Translated by

disliked befell the Muslims, they exulted in their failure to join them; but when something good happened to 
the Muslims, they liked to be praised for what they had not done”. Sa'id ibn Muhammad al-Zahid informed 
us> Abu Sa'id ibn Hamdun> Abu Hamid al-Sharqi> Abu'l-Azhar> 'Abd al-Razzaq> Ibn Jurayj> Ibn Abi 
Malikah> 'Alqamah ibn Waqqas who informed him that Marwan said to his chamberlain, Rafi': “Go to Ibn 
'Abbas and say to him: 'If everyone who exults in what he does and likes to be praised for what he has not 
done will be chastised, then we will all be chastised'. Ibn 'Abbas replied: 'From whence did you get such an 
understanding? The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, summoned the Jews in one occasion and 
asked them about something which they concealed and informed him about something different. They 
expected him to praise them for informing him about that which he asked them and exulted in their act of 
concealing that matter'. Ibn 'Abbas then recited (And (remember) when Allah laid a charge on those who 
had received the Scripture (He said) Ye are to expound it to mankind…) [Al 'Imran, 3:187]”. This was 
narrated by Bukhari> Ibrahim ibn Musa> Hisham and also by Muslim> Zuhayr ibn Harb> Hajjaj; both Hajjaj 
and Hisham narrated it from Ibn Jurayj. Said al-Dahhak: “The Jews of Medina wrote to the Jews of Iraq and 
Yemen as well as to all the Jews of the earth whom they could contact: 'Muhammad is not Allah's Prophet, 
therefore hold fast to your religion and be unanimous about this'. Hence, they were unanimous in their 
disbelief in Muhammad, Allah bless him and give him peace, and the Qur'an and they exulted in this fact. 
They said: ''Praise be to Allah Who has united us and made it so we did not differ or leave our religion'. They 
also said: 'We are the people of fasting and prayer as well as the friends of Allah'. This is why Allah, exalted 

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is He, said (who exult in what they have given) i.e. in what they did (and love to be praised for what they 
have not done) i.e. for that which they had mentioned of fasting, prayer and worship”. 
 
[3:190]
 
 
(Lo! In the creation of the heavens and the earth…) [3:190]. Abu Ishaq al-Muqri’ informed us> ‘Abd Allah 
ibn Hamid> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Yahya al-'Anbari> Ahmad ibn Najdah> Yahya ibn ‘Abd al-Hamid al-
Humani> Ya‘qub al-Qummi Ja‘far ibn Abi al-Mughirah> Sa‘id ibn Jubayr> Ibn ‘Abbas who said: “The people 
of Quraysh went to the Jews and said: ‘What are the signs that Moses brought to you?’ They replied: ‘His 
staff and white hand for people to see’. Then they went to the Christians and said: ‘How was Jesus in your 
midst?’ They said: ‘He restored eyesight to the blind, healed the leper and brought the dead back to life’. 
The people of Quraysh then went to the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: ‘Ask your 
Lord to turn the hill of al-Safa into gold’. As a consequence, Allah, exalted is He, revealed (Lo! In the 
creation of the heavens and the earth and (in) the difference of night and day are tokens (of His 
Sovereignty) for men of understanding)”.  
 
[3:195]
 
 
(And their Lord hath heard them…) [3:195]. Isma'il ibn Ibrahim al-Nasrabadhi informed us> Abu 'Amr 
Isma'il ibn Najid> Ja'far ibn Muhammad ibn Suwar> Qutaybah ibn Sa'id> Sufyan> 'Amr ibn Dinar> Salamah 
ibn 'Umar ibn Abi Salamah (a man from the Banu Salamah) who said: “Umm Salamah said: 'O Messenger of 
Allah! Allah has not mentioned women with regard to migration at all', and Allah, exalted is He, revealed 
(And their Lord hath heard them (and He saith): Lo! I suffer not the work of any worker, male or female, to 
be lost. Ye proceed one from another)”. This was narrated by al-Hakim Abu 'Abd Allah in his Sahih from Abu 
'Awn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Mahan> Muhammad ibn 'Ali ibn Yazid> Ya'qub ibn Humayd> Sufyan. 
 
[3:196]
 
 
(Let not the vicissitude (of the success) of those who disbelieve, in the land, deceive thee…) [3:196]. This 
was revealed about the idolaters of Mecca. This is because they were living in comfort and ease, trading and 
enjoying themselves which led one believer to comment: “The enemies of Allah are enjoying that which we 
see of goodly life while we are dying of hunger and toil”, and as a result this verse was revealed. 
 
