Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:59
O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger, if you should believe in Allah and the Last Day. That is the best [way] and best in result.
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.
Explanation of the saying of Allah: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَأَطِيعُوا الرَّسُولَ وَأُولِي الأَمْرِ مِنْكُمْ ("O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means thereby: O you who believe, obey Allah your Lord in what He has commanded you and in what He has forbidden you, and obey His Messenger Muḥammad ﷺ, for in your obedience to him lies for you obedience to your Lord, and that is because you obey him on account of Allah's command to you to obey him, as in:-
9851 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: whoever obeys me has obeyed Allah, and whoever obeys my commander has obeyed me, and whoever disobeys me has disobeyed Allah, and whoever disobeys my commander has disobeyed me. (51)
* * *
The people of interpretation differed concerning the meaning of His saying: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger".
Some of them said: that is a command from Allah to follow his (the Prophet's) sunna.
*Mention of who said that:
9852 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning His saying: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger", he said: obedience to the Messenger is the following of his sunna.
9853 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Yaʿlā ibn ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger", he said: obedience to the Messenger is the following of the Book and the sunna.
9854 - And al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, the same.
* * *
And others said: that is a command from Allah to obey the Messenger during his lifetime.
*Mention of who said that:
9855 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger", if he is alive.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the correct saying concerning this is that one says: it is a command from Allah to obey His Messenger during his lifetime in what he commands and forbids, and after his death by following his sunna. (52) And that is because Allah made the command to obey him general and did not restrict it to one condition over another, (53) so that it holds generally until something restricts it to which one must submit.
* * *
And the people of interpretation differed concerning "those in authority" (ūlū al-amr) whom Allah has commanded His servants to obey in this verse.
Some of them said: they are the commanders (al-umarāʾ).
*Mention of who said that:
9856 - Abū al-Sāʾib Salm ibn Junāda related to me, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, concerning His saying: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you", he said: they are the commanders. (54)
9857 - Al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ al-Bazzār related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, saying: Yaʿlā ibn Muslim informed me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said: "O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you", it was sent down concerning a man whom the Prophet ﷺ had sent at the head of a raiding party (sariyya). (55)
9858 - 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 ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Muslim ibn Hurmuz, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: that this verse was sent down concerning ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ḥudhāfa ibn Qays al-Sahmī, when the Prophet ﷺ sent him in the raiding party. (56)
9859 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Layth, saying: Maslama asked Maymūn ibn Mihrān about His saying: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you", he said: the commanders of the raiding parties in the time of the Prophet ﷺ.
9860 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: "O you who believe, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you", he said: my father said: they are the rulers (al-salāṭīn). He said: and Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: "and those in authority among you", my father said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: obedience, obedience, and in obedience lies trial. And he said: had Allah willed, He would have placed the authority in the prophets (57) = that is to say: I gave [the authority] to them while the prophets were with them, (58) do you not see how they judged concerning the killing of Yaḥyā ibn Zakariyyā?
9861 - 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: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you", he said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ sent a raiding party under the leadership of Khālid ibn al-Walīd, and in it was ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir; they marched toward the people they intended, and when they had drawn near to them, they halted in the last part of the night to rest (ʿarrasū), (59) and the spy (dhū al-ʿuyaynatayn) came to them and brought them (the people) word, (60) so that by the next morning they had fled, (61) except for one man, who commanded his family and they gathered their belongings, (62) after which he came walking in the darkness of the night until he reached the army camp of Khālid, and he asked for ʿAmmār ibn Yāsir; he came to him and said: O Abū al-Yaqẓān, I have truly converted to Islam and testified that there is no god but Allah and that Muḥammad is His servant and Messenger, and my people fled when they heard about you, and I have stayed behind; will my Islam benefit me tomorrow, or shall I otherwise flee? ʿAmmār said: no, it will benefit you, so stay. Then he stayed. And when morning came, Khālid made a raid and he found no one except that man, so he took him captive and took his property. The word reached ʿAmmār, so he came to Khālid and said: release the man, for he has converted to Islam, and he is under my protection. Khālid said: and on what basis do you grant protection? Then they reviled one another and went with it to the Prophet ﷺ: he allowed the protection of ʿAmmār, but forbade him to grant protection a second time against a commander. Thus they reviled one another in the presence of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and Khālid said: O Messenger of Allah, will you let this slit-eared slave (ʿabd) revile me? Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: O Khālid, do not revile ʿAmmār, for whoever reviles ʿAmmār, Allah reviles him, and whoever hates ʿAmmār, Allah hates him, and whoever curses ʿAmmār, Allah curses him. Then ʿAmmār became angry and stood up, and Khālid followed him until he seized him by his garment and apologized to him, and he became pleased with him. Then Allah — the Exalted — sent down His saying: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you". (63)
* * *
And others said: they are the people of knowledge and jurisprudence (al-fiqh).
