Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:6
And test the orphans [in their abilities] until they reach marriageable age. Then if you perceive in them sound judgement, release their property to them. And do not consume it excessively and quickly, [anticipating] that they will grow up. And whoever, [when acting as guardian], is self-sufficient should refrain [from taking a fee]; and whoever is poor - let him take according to what is acceptable. Then when you release their property to them, bring witnesses upon them. And sufficient is Allah as Accountant.
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, exalted is His praise: وَابْتَلُوا الْيَتَامَى حَتَّى إِذَا بَلَغُوا النِّكَاحَ ("And test the orphans until they reach the age of marriage").
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His word "And test the orphans" He means, exalted is His mention: and put to the test the intellect of your orphans, in their comprehension, in their uprightness in their religion, and in their competence in managing their properties, as in:
8571 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda and al-Ḥasan, concerning His word "And test the orphans," both said: He says: put the orphans to the test.
8572 - 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: as for "Test the orphans": put their intellect to the test.
8573 - 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, concerning His word "And test the orphans," he said: their intellect.
8574 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh 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 test the orphans," he said: put them to the test.
8575 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word "And test the orphans until they reach the age of marriage," he said: put him to the test in his judgment and his intellect, how he is. When it is perceived from him that sound discretion (rushd) has been detected in him, his property is handed over to him. He said: and that is after reaching sexual maturity.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: We have already previously shown that the meaning of "al-ibtilāʾ" (testing) is putting to the test, in a manner sufficient to make repetition unnecessary.
* * *
As for His word "when they reach the age of marriage," by it He means: when they reach sexual maturity (al-ḥulum), as in:
8576 - 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 "until they reach the age of marriage": until they become sexually mature.
8577 - ʿAlī ibn Dāwūd related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "until they reach the age of marriage," he said: at sexual maturity.
8578 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word "until they reach the age of marriage," he said: sexual maturity.
* * *
The explanation of His word: فَإِنْ آنَسْتُمْ مِنْهُمْ رُشْدًا ("And if you perceive in them sound discretion").
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His word "And if you perceive in them sound discretion (rushd)" He means: if you find it in them and recognize it in them, as in:
8579 - 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: "And if you perceive in them sound discretion," he said: if you recognize it in them.
* * *
One says: "ānastu min fulān khayran wa-birran" — with lengthening of the alif — "īnāsan" (I perceived in someone something good and dutiful), and "anistu bihi ānasu unsan" — with shortening of the alif — when one becomes familiar with it.
* * *
It has been mentioned that in the reading of ʿAbdallāh it reads: فإن أحسيتم منهم رشدا ("if you become aware of sound discretion in them"), in the sense of "aḥsastum" (you perceived), that is: you found.
* * *
The exegetes differed concerning the meaning of "al-rushd" (sound discretion) which Allah mentioned in this verse.
Some said: the meaning of "al-rushd" in this place is intellect and uprightness in religion.
* Mention of who said that:
8580 - 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 if you perceive in them sound discretion" — intellect and uprightness.
8581 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "And if you perceive in them sound discretion," he says: uprightness in his intellect and his religion.
* * *
Others said: its meaning is: uprightness in their religion, and competence in managing their properties.
* Mention of who said that:
8582 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Mubārak, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: sound discretion in religion, and uprightness, and carefulness with property.
8583 - 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 if you perceive in them sound discretion" — in their condition, and competence in managing their properties.
* * *
Others said: it is rather exclusively the intellect.
* Mention of who said that:
8584 - 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 Mujāhid, he said: We do not hand over the property to the orphan, even if he clutches at his beard (from old age), and even if he is an old man, until his sound discretion is perceived in him: the intellect.
8585 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mujāhid: "You perceive in them sound discretion," he said: the intellect.
8586 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Abū Shubruma informed us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: I heard him saying: Indeed, a man sometimes clutches at his beard (from old age) while he has not yet attained his sound discretion.
* * *
Others said: it is rather uprightness and knowledge of what is to his benefit.
* Mention of who said that:
8587 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "And if you perceive in them sound discretion," he said: uprightness and knowledge of what is to his benefit.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct of these views concerning the meaning of "al-rushd" in this place is, in my opinion: the intellect and competence in managing property — on account of the consensus of all that, when he is so, he is not among those against whom restriction concerning his property and the withholding of what he has under his control is justified, even if he is corrupt in his religion. And since that is the consensus of all, so likewise is his ruling when he has reached maturity and his property is in the hand of his father's executor, or in the hand of a judge who managed his property because of his childhood: it is obligatory to hand over to him his property, if he is of sound discretion, mature, and competent in managing his property, not wasteful. For the ground upon which it is justified that guardianship be exercised over his property which is in his own hand is the same ground upon which it is justified to withhold his hand from his property which is in the hand of a guardian; there is no difference between the two.
