4:81 An-Nisaa (The Women)

ولا بد أن تكون طاعة الله ورسوله ظاهرًا وباطنًا في الحضرة والمغيب. فأما مَنْ يظهر في الحضرة والطاعة والالتزام فإذا خلا بنفسه أو أبناء جنسه ترك الطاعة وأقبل على ضدها، فإن الطاعة التي أظهرها غير نافعة ولا مفيدة، وقد أشبه من قال الله فيهم: { وَيَقُولُونَ طَاعَةٌ } أي: يظهرون الطاعة إذا كانوا عندك. { فَإِذَا بَرَزُوا مِنْ عِنْدِكَ } أي: خرجوا وخلوا في حالة لا يطلع فيها عليهم. { بَيَّتَ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْهُمْ غَيْرَ الَّذِي تَقُولُ } أي: بيتوا ودبروا غير طاعتك ولا ثَمَّ إلا المعصية. وفي قوله: { بَيَّتَ طَائِفَةٌ مِنْهُمْ غَيْرَ الَّذِي تَقُولُ } دليل على أن الأمر الذي استقروا عليه غير الطاعة؛ لأن التبييت تدبير الأمر ليلا على وجه يستقر عليه الرأي، ثم توعدهم على ما فعلوا فقال: { وَاللَّهُ يَكْتُبُ مَا يُبَيِّتُونَ } أي: يحفظه عليهم وسيجازيهم عليه أتم الجزاء، ففيه وعيد لهم. ثم أمر رسوله بمقابلتهم بالإعراض وعدم التعنيف، فإنهم لا يضرونه شيئا إذا توكل على الله واستعان به في نصر دينه، وإقامة شرعه. ولهذا قال: { فَأَعْرِضْ عَنْهُمْ وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ وَكِيلًا }

وقوله "ويقولون طاعة" يخبر تعالى عن المنافقين بأنهم يظهرون الموافقة والطاعة"فإذا برزوا من عندك" أي خرجوا وتواروا عنك بيت طائفة منهم غير الذي تقول أي استسروا ليلا فيما بينهم ما أظهروه لك فقال تعالى "والله يكتب ما يبيتون" أي يعلمه ويكتبه عليهم بما يأمر به حفظته الكاتبين الذين هم موكلون بالعباد والمعنى في هذا التهديد أنه تعالى يخبر بأنه عالم بما يضمرونه ويسرونه فيما بينهم وما يتفقون عليه ليلا من مخالفة الرسول صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم وعصيانه وإن كانوا قد أظهروا له الطاعة والموافقة وسيجزيهم على ذلك كما قال تعالى "ويقولون آمنا بالله وبالرسول وأطعنا" الآية وقوله"فأعرض عنهم" أي اصفح عنهم واحلم عليهم ولا تؤاخذهم ولا تكشف أمورهم للناس ولا تخف منهم أيضا "وتوكل على الله وكفى بالله وكيلا" أي كفى به وليا وناصرا ومعينا لمن توكل عليه وأناب إليه.

Obeying the Messenger ﷺ is Obeying Allah

Allah states that whoever obeys His servant and Messenger, Muhammad ﷺ , obeys Allah; and whoever disobeys him, disobeys Allah. Verily, whatever the Messenger ﷺ utters is not of his own desire, but a revelation inspired to him. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«مَنْ أَطَاعَنِي فَقَدْ أَطَاعَ اللهَ، وَمَنْ عَصَانِي فَقَدْ عَصَى اللهَ، وَمَنْ أَطَاعَ الْأَمِيرَ فَقَدْ أَطَاعَنِي، وَمَنْ عَصَى الْأَمِيرَ فَقَدْ عَصَانِي»

(Whoever obeys me, obeys Allah; and whoever disobeys me, disobeys Allah. Whoever obeys the Amir (leader, ruler), obeys me; and whoever disobeys the Amir, disobeys me.) This Hadith was recorded in the Two Sahihs. Allah's statement,

وَمَن تَوَلَّى فَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَـكَ عَلَيْهِمْ حَفِيظاً

(But he who turns away, then We have not sent you as a watcher over them.) means, do not worry about him. Your job is only to convey, and whoever obeys you, he will acquire happiness and success and you will gain a similar reward to that he earns. As for the one who turns away from you, he will gain failure and loss and you will not carry a burden because of what he does. A Hadith states,

«مَنْ يُطِعِ اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَقَدْ رَشَدَ، وَمَنْ يَعْصِ اللهَ وَرَسُولَهُ فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَضُرُّ إِلَّا نَفْسَه»

(Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger, will acquire guidance; and whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger, will only harm himself.)

