Tafseer of The Women · An-Nisaa · 4:88
What is [the matter] with you [that you are] two groups concerning the hypocrites, while Allah has made them fall back [into error and disbelief] for what they earned. Do you wish to guide those whom Allah has sent astray? And he whom Allah sends astray - never will you find for him a way [of guidance].
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 saying: What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites, while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted be His praise, means by His saying: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites": what is the matter with you, O believers, that you form two mutually differing groups concerning the people of hypocrisy (nifāq) = "while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned." By this He means: and Allah has returned them to the rulings that apply to the people of ascribing partners to Allah (shirk), as regards the permissibility of their blood and the taking captive of their offspring.
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And "al-irkās" means: the returning back. From this stems the saying of Umayya ibn Abī al-Ṣalt:
Thus were they cast back into the boiling water of the Fire, indeed they were rebellious and spoke falsehood and vanity.
One says of this: "arkasahum" and "rakasahum."
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And it has been mentioned that in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh and Ubayy it reads: (wa-Allāhu rakasahum), without the "alif."
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The scholars of exegesis differed concerning those about whom this verse was sent down.
Some of them said: it was sent down concerning the disagreement of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about those who stayed behind from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, on the day of Uḥud and withdrew to Medina, and who said to the Messenger of Allah, peace be upon him, and his Companions: If we had known that it would come to fighting, then we would have followed you [Sūrat Āl ʿImrān: 167].
* Mention of who said that:
10049 — Al-Faḍl ibn Ziyād al-Wāsiṭī related to me, he said: Abū Dāwūd related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of ʿAdī ibn Thābit, he said: I heard ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd al-Anṣārī relate, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit: that the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, when he went out to Uḥud, a group of those who were with him turned back. And the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, formed concerning them two groups: one group said: "we kill them," and one group said: "no." Then this verse was sent down: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites, while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned. Do you wish to guide..." — the verse. And the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, said about Medina: indeed it is Ṭayba, and indeed it expels its filth as fire expels the filth of silver.
10050 — Abū Kurayb related to us, he said: Abū Usāma related to us, he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAdī ibn Thābit, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit, he said: the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, went out — and he mentioned something similar.
10051 — Zurayq ibn al-Sakht related to me, he said: Shabāba related to us, on the authority of ʿAdī ibn Thābit, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd, on the authority of Zayd ibn Thābit, he said: the hypocrites were mentioned in the presence of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and a faction said: "we kill them," and a faction said: "we do not kill them." Then Allah, blessed and exalted is He, sent down: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites" to the end of the verse.
And others said: no, it was sent down concerning a disagreement that arose among the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about a people who had come from Mecca to Medina, and showed the Muslims that they were Muslims, and then returned to Mecca and showed them (the Meccans) the ascribing of partners to Allah (shirk).
* Mention of who said that:
10052 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites," he said: a people went out from Mecca until they reached Medina, claiming that they were emigrants (muhājirūn). Then thereafter they apostatized (irtaddū), and they asked the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, for permission to go to Mecca to fetch merchandise for them with which they would trade. The believers differed concerning them: one said: "they are hypocrites," and another said: "they are believers." Then Allah made their hypocrisy clear and commanded that they be fought. They came with their merchandise on the way to Medina, and ʿAlī ibn ʿUwaymir — or: Hilāl ibn ʿUwaymir al-Aslamī — met them, between whom and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, there was a covenant = and he was the one whose breast was constrained at fighting the believers or fighting his people, and he defended them = by the fact that they had Hilāl as their destination, and between him and the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, there was a treaty.
10053 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, he said: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, something similar to that purport = except that he said: then Allah made their hypocrisy clear and commanded that they be fought, but they were not fought on that day. They came with their merchandise on the way to Hilāl ibn ʿUwaymir al-Aslamī, between whom and the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, there was a covenant.
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And others said: no, their disagreement rather concerned a people of the people of ascribing partners to Allah (shirk) who had shown Islam in Mecca, and who helped the polytheists (mushrikīn) against the Muslims.
