Alhassanain(p) Network for Heritage and Islamic Thought

Volume 4: Surah Baqarah, Verses 282-283

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا تَدَايَنتُم بِدَيْنٍ إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى فَاكْتُبُوهُۚ وَلْيَكْتُب بَّيْنَكُمْ كَاتِبٌ بِالْعَدْلِۚ وَلَا يَأْبَ كَاتِبٌ أَن يَكْتُبَ كَمَا عَلَّمَهُ اللَّـهُۚ فَلْيَكْتُبْ وَلْيُمْلِلِ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِ الْحَقُّ وَلْيَتَّقِ اللَّـهَ رَبَّهُ وَلَا يَبْخَسْ مِنْهُ شَيْئًاۚ فَإِن كَانَ الَّذِي عَلَيْهِ الْحَقُّ سَفِيهًا أَوْ ضَعِيفًا أَوْ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُ أَن يُمِلَّ هُوَ فَلْيُمْلِلْ وَلِيُّهُ بِالْعَدْلِۚ وَاسْتَشْهِدُوا شَهِيدَيْنِ مِن رِّجَالِكُمْۖ فَإِن لَّمْ يَكُونَا رَجُلَيْنِ فَرَجُلٌ وَامْرَأَتَانِ مِمَّن تَرْضَوْنَ مِنَ الشُّهَدَاءِ أَن تَضِلَّ إِحْدَاهُمَا فَتُذَكِّرَ إِحْدَاهُمَا الْأُخْرَىٰۚ وَلَا يَأْبَ الشُّهَدَاءُ إِذَا مَا دُعُواۚ وَلَا تَسْأَمُوا أَن تَكْتُبُوهُ صَغِيرًا أَوْ كَبِيرًا إِلَىٰ أَجَلِهِۚ ذَٰلِكُمْ أَقْسَطُ عِندَ اللَّـهِ وَأَقْوَمُ لِلشَّهَادَةِ وَأَدْنَىٰ أَلَّا تَرْتَابُواۖ إِلَّا أَن تَكُونَ تِجَارَةً حَاضِرَةً تُدِيرُونَهَا بَيْنَكُمْ فَلَيْسَ عَلَيْكُمْ جُنَاحٌ أَلَّا تَكْتُبُوهَاۗ وَأَشْهِدُوا إِذَا تَبَايَعْتُمْۚ وَلَا يُضَارَّ كَاتِبٌ وَلَا شَهِيدٌۚ وَإِن تَفْعَلُوا فَإِنَّهُ فُسُوقٌ بِكُمْۗ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّـهَۖ وَيُعَلِّمُكُمُ اللَّـهُۗ وَاللَّـهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ ﴿٢٨٢﴾ وَإِن كُنتُمْ عَلَىٰ سَفَرٍ وَلَمْ تَجِدُوا كَاتِبًا فَرِهَانٌ مَّقْبُوضَةٌۖ فَإِنْ أَمِنَ بَعْضُكُم بَعْضًا فَلْيُؤَدِّ الَّذِي اؤْتُمِنَ أَمَانَتَهُ وَلْيَتَّقِ اللَّـهَ رَبَّهُۗ وَلَا تَكْتُمُوا الشَّهَادَةَۚ وَمَن يَكْتُمْهَا فَإِنَّهُ آثِمٌ قَلْبُهُۗ وَاللَّـهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ عَلِيمٌ ﴿٢٨٣﴾

