Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:32
And do not wish for that by which Allah has made some of you exceed others. For men is a share of what they have earned, and for women is a share of what they have earned. And ask Allah of his bounty. Indeed Allah is ever, of all things, Knowing.
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: wa-lā tatamannaw mā faḍḍala llāhu bihi baʿḍakum ʿalā baʿḍin (And do not wish for that by which Allah has favored some of you over others) (4:32).
Abū Jaʿfar said: By this He means — exalted is His praise —: And do not covet that by which Allah has favored some of you over others.
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And it has been mentioned that this was revealed concerning women who wished for the positions of the men, and that they should have what the men have. Thereupon Allah forbade His servants the false wishes, and commanded them to ask Him of His bounty, since wishes produce in their possessor envy and unlawful transgression.
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Mention of the reports by which we indicated this:
9236 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: Umm Salama said: O Messenger of Allah, we are given no share of inheritance, and we do not fight in the way of Allah so that we might be killed? Then was revealed: "And do not wish for that by which Allah has favored some of you over others."
9237 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Hishām related to us, on the authority of Sufyān al-Thawrī, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: Umm Salama said: O Messenger of Allah, the men fight and we do not fight, and we have only half of the inheritance! Then was revealed: wa-lā tatamannaw mā faḍḍala llāhu bihi baʿḍakum ʿalā baʿḍin li-l-rijāli naṣībun mimmā ktasabū wa-li-l-nisāʾi naṣībun mimmā ktasabna (And do not wish for that by which Allah has favored some of you over others; for the men there is a share of what they have earned, and for the women there is a share of what they have earned), and there was revealed: inna l-muslimīna wa-l-muslimāti [Surah Al-Aḥzāb: 35] (Indeed, the Muslim men and the Muslim women).
9238 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "And do not wish for that by which Allah has favored some of you over others" — he says: let the man not wish and say: "Would that I had the wealth of so-and-so and his family!" Therefore Allah, glory be to Him, forbade that; but let him ask Allah of His bounty.
9239 - 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: "And do not wish for that by which Allah has favored some of you over others" — he said: the saying of the women: "Would that we were men, then we would fight and attain what the men attain!"
9240 - 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: "And do not wish for that by which Allah has favored some of you over others" — the saying of the women who wish: "Would that we were men, then we would fight!" Then he mentioned the same as the report of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr.
9241 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: Umm Salama said: O Messenger of Allah, do the men fight and we do not fight, while we have only half of the inheritance? Then was revealed: "And do not wish for that by which Allah has favored."
9242 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of a shaykh from the people of Mecca, concerning His word: "And do not wish for that by which Allah has favored some of you over others" — he said: the women said: "Would that we were men, then we would wage jihād as the men wage jihād, and we would fight in the way of Allah!" Then Allah said: "And do not wish for that by which Allah has favored some of you over others."
9243 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: You wish for the wealth of so-and-so and the wealth of so-and-so! And what do you know? Perhaps your ruin lies in that wealth!
9244 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿIkrima and Mujāhid: that they both said that it was revealed concerning Umm Salama, the daughter of Abī Umayya ibn al-Mughīra.
9245 - And with the same chain he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, who said: it is the human being, who says: "I wished that I had the wealth of so-and-so!" He said: wa-sʾalū llāha min faḍlihi (And ask Allah of His bounty); and the saying of the women: "Would that we were men, then we would fight and attain what the men attain!"
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And others said: No, the meaning of it is: let none of you wish for that by which Allah has favored others with positions of bounty.
Mention of who said that:
9246 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning His word: "And do not wish for that by which Allah has favored some of you over others" — for the men said: "We want to have a double reward over the reward of the women, just as in the inheritance shares we have two shares; we want, then, to have in the reward two rewards." And the women said: "We want to have a reward equal to the reward of the men, for we cannot fight, but if fighting had been prescribed for us, we would fight!" Then Allah, exalted is He, revealed the verse, and said to them: ask Allah of His bounty, He will grant you the [good] deeds, and that is better for you.
9247 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Muḥammad, who said: Wishing has been forbidden to you, and you have been pointed to what is better than it: wa-sʾalū llāha min faḍlihi (And ask Allah of His bounty).
9248 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿĀrim related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Zayd related to us, on the authority of Ayyūb, who said: When Muḥammad [ibn Sīrīn] heard a man wishing in worldly matters, he said: Allah has forbidden you this: "And do not wish for that by which Allah has favored some of you over others," and He has pointed you to what is better than it: wa-sʾalū llāha min faḍlihi (And ask Allah of His bounty).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The explanation of the word according to this interpretation is, then: And do not wish, O men and women, for that by which Allah has favored some of you over others with positions of bounty and degrees of good, and let each of you be content with what Allah has apportioned to him as a share, but ask Allah of His bounty.
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The explanation of His word: li-l-rijāli naṣībun mimmā ktasabū wa-li-l-nisāʾi naṣībun mimmā ktasabna (For the men there is a share of what they have earned, and for the women there is a share of what they have earned).
Abū Jaʿfar said: The scholars of interpretation differed concerning the explanation of it.