* Mention of who said that:
10054 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, he said: my father related to me, he said: my uncle related to me, he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his saying: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites" — and that was because a people in Mecca had professed Islam, and they supported the polytheists. They went out from Mecca seeking a need of theirs, and said: if we meet the Companions of Muḥammad, peace be upon him, then we have nothing to fear from them! And when the believers received news that they had gone out from Mecca, a group of the believers said: ride out to the filthy ones and kill them, for they support your enemy against you! And another group of the believers said: Subḥān Allāh — or as they said — do you kill a people who have professed the same as what you have professed? Is it that, because they have not emigrated and have not left their dwellings, their blood and their possessions are for that reason to be declared permissible! Thus they were two groups, while the Messenger, peace be upon him, was among them and forbade neither of the two parties anything. Then was sent down: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites, while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned. Do you wish to guide whom Allah has led astray" — the verse.
10055 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, he said: Yazīd related to us, he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his saying: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites" — the verse. It was mentioned to us that they were two men of the Quraysh who were with the polytheists in Mecca, and who had professed Islam but had not emigrated to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace. Some people of the Companions of the Prophet of Allah met them while those two were on the way to Mecca. Some of them said: indeed, their blood and their possessions are permissible! And others said: it is not permissible for you! They disputed concerning them, and Allah sent down regarding this: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites, while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned," until He reached: And if Allah had willed, He would have given them power over you, and then they would have fought you.
10056 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: Abū Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar ibn Rāshid, he said: it reached me that some people of the inhabitants of Mecca wrote to the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, that they had accepted Islam, but that was a lie from them. Then they met them, and the Muslims differed concerning them. A faction said: their blood is permissible! And a faction said: their blood is forbidden! Then Allah sent down: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites, while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned."
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10057 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Faraj, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed us, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites": they are people who stayed behind from the Prophet of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and remained in Mecca and openly showed faith (īmān) but did not emigrate. The Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, differed concerning them: some people of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, took them as protecting friends, and others declared themselves free of their alliance, and said: they stayed behind from the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and did not emigrate! Then Allah named them hypocrites, and declared the believers free of their alliance, and commanded them that they should not take them as protecting friends until they emigrated.
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And others said: no, their disagreement rather concerned a people who were in Medina and wished to depart from it out of hypocrisy.
* Mention of who said that:
10058 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites, while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned," he said: there were people of the hypocrites who wished to depart from Medina, and they said to the believers: indeed, ailments have afflicted us in Medina and it has not agreed with us, so perhaps we shall travel to the highland until we recover and then return, for we were people of the desert. So they departed, and the Companions of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, differed concerning them. A faction said: enemies of Allah, hypocrites! We would wish that the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, would give us permission so that we might fight them! And a faction said: no, rather they are our brothers whom Medina oppressed and whom it did not agree with, so they went out to the highland to refresh themselves, and when they are healed they will return. Then Allah said: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites," He says: what is the matter with you that you form concerning them two groups = "while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned."
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And others said: no, this verse was sent down concerning the disagreement of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about the affair of the people of the slander (ahl al-ifk).
* Mention of who said that:
10059 — Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites, while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned," until he reached: So take none of them as protecting friends until they emigrate in the way of Allah, he said: this is concerning the matter of Ibn Ubayy when he spoke about ʿĀʾisha what he spoke.
10060 — And Yūnus related to me, he said: Ibn Wahb informed us, he said: Ibn Zayd said: indeed, when this verse was sent down: "What is the matter with you that you are divided into two groups concerning the hypocrites," he recited until he reached: So take none of them as protecting friends until they emigrate in the way of Allah, and Saʿd ibn Muʿādh said: indeed, I declare myself free before Allah and before His Messenger of his faction! = he meant ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: and the most correct of these statements in this matter is the statement of him who said: this verse was sent down concerning the disagreement of the Companions of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, about a people who had apostatized (irtaddū) from Islam after their acceptance of it, belonging to the inhabitants of Mecca.
And we have called that the most correct only because the disagreement of the people of exegesis in this rests upon only two statements: one is: that it was a people who belonged to the inhabitants of Mecca, in accordance with the narration which we have mentioned from them. And the other is: that it was a people who belonged to the inhabitants of Medina.