The Foolishness of the Hypocrites

Allah said,

وَيَقُولُونَ طَاعَةٌ

(They say: "We are obedient,"). Allah states that the hypocrites pretend to be loyal and obedient.

فَإِذَا بَرَزُواْ مِنْ عِندِكَ

(but when they leave you), meaning, when they depart and are no longer with you,

بَيَّتَ طَآئِفَةٌ مِّنْهُمْ غَيْرَ الَّذِى تَقُولُ

(a section of them spends all night in planning other than what you say). They plot at night among themselves for other than what they pretend when they are with you. Allah said,

وَاللَّهُ يَكْتُبُ مَا يُبَيِّتُونَ

(But Allah records their nightly (plots).) meaning, He has full knowledge of their plots and records it through His command to His scribes, the angels who are responsible for recording the actions of the servants. This is a threat from Allah, stating that He knows what the hypocrites try to hide, their plotting in the night to defy the Messenger ﷺ and oppose him, even though they pretend to be loyal and obedient to him. Allah will certainly punish them for this conduct. In a similar Ayah, Allah said,

وَيِقُولُونَ آمَنَّا بِاللَّهِ وَبِالرَّسُولِ وَأَطَعْنَا

(They (hypocrites) say: "We have believed in Allah and in the Messenger, and we obey,") until the end of the Ayah. Allah's statement,

فَأَعْرِضْ عَنْهُمْ

(So turn aside from them) means, pardon them, be forbearing with them, do not punish them, do not expose them to the people and do not fear them.

وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّهِ وَكَفَى بِاللَّهِ وَكِيلاً

(and put your trust in Allah. And Allah is Ever All-Sufficient as a Disposer of affairs.) meaning, He is sufficient as Protector, Supporter and Helper for those who rely on Him and return to Him.

أَفَلاَ يَتَدَبَّرُونَ الْقُرْءَانَ وَلَوْ كَانَ مِنْ عِندِ غَيْرِ اللَّهِ لَوَجَدُواْ فِيهِ اخْتِلَـفاً كَثِيراً

They say that is the hypocrites say when they come to you ‘Our affair is all about Obedience to you’; but when they sally forth when they depart from you a party of them harbour the final tā’ of the feminine-ending in bayyatat ‘harbour’ can either be elided with the following tā’ of tā’ifa ‘a party’ or simply omitted they entertain secretly feelings other than what they say to you in your presence in the way of their obedience in other words they hide disobedience to you. God writes down He commands that it be written what they harbour in their scrolls of deeds so that they will be requited for it. So turn away from them in forgiveness rely on God put your trust in Him for He will suffice you; and God suffices as a Guardian to Whom matters are entrusted.

That obedience to the Holy Prophet ﷺ is obligatory was the subject of verse 80. Here, the Prophet ﷺ was comforted in case the disbelievers rejected his message. Now comes a mention of some hypocrites who used to wriggle out of this obligation.

Commentary

The first verse (81) which begins with the words: وَيَقُولُونَ طَاعَةٌ فَإِذَا بَرَ‌زُوا مِنْ عِندِكَ بَيَّتَ طَائِفَةٌ مِّنْهُمْ غَيْرَ‌ الَّذِي تَقُولُ (And they say, "Obedience (we observe)..." condemns those who practice a policy of double-dealing. They will say something verbally and have something else hidden in their hearts. Once this is established, what should be the attitude of the Messenger of Allah towards such a set of people? The latter part of the verse carries a special instruction about it.

An important instruction for a leader

The verse: فَأَعْرِ‌ضْ عَنْهُمْ وَتَوَكَّلْ عَلَى اللَّـهِ ۚ وَكَفَىٰ بِاللَّـهِ وَكِيلًا refers to the hypocrites who, when they came face to face with the Holy Prophet ﷺ said that they were quite obedient to him and had accepted what he had commanded them with. But, when they left his company, they got together and conspired as to how they could disobey him. This duplicity of theirs caused great pain to him. Thereupon, Allah Almighty instructed him to ignore them and continue with his mission placing his trust in Allah because Allah is all-sufficient for him.

From here we know that one who leads people has to go through all sorts of hardships. People tend to level absurd allegations against him. Then, there are enemies in the garb of friendship and trust around him. Despite the presence of all such obstacles, this leader must display determination and steadfastness and devote to his mission with full trust in Allah. If his objective and orientation is right, he will, Insha’ Allah, succeed.