Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:7
For men is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, and for women is a share of what the parents and close relatives leave, be it little or much - an obligatory share.
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: لِلرِّجَالِ نَصِيبٌ مِمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالأَقْرَبُونَ وَلِلنِّسَاءِ نَصِيبٌ مِمَّا تَرَكَ الْوَالِدَانِ وَالأَقْرَبُونَ مِمَّا قَلَّ مِنْهُ أَوْ كَثُرَ نَصِيبًا مَفْرُوضًا (7) (For the men there is a share of what the parents and the nearest kin leave behind, and for the women there is a share of what the parents and the nearest kin leave behind, be it little or much thereof — an ordained share) (7).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted be His remembrance — means thereby: for the male children of the deceased man there is a portion of his inheritance, and for the female children among them there is a portion thereof, of the little that he left behind after himself and of the much thereof — an ordained portion,(1) an obligatory, fixed, and determined portion.(2)
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And it has been mentioned that this verse was revealed because the people of the Age of Ignorance (Jāhiliyya) let the men inherit and not the women, as follows:
8655 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: They did not let the women inherit, whereupon was revealed: "And for the women there is a share of what the parents and the nearest kin leave behind."
8656 — 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 ʿIkrima, who said: It was revealed concerning Umm Kaḥla and the daughter of Kaḥla, and Thaʿlaba and Aws ibn Suwayd; they belonged to the Anṣār. One of them was her husband and the other was the uncle of her child. She said: "O Messenger of Allah, my husband has died and has left behind me and his daughter, and we are not treated as heirs!" Then the uncle of her child said: "O Messenger of Allah, she does not ride a horse, nor carry a burden, nor inflict harm upon the enemy; provision is gained for her and she does not gain it!" Whereupon was revealed: "For the men there is a share of what the parents and the nearest kin leave behind, and for the women there is a share of what the parents and the nearest kin leave behind, be it little or much thereof — an ordained share."(3)
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8657 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement: "For the men there is a share of what the parents and the nearest kin leave behind" — he said: The women in the Jāhiliyya were not treated as heirs of the fathers,(4) and the elder inherited, while the small one did not inherit, even though he was male. Then Allah — blessed and exalted is He — said: "For the men there is a share of what the parents and the nearest kin leave behind," up to His statement: "an ordained share."
Abū Jaʿfar said: The words "an ordained share" (naṣīban mafrūḍan) stand in the accusative (naṣb), although it is an apposition to an indefinite word, because it takes the inflectional ending of a verbal noun (maṣdar), as when someone says: "I owe you a right, an obligatory right" (ḥaqqan wājiban). If, in place of "an ordained share," there had stood an ordinary noun, then the accusative would not be permitted. One does not say: "I owe you a right, a dirham" (in the accusative). His statement "an ordained share" is thus like his statement: a share by way of duty and by way of obligation, as one says: "I have a dirham, as a received gift" (hibatan maqbūḍatan).(5)
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Footnotes:
(1) See the explanation of "al-farḍ" (that which is ordained) in what precedes, 4: 121 / 5: 120.
(2) "Mawqqūta" (fixed): apportioned and delimited; originally derived from "al-waqt" (the time), after which its usage was extended to everything that is delimited. From this comes the report of ʿAlī — may Allah be pleased with him: "For the Messenger of Allah ﷺ fixed nothing therein," that is to say: he did not prescribe a definite number of lashes for the drinking of wine. From this the grammarians derived their statement concerning the proper name that designates its named referent in an utterly unrestricted, unbound manner, such as "Zayd," namely that it is a "fixed definiteness" (maʿrifa mawqqūta). See the elucidation thereof in 1: 181, note 1.
