Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:83
And when there comes to them information about [public] security or fear, they spread it around. But if they had referred it back to the Messenger or to those of authority among them, then the ones who [can] draw correct conclusions from it would have known about it. And if not for the favor of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, except for a few.
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 statement concerning the explanation of His saying: wa-idhā jāʾahum amrun mina l-amni awi l-khawfi adhāʿū bihi ("And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear, they spread it about.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means, exalted is His praise, by His saying: "And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear, they spread it about" — and when there comes to this group, who plot by night something other than what the Messenger of Allah ﷺ says, = "a matter of security" — the "hāʾ" and the "mīm" in His saying "when there comes to them" refer to the aforementioned group who plot by night — He says, exalted is His praise: And when there comes to them a report concerning a raiding expedition (sariyya) of the Muslims, that they are safe from their enemy because they have overcome them = "or fear," He says: or their fear of their enemy because their enemy has struck them = "they spread it about," He says: they make it public and broadcast it among the people before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and before the arrival of the expeditions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. = And the "hāʾ" in His saying "they spread it about" refers to the aforementioned "matter." And the explanation of it is: they spread about the matter of security or fear that came to them.
One says of that: "So-and-so spread this report (adhāʿa), and he spread it about (adhāʿahu)," and to that belongs the saying of Abū l-Aswad:
He spread it about among the people, until it was as though it were upon a height a fire, kindled with fuel
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
The mention of who said that:
9990 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related it to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear, they spread it about," He says: they hasten with it and make it public.
9991 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related it to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear, they spread it about," He says: when there comes to them a matter that they are safe from their enemy, or that they are in fear of them, they spread the rumour until their affair reaches their enemy.
9992 - 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 saying: "And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear, they spread it about," He says: they make it public and carry it around.
9993 - Al-Qāsim related it to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear, they spread it about," he said: this concerns the reports: when a raiding expedition (sariyya) of the Muslims went out on campaign, the people would inform one another among themselves and say: "The Muslims have inflicted such and such upon their enemy" and "The enemy has inflicted such and such upon the Muslims," and they would make it public among themselves, without the Prophet ﷺ being the one who had told it to them. = Ibn Jurayj said: Ibn ʿAbbās said concerning His saying: "they spread it about," he said: they made it known and public.
9994 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: "they spread it about," he said: they broadcast it. He said: And those who spread it were people: either hypocrites (munāfiqūn), or others who were weak.
9995 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: they made it public and carried it around, and they are the people of hypocrisy (nifāq).
The statement concerning the explanation of His saying: wa-law raddūhu ilā r-rasūli wa-ilā ulī l-amri minhum la-ʿalimahu lladhīna yastanbiṭūnahu minhum ("And if they had referred it back to the Messenger and to those among them in authority, then those among them who investigate it would have known it.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means, exalted is His praise, by His saying: "And if they had referred it back" — the matter that struck them from their enemy [and the Muslims] — to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and to those among them in authority = that is to say: and to their commanders = and had remained silent and not spread what came to them of a report, until the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, or those among them in authority, were the ones to undertake the conveying of the report concerning it, after its correctness or invalidity had been established for them, so that they confirm it if it is correct, or declare it invalid if it is untrue = "then those among them who investigate it would have known it," He says: then the truth of that report that came to them would be known by those who examine and investigate it = "among them," that is to say: those in authority = and the "hāʾ" and the "mīm" in His saying "among them" refer to the aforementioned "those in authority" = He says: then that would be known by whoever of the people of authority investigates it.
And everyone who extracts something that was hidden from the sight of the eyes or from the knowledge of the hearts, of him it is said: "mustanbiṭ" (one who investigates/extracts). One says: "I drew out from the well (istanbaṭtu l-rakiyya)," when one extracts water from it, and "I drew it out, I draw it out (nabaṭtuhā anbiṭuhā)," and "al-nabaṭ" is the water that is brought up from the earth. And to that belongs the saying of the poet:
Near is his moist earth, his enemy cannot reach the drawn-up water (nabaṭan) from him, he who refuses humiliation, with frowning face
He means by "al-nabaṭ" the drawn-up water.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation have spoken.
