Tafseer of The Family of Imraan · Aal-i-Imraan · 3:136
Those - their reward is forgiveness from their Lord and gardens beneath which rivers flow [in Paradise], wherein they will abide eternally; and excellent is the reward of the [righteous] workers.
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 statement: وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ ذَكَرُوا اللَّهَ فَاسْتَغْفَرُوا لِذُنُوبِهِمْ وَمَنْ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ إِلا اللَّهُ وَلَمْ يُصِرُّوا عَلَى مَا فَعَلُوا وَهُمْ يَعْلَمُونَ (135) (And those who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves, remember Allah and then ask forgiveness for their sins — and who forgives sins except Allah? — and who do not persist in what they did, while they know).
Abū Jaʿfar said: by His statement, exalted is His praise, "and those who, when they commit an indecency," He means that the Paradise (janna) whose condition He described is prepared for the God-fearing, who spend in prosperity and in adversity, and who, when they commit an indecency. And all these characteristics belong to the description of "the God-fearing," concerning whom He, exalted is His mention, said: وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ (and a Paradise whose breadth is equal to the heavens and the earth, prepared for the God-fearing), as in:
7844 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān informed us, on the authority of Thābit al-Bunānī, who said: I heard al-Ḥasan reciting this verse: الَّذِينَ يُنْفِقُونَ فِي السَّرَّاءِ وَالضَّرَّاءِ وَالْكَاظِمِينَ الْغَيْظَ وَالْعَافِينَ عَنِ النَّاسِ وَاللَّهُ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ (those who spend in prosperity and in adversity, and who restrain their wrath and pardon people; and Allah loves the doers of good), after which he recited: "and those who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves, remember Allah and then ask forgiveness for their sins," up to "the reward of the workers," and he said: these two descriptions are indeed the description of one and the same man.
7845 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and those who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves," he said: these are two sins — "the indecency" is one sin, and "they wrong themselves" is one sin.
* * *
As for "the indecency (al-fāḥisha)," it is an adjectival qualifier of an omitted noun, and the meaning of the statement is: and those who, when they commit an indecent deed.
* * *
And the meaning of "the indecency" is the abominable deed that goes beyond what Allah, Mighty and Exalted, has permitted. The origin of "al-fuḥsh" is: the abominable, and the exceeding of the limit and measure in any matter. From this it is said of one excessively tall: "he is fāḥish al-ṭūl (abominably tall)," meaning: abominable in height, exceeding the pleasing measure. From this it is said of abominable, unrestrained speech: "kalām fāḥish (foul speech)," and of one who utters it, it is said: "he was foul (afḥasha) in his speech," when he utters something foul.
* * *
And it has been said: that "the indecency" in this place means fornication (zinā).
*Mention of who said that:
7846 — al-ʿAbbās ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīm related to us, saying: Ḥabbān related to us, saying: Ḥammād related to us, on the authority of Thābit, on the authority of Jābir: "and those who, when they commit an indecency," he said: they committed fornication, by the Lord of the Kaʿba.
7847 — Muḥammad related to us, saying: Aḥmad related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and those who, when they commit an indecency," as for "the indecency," that is fornication (zinā).
* * *
And His statement: "or wrong themselves" — by it He means: they did to themselves that which it was not fitting for them to do to themselves. And what they did of that was their committing disobedience to Allah by which they brought His punishment upon themselves, as in:
7848 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning His statement: "and those who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves," he said: the wrong belongs to the indecency, and the indecency belongs to the wrong.
* * *
And His statement: "remember Allah" — by it He means: they remember Allah's threat against what they have committed of disobedience to Him — "and then ask forgiveness for their sins," He says: they ask their Lord to cover their sins for them by sparing them the punishment for them — "and who forgives sins except Allah," He says: and who forgives sins — that is, releases the one who commits them from them and covers them for him — except Allah? — "and who do not persist in what they did," He says: and they did not persist in their sins which they had committed, and their disobedience which they had committed — "while they know," He says: they did not deliberately persist in their sins, while they knew that Allah had already forbidden that and had threatened the one who commits them with punishment.
* * *
And it has been mentioned that this verse was revealed specifically with its lightening and ease for our community, in contrast to that with which the Children of Israel were tried of grievous calamity on account of their sins.
