obey the Messenger and

to submit (to his decisions). And the objective of sending the Messengers is that they should be obeyed,

submitting to all that they command and prohibit, by those whom they were sent to. And that those who

are suppose to follow should honor those who are being followed.

And in this there is evidence of the infallibility of the Messengers in that which they convey from Allaah

and that which they command and prohibit from because Allaah commanded that they should be

obeyed unrestrictedly. If they were not infallible, they might have legislated that which could have been anerror and absolute obedience would not have been commanded.

And His saying:

{by Allaahs leave}, meaning: the obedience coming from the followers is under the Preordainment and

Decree of Allaah. In this Aayah is an evidence for Preordainment and Decree of Allaah, as well as the urge

to seek Allaahs help in attaining that. And also in this is the message that it is not possible for a person to

obey the Messenger if there is no help from Allaah.

Then He informed us of His huge favor and His call to those who committed sin to acknowledge their

mistake and to seek Allaahs forgiveness, as He said:


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{If they, when they were unjust to themselves, had come to you} , meaning: acknowledging their sin and

regretting for it.

{and begged Allaahs forgiveness, and the Messenger had begged forgiveness for them, indeed, they

would have found Allaah All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.}, meaning: He will forgive them because of their

seeking forgiveness for their oppression, and will have mercy on them by accepting their repentance and

guiding them to it and rewarding them for it. And their coming to the Prophet was limited

only in his lifetime because the context of the Aayah points to that, as the Prophets seeking repentance for

them was only possible when he was alive. But after his death it is not allowed to seek anything from him,

rather it would be Shirk(to do so).

Moreover, Allaah swears by His Glorious Self that they have not believed till they make His Messenger

judge in all the disputes between them; meaning: in everything in which differences have occurred should

be solved based on the Book and the Sunnah. Furthermore, making him the judge is not sufficient untilthey remove all the resistance and constriction from their heart and that they blindly follow his judgment.

Thereafter, this is not sufficient till they surrender to his judgment, surrendering whole heartedly, with

tranquilness and submitting outwardly and inwardly.

(Accepting) the judgment is in the level of Islaam; having no ill feelings (towards the judgment) is in the

level of Imaan; and surrendering to it (whole heartedly) is in the level of Ihsaan. Therefore, whosoever

reaches these levels and perfects it has perfected the whole religion. But whosoever rejects the judgment

(thinking) it is not obligatory for him is a Kaafir; but whoever rejects it while accepting it is obligatory for

him to comply with it is a sinner.

--end of quote from Tayseer al-Kareem al-Rahmaan fee Tafseer Kalaam al-Mannaan.

*******

Shaikh al-Shinqeetee commented on the verses, saying:

Allaah , in this Aayah, swears by His Glorious Self that no one truly believes till he accepts the judgment

of the Messenger in all the matters and submits to his judgment outwardly and inwardly and

surrendering to it whole heartedly without hesitation, without objection and without opposing it. And this

has been clarified in another Aayah that whenever the Prophet makes the judgment between

them, the saying of the believers is that they totally surrender to it and submit to it completely, outwardlyand inwardly, as Allaah says:


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{The only saying of the faithful believers, when they are called to Allaah (His Words, the Quraan) and His

Messenger [ ], to judge between them, is that they say: We hear and we obey.} [Surah al-

Noor (24): 51]

--end of quote fromAdhwaaal-Bayaan.

*******

Shaikh al-`Uthaymeen commented on the verses, saying:

[Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen (2/253-255)]

From the Aayaat which the author (Imaam al-Nawawee) mentioned as evidence for the importance

of adhering to the Sunnah is the saying of Allaah

{But no, by your Lord (O Muhammad!), they can have no faith, until they make you judge in all disputes

between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full

submission.}

This verse is in continuation to the verses before it and it is the saying of Allaah :

{O you who believe! Obey Allaah and obey the Messenger, and those of you who are in authority. (And)

if you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allaah and His Messenger, if you believe in Allaahand in the Last Day. That is better and more suitable for final determination.} [Surah al-Nisaa (4): 59]

Allaah commanded us with His obedience and obedience to His Messenger and those in authority

amongst us.

