Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:118
Whom Allah has cursed. For he had said, "I will surely take from among Your servants a specific portion.
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 word: "And I will surely lead them astray, and I will surely fill them with false hopes, and I will surely command them so that they shall slit the ears of the cattle."
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted means by His word, in which He recounts the saying of the rebellious satan whose characteristic He has described in this verse: "And I will surely lead them astray," that is: I will surely turn away the allotted portion that I take for myself from Your servants from the path of guidance toward error, and from Islam toward unbelief (kufr) — "and I will surely fill them with false hopes," that is: I will surely turn them away — by the desires that I place in their souls — from Your obedience and Your Oneness, toward my obedience and the assigning of partners to You (shirk) — "and I will surely command them so that they shall slit the ears of the cattle," that is: and I will surely command the portion of Your servants allotted to me to worship something other than You, namely the idols and the partners, until they sacrifice to him, and declare forbidden and permitted on his behalf, and prescribe something other than what You have prescribed for them, so that they follow me and disobey You.
* * *
And "the slitting" (al-batk) is the cutting off, and it means in this place: the cutting off of the ear of the baḥīra so that one knows that she is a baḥīra.
The evil one meant by this only that he invites them to the baḥīra, whereupon they heed him and act accordingly in obedience to him.
* * *
And in agreement with what we have said about this, the exegetes of the Qurʾān (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
10445 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "so that they shall slit the ears of the cattle," he said: the slitting concerns the baḥīra and the sāʾiba; they slit their ears for their false deities (ṭawāghīt).
10446 — 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, concerning his word: "and I will surely command them so that they shall slit the ears of the cattle," as for "they slit the ears of the cattle," that is: they cut into them, and make them into a baḥīra.
10447 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza informed me, on the authority of ʿIkrima: "so that they shall slit the ears of the cattle," he said: a religion that Iblīs prescribed for them, after the manner of the baḥīras and the sāʾibas.
* * *
The explanation of His word: "And I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah."
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes of the Qurʾān differed concerning the meaning of His word: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah."
Some of them said: the meaning of it is: and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah among the animals by castrating them (ikhṣāʾ).
* Mention of who said that:
10448 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn Abī ʿAmmār, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: that he abhorred castration and said: concerning this was revealed: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah."
10449 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Dāwūd related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Anas: that he abhorred castration and said: concerning this was revealed: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah."
10450 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, he said: it is castration, alluding to the word of Allah: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah."
10451 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of Muṭarrif, he said: a man related to me, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the castration of animals is a mutilation (muthla)! Then he recited: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah."
10452 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī informed us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, he said: among the changing of the creation of Allah is castration.
10453 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: Shubayl informed me: that he heard Shahr ibn Ḥawshab recite this verse: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: it is castration. He said: then I charged Abū al-Tayyāḥ to ask al-Ḥasan about the castration of sheep, whereupon he said: there is no objection to that.
10454 — Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: my uncle Wahb ibn Nāfiʿ related to us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, he said: Mujāhid charged me to ask ʿIkrima about his word: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah," so I asked him, and he said: it is castration.
10455 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Jabbār ibn Ward, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, he said: Mujāhid said to me: ask ʿIkrima about it: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," so I asked him and he said: it is castration. Mujāhid said: what is the matter with him, may Allah curse him! By Allah, he knew very well that it is something other than castration. Then he said: ask him. So I asked him, whereupon ʿIkrima said: have you not listened to the word of Allah, the Blessed and Exalted: فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ("The natural disposition of Allah, upon which He created mankind; there is no change in the creation of Allah") [sūrat al-Rūm: 30]? He said: that is the religion of Allah. Then I related this to Mujāhid, whereupon he said: what is the matter with him, may Allah disgrace him!
10456 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ related to us, on the authority of Layth, he said: ʿIkrima said: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: it is castration.
10457 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Hārūn al-Naḥwī related to us, saying: Maṭar al-Warrāq related to us, saying: ʿIkrima was asked about his word: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: it is castration.
10458 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, he said: it is castration.
10459 — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ ibn Anas, he said: I heard Anas ibn Mālik say concerning his word: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: among that is castration.
10460 — ʿAmr related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the same.
10461 — Ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn Abī ʿAmmār, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, the same.
10462 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Hishām related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of ʿIkrima: that he abhorred castration, he said: and concerning this was revealed: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah."
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: and I will surely command them so that they shall change the religion of Allah.
* Mention of who said that:
10463 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning his word: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the religion of Allah.
10464 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān and Abū Aḥmad related to us, both of them saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the religion of Allah.
10465 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Qays ibn Muslim related to me, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, the same.
10466 — Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Qays ibn Muslim, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, the same.
10467 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, the same.
10468 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: my uncle related to us, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, he said: I informed Mujāhid of the saying of ʿIkrima concerning his word: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the religion of Allah.
10469 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Muslim ibn Ibrāhīm related to us, saying: Hārūn al-Naḥwī related to us, saying: Maṭar al-Warrāq related to us, saying: I mentioned to Mujāhid the saying of ʿIkrima concerning his word: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah," whereupon he said: the slave has lied! "And I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the religion of Allah.