7849 — al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ: that they said: O Prophet of Allah, the Children of Israel were dearer to Allah than we are! When one of them committed a sin, in the morning the expiation for his sin would be found written on the threshold of his door: "cut off your ear," "cut off your nose," "do such-and-such"! Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fell silent, whereupon it was revealed: وَسَارِعُوا إِلَى مَغْفِرَةٍ مِنْ رَبِّكُمْ وَجَنَّةٍ عَرْضُهَا السَّمَاوَاتُ وَالأَرْضُ أُعِدَّتْ لِلْمُتَّقِينَ (and hasten toward forgiveness from your Lord and toward a Paradise whose breadth is equal to the heavens and the earth, prepared for the God-fearing), up to His statement: "and those who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves, remember Allah and then ask forgiveness for their sins," whereupon the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Shall I not inform you of something better than that?" and he recited these verses.
7850 — al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: ʿUmar ibn Abī Khalīfa al-ʿAbdī related to me, saying: ʿAlī ibn Zayd ibn Jadʿān related to us, saying: Ibn Masʿūd said: the Children of Israel, when they sinned, in the morning the sin and its expiation would be found written on his door, but something better than that has been given to us: this verse.
7851 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of Thābit al-Bunānī, who said: when there was revealed: وَمَنْ يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُ (and whoever does evil or wrongs himself), Iblīs wept out of dismay at this verse.
7852 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān informed us, on the authority of Thābit al-Bunānī, who said: it has reached me that Iblīs, when this verse was revealed: "and those who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves," wept.
7853 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard ʿUthmān, the freedman of the family of Abū ʿAqīl al-Thaqafī, say: I heard ʿAlī ibn Rabīʿa narrate, on the authority of a man from Fazāra called Asmāʾ — or: Ibn Asmāʾ — on the authority of ʿAlī, who said: when I heard something from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Allah benefited me by it with whatever He willed should benefit me [from it]. Abū Bakr narrated to me — and Abū Bakr spoke the truth — on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, he said: "There is no servant — Shuʿba said: and I think he said: Muslim — who commits a sin, and then performs the ablution (wuḍūʾ), and then prays two rakʿas, and then asks Allah for forgiveness for that sin, [but that it is forgiven him]." And Shuʿba said: and he recited one of these two verses: مَنْ يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا يُجْزَ بِهِ (whoever does evil shall be requited for it) (وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُوا فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُوا أَنْفُسَهُمْ) (and those who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves).
7854 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us = and al-Faḍl ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us = on the authority of Misʿar and Sufyān, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn al-Mughīra al-Thaqafī, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Rabīʿa al-Wālibī, on the authority of Asmāʾ ibn al-Ḥakam al-Fazārī, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, who said: when I heard a tradition from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, Allah benefited me by it with whatever He willed from it; and when someone else narrated something to me on his authority, I made him swear an oath, and when he swore to me, I believed him. And Abū Bakr narrated to me — and Abū Bakr spoke the truth — that he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: there is no man who commits a sin and then performs the ablution, and then prays — one of the two said: two rakʿas, and the other said: "and then prays" — and asks Allah for forgiveness, but that it is forgiven him.
7855 — al-Zubayr ibn Bakkār related to us, saying: Saʿd ibn Saʿīd ibn Abī Saʿīd al-Maqburī related to me, on the authority of his brother, on the authority of his grandfather, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, that he said: no one narrated to me anything on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ but that I asked him to swear to me by Allah that he had truly heard it from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, except Abū Bakr, for he used not to lie. ʿAlī, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Abū Bakr narrated to me that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: there is no servant who commits a sin and then, upon remembering his sin, rises and performs the ablution, and then prays two rakʿas, and asks Allah for forgiveness for that sin, but that Allah forgives it for him.
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As for His statement "remember Allah and then ask forgiveness for their sins," that is as we have set forth in its explanation.
And in that sense the people of exegesis used to speak:
7856 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, saying: Ibn Isḥāq related to us: "and those who, when they commit an indecency," that is: if they commit an indecency — "or wrong themselves" through disobedience, they remember Allah's prohibition of that, and what Allah has forbidden them, and ask forgiveness for it, and they acknowledged that none forgives sins except Him.
