Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:220
To this world and the Hereafter. And they ask you about orphans. Say, "Improvement for them is best. And if you mix your affairs with theirs - they are your brothers. And Allah knows the corrupter from the amender. And if Allah had willed, He could have put you in difficulty. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His saying, mighty is His remembrance: And they ask you about the orphans. Say: setting their affairs right is better. And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers (2:220).
The exegetes of the Qurʾān differ concerning the occasion for which this verse was revealed.
Some of them said: it was revealed concerning those who set apart the property of the orphans who were under their charge, and who had an aversion to mixing with them in eating or in anything else. That was when the following was revealed: And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner (Sūrah al-Anʿām: 152), and His saying: Indeed, those who consume the property of the orphans unjustly (Sūrah al-Nisāʾ: 10).
* Mention of who said that:
4182 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Isrāʾīl, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: When the following was revealed: And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner (Sūrah al-Anʿām: 152, and al-Isrāʾ: 34), they set apart the property of the orphans. They mentioned that to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and then the following was revealed: "And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers, and Allah knows the corrupter from the reformer, and had Allah willed, He would have burdened you heavily." Thereupon they mixed with them.
4183 — Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: When the following was revealed: And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner, and Indeed, those who consume the property of the orphans unjustly consume only fire into their bellies, and they will burn in a blazing fire (Sūrah al-Nisāʾ: 10), everyone who had an orphan under his charge proceeded to set apart the orphan's food from his own food, and the orphan's drink from his own drink. Then something of the orphan's food would remain, and it would be kept for him until he ate it or until it spoiled. That weighed heavily upon them, and they mentioned that to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then Allah, mighty and exalted, revealed: "And they ask you about the orphans. Say: setting their affairs right is better. And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers." Thereupon they mixed their food with theirs and their drink with theirs.
4184 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd, who said: When the following was revealed: And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner, he said: We would prepare food for the orphan, and something of it would remain, and they would leave it lying until it spoiled. Then Allah revealed: "And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers."
4185 — Yaḥyā ibn Dāwud al-Wāsiṭī related to us, saying: Abū Usāma related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, who said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Laylā was asked about the property of the orphan, and he said: When the following was revealed: And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner, people avoided mixing with them, and guarded against everything, until they even guarded against the water. When "And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers" was revealed, he said: they mixed with them.
4186 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "And they ask you about the orphans," the whole verse, he said: Allah had before that revealed in "the Sūrah of the Children of Israel" (i.e. Sūrah al-Isrāʾ): And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner. That weighed heavily upon them, and so they did not mix with them, neither in eating, nor in anything else. That weighed heavily upon them, and then Allah revealed the relief and said: "And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers."
4187 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: When the following was revealed: And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner, the people held aloof from the orphans and did not mix with them, neither in eating, nor in drinking, nor in property. He said: That weighed heavily upon the people, and they asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then Allah, mighty and exalted, revealed: "And they ask you about the orphans. Say: setting their affairs right is better. And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers."
4188 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning His saying: "And they ask you about the orphans. Say: setting their affairs right is better. And if you mix with them," the verse, he said: We were told — and Allah knows best — that it was revealed concerning "the Children of Israel" (i.e. Sūrah al-Isrāʾ): And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner, until he reaches his maturity. That weighed heavily upon them, and so they did not mix with them, neither in eating, nor in drinking, nor in anything else. That weighed heavily upon them, and then Allah revealed the relief and said: "And they ask you about the orphans. Say: setting their affairs right is better. And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers." He says: mixing with them consists in riding the mount, drinking the milk, and the service of the servant. He says: the guardian who manages their affairs incurs no blame if he rides the mount, or drinks the milk, or has himself served by the servant.
* * *
And others said the following concerning this:
4189 — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to me, saying: ʿImrān ibn ʿUyayna related to us, saying: ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: Indeed, those who consume the property of the orphans unjustly consume only into their bellies the verse, he said: The orphan would be under the charge of a man, and he would set apart the orphan's food, drink, and vessels. That weighed heavily upon the Muslims, and then Allah revealed: "And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers, and Allah knows the corrupter from the reformer." Thereby He permitted them mixing with them.
4190 — Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth related to us, saying: Ashʿath related to us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, who said: When this verse was revealed: Indeed, those who consume the property of the orphans unjustly consume only fire into their bellies, and they will burn in a blazing fire, he said: Then the people shunned the orphans, and the man proceeded to set apart the orphan's food from his own food, and the orphan's property from his own property, and the orphan's drink from his own drink. He said: That weighed heavily upon the people, and then the following was revealed: "And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers, and Allah knows the corrupter from the reformer." Al-Shaʿbī said: So whoever mixes with an orphan, let him be openhanded toward him; and whoever mixes with him in order to eat from his property, let him not do so.
