4:2 An-Nisaa (The Women)

وقوله تعالى: { وَآتُوا الْيَتَامَى أَمْوَالَهُمْ ولا تتبدلوا الخبيث بالطيب ولا تأكلوا أموالهم إلى أموالكم إنه كان حوبا كبيرا } هذا أول ما أوصى به من حقوق الخلق في هذه السورة. وهم اليتامى الذين فقدوا آباءهم الكافلين لهم، وهم صغار ضعاف لا يقومون بمصالحهم. فأمر الرءوف الرحيم عباده أن يحسنوا إليهم، وأن لا يقربوا أموالهم إلا بالتي هي أحسن، وأن يؤتوهم أموالهم إذا بلغوا ورشدوا، كاملة موفرة، وأن لا { تَتَبَدَّلُوا الْخَبِيثَ } الذي هو أكل مال اليتيم بغير حق. { بِالطَّيِّبِ } وهو الحلال الذي ما فيه حرج ولا تبعة. { وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَهُمْ إِلَى أَمْوَالِكُمْ } أي: مع أموالكم، ففيه تنبيه لقبح أكل مالهم بهذه الحالة، التي قد استغنى بها الإنسان بما جعل الله له من الرزق في ماله. فمن تجرأ على هذه الحالة، فقد أتى { حُوبًا كَبِيرًا } أي: إثمًا عظيمًا، ووزرًا جسيمًا. ومن استبدال الخبيث بالطيب أن يأخذ الولي من مال اليتيم النفيس، ويجعل بدله من ماله الخسيس. وفيه الولاية على اليتيم، لأن مِنْ لازم إيتاء اليتيم ماله، ثبوت ولاية المؤتي على ماله. وفيه الأمر بإصلاح مال اليتيم، لأن تمام إيتائه ماله حفظه والقيام به بما يصلحه وينميه وعدم تعريضه للمخاوف والأخطار.

يأمر تعالى بدفع أموال اليتامى إليهم إذا بلغوا الحلم كاملة موفرة وينهى عن أكلها وضمها إلى أموالهم ولهذا قال "ولا تتبدلوا الخبيث بالطيب" قال سفيان الثوري عن أبي صالح: لا تعجل بالرزق الحرام قبل أن يأتيك الرزق الحلال الذي قدر لك وقال سعيد بن جبير: لا تتبدلوا الحرام من أموال الناس بالحلال من أموالكم يقول: لا تبدلوا أموالكم الحلال وتأكلوا أموالهم الحرام وقال سعيد بن المسيب والزهري: لا تعط مهزولا وتأخذ سمينا. وقال إبراهيم النخعي والضحاك: لا تعط زيفا وتأخذ جيدا. وقال السدي: كان أحدهم يأخذ الشاة السمينة من غنم اليتيم ويجعل مكانها الشاة المهزولة ويقول: شاة بشاة ويأخذ الدرهم الجيد ويطرح مكانه الزيف يقول درهم بدرهم. وقوله "ولا تأكلوا أموالهم إلى أموالكم" قال مجاهد وسعيد بن جبير وابن سيرين ومقاتل بن حيان والسدي وسفيان بن حسين: أي لا تخلطوها فتأكلوها جميعا. وقوله "إنه كان حوبا كبيرا" قال ابن عباس: أي إثما عظيما. وروى ابن مردوية عن أبي هريرة قال: سئل رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم عن قوله "حوبا كبيرا" قال " إثما كبيرا " ولكن في إسناده محمد بن يوسف الكندي وهو ضعيف وروى هكذا عن مجاهد وعكرمة وسعيد بن جبير والحسن وابن سيرين وقتادة ومقاتل بن حيان والضحاك وأبي مالك وزيد بن أسلم وأبي سنان مثل قول ابن عباس وفي الحديث المروي في سنن أبي داود "اغفر لنا حوبنا وخطايانا" وروى ابن مردويه بإسناده إلى واصل مولى عيينة عن ابن سيرين عن ابن عباس: أن أبا أيوب طلق امرأته فقال له النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم "يا أبا أيوب إن طلاق أم أيوب كان حوبا " قال ابن سيرين: الحوب الأثم. ثم قال ابن مردويه: حدثنا عبدالباقي حدثنا بشر بن موسى حدثنا هودة بن خليفة حدثنا عوف عن أنس أن أبا أيوب أراد طلاق أم أيوب فاستأذن النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم فقال "إن طلاق أم أيوب لحوب" فأمسكها ثم روى ابن مردويه والحاكم في مستدركه من حديث علي بن عاصم عن حميد الطويل سمعت أنس بن مالك أيضا يقول: أراد أبو طلحة أن يطلق أم سليم أمرأته فقال النبي صلى الله عليه وسلم "إن طلاق أم سليم لحوب" فكف. والمعنى: إن أكلكم أموالهم مع أموالكم إثم عظيم وخطأ كبير فاجتنبوه.

