Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:283
And if you are on a journey and cannot find a scribe, then a security deposit [should be] taken. And if one of you entrusts another, then let him who is entrusted discharge his trust [faithfully] and let him fear Allah, his Lord. And do not conceal testimony, for whoever conceals it - his heart is indeed sinful, and Allah is Knowing of what you do.
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 exposition of the interpretation of the word of Allah the Exalted: وَإِنْ كُنْتُمْ عَلَى سَفَرٍ وَلَمْ تَجِدُوا كَاتِبًا فَرِهَانٌ مَقْبُوضَةٌ (And if you are on a journey and do not find a scribe, then pledges taken in possession are in order) (2:283)
Abū Jaʿfar says: the reciters differed over the reading of this.
The reciters in all regions read (كَاتِبًا) — with the meaning: you find no one to record for you the deed of debt which you have contracted for a fixed term — "then pledges taken in possession are in order."
A group of the early scholars read: وَلَمْ تَجِدُوا كَاتِبًا — with the meaning: you had no means to draw up a deed of debt, whether through the absence of ink and parchment, or through the absence of a scribe even though you found ink and parchment.
The reading that, in our view, allows for no other is the reading of the regions: "you find no scribe" — with the meaning: someone who writes — for thus it stands in the muṣḥafs of the Muslims.
Allah — exalted be His praise — means thereby: if you, O you who contract debts, are on a journey in a place where you find no scribe to write for you, and you have no means to draw up the deed of debt for the debt which you have contracted for a fixed mutual term — the deed which I have commanded you to draw up and have witnessed — then take as security for your debts which you have contracted for the fixed term, pledges which you take into possession from your debtor, so that they may be security for you for your wealth.
Mention of who said this:
6435 — Al-Muthanná related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning the words "and if you are on a journey and do not find a scribe, then pledges taken in possession are in order": whoever is on a journey and concludes a transaction for a term but finds no scribe, for him the pledge is declared permissible; but if he finds a scribe it is not permitted to him to take a pledge.
6436 — It was related to me through ʿAmmār, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "and if you are on a journey and do not find a scribe" — he says: a scribe who writes for you — "then pledges taken in possession are in order."
6437 — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, he said: Yazīd informed us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk: everything that is sold for a term — Allah — mighty and majestic — commanded it to be written down and witnessed; that applies to the place of residence. If people are on a journey and trade with one another for a term but find no scribe — then pledges taken in possession are in order.
Mention of the statement of who interpreted this in accordance with the reading we have cited:
6438 — Abū Kurayb related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "if you do not find a kitāban" — he means by kitāb: the scribe, the parchment, the ink, and the pen.
6439 — Yaʿqūb related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: he read "if you do not find a kitāban" and said: sometimes a man found the parchment but found no scribe.
6440 — Yaʿqūb related to me, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ: Mujāhid read it as "if you do not find a kitāban" and said: sometimes the scribe was found but the parchment or the ink was not found — and statements of like import.
6441 — Al-Muthanná related to me, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and if you are on a journey and do not find a kitāban" — he says: no ink — he read it thus — he says: if you do not find ink, then this is the case for pledges taken in possession — "then pledges taken in possession are in order." He said: the pledge is only during travel.
6442 — Al-Muthanná related to me, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Zayd, on the authority of Shuʿayb ibn al-Ḥabḥāb: Abū al-ʿĀliya read it as "if you do not find a kitāban." Abū al-ʿĀliya said: the ink is found but the parchment is not.
The reciters also differed over the reading of فَرِهَانٌ مَقْبُوضَةٌ .
The majority of the reciters in the Ḥijāz and Iraq read فَرِهَانٌ مَقْبُوضَةٌ — as the plural of rahn (pledge), just as kibāsh is the plural of kabsh, bighāl the plural of baghl, and niʿāl the plural of naʿl.
Another group read فَرُهُنٌ مَقْبُوضَةٌ — as the plural of rihān, whereby ruhun is the plural of the plural. Some considered it the plural of rahna, like saqf and suquf.
Yet others read فَرُهْنٌ with a short hā — as the plural of rahna, just as saqf can be pluralized as suqf.
Abū Jaʿfar says: the most correct in the reading is that of him who read "farhānun maqbūḍatun" — for that is the well-known plural of what is on the pattern faʿl, just as one says: ḥablun wa-ḥibāl, kaʿbun wa-kiʿāb. The plural of faʿl on fuʿul or fuʿl is rare and exceptional. Those who read فَرُهْنٌ did so — as I suppose — because they encountered the word rihān in the context of horse-racing wagers and wished to avoid the word that coincides with that meaning.
