87 Page Notes

04 Surah An-Nisa (continued)

Page 87 - Related Hadith/Sunnah

4:52

4:53

4:54

4:55

4:56

4:57

4:58

4:59

Translation of the meaning by Sahih International.

Page 87 - Related Hadiths and Sunnah

Page 87 of the Holy Quran contains Surah An-Nisa (Chapter 4), verses 52 through 59. This page marks a powerful legal and theological transition. It begins by rebuking those who possess spiritual envy (Hasad) and warns of the graphic, literal realities of Hellfire. It then transitions directly into the constitutional framework of the Islamic state: the absolute obligation of returning trusts (Amanah), enforcing macro-justice (Adl), and establishing the core hierarchy of legal authority.

The Prophetic Sunnah and classical Hadith literature provide extensive context, structural definitions, and famous historical incidents (Asbab al-Nuzul) for these verses.

1. Verses 53–54: The Condemnation of Envy (Hasad)

"Or do they envy people for what Allah has given them of His bounty?..."

The Spiritual Disease of Envy

Verse 54 historically addresses the specific jealousy harbored by certain groups in Medina toward the Prophet Muhammad for receiving final prophethood and political authority instead of their own lineages (Karatas, 2023).

The Prophetic Sunnah expands this text into a universal warning for the physical and spiritual health of the community. In Sunan Abi Dawud (Hadith 4903), the Prophet Muhammad stated:

"Beware of envy, for envy eats up good deeds just as fire consumes wood."

In another tradition recorded by Imam Ahmad and At-Tirmidhi, the Prophet defined envy as a historic societal plague: "Stealthily creeping into you is the disease of earlier nations: envy and hatred. It is the shaver—I do not say it shaves hair, but rather it shaves away the religion."

2. Verse 56: The Physical Mechanics of Eternal Punishment

"Surely those who reject Our signs, We will cast them into the Fire. Whenever their skins are burnt completely, We will replace them with other skins so they may taste the punishment..."

Biological Realities of the Afterlife

This verse is often cited in modern medical-theological literature as a striking reference to pain receptors residing primarily in the skin.

The Sunnah elaborates on this specific graphic reality to convey the magnitude of ultimate accountability. In a Hadith recorded in Sahih Muslim, the Prophet Muhammad described the physical transformation of individuals in the Fire, explaining that their baseline anatomy is drastically scaled up so that they continuously experience the depth of the retribution without fading into total oblivion or numbness.

3. Verse 58: The Mandate of Trust (Amanah) and Justice (Adl)

"Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due and when you judge between people to judge with justice..."

The Cause of Revelation: The Key to the Kaaba

This verse yielded one of the most famous political gestures in early Islamic history. During the Conquest of Mecca, the Prophet Muhammad entered the Kaaba to cleanse it of idols. The hereditary custodian who held the physical key to the Kaaba was Uthman ibn Talhah (who was not yet a Muslim). The Prophet's uncle, Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, requested that the Prophet hand the key to his family so they could control both the holy water supply (Siqayah) and the custody of the Kaaba (Siregar, 2024).

As recorded in classical Hadith commentaries by Ibn Kathir and Al-Wahidi, the Prophet emerged from the Kaaba reciting Verse 58: "Indeed, Allah commands you to render trusts to whom they are due." (Siregar, 2024).

The Prophet flatly denied his own family's bid for political consolidation. He called Uthman ibn Talhah forward, returned the key to him, and declared: "Take it, O children of Abi Talhah, eternally and permanently. None shall take it from you except a tyrant." Deeply moved by this absolute display of objective justice overriding nepotism, Uthman ibn Talhah immediately embraced Islam (Siregar, 2024).

The Definition of Faith

The Sunnah heavily intertwines the fulfillment of trusts with the validity of a person's faith. In a Hadith recorded by Al-Bayhaqi, the companion Anas ibn Malik narrated: "Rarely did the Messenger of Allah deliver a sermon without saying: 'He has no faith who cannot be trusted, and he has no religion who does not keep his promises.'"

4. Verse 59: The Constitutional Hierarchy of Authority

"O you who have believed, obey Allah and obey the Messenger and those in authority among you. And if you disagree over anything, refer it to Allah and the Messenger..."

The Cause of Revelation: The Military Expedition of Abdullah ibn Hudhafah

This verse serves as the supreme legislative framework for Islamic governance and rule of law. Its operational boundaries are derived from a specific historical crisis recorded in Sahih al-Bukhari (Hadith 4340) and Sahih Muslim:

The Prophet Muhammad dispatched a military expedition and appointed a companion named Abdullah ibn Hudhafah as the commander, instructing the soldiers to listen to and obey him. During the journey, Abdullah became angry with his men over an issue. He ordered them to gather wood, lit a massive fire, and commanded them: "Did the Prophet not order you to obey me?" They replied, "Yes." He said, "Then I command you to jump into this fire!"

The soldiers stood hesitating. One young soldier said, "We fled to the Messenger of Allah to escape the fire! How can we jump into it?" They remained at a standstill until the fire burned out and the commander's anger subsided. Upon returning to Medina, they related the incident to the Prophet Muhammad. He explicitly stated: "If you had entered it, you would never have come out of it until the Day of Judgment. Obedience is only required in what is good (Ma'ruf)."

This foundational Sunnah application qualifies the phrase "those in authority among you" in Verse 59. It establishes that citizens owe absolute obedience to God and the Prophet, but obedience to political or military leaders is strictly conditional—if a ruler commands something that explicitly violates divine law, their authority is automatically nullified.

References

• Karataş, B. (2023). Deconstructing a discourse: A Western critique of the Orientalist stereotype of the “soulless Muslim woman”. DergiPark Academic, 420–425.

• Siregar, I. (2024). The Alliance of Ka'b ibn al-Ashraf: A study on political compromises in early Medina. Journal of Muslim Detail, 131–136.

• Al-Bukhari, M. (d. 870). Sahih al-Bukhari (Kitab al-Ahkam [Book of Judgments] & Kitab al-Maghazi [Book of Expeditions]).

• Muslim, M. (d. 875). Sahih Muslim (Kitab al-Imarah [Book of Leadership]).

• Ibn Kathir, I. (d. 1373). Tafsir al-Qur'an al-Azim (Surah An-Nisa, Verses 52–59).