Protecting the Property of the Orphans

Allah commands that the property of the orphans be surrendered to them in full when they reach the age of adolescence, and He forbids using or confiscating any part of it. So He said;

وَلاَ تَتَبَدَّلُواْ الْخَبِيثَ بِالطَّيِّبِ

(and do not exchange (your) bad things for (their) good ones;) Sa`id bin Al-Musayyib and Az-Zuhri commented, "Do not substitute a weak animal of yours for a fat animal (of the orphans)." Ibrahim An-Nakha`i and Ad-Dahhak commented, "Do not give something of bad quality for something of good quality." As-Suddi said, "One of them (caretakers of orphans) would take a fat sheep from the orphan's property and put in its place, a weak sheep of his, saying, `A sheep for a sheep.' He would also take a good Dirham and exchange it for a fake Dirham, saying, `A Dirham for a Dirham."' Allah's statement,

وَلاَ تَأْكُلُواْ أَمْوَلَهُمْ إِلَى أَمْوَلِكُمْ

(and devour not their substance to your substance.) means, do not mix them together so that you eat up both, as Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Muqatil bin Hayyan, As-Suddi and Sufyan bin Hassin stated. Allah said,

إِنَّهُ كَانَ حُوباً كَبِيراً

(Surely, this is a great sin. ), a major and substantial sin, according to Ibn `Abbas. This was also reported from Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hasan, Ibn Sirin, Qatadah, Muqatil bin Hayyan, Ad-Dahhak, Abu Malik, Zayd bin Aslam and Abu Sinan. The meaning above is: adding their property to your property is a grave sin and a major mistake, so avoid it.

The Prohibition of Marrying Female Orphans Without Giving a Dowry

Allah said,

وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تُقْسِطُواْ فِى الْيَتَـمَى فَانكِحُواْ مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ مِّنَ النِّسَآءِ مَثْنَى

(And if you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry (other) women of your choice, two) Allah commands, when one of you is the caretaker of a female orphan and he fears that he might not give her a dowry that is suitable for women of her status, he should marry other women, who are plenty as Allah has not restricted him. Al-Bukhari recorded that `A'ishah said, "A man was taking care of a female orphan and he married her, although he did not desire to marry her. That girl's money was mixed with his, and he was keeping her portion from her. Afterwards, this Ayah was revealed about his case;

وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تُقْسِطُواْ

(If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly)" Al-Bukhari recorded that `Urwah bin Az-Zubayr said that he asked `A'ishah about the meaning of the statement of Allah,

وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تُقْسِطُواْ فِى الْيَتَـمَى

(If you fear that you shall not be able to deal justly with the orphan girls.) She said, "O my nephew! This is about the orphan girl who lives with her guardian and shares his property. Her wealth and beauty may tempt him to marry her without giving her an adequate dowry which might have been given by another suitor. So, such guardians were forbidden to marry such orphan girls unless they treated them justly and gave them the most suitable dowry; otherwise they were ordered to marry woman besides them." `A'ishah further said, "After that verse, the people again asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ (about marriage with orphan girls), so Allah revealed the Ayah,

وَيَسْتَفْتُونَكَ فِى النِّسَآءِ

(They ask your instruction concerning the women..) 4:127." She said, "Allah's statement in this Ayah,

وَتَرْغَبُونَ أَن تَنكِحُوهُنَّ

(yet whom you desire to marry) 4:127 refers to the guardian who does not desire to marry an orphan girl under his supervision because she is neither wealthy nor beautiful. The guardians were forbidden to marry their orphan girls possessing property and beauty without being just to them, as they generally refrain from marrying them (when they are neither beautiful nor wealthy)."

