Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:85
Whoever intercedes for a good cause will have a reward therefrom; and whoever intercedes for an evil cause will have a burden therefrom. And ever is Allah, over all things, a Keeper.
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: مَنْ يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً حَسَنَةً يَكُنْ لَهُ نَصِيبٌ مِنْهَا وَمَنْ يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً سَيِّئَةً يَكُنْ لَهُ كِفْلٌ مِنْهَا ("Whoever makes a good intercession, for him there shall be a share of it; and whoever makes an evil intercession, for him there shall be a portion of it") (4:85).
Abū Jaʿfar [al-Ṭabarī] said: He, exalted be His praise, means by His word: "Whoever makes a good intercession, for him there shall be a share of it," [namely]: whoever, O Muḥammad ﷺ, becomes a supplement to the odd number of his companions — by aiding them in the jihād against their enemy and in the fighting (qitāl) against them in the way of Allah — and that is "the good intercession" = "for him there shall be a share of it," He says: for him there shall be of that intercession a share — and that is the portion — of the reward of Allah and of His abundant honoring = "and whoever makes an evil intercession" — He says: and whoever supplements the odd number of the people of disbelief in Allah against the believers in Him, by fighting together with them against them, and that is "the evil intercession" = "for him there shall be a portion (kifl) of it."
He means by "al-kifl": the share and the portion of the burden and the sin. It is derived from "kifl al-baʿīr wa-l-markab" (the saddle-cushion of the mount and the saddle-seat), and that is the cloth or the thing that is placed upon it, similar to the saddle on the mount. From this one says: "so-and-so came muktafilan" (seated on a made-ready mount), when he came on a mount that — as we have explained — had been made ready for him to ride upon.
* * *
It has been said that by His word "Whoever makes a good intercession, for him there shall be a share of it" — the verse — is meant the intercession of people on behalf of one another. And it is not excluded that the verse was revealed concerning what we have mentioned, and that it was then made general for every intercessor, for good or for ill.
* * *
We have chosen what we have said about this, because it is in the context of the verse in which Allah commanded His Prophet ﷺ to urge the believers to the fighting. Thus that — with the promise to whoever responded to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the threat against whoever refused to respond — is more fitting than that it should urge to the intercession of people on behalf of one another, of which no mention has been made before, nor is mention made of it afterward.
Mention of who said that [namely] concerning the intercession of people on behalf of one another:
10015 — 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: "Whoever makes a good intercession, for him there shall be a share of it; and whoever makes an evil intercession," he said: the intercession of some people on behalf of others.
10016 — 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 it.
10017 — It was related to me on the authority of Ibn Mahdī, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Salama, on the authority of Ḥumayd, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: whoever makes [as] a good intercession an intercession, for him there are therein two rewards, and that is because Allah says: "Whoever makes a good intercession, for him there shall be a share of it," and He did not say "for whom intercession is made."
10018 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: "Whoever makes a good intercession," for him its reward is written down as long as its benefit continues.
10019 — Yūnus related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd was asked about the word of Allah: "Whoever makes a good intercession, for him there shall be a share of it," he said: the righteous intercession in which he intercedes and according to which he acts, that is between you and him; the two of them are partners therein = "and whoever makes an evil intercession, for him there shall be a portion of it," he said: the two of them are partners therein, just as its people were partners [in it].
Mention of who said: "al-kifl" [means]: the share:
10020 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word: "Whoever makes a good intercession, for him there shall be a share of it," that is, a portion of it = "and whoever makes an evil intercession, for him there shall be a portion of it," and "al-kifl" is the sin.
10021 — 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, concerning his word: "for him there shall be a portion of it," as for "al-kifl," that is the share.
10022 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: "for him there shall be a portion of it," he said: a share of it, and what an evil share.
10023 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: "al-kifl" and "al-naṣīb" (the share) are one and the same. And he recited: يُؤْتِكُمْ كِفْلَيْنِ مِنْ رَحْمَتِهِ ("He will give you a double share of His mercy") [sūrat al-Ḥadīd: 28].
* * *
The explanation of His word: وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَى كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُقِيتًا ("And Allah is, over all things, muqīt") (4:85).
Abū Jaʿfar [al-Ṭabarī] said: The exegetes differed concerning the explanation of His word: "And Allah is, over all things, muqīt."
Some of them said, its explanation is: and Allah is, over all things, a guardian and a witness.
* Mention of who said that:
10024 — Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "And Allah is, over all things, muqīt," he says: a guardian (ḥafīẓ).
10025 — 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: "muqīt" [means]: a witness (shahīd).
10026 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of a man named Mujāhid, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
10027 — 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 Mujāhid: "muqīt," he said: a witness, a reckoner, a guardian.
10028 — Aḥmad ibn ʿUthmān ibn Ḥakīm related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Sharīk related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Khuṣayf, on the authority of Mujāhid Abī l-Ḥajjāj: "And Allah is, over all things, muqīt," he said: "al-muqīt" is the reckoner (ḥasīb).
* * *
And others said: its meaning is: He who watches over all things with governance.
* Mention of who said that:
10029 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: ʿAbdallāh ibn Kathīr said: "And Allah is, over all things, muqīt," he said: "al-muqīt" is the constantly devoted (al-wāṣib).
And others said: it is the All-Powerful (al-qadīr).
* Mention of who said that:
10030 — 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 Allah is, over all things, muqīt," as for "al-muqīt," that is the All-Powerful.
10031 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning his word: "And Allah is, over all things, muqīt," he said: over all things all-powerful; "al-muqīt" is the All-Powerful.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar [al-Ṭabarī] said: And the correct of these statements is the statement of who said: the meaning of "al-muqīt" is the All-Powerful. And that is because that, it is reported, is so in the language of the Quraysh, and to al-Zubayr ibn ʿAbd al-Muṭṭalib, the uncle of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, is attributed:
And many a rancor-harborer — I held myself back from him, and I was, against doing him harm, muqīt[an],
that is to say: able (qādir). And it has been said that to this belongs the word of the Prophet ﷺ:
10032 — "It suffices as a sin for the man that he neglects whoever he provides for (yuqīt)." In the narration of whoever narrates it as "yuqīt," he means: whoever falls under his care and in his authority of his family and his household, for whom he determines the sustenance (qūt). From this one says: "afāta fulān al-shayʾa yuqītuhu iqātatan" and "qātahu yaqūtuhu qiyātatan wa-qūtan," and "al-qūt" is the noun. And as for "al-muqīt" in the verse of the Jew in which he says:
Would that I were aware — and I shall surely become aware when they bring near her [the scroll] unrolled and I am summoned! —
is it to my benefit, or [is it] against me, when I am called to account? Indeed, I am, with respect to the reckoning, muqīt,
— its meaning is: indeed, I am, with respect to the reckoning, held back [and detained for accounting], and that falls outside this [first-mentioned] meaning.
