4:136 An-Nisaa (The Women)

اعلم أن الأمر إما أن يوجه إلى من لم يدخل في الشيء ولم يتصف بشيء منه، فهذا يكون أمرا له في الدخول فيه، وذلك كأمر من ليس بمؤمن بالإيمان، كقوله تعالى: { يَأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْكِتَابَ آمِنُوا بِمَا نَزَّلْنَا مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا مَعَكُمْ ْ} الآية. وإما أن يوجه إلى من دخل في الشيء فهذا يكون أمره ليصحح ما وجد منه ويحصل ما لم يوجد، ومنه ما ذكره الله في هذه الآية من أمر المؤمنين بالإيمان، فإن ذلك يقتضي أمرهم بما يصحح إيمانهم من الإخلاص والصدق، وتجنب المفسدات والتوبة من جميع المنقصات. ويقتضي أيضا الأمر بما لم يوجد من المؤمن من علوم الإيمان وأعماله، فإنه كلما وصل إليه نص وفهم معناه واعتقده فإن ذلك من الإيمان المأمور به. وكذلك سائر الأعمال الظاهرة والباطنة، كلها من الإيمان كما دلت على ذلك النصوص الكثيرة، وأجمع عليه سلف الأمة. ثم الاستمرار على ذلك والثبات عليه إلى الممات كما قال تعالى: { يَأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اتَّقُوا اللَّهَ حَقَّ تُقَاتِهِ وَلَا تَمُوتُنَّ إِلَّا وَأَنتُم مُّسْلِمُونَ ْ} وأمر هنا بالإيمان به وبرسوله، وبالقرآن وبالكتب المتقدمة، فهذا كله من الإيمان الواجب الذي لا يكون العبد مؤمنا إلا به، إجمالا فيما لم يصل إليه تفصيله وتفصيلا فيما علم من ذلك بالتفصيل، فمن آمن هذا الإيمان المأمور به، فقد اهتدى وأنجح. { وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَائِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَالًا بَعِيدًا ْ} وأي ضلال أبعد من ضلال من ترك طريق الهدى المستقيم، وسلك الطريق الموصلة له إلى العذاب الأليم؟\" واعلم أن الكفر بشيء من هذه المذكورات كالكفر بجميعها، لتلازمها وامتناع وجود الإيمان ببعضها دون بعض

يأمر تعالى عباده المؤمنين بالدخول في جميع شرائع الإيمان وشعبه وأركانه ودعائمه وليس هذا من باب تحصيل الحاصل بل من باب تكميل الكامل وتقريره وتثبيته والاستمرار عليه كما يقول المؤمن في كل صلاة اهدنا الصراط المستقيم أي بصرنا فيه وزدنا هدى وثبتنا عليه فأمرهم بالإيمان به وبرسوله كما قال تعالى "يا أيها الذين آمنوا اتقوا الله وآمنوا برسوله" وقوله "والكتاب الذي نزل على رسوله" يعني القرآن والكتاب الذي أنزل من قبل وهذا جنس يشمل جميع الكتب المتقدمة وقال في القرآن نزل لأنه "نزل" متفرقا منجما على الوقائع بحسب ما يحتاج إليه العباد في معاشهم ومعادهم وأما الكتب المتقدمة فكانت تنزل جملة واحدة لهذا قال تعالى "والكتاب الذي أنزل من قبل" ثم قال تعالى "ومن يكفر بالله وملائكته وكتبه ورسله واليوم الآخر فقد ضل ضلالا بعيدا" أي فقد خرج عن طريق الهدى وبعد عن القصد كل البعد.