The exposition of the interpretation of His words فَإِنْ أَمِنَ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا فَلْيُؤَدِّ الَّذِي اؤْتُمِنَ أَمَانَتَهُ وَلْيَتَّقِ اللَّهَ رَبَّهُ (but if some of you trust others, then let the one who is trusted fulfill his amānah and fear Allah, his Lord):
Allah — exalted be His praise — means thereby: if the debtor is trustworthy in the eyes of the creditor and he has not taken a pledge from him for his debt on account of his trustworthiness and his trust — "let him fear Allah, his Lord" — the debtor — he says: let him fear Allah his Lord regarding the debt of his companion that rests upon him: that he does not deny it, or seek to evade it, or seek to withhold it — for then he would expose himself to a chastisement from Allah which he cannot bear. Let him return his debt for which he trusted him to him.
We have already mentioned the statement of him who said: "this ruling of Allah — mighty and majestic — abrogates the rulings of the preceding verse regarding the command to bear witness and to draw up a written deed." We have already pointed out the most correct statement concerning that, so that repetition here is superfluous.
6443 — Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning the words "but if some of you trust others, then let the one who is trusted fulfill his amānah": he means thereby only: during travel; but in the place of residence — if he can find a scribe — it is not permitted to him to take a pledge nor to trust his companion.
Abū Jaʿfar says: what al-Ḍaḥḥāk said — that it is not permitted to the creditor to trust the debtor when there is a possibility of a scribe, a written deed, and witnessing, even though they are on a journey — that is correct, as we have already demonstrated.
But what he said about the pledge — that the pledge has the same regime as the trusting: that it is not permitted to the one entitled to take a pledge when he can find a scribe and a witness, whether in the place of residence or on a journey — that is a statement without basis. For there is an authoritative narration from the Prophet ﷺ:
6444 — that he bought food on credit and gave for it his coat of mail as a pledge.
It is therefore permissible for a man to give a pledge for what he owes and to receive a pledge for his right — on a journey and in the place of residence. For the Prophet ﷺ, at the moment he gave the mentioned pledge, was certainly not deprived of a scribe or witness, since these were never unavailable to him in his city at any time. But when they conclude a transaction with a pledge, it is obligatory upon them — when they can find a scribe and a witness, or the sale or debt is for a fixed term — that they write that down and have the wealth and the pledge witnessed. The omission of a written deed and witnessing is only permissible where they have no means to do so.
The exposition of the interpretation of His words وَلا تَكْتُمُوا الشَّهَادَةَ وَمَنْ يَكْتُمْهَا فَإِنَّهُ آثِمٌ قَلْبُهُ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ عَلِيمٌ (and do not conceal the testimony; whoever conceals it, his heart is sinful; and Allah is all-knowing of what you do) (2:283)
Abū Jaʿfar says: this is an address from Allah — mighty and majestic — to the witnesses whom He commanded the debtor and creditor to take; He said to them: وَلا يَأْبَ الشُّهَدَاءُ إِذَا مَا دُعُوا — do not conceal, O witnesses, your testimony from the judges after you have testified, just as you have testified concerning what you witnessed. But answer the one on whose behalf you testified when he calls you to give your testimony regarding his adversary before the judge who secures him his right.
Then Allah — exalted be His praise — informed the witness of what rests upon him on account of concealing his testimony and his refusal to give it when the one who appointed him as witness has need of his action before a judge or competent authority. He said: "and whoever conceals it" — that is: whoever conceals his testimony — "his heart is sinful" — that is: his heart is corrupt; he acquires through his concealment disobedience to Allah.
6445 — Al-Muthanná related to me, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, concerning the words "and do not conceal the testimony; whoever conceals it, his heart is sinful": it is not permitted to anyone to conceal a testimony resting with him, even if it is to the detriment of himself or his parents. Whoever conceals it commits a tremendous wrong.
6446 — Mūsā related to me, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning the words "whoever conceals it, his heart is sinful": he says: his heart is corrupt.
6447 — Al-Muthanná related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: he said: the greatest sins are the ascribing of partners to Allah (shirk) — for Allah says: إِنَّهُ مَنْ يُشْرِكْ بِاللَّهِ فَقَدْ حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِ الْجَنَّةَ وَمَأْوَاهُ النَّارُ [Al-Māʾida: 72] — and false testimony and the concealment of testimony, for Allah — mighty and majestic — says: "whoever conceals it, his heart is sinful."
6448 — Al-Muthanná related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: if a testimony rests with you and someone asks you about it, tell him about it; do not say "I will tell about it before the emir" — tell him about it now, for perhaps he will reconsider his stance or restrain himself.
His words "and Allah is all-knowing of what you do" — that is: of what you do in your testimonies: whether you give them and act upon them, or whether you conceal them when the one who appointed you as witness has need of them. And of other secret and public deeds — "all-knowing" — He records them against you so as to requite you for them with every recompense, whether good or evil, according to your desert.
