004
(Surah 004)
ٱلنِّسَاء
Surah An-Nisa
An-Nisa · One Hundred and Seventy-Six Verses
The Women
Compiled for Mike Rashid King
Ta'awwudh · Seeking Refuge
أَعُوذُ بِاللَّهِ مِنَ الشَّيْطَانِ الرَّجِيمِ
A'udhu billahi min ash-shaytani ar-rajim. I seek refuge in Allah from Satan, the accursed.
The Name · Bismillah
بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ
Bismillahi ar-Rahmani ar-Rahim. In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
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The Surah · In Four Parts
An-Nisa is the second longest chapter in the Quran and the one that legislates most directly on how people treat each other inside a household.
It opens on origin. People, be conscious of your Lord, who created you from a single soul. Everyone addressed is told, before any ruling arrives, that they came from one place.
The first ten verses are about orphans, not about women, and they are severe. Property held in trust, tested before it is handed over, guardians who can afford it told to take nothing, and a warning that consuming an orphan’s wealth is consuming fire.
Then the fixed shares of inheritance, given in detail and closed with the reason they are fixed rather than left to judgment: your fathers and your sons, you do not know which of them is nearer to you in benefit.
It contains verse 58 on returning what is held in trust and judging with justice, verse 59 on the chain of authority, verse 86 on returning a greeting with better than it, and verse 135 on standing up for justice even against yourself and your own parents.
And it closes on a question about inheritance that a man asked while he was dying.
Four parts, in order.
Part One From a Single Soul. Origin stated before any ruling arrives. Ten verses on orphans, property tested before it is handed over, and fire described in the present tense. Then the fixed shares, marriage, dowry, envy, arbitration, and a neighbour nobody knows. Return the Trusts. Trusts returned to their owners and judgment given with justice. The chain of authority. A greeting answered with better than it. And the long passage on those who sit at the edge of a community and belong to neither side of it. A Soul for a Soul. The ruling on killing a believer by mistake and the ruling on doing it deliberately. Migration. Shortening the prayer. Prayer in the middle of a battle. And a man who tried to place his own crime on somebody innocent. Stand Up for Justice. Justice commanded even against yourself and your own parents. Reconciliation preferred to a split. And the closing verse of the chapter, an answer to a question about inheritance that a man asked while he was dying.Verses 1 to 43
Verses 44 to 91
Verses 92 to 126
Verses 127 to 176
The Dispatch
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Essays, study notes, and disciplined reflections from Mike Rashid King.
آمِين
Prepared with discipline · Ameen
The Dispatch
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Essays, study notes, and disciplined reflections from Mike Rashid King.
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