*Mention of who said that:
9862 - Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to me, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿAqīl, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbd Allāh..... (64)
9863 - .... he said: Jābir ibn Nūḥ related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you", he said: the people of jurisprudence among you. (65)
9864 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: Layth informed us, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you", he said: the people of jurisprudence and knowledge.
9865 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ: "and those in authority among you", he said: the people of jurisprudence in the religion and of reason.
9866 - 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.
9867 - 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 saying: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you", he means: the people of jurisprudence and religion.
9868 - Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to me, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ḥuṣayn, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and those in authority among you", he said: the people of knowledge.
9869 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, concerning His saying: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you", he said: the people of knowledge and jurisprudence.
9870 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ: "and those in authority among you", he said: the jurists and the scholars (al-fuqahāʾ wa-l-ʿulamāʾ).
9871 - 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 saying: "and those in authority among you", he said: they are the scholars (al-ʿulamāʾ).
9872 - He said: and ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, on the authority of al-Thawrī, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "and those in authority among you", he said: they are the people of jurisprudence and knowledge.
9873 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, concerning His saying: "and those in authority among you", he said: they are the people of knowledge; do you not see that He says: وَلَوْ رَدُّوهُ إِلَى الرَّسُولِ وَإِلَى أُولِي الأَمْرِ مِنْهُمْ لَعَلِمَهُ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَنْبِطُونَهُ مِنْهُمْ ("And if they had referred it back to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, then those who can deduce it among them would surely have known it") [Sūrat al-Nisāʾ: 83]?
* * *
And others said: they are the companions of Muḥammad ﷺ.
*Mention of who said that:
9874 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Najīḥ related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you", he said: Mujāhid used to say: the companions of Muḥammad = he said: and sometimes he said: the people of reason, jurisprudence and the religion of Allah. (66)
* * *
And others said: they are Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, may Allah have mercy upon them both. (67)
*Mention of who said that:
9875 - Aḥmad ibn ʿAmr al-Baṣrī related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar al-ʿAdanī related to us, saying: al-Ḥakam ibn Abān related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima: "obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you", he said: Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. (68)
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the saying that most agrees with correctness in this is the saying of him who said: they are the commanders and the governors (al-umarāʾ wa-l-wulāt) = on account of the soundness of the reports of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with the command to obey the imams and governors in everything that was obedience [to Allah], and a general welfare for the Muslims, (69) such as that which:-
9876 - ʿAlī ibn Muslim al-Ṭūsī related to me, saying: Ibn Abī Fudayk related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad ibn ʿUrwa related to me, on the authority of Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ al-Sammān, on the authority of Abū Hurayra: that the Prophet ﷺ said: after me, governors will rule over you, and the pious one will rule over you with his piety, and the corrupt one with his corruption; listen to them and obey them in everything that agrees with the truth, and perform the prayer behind them. If they do good, then it is for you and for them, and if they do evil, then it is for you and against them. (70)
9877 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh, saying: Nāfiʿ informed me, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, he said: upon the Muslim rests obedience in what he loves and what he loathes, except when he is commanded disobedience (to Allah); whoever then is commanded disobedience, for him there is no obedience. (71)
9878 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Khālid related to me, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, something similar. (72)
= And since it is known that there is no obligatory obedience to anyone other than Allah, or His Messenger, or a just imam, and Allah by His saying "obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you" had commanded obedience to those who have authority over us = thus it is known that those whom He — exalted is His mention — commanded to be obeyed among those who have authority over us are the imams and those who have appointed the imams over the Muslims, (73) and not the rest of the people — even though it is an obligation to accept from anyone who commands the abandonment of disobedience to Allah and calls to obedience to Allah, and there is no obligatory obedience to anyone in what he commands and forbids for which the proof of the obligation has not been established, except to the imams whom Allah has imposed upon His servants to obey in what they command their subjects of matters that are a welfare for the collective subjects; for upon whomever they command that, their obedience rests, and likewise in everything that is not disobedience to Allah.
And since that is so, thereby is known the correctness of the interpretation that we have chosen over others.
