16:62 An-Nahl (The Bee)

يخبر تعالى أن المشركين { وَيَجْعَلُونَ لِلَّهِ مَا يَكْرَهُونَ } من البنات، ومن الأوصاف القبيحة وهو الشرك بصرف شيء من العبادات إلى بعض المخلوقات التي هي عبيد لله، فكما أنهم يكرهون، ولا يرضون أن يكون عبيدهم -وهم مخلوقون من جنسهم- شركاء لهم فيما رزقهم الله فكيف يجعلون له شركاء من عبيده؟\" { وَ } هم مع هذه الإساءة العظيمة { تَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُهُمُ الْكَذِبَ أَنَّ لَهُمُ الْحُسْنَى } أي: أن لهم الحالة الحسنة في الدنيا والآخرة، رد عليهم بقوله: { لَا جَرَمَ أَنَّ لَهُمُ النَّارَ وَأَنَّهُمْ مُفْرَطُونَ } مقدمون إليها ماكثون فيها غير خارجين منها أبدا.

وقوله "ويجعلون لله ما يكرهون" أي من البنات ومن الشركاء الذين هم عبيده وهم يأنفون أن يكون عند أحدهم شريك له في ماله وقوله "وتصف ألسنتهم الكذب أن لهم الحسنى" إنكار عليهم في دعواهم مع ذلك أن لهم الحسنى في الدنيا وإن كان ثَم معاد ففيه أيضا لهم الحسنى وإخبار عن قيل من قال منهم كقوله "ولئن أذقنا الإنسان منا رحمة ثم نزعناها منه إنه ليئوس كفور ولئن أذقناه نعماء بعد ضراء مسته ليقولن ذهب السيئات عني إنه لفرح فخور" وقوله "ولئن أذقناه رحمة منا من بعد ضراء مسته ليقولن هذا لي وما أظن الساعة قائمة ولئن رُجعت إلى ربي إن لي عنده للحسنى فلننبئن الذين كفروا بما عملوا ولنذيقنهم من عذاب غليظ" وقوله "أفرأيت الذي كفر بآياتنا وقال لأوتين مالا وولدا" وقال إخبارا عن أحد الرجلين إنه "دخل جنته وهو ظالم لنفسه فقال ما أظن أن تبيد هذه أبدا وما أظن الساعة قائمة ولئن رددت إلى ربي لأجدن خيرا منها منقلبا" فجمع هؤلاء بين عمل السوء وتمني الباطل بأن يجازوا على ذلك حسنا وهذا مستحيل كما ذكر ابن إسحاق أنه وجد حجر في أساس الكعبة حين نقضوها ليجددوها مكتوب عليه حكم ومواعظ; فمن ذلك: تعملون السيئات وتجزون الحسنات؟ أجل كما يجتنى من الشوك العنب. وقال مجاهد وقتادة "وتصف ألسنتهم الكذب أن لهم الحسنى" أي الغلمان وقال ابن جرير "أن لهم الحسنى" أي يوم القيامة كما قدمنا بيانه وهو الصواب ولله الحمد ولهذا قال تعالى رادا عليهم في تمنيهم ذلك "لا جرم" أي حقا لابد منه "أن لهم النار" أي يوم القيامة "وأنهم مفرطون" قال مجاهد وسعيد بن جبير وقتادة وغيرهم منسيون فيها مضيعون وهذا كقوله تعالى "فاليوم ننساهم كما نسوا لقاء يومهم هذا" وعن قتادة أيضا "مفرطون" أي معجلون إلى النار من الفرَط وهو السابق إلى الورد ولا منافاة لأنهم يعجل بهم يوم القيامة إلى النار وينسون فيها أي يخلدون.

Allah does not immediately punish for Disobedience

Allah tells us about His patience with His creatures, even though they do wrong. If He were to punish them for what they have done, there would be no living creature left on the face of the earth, i.e., He would have destroyed every animal on earth after destroying the sons of Adam. But the Lord - magnificent is His glory - is forbearing and He covers people's faults. He waits until the appointed time, i.e., He does not rush to punish them. If He did, then there would be no one left. Ibn Jarir reported that Abu Salamah said: "Abu Hurayrah heard a man saying, `The wrongdoer harms no one but himself.' He turned to him and said, `That is not true, by Allah! Even the buzzard dies in its nest because of the sins of the wrongdoer."'

They attribute to Allah what They Themselves dislike

وَيَجْعَلُونَ لِلَّهِ مَا يَكْرَهُونَ

(They assign to Allah that which they dislike (for themselves),) meaning, daughters, and partners, who are merely His servants, yet none of them would like to have someone sharing in his wealth.