In their consensus that it is not permissible to withhold what is in his hand so long as his intellect is sound and he is competent in managing what he has under his control, lies the clear proof that it is likewise not permissible to withhold his hand from what is his in such a condition, even if it was previously in the hand of another; there is no difference between the two. Whoever distinguishes between the two, against him the reasoning is reversed, and he is asked about the distinction between the two from a fundamental principle or a comparable case; and he will be unable to say anything about the one without the same being imposed upon him concerning the other.
Since what we have described is the consensus of all, it is clear that "al-rushd" by which the orphan, when he has reached maturity and it is perceived in him, has a right to the handing over of his property, is that which we have said: the soundness of his intellect and his competence in managing his property.
* * *
The explanation of His word, exalted is His praise: فَادْفَعُوا إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ وَلا تَأْكُلُوهَا إِسْرَافًا ("Then hand over to them their properties, and do not consume them by extravagance").
Abū Jaʿfar said: By it He means, exalted is His mention, the managers of the properties of the orphans. Allah says to them: When your orphans have become sexually mature and you perceive in them intellect and competence in managing their properties, then hand over to them their properties, and do not withhold them from them.
* * *
As for His word "and do not consume them by extravagance (isrāfan)," by it He means: not in a manner which Allah has not permitted you, as in:
8588 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda and al-Ḥasan: "and do not consume them by extravagance," he says: do not be extravagant therein.
8589 - 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 do not consume them by extravagance," he said: extravagance in consuming.
The original meaning of "al-isrāf" is: exceeding the permitted limit to what is not permitted. Sometimes that is in excess, and sometimes in falling short. However, when it is in excess, the customary linguistic form for it is that one says: "asrafa yusrifu isrāfan." And when it is thus in falling short, then the speech for it is: "sarifa yasrafu sarafan." One says: "marartu bikum fa-saraftukum," by which is meant: I passed by you heedlessly and missed you, as the poet said:
"They gave 'hunayda' (a hundred camels), driven by eight (slaves) / in their giving there is no reproach nor saraf (error)."
By his word "nor saraf" he means: no error therein; by which is meant that they strike the proper places of giving and do not miss them.
* * *
The explanation of His word: وَبِدَارًا أَنْ يَكْبَرُوا ("and in haste lest they grow up").
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His word "wa-bidāran" He means, exalted is His praise: and in hastiness. It is a verbal noun from the saying: "bādartu hādhā al-amra mubādaratan wa-bidāran" (I hastened to this matter).
* * *
By it He means, exalted is His praise, only the managers of the properties of the orphans. He says to them: Do not consume their properties by extravagance — by which He means: of what Allah permitted you to consume — nor through your haste to see them grow up and to perceive sound discretion in them, out of fear that they would grow up and it would then become obligatory for you to hand it over to them, as in:
8590 - 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 "by extravagance and in haste," he means: consuming the property of the orphan in haste before he grows up, so that he interposes between him and his property.
8591 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda and al-Ḥasan: "and do not consume them by extravagance and in haste," he says: do not be extravagant therein and do not be hasty therein.
8592 - 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 in haste," hastiness that they would grow up and then take up their properties.
8593 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word "by extravagance and in haste," he said: this concerns the guardian of the orphan who consumes of it. He has been permitted to eat of it when he finds nothing to set his own hand alongside (has no means of his own). And then he goes on delaying, saying: "I will not hand over to him his property," and you fall to consuming it greedily, because you, when you do not hand it over to him, have a share in it, whereas you, when you hand it over to him, have no share in it.
* * *
The position of "an" (that) in His word "an yakbarū" (lest they grow up) is the accusative, governed by "al-mubādara" (the haste), for the meaning of the speech is: do not consume them out of haste to anticipate their growing up.
* * *
The explanation of His word: وَمَنْ كَانَ غَنِيًّا فَلْيَسْتَعْفِفْ وَمَنْ كَانَ فَقِيرًا فَلْيَأْكُلْ بِالْمَعْرُوفِ ("And whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner").