(3) The report 8656 — al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar included it in al-Iṣāba in the biography of "Umm Kujja," and al-Suyūṭī in al-Durr al-Manthūr 2: 122, and he attributed it to Ibn Jarīr, Ibn al-Mundhir, and Ibn Abī Ḥātim. As for al-Ḥāfiẓ, he cited the report of al-Ṭabarī and said therein: "It was revealed concerning Umm Kujja, the daughter of Umm Kujja, Thaʿlaba and Aws ibn Thābit," whereby he contradicted the text of al-Ṭabarī in this place in "Umm Kujja" and "Aws ibn Thābit," as you see. In the printed edition there stood "Umm Kaḥa" and "the daughter of Kaḥa" with the undotted ḥāʾ, whereas the correct form is: with a ḍamma on the kāf and a doubled, fatḥa-bearing jīm, as al-Ḥāfiẓ has established it in al-Iṣāba. As for al-Suyūṭī, he said: "It was revealed concerning Umm Kulthūm and the daughter of Umm Kaḥla, or Umm Kaḥa," likewise with the undotted ḥāʾ, which is incorrect. As for "Umm Kaḥla," as it stands in the manuscript and as I have recorded it, concerning this al-Ḥāfiẓ in al-Iṣāba likewise said: "As for the woman, there is no disagreement that she is Umm Kujja — with ḍamma on the kāf and doubled jīm — except for what Abū Mūsā relates from al-Mustaghfirī, namely that he said concerning her: Umm Kaḥla — with sukūn on the undotted ḥāʾ followed by a lām — and except for what has already been mentioned, namely that she is the daughter of Kujja, as in the two reports of Ibn Jurayj; it is therefore possible that her kunya coincided with the name of her father, so that from the report of Ibn Jurayj it may be inferred that she is Umm Kulthūm."
It is as though this denies that the report of al-Ṭabarī should read "Umm Kaḥla," but the manuscript has clearly established that in both places, so I have found no way to disregard or alter it, in view of this report which al-Ḥāfiẓ relates from al-Mustaghfirī, and in view of its also occurring in the text of al-Suyūṭī in what he relates from al-Ṭabarī, Ibn Abī Ḥātim, and Ibn al-Mundhir.
The mention of Umm Kujja will yet come in the report numbered 8725, namely that she was the wife of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, the brother of Ḥassān ibn Thābit; see therefore the note on the report there.
As for "Aws ibn Suwayd," as you have seen, al-Ḥāfiẓ — attributing it to Ibn Jarīr — named him "Aws ibn Thābit," but what is established in the foundational manuscripts of the Tafsīr and in what has been transmitted therefrom is "Aws ibn Suwayd." Al-Ḥāfiẓ has given biographies of Aws ibn Thābit al-Anṣārī and Aws ibn Suwayd, and of Thaʿlaba ibn Thābit al-Anṣārī and Thaʿlaba ibn Suwayd, and he has mentioned the disagreement over the names of both in this same history. I have left the text of al-Ṭabarī as it is and confined myself to recording the disagreement which al-Ḥāfiẓ Ibn Ḥajar has mentioned; whoever wishes may consult it fully there, and from his other references.
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And his statement "she carries no burden" (lā taḥmilu kallan): that is, she does not take upon herself the care of the family and the work for them. And "al-kall": the family, which has need of someone to bear and maintain them, such as the orphan and others.
And his statement "and she inflicts no harm upon the enemy" (wa-lā tankī ʿaduwwan): of this one says "nakaytu al-ʿaduwwa ankī (with kasra on the kāf) nikāyatan," when one strikes them, kills them, and inflicts numerous wounds upon them. One also says for this "wa-naka'tu al-ʿaduwwa" with the hamza, in the same meaning. In the printed edition there stood "wa-lā tanka'u" with the hamza, but I have recorded what stands in the manuscript; both are entirely correct.
(4) In the printed edition there stands "lā yarithna" (they did not inherit), differing from what stands in the manuscript, and the latter I have recorded.
(5) See Maʿānī al-Qurʾān of al-Farrāʾ 1: 257, for it is like the wording of his formulation.
