Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:77
Have you not seen those who were told, "Restrain your hands [from fighting] and establish prayer and give zakah"? But then when fighting was ordained for them, at once a party of them feared men as they fear Allah or with [even] greater fear. They said, "Our Lord, why have You decreed upon us fighting? If only You had postponed [it for] us for a short time." Say, The enjoyment of this world is little, and the Hereafter is better for he who fears Allah. And injustice will not be done to you, [even] as much as a thread [inside a date seed]."
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: Have you not seen those to whom it was said: "Restrain your hands and perform the prayer and give the zakāh"? But when fighting was prescribed for them, behold, a group of them feared the people as one fears Allah, or with even greater fear; and they said: "Our Lord, why have You prescribed fighting for us? Could You not have granted us respite until a near term?" (4:77)
Abū Jaʿfar said: It has been mentioned that this verse was revealed concerning a group of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ who had believed in him and held him to be truthful, before jihād had been prescribed for them; the prayer (ṣalāh) and the zakāh had already been prescribed for them, and they asked Allah whether He would prescribe fighting (qitāl) for them. But when fighting was prescribed for them, it weighed heavily upon them, and they said what Allah has reported about them in His Book.
So the explanation of His statement "Have you not seen those to whom it was said: Restrain your hands" is: Have you not seen with your heart, O Muḥammad, so that you know — "those to whom it was said," from among your Companions, when they asked you to request your Lord to prescribe fighting for them — "Restrain your hands," that is: hold them back from fighting the polytheists (mushrikīn) and from waging war against them; "and perform the prayer," He says: and fulfill the prayer that Allah has prescribed for you, observing its prescriptions; "and give the zakāh," He says: and give the zakāh to those entitled to it, to whom Allah has assigned it from your possessions, as a purification for your bodies and your possessions. They had an aversion to that which they were commanded, namely the restraining of their hands from fighting the polytheists, and that weighed heavily upon them. "But when fighting was prescribed for them," He says: when fighting was prescribed for them, the very thing for which they had asked that it be prescribed for them; "behold, a group of them," that is: a party of them; "feared the people," He says: they feared that the people would fight against them; "as one fears Allah, or with even greater fear," that is, with still greater dread. And they said, out of impatience on account of the fighting that Allah had prescribed for them: "Why have You prescribed fighting for us?", why have You imposed fighting upon us? — out of their inclination toward the worldly and out of preference for rest and ease therein, over the aversion to confronting the enemy and the burden of waging war and fighting against them; "Could You not have granted us respite" — He reports about them that they said: could You not have granted us respite — "until a near term," that is: until they should die upon their beds and in their dwellings.
And in accordance with what we have said, namely that this verse was revealed concerning that, the exegetes have spoken.
Mention of the reports about that, and the account of those who said it.
9951 - Muḥammad ibn ʿAlī ibn al-Ḥasan ibn Shaqīq related to us, saying: I heard my father say: al-Ḥusayn ibn Wāqid informed us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Dīnār, on the authority of ʿIkrima, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: that ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf and some of his companions came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: "O Messenger of Allah, we were in honor and esteem when we were polytheists, but when we believed, we became abased!" He said: "I have been commanded to pardon, so do not fight." But when Allah caused him to migrate to Medina, fighting was commanded, yet they held back. Then Allah, glorified and exalted, revealed: "Have you not seen those to whom it was said: Restrain your hands," the verse.
9952 - Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: Al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿIkrima: "Have you not seen those to whom it was said: Restrain your hands," that is: from the people; "But when fighting was prescribed for them, behold, a group of them" — this was revealed concerning a number of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Ibn Jurayj said, concerning His statement: "and they said: Our Lord, why have You prescribed fighting for us? Could You not have granted us respite until a near term?" — he said: until we should die a natural death; that is "the near term."
9953 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement: "Have you not seen those to whom it was said: Restrain your hands and perform the prayer" — and he continued reading until he reached: "until a near term" — he said: there were some Companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, while he was at that time in Mecca before the hijra, who were eager for fighting, and they said to the Prophet of Allah ﷺ: "Let us make mattocks, so that with them we may fight the polytheists at Mecca!" But the Prophet of Allah ﷺ forbade them that and said: "I have not been commanded to do that." When the hijra took place and fighting was commanded, the people had an aversion to it, and they did concerning it what you hear. Then Allah, glorified and exalted, said: Say: "The enjoyment of the worldly life is little, and the Hereafter is better for whoever is God-fearing; and you will not be wronged by so much as a thread."
9954 - 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: "Have you not seen those to whom it was said: Restrain your hands and perform the prayer and give the zakāh" — he said: these were people who embraced Islam before fighting had been prescribed for them, and nothing rested upon them except the prayer and the zakāh; and they asked Allah whether He would prescribe fighting for them. "But when fighting was prescribed for them, behold, a group of them feared the people as one fears Allah, or with even greater fear," the verse, up to "until a near term," and that is death. Allah said: Say: "The enjoyment of the worldly life is little, and the Hereafter is better for whoever is God-fearing."
And others said: this verse and the verses after it were revealed concerning the Jews.
Mention of those who said that:
9955 - Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "Have you not seen those to whom it was said: Restrain your hands and perform the prayer," up to His statement: then you would have followed Satan, except for a few — everything that lies between these is about the Jews.
9956 - 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: "But when fighting was prescribed for them, behold, a group of them," up to His statement: "why have You prescribed fighting for us?" — Allah, glorified and exalted, has forbidden this community (umma) from doing as they did.
The discourse on the explanation of His statement: Say: "The enjoyment of the worldly life is little, and the Hereafter is better for whoever is God-fearing; and you will not be wronged by so much as a thread." (4:77)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, means by His statement "Say: The enjoyment of the worldly life is little": say, O Muḥammad, to these people who said: Our Lord, why have You prescribed fighting for us? Could You not have granted us respite until a near term?: your life in this world and your enjoyment of it is little, for it is perishing and everything in it is perishing; "and the Hereafter is better," that is: and the bliss of the Hereafter is better, for it is enduring and its bliss is enduring and eternal. It was said only "and the Hereafter is better," while the meaning of the statement is as I have described — namely that its bliss is intended — because the mention of "the Hereafter" in the manner in which I have described it points to its intended meaning. "for whoever is God-fearing," that is: for whoever fears Allah by fulfilling His obligations and abstaining from His acts of disobedience, and obeys Him in all of that; "and you will not be wronged by so much as a thread," that is: and Allah will not diminish for you, from the rewards for your deeds, by so much as a thread.
And we have already previously expounded the meaning of "al-fatīl" (the thread/filament) earlier, in a manner that relieves us from repeating it here.