Abū Jaʿfar said: By His word, exalted is His praise, "And whoever is rich" He means: of the managers of the properties of the orphans, over their properties, let him abstain by means of his own property from consuming it — without extravagance and haste to see them grow up — from that which Allah permitted him to consume, as in:
8594 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash — and Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of al-Ḥakam — on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word "And whoever is rich, let him abstain," he said: by his wealth from his own property, until he has no further need of the property of the orphan.
8595 - And with the same (isnād) he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning His word "And whoever is rich, let him abstain": by his wealth.
8596 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word "And whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: from his own property; and whoever of them is poor, needy of it, let him consume in a fitting manner.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: Then the exegetes differed concerning "al-maʿrūf" (the fitting) by which Allah, exalted is His praise, permitted the managers of their properties to consume of it, if they were poor and needy of it.
Some said: that is the loan which he borrows from his (the orphan's) property and which he then repays.
* Mention of who said that:
8597 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān and Isrāʾīl, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of Ḥāritha ibn Muḍarrib, he said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, said: Indeed, I have placed the property of Allah for myself at the level of the property of the orphan: if I am well-off, I abstain from it; and if I am poor, I consume of it in a fitting manner; and when I become prosperous, I repay.
8598 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn ʿAṭiyya related to us, on the authority of Zuhayr, on the authority of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn al-Musayyab, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His word "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: that is the loan.
8599 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, saying: I heard Yūnus, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿAbīda al-Salmānī, that he said concerning this verse "And whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: he who spends from the property of the orphan, it rests upon him as a loan.
8600 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Salama ibn ʿAlqama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, he said: I asked ʿAbīda about His word "And whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: it is only a loan. Do you not see that He said: فَإِذَا دَفَعْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فَأَشْهِدُوا عَلَيْهِمْ ("And when you hand over to them their properties, call witnesses against them")? He (Ibn Sīrīn) said: and I supposed that he said it by his own opinion.
8601 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Hishām informed us, on the authority of Muḥammad, on the authority of ʿAbīda, concerning His word "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner": and it rests upon him as a loan.
8602 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Salama ibn ʿAlqama, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿAbīda, concerning His word "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: the fitting is the loan. Do you not see His word: فَإِذَا دَفَعْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فَأَشْهِدُوا عَلَيْهِمْ ("And when you hand over to them their properties, call witnesses against them")?
8603 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Ayyūb, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿAbīda — like the narration of Hishām.
8604 - 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: "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he means the loan.
8605 - 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 whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he says: if he is rich, then it is not permitted for him to consume anything from the property of the orphan; and if he is poor, let him take a loan from it, and when he finds prosperity, let him give back to him what he borrowed. That is consuming in a fitting manner.
8606 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard my father mention, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: he consumes as a loan in a fitting manner.
8607 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj informed us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: it is the loan; what he takes up of it, he repays when he finds prosperity — by which he means His word "And whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner."
8608 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Hishām al-Dastawāʾī, he said: Ḥammād related to us, he said: I asked Saʿīd ibn Jubayr about this verse "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: if he takes from his (the orphan's) property the value of his sustenance as a loan, and afterwards finds prosperity, he repays it; and if death approaches him while he has not found prosperity, let him have himself absolved of it by the orphan. And if this one is small, let him have himself absolved of it by his guardian.
8609 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: let him consume as a loan.
8610 - Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: it is the loan.
8611 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Abī Qays, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī: "And whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: he consumes it only when he is compelled to it as one is compelled to carrion (of a dead animal); and if he consumes anything of it, he repays it.
8612 - Ḥumayd ibn Masʿada related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word "let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: as a loan.
8613 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
8614 - 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: "let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: as an advance from the property of his orphan.
8615 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — and on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr — "let him consume in a fitting manner," both said: it is the loan. Al-Thawrī said: and al-Ḥakam also said it; do you not see that He said: فَإِذَا دَفَعْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فَأَشْهِدُوا عَلَيْهِمْ ("And when you hand over to them their properties, call witnesses against them")?
8616 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: it is the loan; what he takes up of it, he repays when he finds prosperity — by which he means: "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner."
8617 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya: "let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: the loan. Do you not see His word: فَإِذَا دَفَعْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ ("And when you hand over to them their properties")?
8618 - Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil, he said: as a loan.
8619 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: when the guardian is in need or becomes poor and finds nothing, he consumes from the property of the orphan and records it; and if he finds prosperity, he repays it; and if he does not find prosperity until death approaches him, he calls the orphan and has himself absolved of what he has consumed.