* * *
As for His statement: "and who forgives sins except Allah," the name "Allah" is in the nominative and is not preceded by a negation. One places what comes after "illā (except)" in the nominative only by making it follow what precedes it, when that is indefinite and there is a negation with it, as in the statement: "there is no one in the house except your brother (mā fī al-dāri aḥadun illā akhūka)." But when one says: "the people stood up, except your father (qāma al-qawmu illā abāka)," then in "the father" the accusative is the usual form. And "man (who)" with its relative clause in His statement "and who forgives sins except Allah" is definite. That it came here in the nominative is because the meaning of the statement is: and does anyone forgive sins — or: none forgives sins except Allah. Thus what comes after "illā," [the name] "Allah," was placed in the nominative, according to the meaning of the statement and not according to its wording.
* * *
As for His statement: "and who do not persist in what they did, while they know" — the people of exegesis differed over the explanation of "the persisting (al-iṣrār)" and the meaning of this word.
Some of them said: the meaning of it is: they did not cling to the sins they had committed and they did not persist in them, but they repented and asked for forgiveness, as Allah has described them.
*Mention of who said that:
7857 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "and who do not persist in what they did, while they know" — so beware of persisting, for indeed the persisters have perished, those who plunge blindly forward: the fear of Allah does not restrain them from anything forbidden that Allah has forbidden them, and they show no repentance for a sin they commit, until death overtakes them while they are in that state.
7858 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "and who do not persist in what they did, while they know"? He said: forward, forward in disobedience to Allah!! The fear of Allah does not restrain them, until the command of Allah comes upon them.
7859 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "and who do not persist in what they did, while they know," that is: they did not persist in disobedience to Me, like the conduct of those who associate partners with Me, in what they committed of disbelief in Me.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: they did not commit the sin when they resolved to commit it.
*Mention of who said that:
7860 — al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His statement: "and who do not persist in what they did," he said: the servant's committing a sin is persisting, until he repents.
7861 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the statement of Allah, Mighty and Exalted: "and who do not persist in what they did," he said: they did not commit it.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of "the persisting" is keeping silent about the sin and failing to ask forgiveness.
*Mention of who said that:
7862 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and who do not persist in what they did, while they know," as for "they persist," that is: they keep silent and do not ask forgiveness.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: the correct of the statements herein, according to us, is the statement of the one who said: "the persisting (al-iṣrār)" is the deliberate clinging to the sin and the failure to repent of it. And there is no basis for the statement of the one who said: "persisting in the sin is committing it," for Allah, Mighty and Exalted, praised the abstention from persisting in the sin on the part of the one who commits the sin, and said: "and those who, when they commit an indecency or wrong themselves, remember Allah and then ask forgiveness for their sins — and who forgives sins except Allah? — and who do not persist in what they did, while they know." And if the one who commits the sin were a persister by his committing of it, then asking for forgiveness would have no intelligible meaning. For asking forgiveness for a sin is precisely repentance over it and regret, and one knows no meaning for asking forgiveness for a sin that the one it concerns has not committed.
And it has been related from the Prophet ﷺ that he said: "He who asks forgiveness has not persisted, even if he returns [to the sin] seventy times a day."
7863 — This al-Ḥusayn ibn Yazīd al-Sabīʿī related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Ḥamīd al-Ḥimmānī related to us, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn Wāqid, on the authority of Abū Naṣīra, on the authority of a freedman of Abū Bakr, on the authority of Abū Bakr, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
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So if the one who commits the sin were a persister, then his statement "he who asks forgiveness has not persisted, even if he returns seventy times a day" would have no meaning. For if the committing of the sin itself were the persisting, then another meaning would not remove the designation that attaches to him — just as from the fornicator (zānī) the designation "fornicator," and from the killer the designation "killer," is not removed by his repentance over it, nor by any other meaning. And this tradition has made clear that whoever asks forgiveness for his sin is not a persister therein; from this, then, it is known that "the persisting" is something other than the committing, and that it is the clinging to it, in accordance with what we have said earlier.
* * *
And the people of exegesis differed over the explanation of His statement: "while they know."
Some of them said: the meaning of it is: while they know that they have sinned.
*Mention of who said that:
7864 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: as for "while they know," that is: they know that they have sinned, and then they persisted and did not ask forgiveness.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: while they know that what they have committed is a disobedience to Allah.
*Mention of who said that:
7865 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "while they know," he said: they know what I have forbidden them of worshipping anything other than Me.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: we have already set forth which of these is the correct one.