4191 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwud related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "And they ask you about the orphans. Say: setting their affairs right is better." That was because, when Allah revealed: Indeed, those who consume the property of the orphans unjustly consume only fire into their bellies, and they will burn in a blazing fire, the Muslims became averse to taking the orphans into their care, and they avoided mixing with them in any respect. They asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and then Allah revealed: "Say: setting their affairs right is better. And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers."
4192 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: I asked ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ about His saying: "And they ask you about the orphans. Say: setting their affairs right is better. And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers." He said: When "Sūrah al-Nisāʾ" was revealed, the people set apart their food and did not mix with them. He said: Then they came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: It weighs heavily upon us to set apart the food of the orphans while they eat with us! Then the following was revealed: "And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers." Ibn Jurayj said: And Mujāhid said: They set apart their food from their own food, and their milk from their own milk, and their seasoning (adam) from their own seasoning. That weighed heavily upon them, and then the following was revealed: "And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers." He said: mixing with the orphan in the pastures and the seasoning. Ibn Jurayj said: And Ibn ʿAbbās said: the milk, the service of the servant, and riding the mount. Ibn Jurayj said: and in the dwellings; he said: and the dwellings in that time were scarce.
4193 — Muḥammad ibn Sinān related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Ḥasan al-Ashqar related to us, saying: Abū Kudayna informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: When the following was revealed: And do not approach the property of the orphan except in the best manner and Indeed, those who consume the property of the orphans unjustly, he said: the people shunned the property and the food of the orphan, until it spoiled, whether it was meat or something else. That weighed heavily upon the people, and they complained about that to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then Allah revealed: "And they ask you about the orphans. Say: setting their affairs right is better."
4194 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd — or: ʿĪsā, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd; Abū ʿĀṣim was uncertain — on the authority of Mujāhid: "And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers." He said: mixing with the orphan in the grazing (of the cattle) and the seasoning.
* * *
And others said: Rather, guarding against and shunning the property of the orphan was among the customs of the Arabs, and so they sought a ruling concerning this on account of its difficulty, and they were given a ruling with what Allah has made clear in His Book.
* Mention of who said that:
4195 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And they ask you about the orphans. Say: setting their affairs right is better. And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers, and Allah knows the corrupter from the reformer." He said: The Arabs were severe concerning the orphan, such that they would not eat with him from one dish, nor ride a camel for him, nor employ a servant for him. Then they came to the Prophet ﷺ and asked him about this, and he said: "Say: setting their affairs right is better" — putting his property and his affair right for him is better; and if he mixes with him and eats with him and feeds him and rides his mount and takes him (the orphan) along and employs his servant and serves him (the orphan), then that is more excellent. And Allah knows the corrupter from the reformer.
4196 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "And they ask you about the orphans. Say: setting their affairs right is better" up to Indeed, Allah is Almighty, All-Wise: When one of them had an orphan under his charge, he would set the orphan's food on one side and the orphan's milk on the other side, out of fear of sin. And the believers were stricken with hardship, such that they did not have the means to appoint servants for the orphans. Then Allah said: "Say: setting their affairs right is better. And if you mix with them," to the end of the verse.
4197 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying: "And they ask you about the orphans": In the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya) they used to regard the affair of the orphan as grave, and so they would not touch anything of their property, nor ride a mount of theirs, nor feed them food. Then in Islam a severe hardship struck them, until they had need of the property of the orphans. Thereupon they asked the Prophet of Allah ﷺ about the affair of the orphans and about mixing with them, and then Allah revealed: "And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers." By "mixing" is meant: riding the mount, the service of the servant, and drinking the milk.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The meaning of the verse is then: And your companions ask you, O Muḥammad, about the property of the orphans, and about mixing their own property with it in expenditures, eating together, drinking together, dwelling together, and service. Say then to them: your beneficence toward them by putting their property right — without diminishing anything of their property, and without taking a compensation from their property for putting it right for them — is better for you with Allah and yields you a greater reward, on account of the recompense and the reward therein for you; and it is better for them as regards their property in their immediate worldly life, on account of their property being preserved for them. "And if you mix with them" — that you share their property with your property in your expenditures, your meals, your drinks, and your dwellings, and that you take from their property a compensation for your tending to their affairs and matters and putting their property right — then they are your brothers, and brothers help one another and protect one another: the one who has property helps the needy, and the one who has strength in his body helps the weak. He, exalted is His remembrance, says: Well then, you, O believers, and your orphans are likewise. If you mix with them with your property — so that you mix your food with their food, and your drink with their drink, and the rest of your property with their property — and you thereby derive from their property a surplus of ease on account of your tending to their property and guardianship, and your striving for their affairs, with regard for them in the manner of the tender brother toward his brother, who does between him and him what Allah has imposed and obligated upon him — then that is permitted to you, because you are brothers of one another, as:
4198 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: "And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers." He said: a man sometimes mixes (in affairs) with his brother.