O you who believe! when you deal with each other in contracting a debt for a fixed time, then write it down; and let a scribe write it down between you with fairness; and the scribe should not refuse to write as Allah has taught him, so he should write; and let him who owes the debt dictate, and he should be careful of (his duty to) Allah, his Lord, and not diminish anything from it; but if he who owes the debt is unsound in understanding, or weak, or (if) he is not able to dictate himself, let his guardian dictate with fairness; and call in to witness from among your men two witnesses; but if there are not two men, then one man and two women from among those whom you approve of the witnesses, so that if one of the two errs, the (second) one of the two may remind the other; and the witnesses should not refuse when they are summoned; and disdain not of writing it (whether it is) small or large, with its fixed time; this is more equitable with Allah and assures greater accuracy in testimony, and the nearest (way) that you may not entertain doubts (afterwards) ; except when it is ready merchandise which you give and take among yourselves from hand to hand, then there is no blame on you in not writing it down; and have witnesses when you trade with one another; and let no harm be done to the scribe or to the witnesses; and if you do (it) then surely it will be a transgression in you, and fear Allah; and Allah teaches you; and Allah knows all things (282). And if you are on a journey and you do not find a scribe, then (there may be) a security taken into possession; but if one of you trusts another, then he who is trusted should deliver his trust, and let him fear Allah, his Lord; and do not conceal testimony, and whoever conceals it, his heart is surely sinful; and Allah knows what you do (283).

COMMENTARY

QUR’AN: 0 you who believe! when you deal with each other in contracting a loan...and Allah knows all things:

“at-Tadayun” is to give a loan to another; “al-imlal” and “al-imla” both mean ‘to dictate’; “al-bakhs” is to diminish, to do justice; “as-sa’mah” is to be fed up; to disdain; “al-mudarrah” on the paradigm of “al-mufa‘ilah” from “ad-darar” (harm) means to harm one another; “al-fusuq” is transgression, refusal to obey; ,”ar-rihan” has also been recited as ar-ruhun both are the plurals of ar-rahn (the thing mortgaged, pawned or deposited as security).

“And let him who owes the debt dictate . but if he who owes the debt is unsound in understanding. .” The whole phrase “he who owes the debt” has been repeated here instead of using a pronoun. It was done to remove any possible misunderstanding, as a pronoun could easily be mistaken to refer to the “scribe” mentioned in the preceding sentence.

“...or (if) he is not able to dictate himself, then let his guardian dictate...” The manifest and separate pronoun “huwa”( translated here as “himself”) has been included in the sentence to show that in this particular case the debtor and his guardian both have the right to dictate. In the first two situations, when the debtor is deficient in understanding or is weak (in body or mind), the guardian has total authority, and the debtor himself cannot deal in his own affairs. But in this third situation when the debtor is, for any reason, unable to dictate himself, then the guardian shall have joint authority to do so. Therefore, this pronoun has given the following meaning to the phrase: “what such a debtor himself can do, he should do it ; but what he is unable to do, his guardian shall do it”.

“. . so that if one of the two errs, the (second) one of the two may remind the other”: In this sentence a word, hadhar is understood before “an”; together they literally mean, “lest one of the two errs. .”; the words, “one of the two” have been repeated in this sentence. While at first glance it would appear that the second phrase could be replaced by a pronoun, the fact is that the two phrases do not have the same significance. The first phrase (if one of the two errs) refers to either of the two without pointing to a particular woman; the second phrase (the one of the two may remind. .) points particularly to the second who has not erred. That is why we have added the word (second) in its translation.

“And fear Allah”; The believers should guard themselves against disobeying the orders and prohibitions promulgated in this verse. “And Allah teaches you”; it is an independent sentence, not connected with the preceding one, “and fear Allah”. The sentence describes the grace of Allah bestowed on the believers. In this respect it is like the words of Allah in the verse of inheritance: Allah makes it clear to you lest you err (4:176). Allah in both these sentences shows that He has bestowed His bounties upon the believers by teaching them the rules of religion and by instructing them as to what they were allowed to do and what not.

Some people have said that the sentence, “and fear Allah, and Allah teaches you”, were connected to each other. According to them, they show that there is a relation of cause and effect between the two - when people fear Allah then Allah teaches them.

Comment: The principle mentioned above is correct in itself, and is supported by other verses of the Qur’an and by traditions. But this verse has nothing to do with that principle. The second sentence begins with “and”; if it had wanted to enunciate that principle, the word “and” would not have been there; the sentence would have been like this: “and fear Allah, He will teach you”. Moreover, the said interpretation is not supported by the context; if we accept it then the end of the verse will be quite irrelevant to the main topic of the verse.