[3:199]
 
 
(And lo! of the People of the Scripture there are some who believe in Allah…) [3:199]. Said Jabir ibn ‘Abd 
Allah, Anas, Ibn ‘Abbas and Qatadah: “This was revealed about the Negus. When the latter died, Gabriel, 
peace be upon him, informed the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, about his death 
on the same day he died. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to his 
Companions: ‘Go out and perform the prayer of the dead on one of your brothers who died in a different 
land’. They asked him: ‘Who is he?’ And he told them it was the Negus. Then the Messenger of Allah, Allah 
bless him and give him peace, went out to the Baqi‘ and all that was between Medina and the land of 
Abyssinia was revealed to him such that he saw the bed of the Negus. He performed the prayer of the dead, 
uttering the expression Allahu akbar [Allah is the greatest] four times, and requested forgiveness for him. He 
then told his Companions: ‘Request forgiveness for him!’ The hypocrites commented: ‘Look at this one, 
performing the prayer of the dead on a foreign Christian Abyssinian whom he has never seen and who does 
not even follow his religion’. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed this verse”. Abu’l-Fadl Ahmad ibn 
Muhammad ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn Yusuf informed us> Abu ‘Amr Muhammad ibn Ja‘far ibn Matar (by dictation)> 
Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn Sinan al-Wasiti> Abu Hani’ Muhammad ibn Bakkar al-Bahili> al-Mu‘tamir ibn 
Sulayman> Humayd> Anas who reported that the Prophet of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said 
to his Companions: “Get up and perform the prayer of the dead on your brother the Negus”. Some of them 
said to others: “He is asking us to pray on a non-believer from Abyssinia!” And so Allah, exalted is He, 
revealed (And lo! of the People of the Scripture there are some who believe in Allah…). Mujahid, Ibn Jurayj 
and Ibn Zayd stated that this was revealed about all the believers of the people of the Book.  
 
[3:200]
 

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(O ye who believe! Endure, outdo all others in endurance…) [3:200]. Sa‘id ibn Abi ‘Amr al-Hafiz informed 
us> Abu ‘Ali al-Faqih> Muhammad ibn Mu‘adh al-Malini> al-Husayn ibn al-Hasan ibn Harb al-Maruzi> Ibn al-
Mubarak> Mus‘ab ibn Thabit ibn ‘Abd Allah ibn al-Zubayr> Dawud ibn Salih who reported that Abu Salamah 
ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman said: “O my nephew, do you know the occasion of this verse (O ye who believe! Endure, 
outdo all others in endurance…)”. “No!” He answered. He said: “At the time of the Prophet, Allah bless him 
and give him peace, there were no ongoing military conquests in which one could engage. We only had to 
wait for the next prayer after performing the present one”. Narrated by al-Hakim Abu ‘Abd Allah in his Sahih 
from Abu Muhammad al-Muzani> Ahmad ibn Najdah> Sa‘id ibn Mansur> Ibn al-Mubarak.  
 
[4:2]
 
 
(Give unto orphans their wealth…) [4:2]. Muqatil and al-Kalbi said: “This was revealed about a man from 
Ghatafan who had in his possession an abundant fortune which belonged to his orphaned nephew. When 
this orphan reached the age of puberty he claimed this fortune but his uncle refused to give it to him. As a 
result they took their dispute to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and then this 
verse was revealed. When the uncle heard this verse he said: ‘We obey Allah and we obey His Messenger; 
we seek refuge in Allah from the great peril’, and he handed the wealth over to his nephew. The Messenger 
of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: ‘Whoever is saved from the stinginess of his ego and turn 
it over like thus will abide in Allah’s Garden’. When the youth received his fortune, he spent it in the way of 
Allah, exalted is He, which prompted the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, to say: ‘The reward is 
confirmed but the sin still persists’. Some asked: ‘O Messenger of Allah! We know that the reward is 
confirmed, but how is it that the sin still persists when he is spending his wealth in the way of Allah?’ He 
said: ‘The reward is confirmed for the youth while the sin persists for his father’ ”.  
 
