An-Nisa’ Section 18 - Idolatry Prohibited
Polytheism unpardonable, Satan always misleads, Faith and Virtue shall be rewarded.
An-Nisa’ Verses 116 – 126
إِنَّ اللَّهَ لَا يَغْفِرُ أَنْ يُشْرَكَ بِهِ وَيَغْفِرُ مَا دُونَ ذَٰلِكَ لِمَنْ يَشَاءُ وَمَنْ يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا
“Verily God forgiveth not that (anything) be associated with Him, and forgiveth anything besides this to whomsoever He pleaseth; and whoso associated! (aught) with God, hath indeed strayed far, far away (from the right path)1.” (4:116)
إِنْ يَدْعُونَ مِنْ دُونِهِ إِلَّا إِنَاثًا وَإِنْ يَدْعُونَ إِلَّا شَيْطَانًا مَرِيدًا
“They (The Pagans) invoke not besides Him but the female deities (the Idols) and they invoke not but Satan the persistent rebel (void of all good).” (4:117)
لَعَنَهُ اللَّهُ ۘ وَقَالَ لَأَتَّخِذَنَّ مِنْ عِبَادِكَ نَصِيبًا مَفْرُوضًا
“Whom God hath cursed him and he (the Satan) said “Most certainly will I take of Thy bondsmen an allotted share.”” (4:118)
وَلَأُضِلَّنَّهُمْ وَلَأُمَنِّيَنَّهُمْ وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُبَتِّكُنَّ آذَانَ الْأَنْعَامِ وَلَآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُغَيِّرُنَّ خَلْقَ اللَّهِ وَمَنْ يَتَّخِذِ الشَّيْطَانَ وَلِيًّا مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ فَقَدْ خَسِرَ خُسْرَانًا مُبِينًا
“And assuredly will I lead them astray and certainly stir (vain) desires in them, and certainly bid them that they slit the ears of cattle, and will I certainly command them that they shall change (the faces) of God’s creation;” And whoever taketh Satan as a guardian besides God, indeed suffereth he a manifest loss2.” (4:119)
يَعِدُهُمْ وَيُمَنِّيهِمْ وَمَا يَعِدُهُمُ الشَّيْطَانُ إِلَّا غُرُورًا
“He (Satan) giveth them (false) promises and (he) stirreth (vain) desires in them; but Satan promiseth not (aught) but (it is sheer) deception.” (4:120)
أُولَٰئِكَ مَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَلَا يَجِدُونَ عَنْهَا مَحِيصًا
“These, (Satan’s dupes), their abode shall be Hell, and they shall not find from it any escape.” (4:121)
وَالَّذِينَ آمَنُوا وَعَمِلُوا الصَّالِحَاتِ سَنُدْخِلُهُمْ جَنَّاتٍ تَجْرِي مِنْ تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا أَبَدًا وَعْدَ اللَّهِ حَقًّا وَمَنْ أَصْدَقُ مِنَ اللَّهِ قِيلًا
“But they who believe and do righteous deeds, shortly We will admit them into gardens ‘neath which flow rivers, for ever shall they abide therein; (It is) a promise of God. (It is) true indeed; And who can be more true than God in utterance.” (4:122)
لَيْسَ بِأَمَانِيِّكُمْ وَلَا أَمَانِيِّ أَهْلِ الْكِتَابِ مَنْ يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ وَلَا يَجِدْ لَهُ مِنْ دُونِ اللَّهِ وَلِيًّا وَلَا نَصِيرًا
“(It shall) not be according to your desires nor the desires of the people of the Book; (but) whoever doeth evil shall be recompensed for it, nor will he find for himself, besides God, any guardian or a helper.” (4:123)
وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ مِنَ الصَّالِحَاتِ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنْثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُولَٰئِكَ يَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ نَقِيرًا
“And whoso doeth deeds of righteousness, whether male or female, and be a believer, then these shall enter Heaven and they shall not be wronged (even) to the husk of a date-stone.” (4:124)
وَمَنْ أَحْسَنُ دِينًا مِمَّنْ أَسْلَمَ وَجْهَهُ لِلَّهِ وَهُوَ مُحْسِنٌ وَاتَّبَعَ مِلَّةَ إِبْرَاهِيمَ حَنِيفًا وَاتَّخَذَ اللَّهُ إِبْرَاهِيمَ خَلِيلًا
“And who is better in religion than he who resigneth himself3entirely unto God? and is righteous, and followeth the creed4of Abraham, the Upright One, And God took Abraham for a Friend5.” (4:125)
وَلِلَّهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُحِيطًا
“To God belongeth whatever is in the heavens and all that is in the earth; and God encompasseth all things.” (4:126)
Commentary
Verse 116
Polytheism or associating anybody or anything with God, i.e., ‘Shirk’ is unpardonable6. It is not because polytheism in any way effects the Glory of God, but because it Jowers the dignity of the human nature. It is such an impossibility that it can never be entertained without stultifying reason and thus, rendering man inherently incapable of any spiritual progress. Thus, a polytheist can never hope to rise to the heavenly bliss.