* * *
Explanation of the saying of Allah: فَإِنْ تَنَازَعْتُمْ فِي شَيْءٍ فَرُدُّوهُ إِلَى اللَّهِ وَالرَّسُولِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ تُؤْمِنُونَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الآخِرِ ("And if you dispute about anything, refer it back to Allah and the Messenger, if you believe in Allah and the Last Day").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means thereby: if you, O believers, differ concerning anything of the matter of your religion: among yourselves, or you and your those in authority, and you come into a dispute about it (74) = "refer it back to Allah", He means thereby: then seek the knowledge of the ruling concerning that about which you have come into a dispute = among yourselves, or you and your those in authority = concerning that with Allah, He means thereby: from the Book of Allah, and then follow what you find = and as for His saying "and the Messenger", He says: if you find no way to the knowledge thereof in the Book of Allah, then seek the knowledge thereof likewise with the Messenger if he is alive, and if he has died, then from his sunna = "if you believe in Allah and the Last Day", He says: do that if you hold Allah to be true = "and the Last Day", He means: the return in which there is reward and punishment, for if you do what you are commanded of that, then for you from Allah there is the abundant reward, and if you do not do that, then for you there is the painful punishment.
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, a group of the people of interpretation said.
*Mention of who said that:
9879 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: Layth informed us, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "and if you dispute about anything, refer it back to Allah and the Messenger", he said: if the scholars dispute, they refer it back to Allah and the Messenger. He said that He says: then refer it back to the Book of Allah and the sunna of His Messenger. Then Mujāhid recited this verse: وَلَوْ رَدُّوهُ إِلَى الرَّسُولِ وَإِلَى أُولِي الأَمْرِ مِنْهُمْ لَعَلِمَهُ الَّذِينَ يَسْتَنْبِطُونَهُ مِنْهُمْ ("And if they had referred it back to the Messenger and to those in authority among them, then those who can deduce it among them would surely have known it") [Sūrat al-Nisāʾ: 83].
9880 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "refer it back to Allah and the Messenger", he said: the Book of Allah and the sunna of His Prophet ﷺ.
9881 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: "refer it back to Allah and the Messenger", he said: to Allah, to His Book = and to "the Messenger", to the sunna of His Prophet.
9882 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAnbasa, on the authority of Layth, saying: Maslama asked Maymūn ibn Mihrān about His saying: "and if you dispute about anything, refer it back to Allah and the Messenger", he said: "Allah", His Book, and "His Messenger", his sunna; it was as if he put a stone in his mouth (i.e. silenced him).
9883 - Aḥmad ibn Ḥāzim related to us, saying: Abū Nuʿaym related to us, saying: Jaʿfar ibn Marwān informed us, on the authority of Maymūn ibn Mihrān: "and if you dispute about anything, refer it back to Allah and the Messenger", he said: the referring back to Allah is the referring back to His Book = and the referring back to His Messenger if he is alive, and if Allah has taken him to Himself, then the referring back is to the sunna.
9884 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "and if you dispute about anything, refer it back to Allah and the Messenger", He says: refer it back to the Book of Allah and the sunna of His Messenger = "if you believe in Allah and the Last Day".
9885 - 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 if you dispute about anything, refer it back to Allah and the Messenger", if the Messenger is alive = and "to Allah", he said: to His Book.
* * *
Explanation of the saying of Allah: ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ وَأَحْسَنُ تَأْوِيلا ("That is better and more excellent in outcome") (59).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means by His saying: "that", namely the referring back of that about which you dispute to Allah and the Messenger, = "better" for you with Allah in your hereafter, and more wholesome for you in your worldly life, because that calls you to concord and the abandonment of dispute and division = "and more excellent in outcome" (taʾwīl), He means: and more praiseworthy of end and consequence, and more beautiful of final result.
* * *
And we have already explained in the foregoing that "al-taʾwīl" is the tafʿīl form of "taʾawwala", and that the saying of him who says "taʾawwala" is the tafaʿʿala form of their saying: "this matter returned (āla) to such and such", that is to say: returned = with what makes it superfluous to repeat it. (75)
* * *
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation said.
*Mention of who said that:
9886 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "and more excellent in outcome", he said: a good recompense.
9887 - 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.
9888 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "that is better and more excellent in outcome", He says: that is better in reward and better in end.
9889 - 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 more excellent in outcome", he said: in end.
9890 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: "that is better and more excellent in outcome", he said: and better in end = he said: and "al-taʾwīl" is the confirmation (al-taṣdīq).