[4:3]
 
 
(And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans…) [4:3]. Abu Bakr al-Tamimi informed us> ‘Abd 
Allah ibn Muhammad> Abu Yahya> Sahl ibn ‘Uthman> Yahya ibn Za’idah> Hisham ibn ‘Urwah> his father> 
‘A’ishah who said, regarding the words of Allah (And if ye fear that ye will not deal fairly by the orphans): 
“This was revealed about any custodian under whose care is a female orphan who possesses some wealth 
and does not have anyone to defend her rights. The custodian refuses to give this orphan in marriage out of 
greed for her money, harms her and treats her badly. And so Allah, exalted is He, says (And if ye fear that 
ye will not deal fairly by the orphans marry of the women, who seem good to you…) as long as they are 
lawful to you and leave this one”. This was narrated by Muslim> Abu Kurayb> Abu Usamah> Hisham. Sa‘id 
ibn Jubayr, Qatadah, al-Rabi‘, al-Dahhak and al-Suddi said: “People used to be wary of the wealth of 
orphans but took liberty with women and married whoever they liked. And sometimes they were fair to them 
and sometimes they were not. So when they asked about the orphans and the verse (Give unto orphans 
their wealth), regarding the orphans, was revealed, Allah, exalted is He, also revealed (And if ye fear that ye 
will not deal fairly by the orphans). He says here: ‘Just as you fear that you will not deal fairly by the 
orphan, so should you fear that you do not deal fairly by women. Therefore, marry only as many as you can 
fulfil their rights, for women are like orphans as far as weakness and incapacity are concerned’. This is the 
opinion of Ibn ‘Abbas according to the narration of al-Walibi”.  
 
[4:6]
 
 
(Prove orphans…) [4:6]. This was revealed about Thabit ibn Rifa‘ah and his uncle. Rifa‘ah died when his son 
Thabit was very young. The uncle of Thabit went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him 
peace, and said: “The son of my brother is an orphan under my care, what is lawful for me from his wealth? 
And when should I give him back his wealth?” And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse.  
 
[4:7]
 
 
(Unto the men (of a family) belongeth a share of that which parents and near kindred leave…) [4:7]. The 
commentators of the Qur’an said: “Aws ibn Thabit al-Ansari died and was survived by a wife whose name 
was Umm Kujjah and three daughters he had from her. Two men, who were the cousins and executors of 

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Thabit, whose names were Suwayd and ‘Arfajah, took all his wealth and failed to give anything to his wife or 
daughters. This is because in the pre-Islamic period women and children, even if they were male, did not 
inherit anything, for only older man did. They used to say: ‘Only those who fight riding horses and capture 
booty are entitled to inherit’. Umm Kujjah went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him 
peace, and said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! I am the widow of Aws ibn Malik and he has left me with daughters 
on whom I do not have anything to spend. Their father had left behind a considerable fortune which is now 
with Suwayd and ‘Arfajah who have failed to give me, or my daughters, anything when they are still under 
my care. They do not feed me or even care about them’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give 
him peace, summoned them, and in their defence they said: ‘O Messenger of Allah! Her children cannot ride 
a horse, withstand any responsibility or harm an enemy!’ The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give 
him peace, said: ‘Leave for now, I shall wait for what Allah relates to me concerning their matter’, and they 
left. Then Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse”. 
 
[4:10]
 
 
(Lo! Those who devour the wealth of orphans wrongfully…) [4:10]. Said Muqatil ibn Hayyan: “This verse 
was revealed about a man from Ghatafan called Marthad ibn Zayd. This man had devoured the fortune of 
his young, orphaned nephew who was under his charge, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse 
about him”.  
 
[4:11]
 
