16:92 An-Nahl (The Bee)

{ وَلَا تَكُونُوا } في نقضكم للعهود بأسوأ الأمثال وأقبحها وأدلها على سفه متعاطيها، وذلك { كَالَّتِي } تغزل غزلا قويا فإذا استحكم وتم ما أريد منه نقضته فجعلته { أَنْكَاثًا } فتعبت على الغزل ثم على النقض، ولم تستفد سوى الخيبة والعناء وسفاهة العقل ونقص الرأي، فكذلك من نقض ما عاهد عليه فهو ظالم جاهل سفيه ناقص الدين والمروءة. وقوله: { تَتَّخِذُونَ أَيْمَانَكُمْ دَخَلًا بَيْنَكُمْ أَنْ تَكُونَ أُمَّةٌ هِيَ أَرْبَى مِنْ أُمَّةٍ } أي: لا تنبغي هذه الحالة منكم تعقدون الأيمان المؤكدة وتنتظرون فيها الفرص، فإذا كان العاقد لها ضعيفا غير قادر على الآخر أتمها لا لتعظيم العقد واليمين بل لعجزه، وإن كان قويا يرى مصلحته الدنيوية في نقضها نقضها غير مبال بعهد الله ويمينه. كل ذلك دورانا مع أهوية النفوس، وتقديما لها على مراد الله منكم، وعلى المروءة الإنسانية، والأخلاق المرضية لأجل أن تكون أمة أكثر عددا وقوة من الأخرى. وهذا ابتلاء من الله وامتحان يبتليكم الله به حيث قيض من أسباب المحن ما يمتحن به الصادق الوفي من الفاجر الشقي. { وَلَيُبَيِّنَنَّ لَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ مَا كُنْتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ } فيجازي كلا بما عمل، ويخزي الغادر.

وقوله "ولا تكونوا كالتي نقضت غزلها من بعد قوة أنكاثا" قال عبدالله بن كثير السدي: هذه امرأة خرقاء كانت بمكة كلما غزلت شيئا نقضته بعد انبرامه وقال مجاهد وقتادة وابن زيد هذا مثل لمن نقض عهده بعد توكيده وهذا القول أرجح وأظهر وسواء كان بمكة امرأة تنقض غزلها أم لا. وقوله "أنكاثا" يحتمل أن يكون اسم مصدر "نقضت غزلها من بعد قوة أنكاثا" أي أنقاضا ويحتمل أن يكون بدلا عن خبر كان أي لا تكونوا أنكاثا جمع نكث من ناكث ولهذا قال بعده "تتخذون أيمانكم دخلا بينكم" أي خديعة ومكرا "أن تكون أمة هي أربي من أمة" أي تحلفون للناس إذا كانوا أكثر منكم ليطمئنوا إليكم فإذا أمكنكم الغدر بهم غدرتم فنهى الله عن ذلك لينبه بالأدنى على الأعلى إذا كان قد نهى عن الغدر والحالة هذه فلأن ينهى عنه مع التمكن والقدرة بطريق الأولى. وقد قدمنا ولله الحمد في سورة الأنفال قصة معاوية لما كان بينه وبين ملك الروم أمد فسار معاوية إليهم في آخر الأجل حتى إذا انقضى وهو قريب من بلادهم أغار عليهم وهم غارون لا يشعرون فقال له عمرو بن عتبة الله أكبر يا معاوية وفاء لا غدر سمعت رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم يقول "من كان بينه وبين قوم أجل فلا يحلن عقده حتى ينقضي أمدها" فرجع معاوية رضي الله عنه بالجيش قال ابن عباس "أن تكون أمة هي أربى من أمة" أي أكثر وقال مجاهد كانوا يحالفون الحلفاء فيجدون أكثر منهم وأعز فينقضون حلف هؤلاء ويحالفون أولئك الذين هم أكثر وأعز فنهوا عن ذلك وقال الضحاك وقتادة وابن زيد نحوه وقوله "إنما يبلوكم الله به" قال سعيد بن جبير يعني بالكثرة رواه ابن أبي حاتم وقال ابن جرير أي بأمره إياكم بالوفاء بالعهد "وليبينن لكم يوم القيامة ما كنتم فيه تختلفون" فيجازي كل عامل بعمله من خير وشر.

