Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:62
So how [will it be] when disaster strikes them because of what their hands have put forth and then they come to you swearing by Allah, "We intended nothing but good conduct and accommodation."
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement: فَكَيْفَ إِذَا أَصَابَتْهُمْ مُصِيبَةٌ بِمَا قَدَّمَتْ أَيْدِيهِمْ ثُمَّ جَاءُوكَ يَحْلِفُونَ بِاللَّهِ إِنْ أَرَدْنَا إِلا إِحْسَانًا وَتَوْفِيقًا (4:62) (How then, when a calamity befalls them because of what their hands have sent forth, and they then come to you, swearing by Allah: "We intended nothing but good-doing and reconciliation" (4:62).)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His praise — means by this: how, then, will it be with these people, who wish to refer their dispute to the ṭāghūt (the idol, the false authority), while they claim that they believe in what has been sent down to you and in what was sent down before you — "when a calamity befalls them," by which He means: when a vengeance from Allah descends upon them — "because of what their hands have sent forth," by which He means: because of their sins that they committed beforehand — "and they then come to you, swearing by Allah," He says: and they then come to you, swearing by Allah out of lying and falsehood — "We intended nothing but good-doing and reconciliation." And this is a report from Allah — exalted be His mention — about these hypocrites (munāfiqīn), namely that the admonitions and punishments do not deter them from their hypocrisy, and that they, if a punishment from Allah befalls them on account of their referring their dispute to the ṭāghūt, do not turn back in repentance and do not make amends, but rather they swear by Allah out of lying and out of audacity toward Allah: "We intended, by referring our dispute to him, nothing but the good-doing of one to another, and what is correct in that concerning which we referred our dispute to him."
