Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:5
And do not give the weak-minded your property, which Allah has made a means of sustenance for you, but provide for them with it and clothe them and speak to them words of appropriate kindness.
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 statement concerning the explanation of His word: وَلا تُؤْتُوا السُّفَهَاءَ أَمْوَالَكُمُ الَّتِي جَعَلَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ قِيَامًا وَارْزُقُوهُمْ فِيهَا وَاكْسُوهُمْ (4:5) ("And do not give to the foolish your possessions, which Allah has made for you a means of support, and provide for them out of them, and clothe them.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) disagree about who "the foolish" (al-sufahāʾ) are, those to whom Allah—exalted is His praise—forbade His servants to give their possessions.
Some of them said: They are the women and the children.
* Mention of who said that:
8523 - Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, saying: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Karīm, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: The orphans and the women.
8524 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he said: Do not give it to the young children and the women.
8525 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, on the authority of Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: The woman and the child.
8526 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Abū Ḥamza, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: The women and the young children, and the women are the most foolish of the foolish.
8527 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he said: "The foolish" are your foolish son and your foolish wife. And it has been transmitted that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Fear Allah regarding the two weak ones: the orphan and the woman."
8528 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Ḥumayd related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ruʾāsī, on the authority of al-Suddī—he said: He traces it back to ʿAbdallāh—who said: The women and the children.
8529 - 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 do not give to the foolish your possessions"—as for "the foolish," they are the child and the woman.
8530 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions"—by it He means: the man's child and his wife, and she is the most foolish of the foolish.
8531 - Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he said: "The foolish" are the children, and the women are the most foolish of the foolish, lest they should then become rulers over you.
8532 - Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim al-Ghifārī related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn Nubayṭ, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: Your children and your women.
8533 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: My father [related to us], on the authority of Salama, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: The women and the children.
8534 - Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd al-Aʿraj, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he said: The women and the children.
8535 - Aḥmad related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Ghaniyya related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he said: The women and the children.
8536 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions, which Allah has made for you a means of support"—Allah commanded that this wealth be preserved, and that it be well preserved, and that the foolish woman and the foolish boy not take ownership of it.
8537 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Al-Ḥimmānī related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl, on the authority of Abū Mālik, who said: The women and the children.
8538 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he said: Your wife and your children. And he said: "The foolish" are the children, and the women are the most foolish of the foolish.
* * *
And others said: No, "the foolish" are exclusively the children.
* Mention of who said that:
8539 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he said: They are the orphans.
8540 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Saʿīd, who said: "The foolish" are the orphans.
8541 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Yūnus informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he says: Do not bestow anything upon the young children.
* * *
And others said: No, by it is meant: the foolish among the man's children.
* Mention of who said that:
8542 - Saʿīd ibn Yaḥyā al-Umawī related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Mālik, concerning His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he said: Do not give your foolish child your wealth, lest he squander it—that wealth which is your means of support after Allah, the Exalted.
8543 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to us, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he says: Do not give the foolish one among your children authority. And Ibn ʿAbbās used to say: This was revealed concerning the foolish, and the orphans do not fall under it in any respect.
8544 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Firās, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Abū Burda, on the authority of Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, that he said: Three kinds of people beseech Allah, but He does not answer them: a man who had a wife of bad character and did not divorce her; a man who gave his wealth to a fool, while Allah has said: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions"; and a man who had a claim against another, but did not have witnesses recorded for it.
8545 - Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: I heard Ibn Zayd say concerning: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions"—the verse—he said: Do not give the foolish one among your children livestock, nor a garden, nor anything of your wealth that serves as your means of support.
* * *
And others said: No, "the foolish" in this place are exclusively the women and no one else.
* Mention of who said that:
8546 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of his father, who said: Ḥaḍramī claimed that a man deliberately handed his wealth over to his wife, and she spent it in an unlawful manner, whereupon Allah—blessed and exalted is He—said: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions."
8547 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of Mujāhid: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he said: The women.