The Command to fulfill the Covenant

This is one of the commands of Allah, to fulfill covenants, keep promises and to fulfill oaths after confirming them. Thus Allah says:

وَلاَ تَنقُضُواْ الاٌّيْمَـنَ بَعْدَ تَوْكِيدِهَا

(and do not break the oaths after you have confirmed them) There is no conflict between this and the Ayat:

وَلاَ تَجْعَلُواْ اللَّهَ عُرْضَةً لاًّيْمَـنِكُمْ

(And do not use Allah as an excuse in your oaths) 2:224

ذلِكَ كَفَّارَةُ أَيْمَـنِكُمْ إِذَا حَلَفْتُمْ وَاحْفَظُواْ أَيْمَـنَكُمْ

(That is the expiation for oaths when you have sworn. And protect your oaths.) 5:89 meaning, do not forgo your oaths without offering the penance. There is also no conflict between this Ayah (16:91) and the Hadith reported in the Two Sahihs according to which the Prophet said:

«إِنِّي وَاللهِ إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ لَا أَحْلِفُ عَلَى يَمِينٍ فَأَرَى غَيْرَهَا خَيْرًا مِنْهَا إِلَّا أَتَيْتُ الَّذِي هُوَ خَيْرٌ وَتَحَلَّلْتُهَا وَفِي رِوَايَةٍ وَكَفَّرْتُ عَنْ يَمِينِي»

(By Allah, if Allah wills, I will not swear an oath and then realize that something else is better, but I do that which is better and find a way to free myself from the oath. According to another report he said: "and I offer penance for my oath. ") There is no contradiction at all between all of these texts and the Ayah under discussion here, which is:

وَلاَ تَنقُضُواْ الاٌّيْمَـنَ بَعْدَ تَوْكِيدِهَا

(and do not break the oaths after you have confirmed them) because these are the kinds of oaths that have to do with covenants and promises, not the kind that have to do with urging oneself to do something or preventing him from doing something. Therefore Mujahid said concerning this Ayah:

وَلاَ تَنقُضُواْ الاٌّيْمَـنَ بَعْدَ تَوْكِيدِهَا

(and do not break the oaths after you have confirmed them) "The oath here refers to oaths made during Jahiliyyah." This supports the Hadith recorded by Imam Ahmad from Jubayr bin Mut`im, who said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«لَا حِلْفَ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ، وَأَيُّمَا حِلْفٍ كَانَ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَزِيدُهُ الْإِسْلَامُ إِلَّا شِدَّة»

(There is no oath in Islam, and any oath made during the Jahiliyyah is only reinforced by Islam.) This was also reported by Muslim. The meaning is that Islam does not need oaths as they were used by the people of the Jahiliyyah; adherence to Islam is sufficient to do away with any need for what they used to customarily give oaths for. In the Two Sahihs it was reported that Anas said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ swore the treaty of allegiance between the Muhajirin (emigrants) and the Ansar (helpers) in our house. " This means that he established brotherhood between them, and they used to inherit from one another, until Allah abrogated that. And Allah knows best.

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ

(Verily, Allah knows what you do.) This is a warning and a threat to those who break their oaths after confirming them.

وَلاَ تَكُونُواْ كَالَّتِى نَقَضَتْ غَزْلَهَا مِن بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ أَنكَـثًا

(And do not be like the one who undoes the thread which she has spun, after it has become strong,) `Abdullah bin Kathir and As-Suddi said: "This was a foolish woman in Makkah. Everytime she spun thread and made it strong, she would undo it again." Mujahid, Qatadah and Ibn Zayd said: "This is like the one who breaks a covenant after confirming it." This view is more correct and more apparent, whether or not there was a woman in Makkah who undid her thread after spinning it. The word Ankathan could be referring back to the word translated as "undoes", reinforcing the meaning, or it could be the predicate of the verb "to be", meaning, do not be Ankathan, the plural of Nakth (breach, violation), from the word Nakith (perfidious). Hence after this, Allah says:

تَتَّخِذُونَ أَيْمَـنَكُمْ دَخَلاً بَيْنَكُمْ

(by taking your oaths as a means of deception among yourselves) meaning for the purposes of cheating and tricking one another.

