Tafseer of Verse 65: Surah an-Nisaa
(ramadhan.org - 21st June 2001)
Fa laa wa Rabbika Laa Yu¡¦minoona Hattaa yu¡¦hakkimooka fee maa Shajara
baynahum, thumma laa yajidoo fee anfusihim harajam mimmaa qadayta wa yusallimooo
tasleemaa¡¨
(an-Nisaa 65)
Which roughly means:
"But no, I swear by your lord (Allah), they will have no Eeman, until they
make you, (O Prophet) rule between them in whatever they dispute amongst
themselves, and then they find no resistance in their souls from what you have
decided, instead they submit with absolute submission¨.
Sabab un-Nuzool (occasion of revalation):
ibn Katheer in his Tafseer reports two, the stronger one being (paraphrased):
A Muslim had a dispute with a Jew and went for judgment to the Prophet (saw).
The Prophet (saw) ruled against the Muslim and in favour of the Jew. The Muslim
was not happy and went to abu Bakr for a contrary judgement. abu Bakr (ra) asked
if he had been to the Prophet (saw) and he said ¡§yes¡¨. So abu Bakr (ra)
refused to judge him over the Prophet¡¦s (saw) judgement. He then went to ¡¥Umar
ibn al-Khattab (ra). ¡¥Umar (ra) asked him, have you been to the Prophet
(saw)? He said ¡§Yes, but I want another judgement¡¨. ¡¥Umar (ra) said,
wait here. He then went home, got his sword, and upon his return he chopped the
man¡¦s head clean off!
The Muslims began saying that ¡Umar (ra) had killed a Muslim, until Allah (swt)
revealed this Ayah condoning the action of ¡Umar (ra), stating that no one has
Eeman (ie: you are not a Muslim) until you accept the Prophet¦s (saw) judgement.
Thus, ¡Umar (who was a judge in the Prophet¡¦s [saw] Islamic state) executed
that man as a punishment for his apostasy.
The hadeeth and its Qaraain (Sharai indications) point to the decisive
obligation:
1) The Ayah was sent down condoning ¡Umar¡¦s (ra) action, thus we can see a
Qareenah (Shar¡¦ai indication) here that the man apostasised, otherwise it
would have been Haraam to kill him (killing carried out by the state for
apostasy). This is a Qareenah here that the Eeman mentioned in the Ayah is
referring to Eeman in the context of the opposite meaning to Kufr and not simply
an emphatic Eeman (meaning Taqwa or piety) as is in other texts. This is then a
decisive Qareenah.
2) The silence of the Prophet (saw) toward the action of ¡¥Umar (ra), which
would ordinarily have been Haraam is another desisive Qareenah.
These two lead us to the conclusion that ruling by what Allah has revealed is a
matter of Eeman, and anyone who rejects it with knowledge is a Murtad
(apostate). (surah Maa¡¦idah 5: 44-5 and 47).
The Ayah and its Qaraain (Shar¡¦ai indications):
1) Allah (swt) swore an oath upon himself (fa laa wa Rabbika) (supportive
Qareenah).
2) Allah (swt) said that they find no resistance in their souls to the judgement
of the Prophet (saw). (thumma laa Yajidoo fee anfusihim) (supportive Qareenah)
3) Allah (swt) said that they submit with absolute submission (wa yusallimoo
tasleemaa)
4) These are also other Qaraa¡¦in that indicate the Ayah is referring to an
obligation, because
„h it is not obligatory to submit with absolute submission to a Mandoob, only
to a Fard are we commanded to submit with absolute submission.
„h nor is it obligatory to find no resistance in our souls to a Mandoob. So
the subject matter must be a Fard.
This all points to the obligation of ruling by what Allah has revealed, and it
being a matter of Eeman or Kufr. Some of these Qaraa¡¦in being definite, and
some being supportive.
al-Mahkoomoon: (ones addressed by the Hukm)
So, who is addressed by this extremely emphasised Ayah? Upon who does this Fard
rest?
1) Allah (swt) says:
Laa Yuminoona.
This is a 3rd person (Ghaaib) masculine (Mudhakkar) plural (jam¡¦a) verb (Fi¡¦l)
in the present tense (al-mudhare¡¦e). Thus it means , ¡§they all don¡¦t
have Eeman¡¨. The fact that it is in the masculine includes women and men, as
in Arabic the masculine verb can mean a mixed group or just men.The fact that it
came in the 3rd person, is because the Prophet (saw) is being addressed about
us. So as to say ¡§O Prophet (saw) they have no Eeman¨.