The Permission to Marry Four Women

Allah's statement,

مَثْنَى وَثُلَـثَ وَرُبَاعَ

(two or three, or four), means, marry as many women as you like, other than the orphan girls, two, three or four. We should mention that Allah's statement in another Ayah,

جَاعِلِ الْمَلَـئِكَةِ رُسُلاً أُوْلِى أَجْنِحَةٍ مَّثْنَى وَثُلَـثَ وَرُبَـعَ

(Who made the angels messengers with wings, - two or three or four) 35:1, does not mean that other angels do not have more than four wings, as there are proofs that some angels do have more wings. Yet, men are prohibited from marrying more than four wives, as the Ayah decrees, since the Ayah specifies what men are allowed of wives, as Ibn `Abbas and the majority of scholars stated. If it were allowed for them to have more than four wives, the Ayah would have mentioned it. Imam Ahmad recorded that Salim said that his father said that Ghilan bin Salamah Ath-Thaqafi had ten wives when he became Muslim, and the Prophet said to him, "Choose any four of them (and divorce the rest)." During the reign of `Umar, Ghilan divorced his remaining wives and divided his money between his children. When `Umar heard news of this, he said to Ghilan, "I think that the devil has conveyed to your heart the news of your imminent death, from what the devil hears during his eavesdropping. It may as well be that you will not remain alive but for a little longer. By Allah! You will take back your wives and your money, or I will take possession of this all and will order that your grave be stoned as is the case with the grave of Abu Righal (from Thamud, who was saved from their fate because he was in the Sacred Area. But, when he left it, he was tormented like they were)." Ash-Shafi`i, At-Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Ad-Daraqutni and Al-Bayhaqi collected this Hadith up to the Prophet's statement, "Choose any four of them." Only Ahmad collected the full version of this Hadith. Therefore, had it been allowed for men to marry more than four women at the same time, the Prophet would have allowed Ghilan to keep more than four of his wives since they all embraced Islam with him. When the Prophet commanded him to keep just four of them and divorce the rest, this indicated that men are not allowed to keep more than four wives at a time under any circumstances. If this is the case concerning those who already had more than four wives upon embracing Islam, then this ruling applies even more so to marrying more than four.

Marrying Only One Wife When One Fears He Might not Do Justice to His Wives

Allah's statement,

فَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلاَّ تَعْدِلُواْ فَوَحِدَةً أَوْ مَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَـنُكُمْ

(But if you fear that you will not be able to deal justly (with them), then only one or what your right hands possess.) The Ayah commands, if you fear that you will not be able to do justice between your wives by marrying more than one, then marry only one wife, or satisfy yourself with only female captives, for it is not obligatory to treat them equally, rather it is recommended. So if one does so, that is good, and if not, there is no harm on him. In another Ayah, Allah said,

وَلَن تَسْتَطِيعُواْ أَن تَعْدِلُواْ بَيْنَ النِّسَآءِ وَلَوْ حَرَصْتُمْ

(You will never be able to do perfect justice between wives even if it is your ardent desire) 4:129. Allah said,

ذلِكَ أَدْنَى أَلاَّ تَعُولُواْ

(That is nearer to prevent you from Ta`ulu), meaning, from doing injustice. Ibn Abi Hatim, Ibn Marduwyah and Abu Hatim Ibn Hibban, in his Sahih, recorded that `A'ishah said that, the Prophet said that the Ayah,

ذلِكَ أَدْنَى أَلاَّ تَعُولُواْ

(That is nearer to prevent you from Ta`ulu), means, from doing injustice. However, Ibn Abi Hatim said that his father said that this Hadith to the Prophet is a mistake, for it should be attributed to `A'ishah not the Prophet . Ibn Abi Hatim reported from Ibn `Abbas, `A'ishah, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Al-Hasan, Abu Malik, Abu Razin, An-Nakha`i, Ash-Sha`bi, Ad-Dahhak, `Ata' Al-Khurasani, Qatadah, As-Suddi and Muqatil bin Hayyan that Ta`ulu means to deviate from justice.