The mention of who said that:
9996 - Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to me, saying: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "And if they had referred it back to the Messenger and to those among them in authority," He says: and if they had remained silent and brought the rumour back to the Prophet ﷺ and to those among them in authority, until he spoke about it = "then those would have known it who investigate it," that is to say: concerning the reports, and they are those who scrutinize the reports closely.
9997 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related it to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "And if they had referred it back to the Messenger and to those among them in authority," He says: to their scholars = (then those among them who investigate it would have known it), then those would have known it who examine it and to whom that is of concern.
9998 - Al-Qāsim related it to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj: "And if they had referred it back to the Messenger," until he would be the one to inform them = "and to those among them in authority," the knowledge of the religion and the intellect.
9999 - Al-Qāsim related it to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, on the authority of Abū l-ʿĀliya: "And if they had referred it back to the Messenger and to those among them in authority," the knowledge = "those who investigate it among them," they look into it and seek it out.
10000 - Abū Kurayb related it to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, saying: Layth informed us, on the authority of Mujāhid: "then those among them who investigate it would have known it," he said: those who ask about it and seek it out.
10001 - 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 saying: "they investigate it," he said: their saying: "What has happened?" "What have you heard?"
10002 - 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 like of that.
10003 - Ibn Wakīʿ related it 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 l-ʿĀliya: "those who investigate it," he said: they seek it out.
10004 - 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: "then those among them who investigate it would have known it," He says: then those would have known it who seek it out among them.
10005 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying: "they investigate it among them," he said: they look into it.
10006 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: wa-idhā jāʾahum amrun mina l-amni awi l-khawfi adhāʿū bihi (And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear, they spread it about) up to where he reached "and to those among them in authority," he said: the rulers who hold authority over them in war, those who reflect and consider what came to them of a report: is it true or a lie? If it is false, they declare it invalid, or if true, they confirm it. He said: And this concerns war, and he recited: adhāʿū bihi (they spread it about). And if they had done other than this: and had referred it back to Allah and to the Messenger and to those among them in authority, the verse.
The statement concerning the explanation of His saying: wa-law-lā faḍlu llāhi ʿalaykum wa-raḥmatuhu la-ttabaʿtumu sh-shayṭāna illā qalīlan (83) ("And were it not for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, save a few.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He means by this, exalted is His praise: And were it not for Allah's bestowing upon you, O believers, of His grace and His enabling and His mercy, by which He has saved you from that with which He has tested these hypocrites (munāfiqīn) — those who say to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ when he commands them with something: "Obedience," but when they depart from him, a group of them plot by night something other than what he says — then you would have been like them, and you would have followed Satan, save a few, just as these whom He has described followed him.
And He addresses, with His saying, exalted is His mention: "And were it not for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan," those whom He addresses with His saying, exalted is His praise: yā ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū khudhū ḥidhrakum fa-nfirū thubātin awi nfirū jamīʿan (O you who believe, take your precaution and march forth in groups or march forth all together) [Surah Al-Nisāʾ: 71].
Then the people of interpretation differed concerning "the few" whom He excepted in this verse: who are they? And from which of the descriptions did He except them?
Some said: they are those who investigate among the people of authority; He excepted them from His saying: la-ʿalimahu lladhīna yastanbiṭūnahu minhum (then those among them who investigate it would have known it), and He denied of them that they would know by investigation what others than they know of the investigators concerning the report that came to them of security or fear.
The mention of who said that:
10007 - Bishr ibn Muʿādh related it to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: It is only: la-ʿalimahu lladhīna yastanbiṭūnahu minhum (then those among them who investigate it would have known it) = save a few of them = "and were it not for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan."
10008 - Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related it to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: "and were it not for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, save a few," He says: you would have followed Satan, all of you = and as for His saying: "save a few," that is like His saying: la-ʿalimahu lladhīna yastanbiṭūnahu minhum (then those among them who investigate it would have known it), save a few.
10009 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Suwayd ibn Naṣr related to us, saying: Ibn al-Mubārak informed us by recitation, on the authority of Saʿīd, on the authority of Qatāda: "and were it not for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, save a few," he said: He says: you would have followed Satan, all of you. And as for "save a few," that is like His saying: then those among them who investigate it would have known it, save a few.
10010 - Al-Qāsim related it to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, something similar = that is to say, something similar to the saying of Qatāda = and he said: then they would have known it, save a few.