Ulul-amr (those in authority) consists of the scholars and the rulers. The scholars are in charge of clarifying

for us the religion of Allaah, whereas the rulers are in charge of implementing the Sharee`ah of Allaah. To


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implement the Shareeàh, the scholars are in need of the rulers and the rulers are in need of the scholars. It

is upon the rulers to return back to the scholars so that they clarify the Shareeàh of Allaah to them. And it

is upon the scholars to correctly advice the rulers and that they remind them of Allaah and that they

instruct the rulers till they apply the Shareeàh of Allaah among the slaves of Allaah .

Furthermore, He said:

{(And) if you differ in anything amongst yourselves, refer it to Allaah and His Messenger} meaning: when

you differ in one of the things, the opinion of some of you is not an argument/evidence over the others.

But rather, there is the Commandments of Allaah and His Messenger , so upon you is to

refer back to the Commandments of Allaah and His Messenger . Referring back to Allaah

means to refer to His BookThe Glorious Quraan. As for referring back to the Messenger

means to referring back to his Sunnah; while he was alive it meant to go back to him

personally and after his death it means to refer back to what has been authentically reported of his

Sunnah.

{if you believe in Allaah and in the Last Day} and this is a strict urge to refer back to Allaah and His

Messenger . And referring back to Allaah and His Messenger is from the requirements of the

Faith.

{That is better and more suitable for final determination.} meaning: for a better end. For referring back to

Allaah and His Messenger is better for the Ummah and a more suitable end. However, when a person

thinks that referring back to the Book and the Sunnah will complicate the matter and make it difficult for

the people and they will not be able to implement it this type of thinking is bad and wrong. Some people

think that the (laws of) Islaam which were (present) at the beginning of this Ummah are not suitable for the

present timesand Allaahs refuge is sought from this. Do they not know that Islaam governs and is not

governed over? And that Islaam doesnt change with the change in time or place or people? Islaam is

Islaam! If we truly believe in Allaah and the Last Day, then we should refer back to the Book and the

Sunnah. {That is better and more suitable for final determination.} meaning: for a better wellbeing.

[Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen (2/258-263)]

The Shaikh continues:

Moreover, the author (Imaam al-Nawawee) mentioned the saying of Allaah :


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between them, and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions, and accept (them) with full

submission.} Allaah mentioned this verse directly after the following verse:

{We sent no Messenger, but to be obeyed by Allaah s leave. If they, when they were unjust to

themselves, had come to you and begged Allaah s forgiveness, and the Messenger had begged

forgiveness for them, indeed, they would have found Allaah All-Forgiving, Most Merciful}

In this verse, Allaah has divided his Ruboobiyyah (Lordship) for Muhammad , indicating that

the addressing of the Prophet here is a special one. This is because the Ruboobiyyah

(mentioned) here is a special one.

Allaah over His creation has two types ofRuboobiyyah: General Ruboobiyyah which is for everyone,

example the saying of His :

{All praise be to Allaah, the Lord of the worlds} [Surah al-Faatihah (1): 2]

and a special Ruboobiyyah for whomsoever of His creation He chooses, example this verse:


between them}

And both these types ofRuboobiyyah have been combined in the saying of Allaah :


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{They (the magicians) said: We believe in the Lord of the worlds * The Lord of Moosaa and Haaroon.}

[Surah al-A`raaf (7): 121-122]

Special Ruboobiyyah is for special addressing from Allaah . He divided His Ruboobiyyah for his slave

Muhammad stressing with the word (Laa) in His saying: and the here is forassertion. If Allaah were just to say: By your Lord! They can have no faith, would have

been sufficient but He mentioned the for emphasizing like His saying:

{I swear by the Day of Resurrection.} [Surah al-Qiyaamah (75):1]

The here is not for negation but rather for emphasis. So in this verse (of Surah al-Nisaa) there is

emphasis and warning.


between them} meaning: making you (O Muhammad) a judge in the disputes that occurred between them.