أَن تَكُونَ أُمَّةٌ هِىَ أَرْبَى مِنْ أُمَّةٍ

(when one group is more numerous than another group. ) meaning, you swear an oath with some people if they are more in number than you, so that they can trust you, but when you are able to betray them you do so. Allah forbids that, by showing a case where treachery might be expected or excused, but He forbids it. If treachery is forbidden in such a case, then in cases where one is in a position of strength it is forbidden more emphatically. Mujahid said: "They used to enter into alliances and covenants, then find other parties who were more powerful and more numerous, so they would cancel the alliance with the first group and make an alliance with the second who were more powerful and more numerous. This is what they were forbidden to do." Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah and Ibn Zayd said something similar.

إِنَّمَا يَبْلُوكُمُ اللَّهُ بِهِ

(Allah only tests you by this) Sa`id bin Jubayr said: "This means (you are tested) by the large numbers." This was reported by Ibn Abi Hatim. Ibn Jarir said: "It means (you are being tested) by His command to you to adhere to your covenants."

وَلَيُبَيِّنَنَّ لَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ مَا كُنْتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ

(And on the Day of Resurrection, He will certainly clarify that which you differed over.) Everyone will be rewarded or punished in accordance with his deeds, good or evil.

And do not be like her who undoes spoils her yarn that which she has spun after having made it strong having set and spun it breaking it up into fibres ankāthan is a circumstantial qualifier ankāth is the plural of nikth and means that which is undone yunkathu — this was an imbecile Meccan woman who used to spin all day and then undo it — by making tattakhidhūna is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the person of the verb takūnū ‘do not be like’ in other words what is meant is ‘do not be like her by making’ your oaths a means of deceit dakhal is what enters yadkhulu into something but does not belong to it in other words as a means of causing mischief or as trickery between you by breaking these oaths so that one group may become more numerous than another group. They used to enter into an alliance with a given group but if they encountered another more numerous and more powerful group they would renege on their alliance with the former and forge a new alliance with these latter. God only tries tests you thereby in other words by that which He enjoins in the way of fulfilling the covenant so that He may observe the obedient and the disobedient among you or when it is the case that one group is more numerous than another that He may observe whether you fulfil your obligation to them or not; and certainly He will make clear to you on the Day of Resurrection that wherein you used to differ during the life of this world with regard to covenants and otherwise by punishing he who reneged and rewarding he who was faithful to his covenant.

In verse 92: أَن تَكُونَ أُمَّةٌ هِيَ أَرْ‌بَىٰ مِنْ أُمَّةٍ (merely because a group is higher [ in number and wealth ] than the other), Muslims have been ordered that they should not break the pact they enter into with a group simply for the sake of worldly interests and gains. For example, they may come to think that the group or party with which they have entered into a pact is weak and few in numbers, or lacks financial backing, while the other group or party abounds in numbers and strength, or is wealthy. Now, if they are tempted to join the party having power and wealth in the hope of better gains from them, this breaking of the pledge given to the first party is not permissible. Rather than do something like that, one should stay by the pledge given and let all gains and losses rest with Allah Ta` ala. However, if the group or party with which one has entered into a pact commits or commissions acts contrary to the dictates of Islamic religious law, then, it is necessary to break that pledge - subject to the condition that they be clearly forewarned that Muslims will not be bound by that pact anymore - as stated in the verse: فَانبِذْ إِلَيْهِمْ عَلَىٰ سَوَاءٍ (then, throw [ the treaty ] towards them being right forward - 8:58).

At the conclusion of the verse, the given situation has been identified as a device to test Muslims whereby Allah Ta’ ala tries them to deter-mine if they would obey the desires of their self and break the solemn pledge, or go on to sacrifice their selfish motives in obedience to the com-mand of Allah Ta’ ala.