8620 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Najīḥ informed us, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner": from the property of the orphan, without extravagance, and without obligation to repay what he has consumed of it.
* * *
Those who held this view differed concerning the meaning of "consuming that in a fitting manner." Some said: that he eats of his food with the tips of his fingers, and does not clothe himself from it.
* Mention of who said that:
8621 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: he who heard Ibn ʿAbbās say related to me: "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: with the tips of his fingers.
8622 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUbaydallāh al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of al-Suddī, from someone who heard Ibn ʿAbbās say — and he mentioned the like.
8623 - 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 whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he says: "whoever is rich" — whoever manages the property of the orphan, let him abstain from consuming it — "and whoever is poor" — whoever manages the property of the orphan, let him eat of it with him with his fingers, without extravagance in eating, and let him not clothe himself from it.
8624 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ḥaramī ibn ʿUmāra related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿUmāra, on the authority of ʿIkrima, concerning the property of the orphan: your hand with their hands, and do not make a cap of it (do not appropriate anything to yourself).
8625 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ and ʿIkrima, both said: place your hand with his hand.
* * *
Others said: the "fitting" therein is rather: that he eats what stills his hunger, and wears what covers the private parts.
* Mention of who said that:
8626 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Mughīra informed us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: indeed, the fitting is not the wearing of linen, nor of fine garments, but what stills hunger and covers the private parts.
8627 - Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: they used to say: the fitting is not the wearing of linen and fine garments, but the fitting is what stills hunger and covers the private parts.
8628 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, the like of it.
8629 - ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to us, saying: al-Walīd ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Abū Maʿbad related to us, saying: Makḥūl was asked about the manager of the orphan: what is for him the consuming in a fitting manner when he is poor? He said: his hand with his hand. He was told: and the clothing? He said: he wears of his clothing; but that he should amass for himself a fortune from his property — no.
8630 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, concerning His word "let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: what stills hunger and covers the private parts. Indeed, it is not the wearing of linen and fine garments.
* * *
Others said: that "fitting" is rather: eating his dates, and drinking the milk of his livestock, on account of his oversight of it; but as for the gold and the silver, it is not permitted for him to take anything of it, except by way of loan.
* Mention of who said that:
8631 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, he said: a man came to Ibn ʿAbbās and said: indeed, under my charge are the properties of orphans — and he asked him permission to take something of it. Ibn ʿAbbās said: do you not seek out their strayed animals? He said: yes! He said: do you not treat their mangy animals with tar? He said: yes! He said: do you not seal their watering troughs (with clay)? He said: yes! He said: do you not go ahead of them on the day they come to drink? He said: yes! He said: then take from their milk (risl) — by which he means: from their milk.
8632 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, he said: a bedouin came to Ibn ʿAbbās and said: indeed, under my charge are orphans, and they have camels and I have camels, and I lend out my camels for milking and for riding; what then is permissible to me of their milk? He said: if you seek out their strayed animals, treat their mangy animals with tar, seal their watering trough, and draw water for them — then drink, without causing harm to the offspring, and without exhausting (the udder) in milking.
8633 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, concerning this verse "And whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: of the surplus of milk and dates.
8634 - Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Abū al-ʿĀliya, concerning the manager of the property of the orphan, he said: he eats of the milk of the livestock and of the dates on account of his oversight of it, but he does not eat of the (actual) property. And he said: do you not see that He said: فَإِذَا دَفَعْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ ("And when you hand over to them their properties")?
8635 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: I heard Dāwūd, on the authority of Rufayʿ Abū al-ʿĀliya, he said: it is permitted to the guardian of the orphan to take something of the milk and to eat of the dates; but as for the gold and the silver, it must inevitably be returned. Then he recited: فَإِذَا دَفَعْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ ("And when you hand over to them their properties"). Do you not see that he said: "it must inevitably be handed over"?
8636 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: ʿAwf informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, that he said: their properties at that time were only the palm-trees and the livestock, so they were permitted, when one of them was in need, to take something of the milk.
8637 - Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Sālim informed us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, concerning His word "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: when he is poor, he eats of the dates, drinks of the milk, and takes something of the milk.