Giving the Dowry is Obligatory

`Ali bin Abi Talhah reported Ibn `Abbas saying, Nihlah, in Allah's statement,

وَءَاتُواْ النِّسَآءَ صَدُقَـتِهِنَّ نِحْلَةً

(And give to the women (whom you marry) their Saduqat Nihlah) refers to the dowry. Muhammad bin Ishaq narrated from Az-Zuhri that `Urwah said that `A'ishah said that `Nihlah' means `obligatory'. Muqatil, Qatadah and Ibn Jurayj said, `Nihlah' means `obligatory' Ibn Jurayj added: `specified.' Ibn Zayd said, "In Arabic, Nihlah, refers to what is necessary. So Allah is commanding: Do not marry unless you give your wife something that is her right. No person after the Prophet is allowed to marry a woman except with the required dowry, nor by giving false promises about the dowry intended." Therefore, the man is required to pay a dowry to his wife with a good heart, just as he gives a gift with a good heart. If the wife gives him part or all of that dowry with a good heart, her husband is allowed to take it, as it is lawful for him in this case. This is why Allah said afterwards,

فَإِن طِبْنَ لَكُمْ عَن شَىْءٍ مِّنْهُ نَفْساً فَكُلُوهُ هَنِيئاً مَّرِيئاً

(But if they, of their own pleasure, remit any part of it to you, take it, and enjoy it without fear of any harm.)

The following was revealed regarding an orphan who demanded his property from his guardian but was refused it Give the orphans the under-age ones that have no father their property when they have reached maturity and do not exchange the evil the unlawful for the good the lawful that is taking the one in place of the other as you do when you take what is good from the orphan’s property and leave him your faulty property instead; and absorb not their property by adding it into your property; surely that the absorbing of it is a great crime a serious sin. When this was revealed they found it difficult to maintain guardianship over orphans and some of them had ten or eight wives under their care and did not treat them all equally and so the following was revealed

The Rights of the Orphans and the Protection of Their Property:

The first verse stressed upon the care and concern for kinship in an absolute sense. Then came the general emphasis on the fulfillment of rights that issue forth from it. Now, the second verse carries the command to protect the properties of the orphans, as well as the prohibition of any misappropriation therein because the guardian of an orphaned child is usually one of his relatives. Therefore, this too has a bearing on the fulfillment of the rights of kinship.

The word, الْيَتَامَىٰ 'al-yatama' in the first sentence of verse 2: وَآتُوا الْيَتَامَىٰ أَمْوَالَهُمْ (And give the orphans their property), is the plural of الیتیم al-yatim (the orphan). Literally, it means the lone or the unique. Therefore, a pearl that resides in its shell all alone is called اَلدُّرّ الیتیم Ad-Durr al-Yatim (literally, 'the orphan-pearl' ). In the terminology of Islamic law, a یتیم yatim is a child whose father has died. Incidentally, among animals, a yatim is an offspring whose mother has died (Qmiis). When a child attains maturity, that is, becomes pubert, he is no more referred to as yatim in the terminology of Islamic law as it has been clarified in a hadith which says: لا یتم بعد الاحتلام that is, 'Orphanhood ends with puberty'. (Mishkat, p. 284)

If orphaned children have property, either gifted to them or received by them through someone's inheritance, then the responsibility of protecting this property, as well as the orphan himself, falls on the shoulders of the person who is the guardian of the orphan. It does not matter whether the guardian of the orphan was appointed by the father of the orphan himself before his death, or by the government. It is part of the guardian's duty that he should certainly" cover all costs incurred on the necessary maintenance of the orphan from what he owns, but he should not give what the orphan owns into his possession before he has reached the age of maturity because he, being an immature minor, may lose it somewhere. So, the statement: 'give the orphans their property', in this verse, has been clarified a little later in verse 5 where it has been said that the property of the orphans should be given to them after it is certain that they have become mature and do have the ability to distinguish between what is good for them and what is not.

Therefore, the meaning of 'give the orphans their property' in this verse should be taken in the sense of protecting their property so that it could be given to them at its appropriate time. Furthermore, there is a clear hint in this sentence towards the extent to which the guardian of the orphan is responsible for his welfare. It is being said here that his responsibility is not limited to just that he himself refrains from eating up or squandering the property of the orphan, but it is also an integral part of his duties that he should do everything possible to protect, guard and conserve the property in the best of state, capable of being handed over to him when mature.