The Order to Have Faith after Believing

Allah commands His faithful servants to adhere to all the elements of faith, its branches, pillars and cornerstones. This is not stated as mere redundancy, but from the view of completing faith and the continual maintenence of it. For instance, the believer proclaims in every prayer,

اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ

(Guide us to the straight way.) which means, make us aware of the straight path and increase us in guidance and strengthen us on it. In this Ayah 4:136, Allah commands the believers to believe in Him and in His Messenger, just as He said elsewhere,

يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ اتَّقُواْ اللَّهَ وَءَامِنُواْ بِرَسُولِهِ

(O you who believe! Have Taqwa of Allah, and believe in His Messenger, ). Allah's statement,

وَالْكِتَـبِ الَّذِى نَزَّلَ عَلَى رَسُولِهِ

(and the Book which He has sent down to His Messenger,) refers to the Qur'an, while,

وَالْكِتَـبِ الَّذِى أَنَزلَ مِن قَبْلُ

(and the Scripture which He sent down to those before (him);) refers to the previously revealed divine Books. Allah then said,

وَمَن يَكْفُرْ بِاللَّهِ وَمَلَـئِكَتِهِ وَكُتُبِهِ وَرُسُلِهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الاٌّخِرِ فَقَدْ ضَلَّ ضَلَـلاً بَعِيداً

(and whosoever disbelieves in Allah, His Angels, His Books, His Messengers, and the Last Day, then indeed he has strayed far away.) meaning, he will have deviated from the correct guidance and strayed far away from its path.

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ ثُمَّ كَفَرُواْ ثُمَّ ءَامَنُواْ ثُمَّ كَفَرُواْ ثُمَّ ازْدَادُواْ كُفْراً لَّمْ يَكُنْ اللَّهُ لِيَغْفِرَ لَهُمْ وَلاَ لِيَهْدِيَهُمْ سَبِيلاً - بَشِّرِ الْمُنَـفِقِينَ بِأَنَّ لَهُمْ عَذَاباً أَلِيماً

O you who believe believe with perseverance in God and His Messenger and the Book which has been revealed to His Messenger Muhammad (s) and that is the Qur’ān; and the Book which was revealed before to the messengers namely the scriptures a variant reading for nuzzila and unzila ‘was revealed’ has the active form for both verbs nazzala and anzala ‘He revealed’. And whoever disbelieves in God and His angels and His Books and His messengers and the Last Day verily he has strayed far away from the truth.

Sequence

Discussed upto this point were subsidiary injunctions mostly, alongwith issues relating to faith ('Iman) and disbelief (kufr) appearing as a corollary to dealings with antagonists. Onwards from here, these issues appear in some detail continuing almost close to the end of the Surah. In the sequence of statements, first comes a description of 'Iman (faith) as credible in the sight of the Shari’ ah. After that, various groups of disbelievers have been censured for their beliefs and for some of their deeds also which issue forth from their faulty beliefs.

O you who have faith! Have faith in God and His Messenger. Faith is two sorts, one based on proof, the other on face-to-face vision. Faith by proof is the road of inference, and faith by face-to-face vision is finding the day of union. Faith by proof is to employ the evidence of intellects, and faith by vision is to reach the degrees of arrival. In terms of allusion He is saying: “O you have acquired faith by proof, strive to acquire faith by face-to-face vision!” What is faith by face-to-face vision? Gazing with the eye of response on the Responder, gaz- ing with the eye of solitariness on the Solitary, gazing with the eye of presence on the Present, being near to God's nearness by being far from self, being present with His generosity by being absent from self. He-majestic is His majesty!-is not far from the strivers nor absent from the desirers. He says, “We are nearer to him than the jugular vein” [50:16]. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O Lord! You are found by the souls of the chevaliers, You are present to the hearts of the rememberers. They give marks of You up close, but You are far beyond that. They fancy You from afar, but You are closer than the spirit.” Lovely idol! Are you then my beloved? Now that I look close, You are my spirit. It is also said that the meaning of the verse is this: O you who have faith by assenting, have faith by realizing! You have accepted the Shariah, now accept the Haqiqah. What is the Shariah? What the Haqiqah? The Shariah is a lamp, the Haqiqah a burn. The Shariah is a bond, the Haqiqah advice. The Shariah is need, the Haqiqah joy. The Shariah is the outer pillars, the Haqiqah the inner pillars. The Shariah is not having evil, the Haqiqah is not hav- ing self. The Shariah is service based on conditions, the Haqiqah exile based on witnessing. The Shariah is by intermediaries, the Haqiqah by unveiling. The folk of the Shariah keep obedience and leave aside disobedience, the folk of the Haqiqah flee from themselves and take joy in oneness. The folk of the Shariah hope for everlastingness and subsistent bliss, the folk of the Haqiqah boldy busy themselves with the Cupbearer.