8638 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner." It has been mentioned to us that the uncle of Thābit ibn Rifāʿa — and Thābit was then an orphan under his charge — one of the Anṣār, came to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ and said: O Prophet of Allah, indeed, my brother's son is an orphan under my charge; what is permitted to me of his property? He said: that you consume in a fitting manner, without sparing your property with his property, and without amassing for yourself a fortune from his property. The orphan would then have a walled palm-garden, and his guardian oversaw its upkeep and watering and took something of its dates; or he had livestock, and his guardian oversaw the care of it, or undertook the treatment and maintenance of it, and took something of its shorn wool, of the slaughtered animals, and of its milk. But as for the principal of the property and the basic constituents of the property, it is not permitted for him to consume that.
8639 - It was related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh saying: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk saying concerning His word "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he means: the riding of the mount and the service of the servant. But if he takes a loan from his property while he is rich, then he is obliged to repay it, and it is not permitted for him to consume anything of his property.
* * *
Others among them said: it is permitted for him to eat of the entire property, if he manages it, even if it consumes the property completely, and without obligation to repay.
* Mention of who said that:
8640 - Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ismāʿīl ibn Ṣubayḥ related to us, on the authority of Abū Uways, on the authority of Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd and Rabīʿa together, on the authority of al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad, he said: ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, was asked what is lawful for the guardian of the orphan. He said: if he is rich, let him abstain, and if he is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner.
8641 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Ayyūb informed us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAjlān, on the authority of Zayd ibn Aslam, on the authority of his father: that ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb used to say: for the holder of authority is lawful what is lawful for the guardian of the orphan: "whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner."
8642 - Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: al-Faḍl ibn ʿAṭiyya informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn Abī Rabāḥ, concerning His word "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: when he is needy, let him consume in a fitting manner; and if he afterwards finds prosperity, there is no obligation to repay upon him.
8643 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid related to us, on the authority of Yazīd al-Naḥwī, on the authority of ʿIkrima and al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, both said: Allah, blessed and exalted is He, mentioned the property of the orphans and said: "And whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," and the fitting of it is: that he fears Allah with regard to his orphan.
8644 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: that he did not see an obligation to repay resting upon the guardian of the orphan, when he had consumed while he was needy.
8645 - Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Mughīra, on the authority of Ḥammād, on the authority of Ibrāhīm: "let him consume in a fitting manner," concerning the executor, he said: there is no obligation to repay upon him.
8646 - 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, that he said concerning this verse "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," he said: when the guardian of the orphan labors therein (on his behalf), he consumes in a fitting manner.
8647 - Bishr ibn Muḥammad related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: al-Ḥasan used to say: when he is needy, he consumes in a fitting manner from the property, as a provision furnished to him by Allah.
8648 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Ibn ʿUyayna informed us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, he said: a man said to the Prophet ﷺ: indeed, under my charge is an orphan; may I strike him? He said: with that for which you would strike your own child. He said: may I take something of his property? He said: in a fitting manner, without amassing a fortune for yourself, and without sparing your property with his property.
8649 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: al-Thawrī informed us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of al-Zubayr ibn Mūsā, on the authority of al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī, the like of it.
8650 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, that he said: he places his hand with their hands and eats with them, according to the measure of his service and the measure of his labor.
8651 - 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 Hishām ibn ʿUrwa, on the authority of his father, on the authority of ʿĀʾisha, she said: the manager of the orphan, when he is needy, consumes in a fitting manner on account of his oversight of his property.
8652 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said — and I asked him about the word of Allah, blessed and exalted is He, "And whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner" — he said: if he is well-off, he abstains; and if he is poor, he consumes in a fitting manner. He said: he eats with his hand together with them, on account of his oversight of their properties and his safeguarding of them; he eats of that which they eat. And if he is well-off, he abstains from it and consumes nothing of it.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: The most correct of the views concerning that is the view of the one who said: "al-maʿrūf" (the fitting) which Allah, blessed and exalted is He, meant in His word "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner," is the consuming of the property of the orphan at the time of compelling necessity and need of it, by way of loan from it. In a manner other than that, however, it is not permitted for him to consume it.
That is because all are agreed that the manager of the orphan owns nothing of the property of his orphan, except the taking care of his interest. Since it is their consensus that he is not an owner of it, and it is permitted to no one to consume the property of another — whether the owner of the property be an orphan or a mature person of sound mind — and upon him, if he transgresses and consumes it or otherwise expends it, rests the liability toward the one against whom he has expended it, by the consensus of all — and the manager of the orphan stands on equal footing with another in this, namely that he is not an owner of the property of his orphan — so likewise is his ruling concerning what obliges him to repay when he consumes of it, on equal footing with another, although he is distinguished from him in that it is permitted to him to borrow from it at the time of need of it, just as it is permitted to him to borrow against it at the time of need of that which he borrows against it, when he watches over it in a manner that serves its interest.