8548 - Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Thawrī, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he said: They are the women.
8549 - 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 word of Allah—blessed and exalted is He: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions, which Allah has made for you a means of support," he said: He forbade the men to give the women their possessions, and they are the foolish, whether they be wives, mothers, or daughters.
8550 - 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, the same.
8551 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Hishām related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: The woman.
8552 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Juwaybir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: The women are among the most foolish of the foolish.
8553 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Abū ʿAwāna, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Muwarriq, who said: A woman adorned with jewelry and of striking appearance passed by ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿUmar, whereupon Ibn ʿUmar said to her: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions, which Allah has made for you a means of support."
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The correct view concerning the interpretation of this, in our opinion, is that Allah—exalted is His praise—by His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," made a general statement, and did not single out one fool to the exclusion of another. So it is not permissible for anyone to give a fool his wealth, whether he be a small child or a grown man, male or female.
And "the fool" to whom his guardian is not permitted to give his wealth is the one who deserves to be placed under interdiction (ḥajr) on account of his squandering of his wealth, his corruption, his bringing of ruin, and his poor management of it.
And we have only said what we said—namely, that by His word "And do not give to the foolish" is meant the one we have described and no one else—because Allah—exalted is His praise—said in the verse that follows this one: وَابْتَلُوا الْيَتَامَى حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغُوا النِّكَاحَ فَإِنْ آنَسْتُمْ مِنْهُمْ رُشْدًا فَادْفَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ ("And test the orphans until they reach marriageable age; then if you perceive in them sound judgment, hand over to them their possessions"). He thus commanded the guardians of the orphans to hand over their possessions to them when they reached marriageable age and sound judgment was perceived in them. And under "the orphans" both males and females may fall, and He did not restrict the command to hand over their possessions to them to the males to the exclusion of the females, nor to the females to the exclusion of the males.
And since that is so, it is known that those whose guardians were commanded to hand over their possessions to them—and to whom the Muslims were permitted to engage in trade and commerce—are other than those whose guardians were commanded to withhold their possessions from them, and with whom the Muslims were forbidden to engage in debts and dealings.
And since that is so, it is clear that "the foolish" to whom Allah forbade the believers to give their possessions are those who deserve to be placed under interdiction (ḥajr) and who deserve that a guardian be appointed over their possessions—and they are those whose characteristic we described earlier—and that anyone outside of that is not a fool, because interdiction is not deserved by one who has reached marriageable age and in whom sound judgment has been perceived.
* * *
As for the statement of the one who said: "By the foolish only the women are meant"—he has treated the language in an incorrect manner. For the Arabs hardly ever pluralize "faʿīl" into "fuʿalāʾ" except in the plural of masculine words, or of masculine and feminine together. But when they mean exclusively the plural of feminine words, without masculine included, then they pluralize it into "faʿāʾil" and "faʿīlāt," as "gharība" is pluralized into "gharāʾib" and "gharībāt"; as for "al-ghurabāʾ," that is the plural of "gharīb."
* * *
And the people of interpretation disagree about the interpretation of His word: "your possessions, which Allah has made for you a means of support, and provide for them out of them, and clothe them."
Some of them said: By it is meant: do not give to the foolish among the women and the children—in accordance with what we mentioned earlier concerning the disagreements of those whose statement we reported—O you sensible ones, your possessions which you own, lest you give them authority over them and they corrupt and squander them; but provide for them out of them yourselves with sustenance, if they are among those whose maintenance is incumbent upon you, and clothe them, and speak to them a kind word.
And we have mentioned the transmission of a group of those who said that, among them: Abū Mūsā al-Ashʿarī, Ibn ʿAbbās, al-Ḥasan, Mujāhid, Qatāda, and Ḥaḍramī. And we shall mention the statement of the others whose statement was not mentioned earlier.
8554 - 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 do not give to the foolish your possessions, which Allah has made for you a means of support, and provide for them out of them," he says: Do not give your wife and your child your wealth, lest they become those who rule over you; and feed them out of your wealth and clothe them.