The above-mentioned reconstruction of the verse gives us another argument against that interpretation. Had that meaning been correct, the divine name, Allah, would not have been repeated in “and Allah teaches you”, a pronoun would have been more appropriate.

In these three consecutive short sentences, the divine name, Allah, has been repeated three times. It was necessary in the first sentence, “and fear Allah”; it had to be repeated in “and Allah teaches you”, because it was an independent sentence; and in the last sentence, “and Allah knows all things”, the name gives the proof of this statement - He knows all things because He is Allah.

The two verses contain nearly twenty basic rules concerning loan, mortgage, evidence, etc. There are numerous traditions about these and related topics. But the proper place to go into these details are the books of jurisprudence. Therefore, we shall not quote them here.

Volume 4: Surah Baqarah, Verse 284

لِّلَّـهِ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِۗ وَإِن تُبْدُوا مَا فِي أَنفُسِكُمْ أَوْ تُخْفُوهُ يُحَاسِبْكُم بِهِ اللَّـهُۖ فَيَغْفِرُ لِمَن يَشَاءُ وَيُعَذِّبُ مَن يَشَاءُۗ وَاللَّـهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ قَدِيرٌ ﴿٢٨٤﴾

Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is Allah’s, and whether you manifest what is in your souls or hide it, Allah will call you to account for it; then He will forgive whom He pleases and chastise whom He pleases; and Allah is powerful over all things (284).

COMMENTARY

QUR’AN: Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is Allah’s:

Allah is the Owner of all creation, whether it is in the heavens or in the earth. This declaration paves the way for the next sentence, “and whether you manifest what is in your souls or hide it, Allah will call you to account for it”. To Him belongs all that is in the heavens and in the earth; and among those things are you as well as your actions, and all that your souls have earned. Therefore, Allah encompasses you and preserve your deeds; it makes no difference to Him whether your actions are manifest or hidden, He will call you to account for them.

It has been said that the heavens have an affinity with the mind’s faculties, psychological traits and spiritual characteristics. What is in our souls or minds is a part of what is in the heavens, and it belongs to Allah. When the hidden traits and characteristics manifest themselves through the actions of the body,, they become a part of what is in the earth, and that also belongs to Allah. Thus, whatever is found in our minds, whether it is manifested or remains hidden, belongs to Allah, and He will decide about it after calling us to account for it.

QUR’AN: and whether You manifest what is in your souls or hide it, Allah will call you to account for it:

“al-Ibda’ (to manifest) is opposite of “al- ikhfa’” (to hide). “What is in your souls” means “what is settled in your minds”; it is the meaning that is understood by scholars of the language as well as the general public. It refers to traits and characteristics, whether good or bad, like belief and disbelief, love and hate, strength or weakness of the will, and so on. These traits may be manifest or hidden. They are manifested through the actions of body, which may be perceived by others and which prove the existence of those traits in the doer. One knows that but for those particular traits, for example, love or hate, belief or disbelief, inclination or repulsion, those deeds could not be done. In this manner, actions manifest the motives that are fixed in the minds of the doers.

Conversely, these traits may remain hidden if one does not do any action that could prove their existence in one’s mind.

We have said above that “what is in your souls” means what is settled in your minds. It does not mean ineradicable and firmly rooted characteristics; rather it refers to the substantial existence of such characteristics from which actions may emanate.

The two alternatives, “whether you manifest...” and “hide it”, show that those characteristics are capable of being shown or hidden; it may be a well-ingrained trait or some appropriate psychological state. But it does not, and cannot, mean passing notions and transient ideas that invade one’s mind without one’s intention; for example, the mental image of a sin when one has no intention or inclination to do it. The words of the verse do not include such involuntary notions, because they are not “settled” in the mind, nor does any action emanate from them.

The verse, in short, says that mental states, the characteristics and traits settled in mind, are the basis of a man’s actions, obedient as well as disobedient; and Allah will call man to account for them. In this respect, this verse has the same significance as the following verses:

Allah will not call you to account for what is vain in your oaths, but He will call you to account for what your hearts have earned (2:225).