{Until they make you judge}: making you the judge in all the disputes that take place between them from

the matters of the Deen and as well as in the worldly matters.

In the matters of the Deen: if there is a dispute between two people about a religious issue and one of

them says: It is Haraam, whereas the other says: It is Halaal, they have to refer it back to the Prophet

. Between these two neither of them will have true faith they refer it back to the judgment of

the Prophet .

(An example) for the disputes between the people in worldly matter is what took place between al-Zubair

bin al-`Awaam and his Ansaari neighbor where the dispute between them was taken to the

Prophet in the issue of the water in the valley and he gave his judgment. This

judgment was about the worldly matters. The important thing is that no one has true faith till they referback their disputes in the matters of the Deen and worldly matters to the Prophet .

As for the negation of Imaan, if a person is in a total dissatisfaction with the judgment of the Prophet

, then this is the negation of the Faith in its entirety because the one who is absolutely dissatisfied

with the judgment of the Messenger is a Kaafir and Allaahs refuge is sought he is outside


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the fold of Islaam. But if a person is dissatisfied (but not with absolute dissatisfaction) about the judgment

on an issue* and he opposes it, (he is a sinner) but not a Kaafir.

*[ : An example is of those who shave their beard, even though they know about its ruling. Such

people are sinners only but Takfeer is not made upon them.]

And His saying:

{until they make you judge in all disputes between them}

So if someone says: How can the matter be referred to the Messenger for judgment after his

death? The answer: After his death his judgment is sought by referring it to his Sunnah.

There are three issues regarding this:

The first:

{they can have no faith, until they make you judge in all disputes between them}

The second:

{and find in themselves no resistance against your decisions} meaning: for a person judgment was made

based on the Quraan and the Sunnah but in his heart he finds some objection to it, meaning he is not

satisfied with the judgment or is satisfied but still reluctant. A person in no way should find in himself and

dissatisfaction or resistance to the judgment of Allaah and His Messenger.

The Third:

{and accept (them) with full submission} meaning: there should be complete submission. There should be

no delay or falling back on this (once their judgment is known)*.

*[ : An example is when the verse regarding the prohibition of the wine was revealed, the Companions

immediately broke the containers and spilled the wine till the streets of Madeenah were seen


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flowing with it. They did not delay it by saying let us have a last drink before we break the containers nor

were they dissatisfied with the prohibition. This was their trait because of which Allaah was pleased with

them and they were pleased with Allaah. We seek Allaahs help in being firm upon His Deen.]

So, these are the three conditions without which the Imaan is incomplete.

First: Referring to the judgment of the Messenger .

Second: The person should not find in himself any dissatisfaction or resistance about the judgment made by

the Messenger .

Third: He should submit to it completely and wholeheartedly.

A lot of ignorant people think that the Shareeàh is limited with acts of worship only which is between a

person and his Lord only; or personal issues like marriage and inheritance and the like. But rather they are

wrong. The Shareeàh is general, it includes everything (religious matters as well as the worldly matters).

How can one know this? Ask yourself: which is the longest verse in the Quraan? The answer is, verse 282

of Surah al-Baqarah, and the complete verse is about how to deal regarding worldly matters. So how can

one say that the Shareeàh is limited for acts of Ìbaadah or personal issues only?! This is ignorance and

deviation. If this is deliberate, then he is a deviant and arrogant; and if it is due to ignorance, then he is

lacking knowledge. It is obligatory that the person learns and knows we ask Allaahs guidance for us and

for them.

The most important thing is that a person cannot have Imaan if he does not fulfill these three conditions:

First: Referring to the judgment of the Messenger .

Second: The person should not find in himself any dissatisfaction or resistance about the judgment made by

the Messenger .

Third: He should submit to it wholeheartedly and surrender completely.

With these three conditions a person becomes a believer. And if he does not meet all the three conditions,

then either he is completely devoid of Imaan (i.e. a Kaafir) or there is a deficiency in his Imaan.

And Allaah is the one who Grants success.

--end of quote from Sharh Riyaadh al-Saaliheen.

Tafseer: {No by your Lord! They can have no Faith}

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