8555 - Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: My father related to me, saying: My uncle related to me, saying: My father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions, which Allah has made for you a means of support, and provide for them out of them, and clothe them, and speak to them a kind word," he says: Do not give the foolish one among your children authority over your wealth, and He commanded him to provide for him sustenance out of it and to clothe him.
8556 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," he said: Do not give the fool anything of your wealth that is yours.
* * *
And others said: No, the meaning of it is: "And do not give to the foolish their possessions," but it was attributed to the guardians, because they are the managers and administrators of it.
* * *
* Mention of who said that:
8557 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Sharīk, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, concerning His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions"—[it is the wealth of the orphan that is in your keeping; he says: do not give it to him, and spend it on him until he becomes an adult. And He attributed it only to the guardians and said: "your possessions," because they are the managers and administrators of it].
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And under His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions" may fall: the possessions of those to whom the prohibition is addressed against giving that to them, as well as the possessions of "the foolish" themselves. For His word "your possessions" does not exclude from that one portion of the wealth to the exclusion of another. And the Arabs are accustomed to address a people in a particular manner, in which the statement partly contains a report about themselves and partly about absent ones, as when they say: "You, O so-and-so, have consumed your possessions in an unlawful manner," whereby one addresses the individual as though he were a group, in the sense of: you and your companions, or you and your people, have consumed your possessions. So too is it with His word: "And do not give to the foolish," the meaning of which is: do not give, O people, to your foolish ones your possessions, part of which is yours and part of which is theirs, lest they squander them.
And since that is so, and since Allah—exalted is His mention—issued a general prohibition against giving the foolish all possessions, without excluding any of that to the exclusion of anything else, it is thereby clear that the meaning of His word: "which Allah has made for you a means of support," is only: which Allah has made for you and for them a means of support; but the foolish were included in the mention within the mention of those addressed by His word: "for you."
* * *
As for His word: "which Allah has made for you a means of support"—"qiyām," "qiyam," and "qiwām" have one and the same meaning. And "al-qiyām" is originally "al-qiwām," except that, when the "qāf" that preceded the "wāw" had a kasra (an i-sound), the "wāw" was changed into a "yāʾ" on account of the kasra of what preceded it—as one says: "ṣumtu ṣiyāman" (I fasted a fast) and "ṣultu ṣiyālan" (I assailed an assault). And one says of this: "so-and-so is the qawwām (mainstay) of his household" and "the qiyām of his household."
* * *
And the reciters disagree about the recitation of it.
Some of them recited: (which Allah has made for you "qiyam"), with a kasra on the "qāf" and a fatḥa on the "yāʾ," without an "alif."
And others recited it: "qiyāman," with an "alif."
* * *
Muḥammad said: And the recitation that we prefer is: "qiyāman," with the "alif," because this is the well-known recitation in the recitation of the cities of Islam—even though the other is not incorrect or corrupt. And we have only preferred what we preferred because, when the recitations differ in their wordings but agree in their meanings, the most beloved to us is that which is the clearest and most well-known among the reciters of the cities of Islam.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said about the interpretation of His word: "qiyāman" (a means of support) the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
8558 - Saʿīd ibn Yaḥyā al-Umawī related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Abū Mālik: "your possessions, which Allah has made for you a means of support," which are your means of support after Allah.
8559 - 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: "your possessions, which Allah has made for you a means of support"—indeed, wealth is the means of support of the people, the prop of their livelihood. He says: Be the manager of your household, and do not give your wife [and your child] your wealth, lest they become those who rule over you.
8560 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū 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 give to the foolish your possessions, which Allah has made for you a means of support," Allah—glorified is He—says: Do not proceed to your wealth—and that which Allah has apportioned to you and made a livelihood for you—to give it to your wife or your children, and then have to look at what is in their hands. But hold fast to your wealth and manage it well, and be the one who spends on their behalf for their clothing, their livelihood, and their care. He said: And His word "qiyāman" means: your means of support in your livelihood.