. . his heart is surely sinful (2:283).

. . surely the hearing and the sight and the heart, all of these, shall be questioned about that (17:36).

These verses prove that there are some conditions and characteristics of hearts, that is, minds, for which man will be called to account. The following verse also proves it

Surely (as for) those who love that scandal should circulate respecting those who believe, they shall have a grievous chastisement in this world and the hereafter. . (24:19).

It shows that the chastisement shall be because of the “love” of circulating scandal; and love is a state of mind.

This is the apparent and clear meaning of this verse. It proves that man shall be called to account for what is settled in his mind, whether he hides it or shows it. But the verse is silent on the questions as to whether the chastisement in all cases - manifesting it or hiding it, acting according to one’s intention or not doing so, succeeding in the intended transgression or not succeeding - will be the same or different.

Most of the commentators have misunderstood the significance of the verse. They have thought that it is said that man will be asked about even a passing notion that invades the mind, even if it has not settled therein and even when it is beyond the control of a man. Holding a man responsible for such fleeting notions is, without doubt, imposing a duty beyond the limit of one’s ability. From this point on, these commentators have differed among themselves.

a) Some have admitted that Allah might impose on a soul a duty beyond its furthest limit. Others have tried to escape from this difficulty in various ways.

b) Some have accepted that the verse ordained for man what was in fact a duty beyond his ability. But, they claimed, it was abrogated by the sentence in the next verse: “Allah does not impose upon any soul a duty but to the extent of its ability”.

Comment: It has been clearly shown that the verse does not include such transitory ideas and notions. Therefore, the whole argument and interpretation is out of place. Moreover, imposing a duty beyond one’s ability is, ab initio, against reason; Allah cannot do so even for a single moment. He has declared that He never ordained anything in religion beyond our ability:... and (He) did not lay upon you any hardship in religion (22:78).

c) Some others said that the verse was connected with the preceding one, and that it speaks particularly about the hiding of testimony.

Comment: This restriction of meaning is clearly against the general nature of the verse.

d) Still others have said that it was restricted to the unbelievers. Only they shall be called to account for their fleeting fantasies.

Comment: This restriction too is against the generality of the verse.

e) Someone else has interpreted the verse in this way : If you manifest your hidden evil by committing transgression openly, or if you keep it hidden by committing sins secretly, in both cases Allah will call you to account for it. According to this interpretation, the chastisement shall be, not for the ideas, but for the sins.

Comment: Such interpretation is totally against the apparent and clear meaning of the verse.

f) Yet others have said that “what is in your souls” means any kind of idea, whether fixed or otherwise. But “Allah will call you to account for it” means “Allah will inform you of it”. According to this interpretation, the verse is similar to the verse: . so He will inform you of what you did (5:105). Whether we manifest such ideas and notions or hide them, Allah will tell us about them on the Day of Resurrection.

Comment: This interpretation too, like the preceding one, is totally against the clear meaning of the verse.

QUR’AN: then He will forgive whom He pleases and chastise whom He pleases; and Allah is powerful over all things:

The alternatives of “forgiveness” and “chastisement” give a hint that “what is in your souls” refers especially to evil thoughts and characteristics. Although “forgiveness” has also been used in the Qur’an in a few such cases where no sin was involved, it is a very uncommon, indeed a rare, usage, and there should be some strong reason and clear association before the word “forgiveness” is being diverted to such meaning.

“And Allah is powerful over all things”: It gives the reason for the said forgiving and chastising; or it may show the reason for the whole verse.