 
(Allah chargeth you concerning (the provision for) your children…) [4:11]. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn 
Ahmad ibn Ja'far informed us> al-Hasan ibn Ahmad al-Makhladi> al-Mu'ammil ibn al-Hasan ibn 'Isa> al-
Hasan ibn Muhammad ibn al-Sabbah> Hajjaj> Ibn Jurayj> Ibn al-Munkadir> Jabir who said: “The 
Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and Abu Bakr came on foot to visit me at Banu 
Salamah when I was sick. He found me unconscious. He asked for some water, performed minor ritual 
ablution and then sprinkled some of the water on me and I woke up. I said: 'O Messenger of Allah! What 
shall I do with my wealth?' And so the verse (Allah chargeth you concerning (the provision for) your 
children: to the male the equivalent of the portion of two females…)”. This was narrated by Bukhari> 
Ibrahim ibn Musa> Hisham, and also by Muslim> Muhammad ibn Hatim> Hajjaj; and both Hisham and 
Hajjaj related this tradition from Ibn Jurayj. Abu Mansur Muhammad ibn Muhammad al-Mansuri informed 
us> 'Ali ibn 'Umar ibn Mahdi> Yahya ibn Sa'id>> Ahmad ibn al-Miqdam> Bishr ibn al-Mufaddal> 'Abd Allah 
ibn Muhammad ibn 'Aqil> Jabir ibn 'Abd Allah who said: “A woman came to the Messenger of Allah, Allah 
bless him and give him peace, with her two daughters and said: 'O Messenger of Allah! These are the 
daughters of Thabit ibn Qays, or perhaps she said Sa'd ibn al-Rabi', who was killed fighting on your side at 
the Battle of Uhud. Their uncle has taken possession of their fortune and inheritance and did not leave 
anything belonging to them except that he took it to himself, so what do you think, O Messenger of Allah? 
For by Allah, they will never get married unless they have some money'. The Messenger of Allah said to her: 
'Allah will judge for you concerning this'. And so Surah al-Nisa' was revealed which contains (Allah chargeth 
you concerning (the provision for) your children: to the male the equivalent of the portion of two females…). 
The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, then said to me: 'Summon for me the woman 
and her adversary'. He said to the uncle of the girls: 'Give the girls two third of the fortune, their mother one 
eighth and keep the remainder' ”. 
 
[4:19]
 
 
(O ye who believe! It is not lawful for you forcibly to inherit the women (of your deceased kinsmen)…) 
[4:19]. Abu Bakr al-Asfahani informed us> ‘Abd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Asfahani> Abu Yahya> Sahl ibn 
‘Uthman> Asbat ibn Muhammad> al-Shaybani> ‘Ikrimah> Ibn ‘Abbas (Abu Ishaq al-Shaybani mentioned 
that ‘Ata’ ibn al-Husayn al-Suwa‘i also related this tradition, and I do not think he related it from other than 
Ibn ‘Abbas) who said regarding the verse (O ye who believe! It is not lawful for you forcibly to inherit the 
women (of your deceased kinsmen): “It was the habit that, when a man died, his heirs had a better right to 
his wife, if one of them wished he would marry her, if not they married her off to somebody else or, 
alternately, leave her unmarried, for they had a better right to her than her own family. This verse was 
revealed about this issue”. This was related by Bukhari in the chapter on Tafsir from Muhammad ibn Muqatil 

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and he also related it in the chapter on Coercion from Husayn ibn Mansur and both his narrators related it 
from Asbat. The commentators of the Qur’an said: “In the pre-Islamic and beginning of the Islamic eras, if a 
man died and was survived by his wife, it was the custom that his son from another wife or his relative from 
his clan would come and throw his cloak on that woman, and this gesture entailed that he had a better right 
over her than she had on her own person or that anyone else had on her. If he then wished to marry her, 
he married her without giving her any dowry, except for the dowry which was given to her by her deceased 
husband. Alternately, he could marry her to someone else and take all her dowry, giving her nothing in 
exchange. Or, he could leave her unmarried to hurt her so that she would buy herself from him in exchange 
for what she inherited from her deceased husband, or wait until she died so that he inherits her. When Abu 
Qays ibn al-Aslat al-Ansari died, he was survived by his wife Kubayshah bint Ma‘an al-Ansariyyah. One of his 
sons, from another wife, by the name of Hisn (Muqatil stated that his name was Qays ibn Abi Qays) placed 
his cloak on her and, thus, inherited the right to her marriage. But then he left her untouched and failed to 
provide for her. He did this to hurt her in order to drive her to buy herself from him with her money. This led 
Kubayshah to go to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace. She said to him: ‘O 
Messenger of Allah! Abu Qays has died and his son has inherited the right to marry me. But he has harmed 
me and is taking his time. He has failed to provide for me, to consummate the marriage or to let me go 
free’. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said to her: ‘Remain in your home until 
Allah reveals something about your matter’. When she left and the women of Medina heard of this, they 
went to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and said: ‘We are in the same situation 
as Kubayshah except that it is the cousins who had married us instead of the sons’. Allah, exalted is He, 
then revealed this verse”.  
 