10470 — Ibn Wakīʿ and ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, both of them saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, on the authority of Mujāhid and ʿIkrima, both of them saying: the religion of Allah.
10471 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: al-Muḥāribī and Ḥafṣ related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: the religion of Allah. Then he recited: ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ ("That is the upright religion") [sūrat al-Rūm: 30].
10472 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr and ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, both of them saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning his word: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the natural disposition (al-fiṭra), the religion of Allah.
10473 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the natural disposition, the religion.
10474 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr informed me: that he heard Mujāhid say: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the religion of Allah.
10475 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," that is: the religion of Allah, according to the saying of al-Ḥasan and Qatāda.
10476 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the religion of Allah.
10477 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAbd al-Malik related to us, on the authority of ʿUthmān ibn al-Aswad, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza, concerning his word: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the religion of Allah.
10478 — 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 I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: as for "the creation of Allah," that is the religion of Allah.
10479 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān related to us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning his word: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the religion of Allah, and that is the word of Allah: فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ("The natural disposition of Allah, upon which He created mankind; there is no change in the creation of Allah") [sūrat al-Rūm: 30], he says: for the religion of Allah.
10480 — Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: I heard Ibn Zayd say concerning his word: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the religion of Allah. And he recited: لا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ("there is no change in the creation of Allah"), he said: for the religion of Allah.
10481 — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: Qays ibn Muslim related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the religion of Allah.
10482 — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Muʿādh ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: ʿImrān ibn Ḥudayr related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā ibn Hilāl, he said: Kathīr, the freed slave of Ibn Samura, wrote to al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim to ask him about his word: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," whereupon he wrote: "it is the religion of Allah."
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah" by tattooing (al-washm).
* Mention of who said that:
10483 — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning his word: "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the tattoo.
10484 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, on the authority of Nūḥ ibn Qays, on the authority of Khālid ibn Qays, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the tattoo.
10485 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to me, saying: Yūnus ibn ʿUbayd or another informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: "so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the tattoo.
10486 — Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Abū Hilāl al-Rāsibī related to us, saying: a man asked al-Ḥasan: what do you say about a woman who has scraped her face (qasharat)? He said: what is the matter with her, may Allah curse her! She has changed the creation of Allah!
10487 — Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: ʿAbd Allāh said: Allah has cursed the women who file their teeth apart, the women who pluck out facial hair, and the women who have themselves tattooed — those who change the creation of Allah.
10488 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAlqama, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, he said: Allah has cursed the women who sharpen their teeth, the women who have themselves tattooed, the women who pluck out facial hair, and the women who file their teeth apart for the sake of beauty — those who change the creation of Allah.
10489 — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, on the authority of ʿAlqama, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, he said: Allah has cursed the women who pluck out facial hair and the women who file their teeth apart. Shuʿba said: and I think that he said: those who change the creation of Allah.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most correct of the sayings in the explanation of it is the saying of him who said: its meaning is "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah," he said: the religion of Allah. That is because of the indication of the other verse that this is its meaning, namely His word: فِطْرَةَ اللَّهِ الَّتِي فَطَرَ النَّاسَ عَلَيْهَا لا تَبْدِيلَ لِخَلْقِ اللَّهِ ذَلِكَ الدِّينُ الْقَيِّمُ ("The natural disposition of Allah, upon which He created mankind; there is no change in the creation of Allah; that is the upright religion") [sūrat al-Rūm: 30].
And when that is its meaning, then there falls under it the doing of everything that Allah has forbidden: of castrating what may not be castrated, tattooing what He has forbidden to tattoo, and filing the teeth apart, and other sins — and there also falls under it the omitting of everything that Allah has commanded. For there exists no doubt that the satan calls to all disobedience to Allah and forbids all obedience to Him. That is the meaning of his command to the portion allotted to him of the servants of Allah to change what Allah has created of His religion.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: There is therefore no ground for the opinion of him who explains His word "and I will surely command them so that they shall change the creation of Allah" as a promise by the commander to change a part of what Allah has forbidden, to the exclusion of another part, or a part of what He has commanded, to the exclusion of another part. For if he who explained the meaning of it as castration and tattooing, to the exclusion of the rest, did that only because its meaning, in his view, referred to the changing of the bodies — then His word, the Exalted, in which He recounts the saying of the satan: وَلآمُرَنَّهُمْ فَلَيُبَتِّكُنَّ آذَانَ الأَنْعَامِ ("and I will surely command them so that they shall slit the ears of the cattle"), contains something which indicates that its meaning is other than what he went to. For the slitting of the ears of the cattle belongs to the changing of the creation of Allah which is the bodies. And the report concerning it, that it was a promise by the commander to change the creation of Allah of the bodies, has already been set forth in detail above, so there is no ground to repeat the report concerning it in general terms, since it is the most eloquent manner in the language of the Arabs to render the general of the speech by the detailed, and the general by the particular — not to render the detailed by the general, and the particular by the general. And explaining the Book of Allah according to the most eloquent manner of expression is preferable to explaining it according to another manner, so long as one finds a way to that.