The fact that it came in the present tense means that it can include the future,
as the present tense in Arabic can include the future, so as to say, ¡§they
will have no Eeman unless they do so.¨
The fact that it came in the plural is interesting, as the original sabab only
mentions one man, the Murtad. This indicates that the Ayah is actually talking
about all Muslims, as it is in the plural, when it didn¡¦t need to be. So the
meaning is (all of you Muslims don¡¦t have Eeman). Thus it came in an ¡¥Aamm
(general) form, with no exception mentioned. So it is Fard upon all of the
Muslims. So, it means, ¡§O Prophet all the Muslims (men and women) will have
no Eeman (they will have only Kufr) unless ...¨
Besides this is the Shar¡¦ai principle ¡§al-Ibraa bi ¡¥umoom il-Lafdhee
laa bi Khusoos is-Sabab¨. ¡§The meaning is taken by the generality of the
expression, and not by the specificity of the casuse (sabab)¡¨. Thus, the
meaning is taken by the generality of the wording in the texts, and it is not
restricted to that one man. So we are all addressed by the ¡¥aamm ruling, that
we have no Eeman, unless we accept the Hukm of Islam.
2) The words hattaa yuhakkimooka¡¨.
The verb (fi¡¦l) here came in the 3rd person (al-Ghaai¡¦b) masculine (mudhakkar)
plural (Jam¡¦a) present tense (al-mudhare¡¦e). Additionally, and most
importantly, it came in the transitive form (fa¡¨ala - yufa¡¨ilu).
Thus, it means ¡§until they all (men and women) MAKE you rule between them¡¨.
The difference between Hakama (form 1 - fa¡¦ala), and Hakkama (form 2 - fa¡¨ala
- with emphasis on the kaaf), is one of ccausation.
Hakama means to rule. Hakkama (with emphasis on the kaaf) means to make somebody
else rule. Thus, the meaning here is ¡§O prophet, all the Muslims (male and
female) will have no Eeman, until they all (male and female) MAKE you rule
between them...¡¨
Thus, it is important to note here, that we are not just commanded with a Fard,
each one of us, but rather we are actively commanded to MAKE the ruler rule by
Islam, with deliberate actions. In other words we are commanded to do action in
making this happen.
3) fee maa Shajara Baynahum (in whatever they dispute amongst themselves¨).
Again, this is emphasising the meaning that it is all Muslims, as it is about
whatever we dispute in between us all. The word Maa here is Maa al-¡Umoom. A
general Maa, meaning in whatever and in any matter that they dispute. So in all
matters we must refer to the Prophet¦s (saw) judgement.
4) The address to the Prophet
The Ayah states ¡§till they make you (O Prophet) rule between them.¡¨ It is
known that any address to the Prophet (saw) is an address to all the Muslims,
unless restricted.
For example, the Ayah commanding Zakaah: take Sadaqah from their wealth¡¨. It
is in the second person form (al-Haadhir). So is it addressing the Prophet (saw)
only? And therefore would it no longer be Fard to give Zakaah to a Khaleefah?
When those who refused to pay the Zakaah argued with Abu Bakr (ra) they argued
that the obligation of Zakaah was only to the Prophet (saw) because the Ayah was
only addressing him alone. The Sahabah fought against those who brought this
argument and killed some of them. Thus, it is Ijma¡¦a as-Sahabah that the
command, when addressing the Prophet (saw), is a command intended for all
Muslims, unless specified.
So this applies to all of us. We are commanded to MAKE all Muslim rulers (not
just the Prophet [saw]), rule between us by Islam, otherwise we have no Eeman
(if we knowingly go against this).
Conclusion:
After this lengthy Tafseer of this Ayah, it becomes apparent that all Muslims
will have no Eeman until they seek the Islamic judgement, and they submit
absolutely to the ruling of Islam. By dalalat ul-iltizam (indispensable
indication) this means there should be rulers to judge by Islam solely. In the
case when there are no rulers judging by Islam solely, the duty falls upon each
and every Muslim to establish such rulers. Anyone who knowingly goes against
this (not out of ignorance) is a Kaafir Murtad (apostate), and anyone who
neglects this is sinful, so come, and work with us for the Khilafah, as it is a
great Fard, and neglecting it is neglecting the biggest duty in Islam, Eeman.