Some of them said: The meaning of it is: for the men there is a share of what they have earned of reward for obedience and punishment for disobedience, and "for the women there is a share" of that, the same.
Mention of who said that:
9249 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: wa-lā tatamannaw mā faḍḍala llāhu bihi baʿḍakum ʿalā baʿḍin li-l-rijāli naṣībun mimmā ktasabū wa-li-l-nisāʾi naṣībun mimmā ktasabna — the people of the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya) used to give the woman nothing to inherit and the child nothing, and they established inheritance only for whoever practices a craft, brings benefit, and wards off harm. When the share of the woman and the share of the child was established, and He made for the male the share of two females, the women said: "Would that our shares in the inheritance were like the shares of the men!" And the men said: "We hope that we may be favored over the women with our good deeds in the Hereafter, just as we are favored over them in the inheritance!" Then Allah revealed: "For the men there is a share of what they have earned and for the women there is a share of what they have earned" — He says: the woman is rewarded for her good deed with ten times its like, just as the man is rewarded. Allah, exalted is He, said: wa-sʾalū llāha min faḍlihi (And ask Allah of His bounty).
9250 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abī Ḥammād related to us, saying: Abū Laylā related to me, saying: I heard Abū Ḥarīz say: When was revealed: li-l-dhakari mithlu ḥaẓẓi l-unthayayni (For the male there is a share like that of two females), the women said: then upon them likewise rests a double share of the sins, just as they have a double share of the inheritance! Then Allah revealed: "For the men there is a share of what they have earned and for the women there is a share of what they have earned" — that is, the sins. wa-sʾalū llāha (And ask Allah), O company of women, min faḍlihi (of His bounty).
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And others said: No, the meaning of it is: for the men there is a share of what they have earned of the inheritance of their dead, and for the women there is a share of that.
Mention of who said that:
9251 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word: "For the men there is a share of what they have earned and for the women there is a share of what they have earned" — He means: what the parents and the near kinsfolk leave behind; He says: li-l-dhakari mithlu ḥaẓẓi l-unthayayni (For the male there is a share like that of two females).
9252 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Abī Isḥāq, on the authority of ʿIkrima or another, concerning His word: "For the men there is a share of what they have earned and for the women there is a share of what they have earned" — he said: in the inheritance; they used to give the women nothing to inherit.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: And the more fitting of the two statements for the explanation of the verse is the statement of the one who said: its meaning is: for the men there is a share in the reward of Allah and His punishment in what they have earned and committed of good or evil, and for the women there is a share in that, just as for the men.
And we said only that this is more fitting for the explanation of the verse than the statement of the one who said: "Its interpretation is: for the men there is a share in the inheritance, and for the women there is a share in that," because Allah, exalted is His praise, reported that every group of the men and the women has a share in what they have earned. And the inheritance is not among what the heir earns; it is only wealth that Allah causes him to inherit from his dead without earning. For "earning" (al-kasb) is the act, and "the earner" (al-muktasib) is the one who practices a craft. It is therefore not permissible that the meaning of the verse — while Allah has said: "For the men there is a share of what they have earned and for the women there is a share of what they have earned" — should be: for the men there is a share of what they have inherited, and for the women there is a share of what they have inherited. For if that were so, then it would have been said: "For the men there is a share of what they have not earned, and for the women there is a share of what they have not earned"!!
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The explanation of His word: wa-sʾalū llāha min faḍlihi (And ask Allah of His bounty).
Abū Jaʿfar said: By this He means — exalted is His praise —: and ask Allah of His aid and His assistance to act according to that by which He is pleased with you of His obedience. His bounty (faḍl) in this place is, then: His assistance and His aid, as:
9253 - Muḥammad ibn Muslim al-Rāzī related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar al-Nufaylī related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Yamān related to us, on the authority of Ashʿath, on the authority of Saʿīd: "And ask Allah of His bounty" — he said: worship (al-ʿibāda), not anything of the affairs of the worldly life.
9254 - Muḥammad ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Abū Jaʿfar related to me, saying: Mūsā related to us, on the authority of Layth, who said: "His bounty" — worship, not anything of the affairs of the worldly life.
9255 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Hishām related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His word: "And ask Allah of His bounty" — he said: it is not the worldly good.
9256 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And ask Allah of His bounty" — He will grant you the [good] deeds, and that is better for you.
9257 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Ḥakīm ibn Jubayr, on the authority of a man whom he did not name, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: Ask Allah of His bounty, for He loves to be asked, and indeed, among the best worship is awaiting relief (al-faraj).
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The explanation of His word: inna llāha kāna bi-kulli shayʾin ʿalīman (32) (Indeed, Allah is All-Knowing of all things).
Abū Jaʿfar said: By this He means — exalted is His praise —: indeed, Allah is, concerning that which is for the welfare of His servants — in what He has apportioned to them of good, and in the raising of some of them over others in religion and worldly life, and in other matters of His decree and His judgments over them — "All-Knowing"; He says: possessor of knowledge. So do not wish for anything other than what He has decreed for you, but it is upon you to obey Him, to submit to His command, to be content with His decree, and to ask Him of His bounty.