4199 — Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Miskīn, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, who said: It is truly an aversion to me that the property of the orphan should be like impurity (that one shuns).
4200 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Hishām al-Dastawāʾī, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, who said: It is truly an aversion to me that the property of the orphan should be with me like impurity, such that I mix his food with my food and his drink with my drink.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: Now if someone were to say to us: And how is it that He said: "fa-ikhwānukum" (then they are your brothers), and placed "the brothers" in the nominative (rafʿ)? Whereas in another place He said: fa-rijālan aw rukbānan (then on foot or riding) (Sūrah al-Baqarah: 239), in the accusative?
The answer is: on account of the difference in the meaning of the two. That is because the orphans of the believers are the brothers of the believers, whether the believers mix with them with their property or not. The meaning of the saying is thus: and if you mix with them, then they are your brothers. And "the brothers" is in the nominative on account of the omitted meaning, namely "hum" (they), because the sentence points to it; and it is not intended by "the brothers" to report that they became brothers on account of their guardians mixing with them. Had that been intended, the reading would have been in the accusative, and the meaning of that would then be: and if you mix with them, mix then with your brothers. But it is read in the nominative for the reason I described: namely that they are brothers of the believers who manage them, whether they mix with them or not.
As for His saying fa-rijālan aw rukbānan, it is in the accusative, because both are adverbial states (ḥāl) attached to the verb, which are not permanent, and to which "hu" (he) does not fit. That is because, if you were to make "hu" appear with it, the sentence would become impossible. Do you not see that, if someone were to say: "If you fear from your enemy that you pray standing, then he is on foot or riding," the intended meaning of the sentence would be nullified? That is because the explanation of the sentence is: and if you fear to pray standing on account of your enemy, pray then on foot or riding. Therefore it is in the accusative, building upon the sentence that precedes it, just as in a comparable sentence you say: "If you wear clothing, then the white," placing it in the accusative, because you mean: if you wear clothing, wear then the white — and you do not mean to report that all clothing that is worn is white. And had you wished to report that, you would say in the nominative: "If you wear clothing, then it is the white," since the import of the sentence takes the form of a report on your part about the wearer, namely that all clothing that is worn is white. For then you mean: if you wear clothing, then it is white.
If he were to say: Is the accusative then permitted in His saying "fa-ikhwānukum"?
The answer is: in (pure) Arabic that is permitted. But as for the reading (of the Qurʾān), we have forbidden it only on account of the consensus of the reciters upon its nominative. And as for the Arabic, we have permitted it only because it is fitting therein to repeat the verb that is carried in the preceding for both: "and if you mix with them, then they are the brothers with whom you mix" — and that is then permitted in the language of the Arabs.
* * *
The explanation of the saying of Him, the Exalted: And Allah knows the corrupter from the reformer.
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His remembrance, means by it: Indeed, your Lord has permitted you mixing with the orphans in the manner in which He has permitted it to you; so fear Allah within yourselves, lest you mix with them while intending to consume their property unjustly, and you make your mixing with them a pretext to corrupt their property and consume it in an unlawful manner, and you thereby deserve from Him the punishment that you cannot withstand. For He knows, of whoever among you mixes with his orphan — and shares with him in his eating, his drinking, his dwelling, his service, and his pasture during his mixing with him — what he intends by that mixing: the corrupting of the orphan's property and consuming it in an unlawful manner, or putting it right and causing it to grow? For nothing of that escapes Him, and He knows who among you intends putting the orphan's property right, from who intends corrupting it. As:
4201 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the saying of Allah, exalted is His remembrance: "And Allah knows the corrupter from the reformer," he said: Allah knows when you mix your property with his property: whether you wish to reform his property, or to corrupt it and thus consume it in an unlawful manner?
4202 — Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn Ghiyāth related to us, saying: Ashʿath related to us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī: "And Allah knows the corrupter from the reformer," al-Shaʿbī said: Whoever mixes with an orphan, let him be openhanded toward him; and whoever mixes with him in order to consume his property, let him not do so.
* * *
The explanation of the saying of Him, the Exalted: And had Allah willed, He would have burdened you heavily.
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His remembrance, means by it: and had Allah willed, He would have forbidden what He has permitted you, namely the mixing of your orphans with your property (into) their property, and that would have burdened you heavily and oppressed you, and you would not have been able to accomplish what is obligatory upon you of the right of Allah, the Exalted, and of what is imposed upon you therein of His prescription. But He has permitted it to you and made it easy for you, out of mercy toward you and out of compassion.