= And in the saying of Allah, exalted be His mention: So take none of them as protecting friends until they emigrate, there is the clearest proof that they did not belong to the inhabitants of Medina. For the emigration (hijra) was, in the time of the Messenger of Allah, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, to his dwelling and his city, from all the regions of unbelief. As for him who had settled in Medina, in the abode of emigration, of the hypocrites and the people of shirk — upon him there rested no obligation of emigration, for in the abode of emigration lay his dwelling and his abode.
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And the linguists of the Arabs differed about the accusative form of His saying "fiʾatayn" (two groups).
Some of them said: it stands in the accusative as a circumstantial qualifier (ḥāl), as you say: "mā laka qāʾiman" (what is the matter with you, standing), that is to say: what is the matter with you in the state of standing. And this is the statement of some of the Basran grammarians.
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And some of the Kūfan grammarians said: it stands in the accusative because of the verbal character of "mā laka." He said: and it makes no difference whether the word in the accusative in "mā laka" is definite or indefinite. He said: and it is permissible in the language for you to say: "mā laka al-sāʾira maʿanā" (what is the matter with you, the one traveling with us), because it is like the verb that is put in the accusative by "kāna" and "aẓunnu" and what resembles them. He said: and in every place where "faʿala" and "yafʿalu" are fitting for the word in the accusative, the accusative of both the definite and the indefinite thereof is permissible, just as you make "kāna" and "aẓunnu" govern the accusative, because they are deficient in meaning, even if you supposed that they were complete.
And this statement is the most correct in this, because what is sought in the statement of him who says: "mā laka qāʾiman," is the "standing," and it therefore belongs to the category of "kāna" and her sisters, and "aẓunnu" and her sisters.
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The discourse on the explanation of His saying, mighty and exalted is He: while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned
Abū Jaʿfar said: the people of exegesis differed about the explanation of His saying: "while Allah has cast them back."
Some of them said: its meaning is: He has returned them, as we have said.
* Mention of who said that:
10061 — Al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ al-Khurāsānī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned," (means:) He has returned them.
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And others said: its meaning is: and Allah has made them fall.
* Mention of who said that:
10062 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: ʿAbd Allāh related to me, he said: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned," he says: He has made them fall.
And others said: its meaning is: He has led them astray and destroyed them.
* Mention of who said that:
10063 — Al-Qāsim related to us, he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Abū Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: "while Allah has cast them back," he said: He has destroyed them.
10064 — Al-Muthannā related to me, he said: Isḥāq related to us, he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: "while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned," (means:) He has destroyed them because of what they have done.
10065 — Muḥammad ibn al-Ḥusayn related to us, he said: Aḥmad ibn Mufaḍḍal related to us, he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "while Allah has cast them back because of what they have earned," (means:) He has destroyed them.
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And we have already given the exposition about the meaning thereof previously, with what relieves us from repetition.
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The discourse on the explanation of His saying: Do you wish to guide whom Allah has led astray? And whomever Allah leads astray, for him you will never find a way (4:88).
Abū Jaʿfar said: He, exalted be His praise, means by His saying "Do you wish to guide whom Allah has led astray": do you wish, O believers, to guide to Islam — and thus grant success to acknowledging it and entering into it — whom Allah has led astray from it? By this He means: whom Allah has forsaken, so that He has not granted him success to acknowledging it?
And this is only an address from Allah, exalted be His mention, to the group that defended these hypocrites, whose quality Allah has described in this verse. He says to them, exalted be His praise: do you strive for the guidance of these whom Allah has led astray and whom He has forsaken as regards the truth and the following of Islam, through your defense of fighting against them whom of the believers wished to fight them? = "And whomever Allah leads astray, for him you will never find a way," He says: and whomever He has forsaken as regards his religion and the following of what He has commanded him, namely the acknowledging of Him and of His Prophet Muḥammad, may Allah bless him and grant him peace, and of what he has brought from Him, and whom He has led astray from it = "for him you will never find," O Muḥammad, "a way," He says: for him you will never find a path along which you might guide him to the attaining of that from which Allah has [forsaken] him, nor a course along which he might come to the matter from which He has denied him the attaining.