Verse 117
‘Inas’ refers to the idols, inanimate objects like trees, stones, wood etc. The infidels named their idol deities as females for they held them as the daughters of their god. For instance, ‘Lat’ ‘Uzza’ and ‘Manat.’ Every Arabian tribe had an idol as its own favourite deity, and they called it ‘Inas’ the female.
Since Satan was the misleading force, the infidelity is referred to him.
The reference is to what was prevailing among the ancient pagans in Arabia and elsewhere to present their deities and the angels mostly as females or to invoke the devilish forces. The idolaters used to hold the idols as the daughters of God and the extent that the term female idols had become synonymous to a reference to the sexual complex connected with the Physical background of idolatry. Man in his primitive age could not see any productive action without the association of the positive and the negative elements of the sexual course.
On this is based the polytheistic tendency in whatever form it may be, be that the Zoroastrian dualism, the human duality of Yazdan and Ahriman or the Christian Trinity of God, the son and the Holy Ghost. Qur’an clears this polytheistic misconception saying “of everything We have created the positive and the negative” (51:49). Therefore, whatever is in pairs is created. The authority solely being with the Creator. (A.P.)
‘Marid’ means devoid of all good, insolent or rebellious.
Verse 118
Satan being cursed by God, gets all the more resolved to exert his most to mislead mankind and take them to perdition. The share appointed for him is in the nature of things, nature of man and the forces around him.
Verse 119
The heathen Arabs used to slit the ears of a she camel and had exempted it from being used or slaughtered, i.e., devoted to their idol gods. It was a prevalent form of polytheism in Arabia.
The animal, be it a she-camel or a goat was called ‘Bahira’ viz., she camel having her ear slit-there is a mention of this in Verse 5:103.
Changing of God’s creation means using of God’s created things for an object other than that for which they have been created. Worshipping of the Sun or the Moon which were created to be subservient to man or the misuse of any faculty in man.
Some commentators quote Verse 30:30 and by changing the creation of God, mean corrupting a religion.
Of ‘Qalq’ is to be taken here to mean not creation but the planning. There would have been a very wide implication to include every attempt to act the system planned by God, in the realm of creation or in the realm of legislation. This has been applied to change or alteration in the distinguishing of the sexual features such as the removal of beard and the moustache which are the distinctive and distinguishing identification of a male from a female. Thus, the assuming of the female and the male appearances were prohibited. (A.P.)
Verse 123
Islam is the religion of nature. Every action must have its re-action. According to the law of nature evil and good shall have their respective return. Islam always warns man and woman, to be always mindful of the natural consequences of Vice and Virtue. Muslims are warned against imagining themselves as the favourites of God, as do the Christians and the lews.
Verse 124
This verse clearly says that in the rewarding of good and the punishing of any evil, there shall not be any distinction between man and woman.
There is one factor notable in this Verse-doing of good deeds need true belief, to be accepted.
Good deeds are acceptable only from those who believe and not from the disbelievers.
Verse 125
The best religion is submission to God - (i.e., Islam.)
‘Hanif’, i.e., wholly devoted to one object-attached exclusively to the Right Path-always avoiding the wrong one.
‘Vajh’, literally face. In Qur’an mostly used, signifying the distinctive aspects of a being by which the being is recognised-Man is distinguished by his cognitive self-God is distinguished by His Absolute Universal Excellence which is manifest throughout 2:112. (A.P.)
‘Millat lbrahim’ repeatedly used in Qur’an indicating the universality of his mission while the missions of Moses and Jesus were circumstantial. Math-15/22-26 (A.P.)
Verse 126
The ownership of the universe belongs to none but God. Hence there can never be any other owner or the master for man to worship, besides the One and the only God Lord of everything in the heavens and the earth.