* * *
And the exegetes differ concerning the explanation of His saying "la-aʿnatakum" (He would have burdened you heavily). Some of them said the following:
4203 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related it to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd — or: ʿĪsā, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd — on the authority of Mujāhid; Abū ʿĀṣim was uncertain; concerning the saying of Allah, exalted is His remembrance: "And had Allah willed, He would have burdened you heavily": He would have forbidden you the grazing and the seasoning.
Abū Jaʿfar said: Mujāhid means by it: the grazing of the cattle of the guardian of the orphan together with the cattle of the orphan, and eating of his seasoning. For he explained His saying And if you mix with them, then they are your brothers thus, that it concerns the mixing of the guardian with the orphan in the grazing and the seasoning.
* * *
4204 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwud related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And had Allah willed, He would have burdened you heavily," he says: had Allah willed, He would have straitened you and made it difficult for you, but He made (it) ample and easy and said: And whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him eat in a reasonable manner (Sūrah al-Nisāʾ: 6).
4205 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "And had Allah willed, He would have burdened you heavily," he says: He would have oppressed you, such that you would not accomplish any right and would not fulfill any obligation.
4206 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, something similar — except that he said: such that you would not act according to any right.
4207 — Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And had Allah willed, He would have burdened you heavily": He would have made it heavy for you.
4208 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the saying of Allah: "And had Allah willed, He would have burdened you heavily," he said: He would have made it heavy for you in the matter. That is "al-ʿanat" (the heavy burden).
4209 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "And had Allah willed, He would have burdened you heavily," he said: and had Allah willed, He would have made what you obtained of the property of the orphans something destructive.
* * *
And these sayings that we have mentioned from those from whom I have mentioned them — even though the wordings of their spokesmen differ therein — are close to one another in their meanings. For whoever is forbidden something is straitened in that respect; and whoever is straitened in something is oppressed therein; and whoever is oppressed or straitened in something is wearied. All of that returns to the meaning I described, namely that the meaning of it is: heaviness and difficulty.
Therefore it is said: "ʿanita fulān" — when the matter weighs heavily upon him and wearies him — "fa-huwa yaʿnatu ʿanatan," as He, exalted is His remembrance, said: Grievous to him is that which wearies you (Sūrah al-Tawba: 128), that is to say: that which weighs heavily upon you and torments you and wearies you. And among that is also His saying, exalted is His remembrance: That is for whoever of you fears the heavy burden (al-ʿanat) (Sūrah al-Nisāʾ: 25). This, then, is when the one who is burdened is himself oppressed. But when another makes him so, it is said: "aʿnatahu fulān fī kadhā" — when he wearies him and imposes upon him a matter whose accomplishment wearies him — "yuʿnituhu iʿnātan." So too is His saying "la-aʿnatakum," the meaning of which is: had He brought about for you the heavy burden by forbidding you what wearies you and straitens you, namely what you are not able to fulfill as regards shunning it and discharging the obligation resting upon you therein.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: He would have ruined you and destroyed you.
* Mention of who said that:
4210 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ṭalq ibn Ghannām related to us, on the authority of Zāʾida, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: He recited to us: "And had Allah willed, He would have burdened you heavily." Ibn ʿAbbās said: and had Allah willed, He would have made what you obtained of the property of the orphans something destructive.
4211 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ādam related to us, on the authority of Fuḍayl — and Jarīr, on the authority of Manṣūr — and Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr — on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And had Allah willed, He would have burdened you heavily," he said: He would have made what you obtained something destructive.
* * *
The explanation of the saying of Him, the Exalted: Indeed, Allah is Almighty, All-Wise (220).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted is His remembrance, means by it: Indeed, Allah is "Almighty" (ʿazīz) in His sovereignty; no hinderer hinders Him in what He would bring down upon you of punishment, had He burdened you heavily with what the accomplishment of it wearies you of His obligations and you fell short therein; and no repeller is able to repel Him from that, nor from anything else that He would do with you and with others of that, were He to do it. But He has, out of the abundance of His mercy, bestowed upon you the favor by refraining from imposing that upon you. And He is "All-Wise" (ḥakīm) therein — were He to do it with you — and in all His other rulings and governance; into His deeds enters no defect, nor shortcoming, nor weakness, nor imperfection, because it is the deed of the Possessor of wisdom, who does not neglect the consequences of matters such that a blameworthy consequence would enter into His governance, as that enters into the deeds of the creatures on account of their ignorance of the consequences of matters, on account of their poor choice therein from the outset.