8561 - 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 word: "qiyāman," he said: the means of support of your livelihood.
8562 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Bakr ibn Shurūd related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, that he recited: "which Allah has made for you a means of support," with the "alif," he says: the means of support of your livelihood.
8563 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "your possessions, which Allah has made for you a means of support," he said: Do not give the foolish one among your children anything that forms a means of support for you out of your wealth.
* * *
As for His word: "and provide for them out of them, and clothe them"—the people of interpretation disagree about the interpretation of it.
As for those who said: Allah—exalted is His praise—meant by His word "And do not give to the foolish your possessions" [the possessions] of the guardians of the foolish, not the possessions of the foolish—they said: "The meaning of it is: and provide, O people, for your foolish ones among your women and your children, out of your possessions, their food, and that which they indispensably need of care and clothing."
And we have already mentioned some of those who said that earlier, and we shall mention whom among the sayers of it was not mentioned.
8564 - 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, who said: They were commanded to provide for their foolish ones—among their wives, their mothers, and their daughters—out of their possessions sustenance.
8565 - 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, the same.
8566 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning His word: "and provide for them with sustenance," he said: He says: Spend on them.
8567 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and provide for them out of them, and clothe them," he says: Feed them out of your wealth and clothe them.
* * *
And as for those who said: He meant by His word "And do not give to the foolish your possessions" the possessions of the foolish, namely that their guardians should not give them to them—they said: "The meaning of His word 'and provide for them out of them, and clothe them' is: and provide, O you guardians who manage the possessions of the foolish, for your foolish ones out of their own possessions their food and that which they indispensably need of care and clothing." And the mention of that has already passed.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And as for what we regard as correct in the interpretation of His word: "And do not give to the foolish your possessions"—that we have already mentioned, and we have demonstrated the correctness of what we said about it with that which makes repetition unnecessary.
* * *
The interpretation of His word "and provide for them out of them, and clothe them," in accordance with the interpretation we have given of His word "And do not give to the foolish your possessions," is thus: and spend on your foolish ones among your children and your women, whose maintenance is obligatorily incumbent upon you, for their food and their clothing out of your possessions, and do not give them authority over your possessions, lest they squander them; and [spend likewise] on your foolish ones among those whose maintenance is not obligatorily incumbent upon you, and on others than them whose affairs you manage, out of their own possessions, on that which they indispensably need of care in their food, their drink, and their clothing. For that is the obligatory ruling according to the statement of all the authoritative scholars (al-ḥujja); there is no disagreement among them about it, together with the indication of the plain meaning of the revelation upon what we have said about it.
* * *
The statement concerning the explanation of His word: وَقُولُوا لَهُمْ قَوْلا مَعْرُوفًا (4:5) ("And speak to them a kind word.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: The people of interpretation disagree about the interpretation of it:
Some of them said: The meaning of it is: make them a fair promise of kindness and connection.
* Mention of who said that:
8568 - 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: "And speak to them a kind word," he said: They were commanded to speak to them a kind word concerning kindness and connection—he means the women, and they are, in his view, the foolish.
8569 - 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 Mujāhid: "And speak to them a kind word," he said: a promise that you make to them.
* * *
And others said: No, the meaning of it is: pray for them.
* Mention of who said that:
8570 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "And speak to them a kind word," if he is not among your children, nor among those whose maintenance is obligatorily incumbent upon you, then speak to them a kind word; say to them: "May Allah grant us and you well-being" and "May Allah bless you."
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most well-founded of these statements about it is what Ibn Jurayj said. And that is that the meaning of His word "And speak to them a kind word" is: speak, O company of guardians of the foolish, to the foolish a kind word: "If you become righteous and attain sound judgment, we shall hand over to you your possessions and let you have free disposal of them; so fear Allah regarding yourselves and your possessions"—and what resembles that of words that contain an exhortation to obedience to Allah and a prohibition of disobedience to Him.