[4:22]
 
 
(And marry not those women whom your fathers married…) [4:22]. This was revealed about Hisn ibn Abi al-
Qays who married the wife of his father Kubayshah bint Ma’an, al-Aswad ibn Khalaf who married the wife of 
his father, Safwan ibn Umayyah who married his father’s wife Fakhitah bint al-Aswad ibn al-Muttalib and also 
about Manzur ibn Zabban who married the wife of his father Mulaykah bint Kharijah. Said Ash‘at ibn 
Sawwar: “When Abu Qays who was one of the righteous people of Medina died, his son Qays proposed to 
the wife of his father. She said to him: ‘But I consider you like my son. I will consult the Messenger of Allah, 
Allah bless him and give him peace, to see what he commands’. When she went and informed him, Allah, 
exalted is He, revealed this verse”.  
 
[4:24]
 
 
(And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess…) 
[4:24]. Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Bunani informed us> Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn Hamdan> Abu 
Ya‘la> ‘Amr al-Naqid> Abu Ahmad al-Zubayri> Sufyan> ‘Uthman al-Batti> Abu’l-Khalil> Abu Sa‘id al-Khudri 
who said: “We had captured female prisoners of war on the day of Awtas and because they were already 
married we disliked having any physical relationship with them. Then we asked the Prophet, Allah bless him 
and give him peace, about them. And the verse (And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those 
(captives) whom your right hands possess) was then revealed, as a result of which we consider it lawful to 
have a physical relationship with them”. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Harith informed us> ‘Abd 
Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja‘far> Abu Yahya> Sahl ibn ‘Uthman> ‘Abd al-Rahim> Ash‘ath ibn Sawwar> 
‘Uthman al-Batti> Abu’l-Khalil> Abu Sa‘id who said: “When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give 
him peace, captured the people of Awtas as prisoners of war we said: ‘O Prophet of Allah! How can we 
possibly have physical relationships with women whose lineage and husband we know very well?’ And so 
this verse was revealed (And all married women (are forbidden unto you) save those (captives) whom your 
right hands possess)”. Abu Bakr Muhammad ibn Ibrahim al-Farisi informed us> Muhammad ibn ‘Isa ibn 
‘Amrawayh> Ibrahim ibn Muhammad ibn Sufyan> Muslim ibn al-Hajjaj> ‘Ubayd Allah ibn ‘Umar al-Qawariri> 
Yazid ibn Zuray‘> Sa‘id ibn Abi ‘Arubah> Qatadah> Abu Salih Abu Khalil> Abu ‘Alqamah al-Hashimi> Abu 
Sa‘id al-Khudri who reported that on the day of Hunayn the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him 
peace, sent an army to Awtas. This army met the enemy in a battle, defeated them and captured many 
female prisoners from them. But some of the Companions of the Messenger, Allah bless him and give him 
peace, were uncomfortable about having physical relations with these prisoners because they had husbands 
who were idolaters, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed about this (And all married women (are forbidden 

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unto you) save those (captives) whom your right hands possess).  
 
[4:32]
 
 
(And covet not the thing in which Allah hath made some of you excel others…) [4:32] Isma‘il ibn Abi al-
Qasim al-Sufi informed us> Isma‘il ibn Najid> Ja‘far ibn Muhammad ibn Sawwar> Qutaybah> Sufyan ibn 
‘Uyaynah> Ibn Abi Najih> Mujahid who reported that Umm Salamah asked: “O Messenger of Allah! [how is 
it that] the men go out in military conquests and we do not; and how come we have half of the inheritance”. 
And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (And covet not the thing in which Allah hath made some of 
you excel others). Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-‘Aziz informed us> Muhammad ibn al-Husayn> Muhammad ibn 
Yahya ibn Yazid> Ishaq ibn Ibrahim> ‘Attab ibn Bashir> Khusayf> ‘Ikrimah who reported that the women 
asked about Jihad, saying: “We wish that Allah had prescribed military conquest for us so that we acquire 
the same reward that men do”, and so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse (And covet not the thing in 
which Allah hath made some of you excel others). Said Qatadah and al-Suddi: “When the words of Allah (… 
unto the male the equivalent of the share of two females…) [4:176], the men said: ‘We hope that we shall 
be preferred over women through our rewards in the Afterlife just as we were preferred over them in the 
division of estate so that our reward is double the reward of women’. The women, on the other hand, said: 
‘We hope that our onus will be half that of men in the Afterlife just as our share of estate is half that of men 
in this world’. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed (And covet not the thing in which Allah hath made some 
of you excel others)”.  
 
[4:33]
 
 
(And unto each We have appointed heirs and near kindred …) [4:33]. Abu ‘Abd Allah Muhammad ibn ‘Abd