Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:143
Wavering between them, [belonging] neither to the believers nor to the disbelievers. And whoever Allah leaves astray - never will you find for him a way.
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: مُذَبْذَبِينَ بَيْنَ ذَلِكَ لا إِلَى هَؤُلاءِ وَلا إِلَى هَؤُلاءِ وَمَنْ يُضْلِلِ اللَّهُ فَلَنْ تَجِدَ لَهُ سَبِيلا (4:143) (Wavering between that, [belonging] neither to these nor to those. And whomever Allah leads astray, you will never find for him a way.)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted be His praise, means by His word "mudhabdhabīn": wavering back and forth.
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The root meaning of "al-tadhabdhub" is movement and swinging, as al-Nābigha said:
Have you not seen that Allah has granted you a rank, in which you see every king beneath her swinging (yatadhabdhab)?
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Allah means by it only this: that the hypocrites (munāfiqīn) are bewildered in their religion; they do not turn back to adhering with certainty to anything as true. Thus they are neither with the believers on the basis of clear insight, nor with the polytheists (mushrikīn) on the basis of ignorance, but they are at a loss in between. Their likeness is the likeness that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has given for them, namely:
10728 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related it to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, he said: The likeness of the hypocrite is like that of the straying sheep between two flocks, which goes now toward this flock and then toward that flock, not knowing which of the two it should follow!
10729 — And Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related it to us yet another time, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Wahhāb, but he stopped it at Ibn ʿUmar and did not raise it up to the Prophet; he said: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related it to us thus twice.
10730 — ʿImrān ibn Bakkār related to me, saying: Abū Rawḥ related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn ʿUmar related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, the like of it.
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And in accordance with what we have said concerning its explanation, the expounders of the Scripture have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
10731 — 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: "wavering between that, [belonging] neither to these nor to those" — he says: they are not polytheists such that they openly display polytheism, and they are not believers.
10732 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "wavering between that, [belonging] neither to these nor to those" — he says: they are not sincere believers, and not polytheists who openly proclaim polytheism (shirk). He said: and it has been transmitted to us that the Prophet of Allah, peace be upon him, used to give a likeness for the believer, the hypocrite, and the unbeliever, like the likeness of three men who came to a river. The believer jumped in and crossed over. Then the hypocrite jumped in, and when he had nearly reached the believer, the unbeliever called out to him: come to me, for I fear for you! And the believer called out to him: come to me, for with me is this and that! — and he enumerated to him what he had with him. So the hypocrite kept wavering back and forth between the two of them, until a wave overwhelmed him and made him drown. Indeed, the hypocrite remained continually in doubt and confusion, until death came over him while he was in that state. He said: and it has been transmitted to us that the Prophet of Allah ﷺ used to say: The likeness of the hypocrite is like that of a bleating sheep between two flocks; it saw a flock on a rise and came toward it, but did not recognize it; then it saw a flock on a rise and came toward it and sniffed at it, but did not recognize it.
10733 — 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 His word: "wavering" — he said: the hypocrites.
10734 — 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: "wavering between that, [belonging] neither to these nor to those" — he says: neither toward the Companions of Muḥammad ﷺ, nor toward those, the Jews.
10735 — al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, concerning His word: "wavering between that" — he said: they did not make their faith sincere, so that they would be with the believers, and they are not with the people of polytheism.
10736 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "wavering between that" — between Islam and unbelief — "neither toward these nor toward those".
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As for His word: "And whomever Allah leads astray, you will never find for him a way" — He means by it: whomever Allah forsakes regarding the path of right guidance — and that is Islam, to which Allah has called His servants. He says: whomever Allah forsakes regarding that and does not enable him for it — "then you will not find for him", O Muḥammad, "a way", that is to say: no path that he can travel toward the truth, other than that. And what way toward the truth would there be for him apart from Islam? For Allah, exalted be His praise, has indeed declared that whoever seeks a religion other than this, it will not be accepted from him, and that whomever Allah leads astray from that is truly gone astray, and that there is no guide for him apart from Him.