وَتَصِفُ أَلْسِنَتُهُمُ الْكَذِبَ أَنَّ لَهُمُ الْحُسْنَى

(and their tongues assert the lie that the better things will be theirs.) This is a denunciation of their claims that better things will be theirs in this world, and in the Hereafter. Allah tells us about what some of them said, as in the Ayat:

وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَا الإِنْسَـنَ مِنَّا رَحْمَةً ثُمَّ نَزَعْنَاهَا مِنْهُ إِنَّهُ لَيَئُوسٌ كَفُورٌ - وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَاهُ نَعْمَآءَ بَعْدَ ضَرَّآءَ مَسَّتْهُ لَيَقُولَنَّ ذَهَبَ السَّيِّئَاتُ عَنِّي إِنَّهُ لَفَرِحٌ فَخُورٌ

(And if We give man a taste of mercy from Us, and then take it from him, verily! He is hopelessly, ungrateful. But if We let him taste of goodness after harm has touched him, he is sure to say: "Ills have departed from me." Surely, he is cheerful, and boastful (ungrateful to Allah).) (11:9-10)

وَلَئِنْ أَذَقْنَـهُ رَحْمَةً مِّنَّا مِن بَعْدِ ضَرَّآءَ مَسَّتْهُ لَيَقُولَنَّ هَـذَا لِى وَمَآ أَظُنُّ السَّاعَةَ قَآئِمَةً وَلَئِن رُّجِّعْتُ إِلَى رَبِّى إِنَّ لِى عِندَهُ لَلْحُسْنَى فَلَنُنَبِّئَنَّ الَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ بِمَا عَمِلُواْ وَلَنُذِيقَنَّهُمْ مِّنْ عَذَابٍ غَلِيظٍ

(And if We give him a taste of mercy from Us, after some adversity has touched him, he is sure to say: "This is due to me; I do not think that the Hour will occur. But if I am brought back to my Lord, then , with Him, there will surely be the best for me." Then, We will certainly show the disbelievers what they have done, and We shall make them taste severe torment.) (41:50)

أَفَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِى كَفَرَ بِـَايَـتِنَا وَقَالَ لأوتَيَنَّ مَالاً وَوَلَداً

(Have you seen the one who disbelieved in Our Ayat and said: "I shall certainly be given wealth and children (if I came back to life).") (19:77) Allah tells us about one of the two men:

دَخَلَجَنَّتَهُ وَهُوَ ظَالِمٌ لِّنَفْسِهِ قَالَ مَآ أَظُنُّ أَن تَبِيدَ هَـذِهِ أَبَداًوَمَآ أَظُنُّ السَّاعَةَ قَائِمَةً وَلَئِن رُّدِدتُّ إِلَى رَبِّى لأَجِدَنَّ خَيْراً مِّنْهَا مُنْقَلَباً

(He went into his garden while wronging himself. He said: "I do not think that this will ever perish. And I do not think that the Hour will ever come, and if indeed I am brought back to my Lord, (on the Day of Resurrection), then surely, I shall find better than this when I return to Him.") (18:35-36) These people combined bad deeds with the false hopes of being rewarded with good for those bad deeds, which is impossible. Thus Allah refuted their false hopes, when He said:

لاَ جَرَمَ

(No doubt), meaning, truly it is inevitable that

أَنَّ لَهُمُ الْنَّارَ

(for them is the Fire), meaning, on the Day of Resurrection.

وَأَنَّهُمْ مُّفْرَطُونَ

(and they will be forsaken). Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Qatadah and others said: "This means they will be forgotten and neglected there." This is like the Ayah:

فَالْيَوْمَ نَنسَـهُمْ كَمَا نَسُواْ لِقَآءَ يَوْمِهِمْ هَـذَا

(So today We forget them just as they forgot meeting on this day of theirs.) (7:51). It was also reported from Qatadah that,

مُّفْرَطُونَ

(they will be forsaken) means `they are hastened into the Fire.' There is no contradiction between the two, because they will be hastened into the Fire on the Day of Resurrection, then they will be forgotten there, i.e., left to dwell there for eternity.

Still they assign to God what they dislike for themselves — such as daughters partners in power and the mistreatment of messengers. And their tongues despite this relate tell the lie which is that theirs will be the best reward with God namely Paradise as He God states in their words elsewhere ‘And in case I am returned to my Lord I will indeed have the best reward with Him’ Q. 4150. But God exalted be He says Without any doubt — verily — theirs shall be the Fire and they shall be abandoned therein or it mufratūn means that they shall be foremost in entering it a variant reading for mufratūn has mufritūn meaning that ‘they transgress the bounds’.

Also at the end of the third verse (60), in: وَهُوَ الْعَزِيزُ الْحَكِيمُ (And He is the Mighty, the Wise), there is a hint that taking the birth of a baby girl to be nuisance and disgrace, and hiding from people because of it, amount to challenging Divine wisdom - as the creation of male and female among the created is the very requisite of wisdom. (Ruh a1-Bayan)

Ruling:

Clear indications are visible in these verses that taking the birth of a girl in the family to be a disaster or disgrace is not permissible under Islam. This is done by disbelievers. Quoting Shr'ah (شرعہ ) Tafsir Ruh al-Bayan also says that a Muslim should be happier at the birth of a girl in the family so that it becomes a refutation of the act of the people of Ja-hiliyyah. Says a Hadith: Blessed is the woman who gives birth to a girl in her first pregnancy. That the Arabic word: اِنَاث (inath: females) has been made to precede the word for 'males' in the verse of the Qur’ an: وَيَهَبُ لِمَن يَشَاءُ الذُّكُورَ‌ (He bestows on whomsoever He wills females and bestows on whomsoever He wills males - 42:49) indicates that the birth of a girl from the first pregnancy is better.[

In another Hadith, it is said: Whoever finds any of such girls en-trusted to his care, and he treats them fairly and favourably, then, these girls will stand as a curtain between him and Hell. (Ruh al-Bayan)

To sum up, it can be said that taking the birth of a girl to be bad is a detestable custom of the pagan period. Muslims must abstain from it. In fact, they should be pleased and satisfied with the promise of Allah against it. Allah knows best.