Others said: they are rather the group whom Allah has described, that they say to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: ṭāʿatun (Obedience), but when they depart from him, they plot by night something other than what they have said. And the meaning of the saying is: And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear, they spread it about = save a few of them.
The mention of who said that:
10011 - Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying: "and were it not for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, save a few," this refers back to the beginning of the verse concerning the report of the hypocrites. He said: wa-idhā jāʾahum amrun mina l-amni awi l-khawfi adhāʿū bihi (And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear, they spread it about), He means by "the few" the believers, like His saying, exalted is He: al-ḥamdu li-llāhi lladhī anzala ʿalā ʿabdihi l-kitāba wa-lam yajʿal lahu ʿiwajan * qayyiman (Praise be to Allah, who has sent down upon His servant the Book and has not made therein any crookedness * upright) [Surah Al-Kahf: 1-2], He says: Praise be to Allah, who has sent down the Book, righteous and upright, and has not made therein any crookedness.
10012 - Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: This verse has a putting forward and putting back (taqdīm and taʾkhīr); it is only: they spread it about, save a few of them, and were it not for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy, no one would have been saved, neither few nor many.
Others said: it is rather an exception to His saying: "you would have followed Satan." And they said: those who are excepted are people who did not intend what the others intended of following Satan. So Allah made those whom He saved from that aware of the place of His grace upon them, and excepted the others, of whom there did not proceed therein what proceeded from the others.
The mention of who said that:
10013 - It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim say concerning His saying: "and were it not for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would have followed Satan, save a few," he said: they are the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, they had suggested to themselves matters of the matters of Satan, save a group of them.
Others said, the meaning of it is: And were it not for the grace of Allah upon you and His mercy, you would all have followed Satan. They said: and His saying: "save a few" has come in wording in the form of an exception, but it is an indication of the whole and the comprehensiveness, and that were it not for the grace of Allah upon them and His mercy, no one would have been saved from error. Thus He made His saying "save a few" an indication of comprehensiveness. And they support this with the saying of al-Ṭirimmāḥ ibn Ḥakīm in praise of Yazīd ibn al-Muhallab:
Proud, many the hands that bestow abundance, few of faults and what gnaws at the root
They said: the apparent sense of this saying is that the one praised is described with the fact that there are faults and failings in him, while it is known that the meaning of it is that there are no faults and no failings in him. For whoever describes a man with the fact that there are failings in him — even if he describes the failings that are in him as few — only blames him and does not praise him. Rather it is as we have described: the negation of all failings from him. They said: and likewise His saying: "you would have followed Satan, save a few," its meaning is only: you would all have followed Satan.
Abū Jaʿfar said: And the most fitting of these opinions to the correct view therein, in my opinion, is the opinion of him who said: He meant by the exception of "the few" the exception to "the spreading about," and he said: the meaning of the saying is: And when there comes to them a matter of security or fear, they spread it about, save a few, and if they had referred it back to the Messenger.
And we say only that this is the most fitting to the correct view, because the saying therein cannot be free of one of the opinions that we have mentioned, and it is not permissible that it be an exception to His saying: "you would have followed Satan," for whoever Allah favours with His grace and His mercy, it is not permissible that he be among the followers of Satan.
And it is not permissible for us to carry the meanings of the Book of Allah upon something other than the most prevalent of what is understood from the apparent wording of the address in the language of the Arabs, while there is for us a way to carry that upon the most prevalent of the language of the Arabs, so that we direct it to the meaning towards which those directed it who said: "the meaning of it is: you would all have followed Satan," and then claimed that His saying: "save a few" is an indication of the comprehensiveness of the whole. This moreover goes against the interpretation of the people of interpretation.
And likewise there is no ground to direct that to the exception to His saying: la-ʿalimahu lladhīna yastanbiṭūnahu minhum (then those among them who investigate it would have known it), for when the knowledge of that is referred back to the Messenger and to those among them in authority, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and those among them in authority make it clear after it has become clear to them, then in the knowledge of it everyone who investigates the truth of it stands equal; so there is no ground to except some of the investigators among them and single out some of them with the knowledge of it, while they all stand equal in the knowledge of it.
And since there is no opinion therein except what we have said, and these three opinions contain the defect that we have clarified, then it is clear that the correct opinion therein is the fourth, and that is the opinion of which we have judged that it is the correct one: the exception to "the spreading about."