The second sentence: وَلَا تَتَبَدَّلُوا الْخَبِيثَ بِالطَّيِّبِ prohibits the substitution of bad things for the good ones. There were people who would let the number of things owned by the orphan stay unaltered, but would take something good from there and substitute it with something bad they themselves had. For example, swapping a lean goat for a healthy one, a bad coin for a good one, and things like that. Since, this too is a breach of trust in respect of the property of the orphan, and in the event that someone driven by his naughty self comes up with the excuse that he has not 'taken' what belonged to the orphan, he has rather 'exchanged' it. So, the Holy Qur'an has forbidden it explicitly. Now, this forbiddance not only covers the substitution of one's bad things for the orphan's good things, but it also covers any attempt by the guardian to enter into any deal with some other person which results in a loss for the orphaned child.

The third sentence: وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَهُمْ إِلَىٰ أَمْوَالِكُمْ (and do not eat up their property alongwith your own) obviously aims to forbid the eating up of the orphan's property through impermissible methods whether it is consumed from the jointly-held property of the guardian and the orphan, or that it is held separately and consumed from there. But, the general practice is that the guardian would hold what belongs to the orphan with his own personal holdings, would himself consume out of there and let the orphan do the same. Since no separate accounting is involved here, even a religiously observing Muslim may fall into thinking that there was no sin in doing so. It was for this particular reason that the prohibition of consuming what belongs to the orphan by pooling it with one's own was mentioned here and warning was given to either keep the property of the orphan absolutely separate and spend from it separately so that there remains no danger of any excess; or should one elect to have a joint-expense system, then, the accounts maintained should be so clear that one can be sure of not having spent anything belonging to the orphan on his own person or in his interest. A detailed explanation of this has already appeared in وَاللَّـهُ يَعْلَمُ الْمُفْسِدَ مِنَ الْمُصْلِحِ (2:220) - Section 27 of Surah al-Baqarah, Volume 1 of this commentary.

The style of expression here gives a hint that those who misappropriate the property of orphans are generally the people who have properties of their own as well. So, it is by implication that such people have been reproached for stooping down to eat up the property of the orphans unlawfully while they have their own lawful belongings at hand - a shameful act indeed.

It will be noted that verse (2) mentions the prohibition of "eating" the property of the orphan because "eating" is one of the major end-uses of what one possesses. But, in common usage, every act of using up, consuming and exhausting is referred to as "eating up" - whether this be by 'using' or by 'eating'. The expression, وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا "la ta'kul u' (do not eat up) in the Holy Qur'an carries this very sense of the usage, included in which are all sorts of impermissible uses. Therefore, spending anything from the property of the orphan unlawfully by any means whatsoever is absolutely Haram (forbidden).

The verse ends with the admonition, إِنَّهُ كَانَ حُوبًا كَبِيرً‌ا (It is, surely, a great sin.) Here, the word حُب 'hub', as said by Sayyidna ibn ` Abbas ؓ ، comes from the Ethiopian language. It means: 'major sin'. It is used in Arabic for the same meaning. The sense is that any unlawful appropriation or use of the orphan's property, be it because of lack of supervision or substitution of something bad for something good or because of consuming the orphan's assets as mixed up with one's own, is a great sin after all.

The stern warning to those who eat up the property of an orphan appears later towards the end of this section (4:10).

(Give unto orphans their wealth�) [4:2]. Muqatil and al-Kalbi said: �This was revealed about a man from Ghatafan who had in his possession an abundant fortune which belonged to his orphaned nephew. When this orphan reached the age of puberty he claimed this fortune but his uncle refused to give it to him. As a result they took their dispute to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and then this verse was revealed. When the uncle heard this verse he said: �We obey Allah and we obey His Messenger; we seek refuge in Allah from the great peril�, and he handed the wealth over to his nephew. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �Whoever is saved from the stinginess of his ego and turn it over like thus will abide in Allah�s Garden�. When the youth received his fortune, he spent it in the way of Allah, exalted is He, which prompted the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, to say: �The reward is confirmed but the sin still persists�. Some asked: �O Messenger of Allah! We know that the reward is confirmed, but how is it that the sin still persists when he is spending his wealth in the way of Allah?� He said: �The reward is confirmed for the youth while the sin persists for his father� �.