* * *
There is no ground for the view of the one who said: "By the fitting in this place is only meant that the manager of the orphan consumes from the property of the orphan on account of his oversight of it, by way of compensation for his labor and effort." For the manager of the orphan has the right to hire himself out to him for taking care of his affairs, when the orphan has need of that, for a known wage, just as another wage-laborer is hired for him, and just as someone is bought for him (a slave) who assists him — whether the manager be rich or poor.
Since that is so — and Allah, exalted is His mention, by His word "And whoever is rich, let him abstain, and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner" has indicated that the consuming of the property of the orphan is only permitted to whichever of its managers it is permitted, in the state of poverty and need — and the state in which it is permitted to the managers to hire themselves out to the orphans, at the time of the orphans' need of wage-laborers, is not restricted to the state of riches nor to the state of poverty — so it is known that the ground upon which it is permitted to them to take something from the properties of their orphans in all their states is other than the ground upon which that is permitted to them in one state but not in another.
Whoever rejects what we have said — namely the one who claims that the guardian of the orphan has the right to consume the property of his orphan at the time of need of it, otherwise than by way of loan, relying in that upon this verse — to him it is said: is there consensus that what you say is the explanation of His word "and whoever is poor, let him consume in a fitting manner"?
If he says: no!
Then it is said to him: what then is your proof that that is the explanation of it, while you know that he is not an owner of the property of his orphan?
If he says: because Allah permitted him the consuming of it!
Then it is said to him: did He permit him the consuming of it unconditionally, or under a condition?
If he says: under a condition, namely that he consume it in a fitting manner.
Then it is said to him: and what is that "fitting"? While you know that those who spoke about it — among the Companions (ṣaḥāba), the Successors (tābiʿūn), and their followers after them — said that it is the consuming of it by way of loan and advance?
And it is also said to them in that connection: what do you think of those over whom guardianship is exercised in their properties, among the insane and the feeble-minded — is it permitted to the managers of their properties to consume from their properties at the time of need of it, otherwise than by way of loan, and not as compensation for their oversight of it, as you said concerning the properties of the orphans and permitted it to them? If they say: that is permitted to them — then they set themselves outside the view of the entire body of proof.
And if they say: that is not permitted to them.
Then it is said to them: what then is the difference between their properties and the properties of the orphans, while the ruling concerning their managers is one, namely that they are managers of the properties of others?
And they will be unable to say anything about the one without the same being imposed upon them concerning the other.
And so they are also questioned concerning the one against whom restriction has been pronounced (al-maḥjūr ʿalayhi): does the one who manages his property have the right to consume his property at the time of need of it? After the example of our questioning of them concerning the properties of the insane and the feeble-minded.
* * *
The explanation of His word, mighty and exalted is He: فَإِذَا دَفَعْتُمْ إِلَيْهِمْ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فَأَشْهِدُوا عَلَيْهِمْ ("And when you hand over to them their properties, call witnesses against them").
Abū Jaʿfar said: By it He means, exalted is His praise: and when you, O assembly of managers of the properties of the orphans, hand over to the orphans their properties — "call witnesses against them," He says: then call witnesses against the orphans concerning their full receipt of it from you and your handing over of it to them, as in:
8653 - 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, concerning His word "And when you hand over to them their properties, call witnesses against them," he says: when the property of the orphan is handed over to him, let him hand it over to him in the presence of witnesses, as Allah, exalted is He, has commanded him.
* * *
The explanation of His word: وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ حَسِيبًا (6) ("And Allah suffices as Reckoner / Sufficient").
Abū Jaʿfar said: He says, exalted is His mention: and Allah suffices as Sufficient above the witnesses whom the manager of the orphan calls to testify at his handing over of the property of his orphan to him, as in:
8654 - 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 Allah suffices as Reckoner," he says: as Witness.
* * *
One says of this: "qad aḥsabanī alladhī ʿindī," by which is meant: it sufficed me. And from the Arabs has been heard: "la-uḥsibannakum mina al-aswadayn," by which is meant: from the two black things, namely water and dates. And "al-muḥsib" among men is: the one who is high in lineage (ḥasab), and "al-muḥsab" is: the one who is sufficiently provided for.