TRADITIONS

It is narrated in as-Sahih of Muslim from Abu Hurayrah that he said: “When the verse: Whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth is Allah’s; and whether you manifest what is in your souls or hide it, Allah will call you to account for it was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.a.), the companions of the Mess­enger of Allah (s.a.w.a.) were very much perturbed. They came to the Messenger of Allah and crouched down (before him) and said: ‘0 Messenger of Allah! we were ordered to do what we were able to do - prayer, fasting, fighting and charity; but (now) Allah has sent down this verse and it is beyond the extent of our ability.’ Thereupon, the Messenger of Allah said: ‘Do you want to say as the people of the book before you said, “We hear and we disobey “? Rather, you should say, “We hear and obey; our Lord! Thy forgiveness (do we crave) and to Thee is (our) march.” ‘ When they recited it, and their tongues had been subdued by it, Allah immediately revealed: The Apostle believes in what has been revealed to him from his Lord, and (so do) the believers...” and to Thee is (our) march. When they did so, Allah abrogated that (law) and revealed (the verse): Allah does not impose upon any soul a duty but to the extent of its ability...”

The author says: as-Suyuti has narrated in ad-Durru ‘l­manthur through Ahmad, Muslim, Abu Dawud (in his an-Nasikh wa ‘l-mansukh), Ibn Jarir, Ibnu ‘l-Mundhir and- Ibn Abi Hatim from Abu Hurayrah; and he has narrated another tradition with nearly the same meaning through several chains from Ibn ‘Abbas. And the abrogation has been narrated through several chains from other companions too, like Ibn Mas‘ud and ‘A’ishah.

And it has been narrated from ar-Rabi‘ ibn Anas that the verse is confirmed and unabrogated; and that “calling to account” means that Allah will inform the servant, on the Day of Resurrection, about his deeds which he did in this world.

And it has been narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas through several chains that the verse is restricted to hiding and giving testimony. Accordingly, it is a confirmed verse, not abrogated.

And it has been narrated from ‘A’ishah that calling to ac­count means the vexation and grief which a man feels when he intends to commit a sin and does not do it. This interpretation also treats the verse as confirmed and unabrogated.

And it has been narrated, through the chains of ‘Ali, from Ibn ‘Abbas about the words of Allah: and whether you manifest what is in your souls or hide it (i.e. all your hidden and manifest affairs) Allah will call you to account for it, that it is not abrogated. When Allah gathers the creatures on the Day of Resurrection, He shall say: “I shall inform you of what you had hidden in your souls which my angels were not aware of.” Then, as for the believers, He shall tell them what they had imagined in their souls, and will forgive them. It is the word of Allah: Allah will call you to account for it, that is, will inform you. And as for the people of doubt and suspicion, He shall inform them of the denial of truth which they had kept hidden; and it is the word of Allah: . but He will call you to account for what your hearts have earned.

The author says: All these traditions, in spite of their mutual differences have one thing in common: All are against the clear meaning of the Qur’an, as explained earlier. The verse clearly says that men will be called to account for what their hearts have earned either directly or through other limbs; and there is no “earning” in passing notions and fleeting images which invade the mind. And testimony does not differ in this from other affairs, nor is there any difference in this matter between a believer and an unbeliever; and “calling to account” evidently does not mean informing someone of his transitory thoughts; it obviously means calling one to account for reward or punishment. This is the clear meaning of this verse, and all other verses confirm this meaning.

So far as those traditions are concerned which say that this verse was abrogated, there are several defects in them.

First: They are against the evident meaning of the verse, as explained above.

Second: They claim that there is no injustice in imposing a duty on a soul beyond the limits of its ability. Such a thing is evidently invalid, and especially so if it is attributed to Allah. The subsequent abrogation cannot right this wrong, rather the incongruity will increase; the tradition says, “. . when they recited it . Allah abrogated . “, in other words, the order was abrogated before it was acted upon. And such an abrogation is not acceptable in Islam.

Third: You will see in the commentary of the next verses that the sentence, “Allah does not impose upon any soul a duty’ but to the extent of its ability”, is not capable of abrogating any rule. That verse says that every soul is confronted by whatever it has earned, whether it finds it hard to bear or easy. If such a thing was imposed upon a soul which it did not have the strength to bear, or if such a burden was laid upon it as was laid upon those before us, it was all the result of what the soul had itself earned, because of its wrong choice; it should not blame anyone but itself. With this background, the sentence: Allah does not impose upon any soul a duty but to the extent of its ability: looks like a parenthetic sentence, written to remove any possible misunderstanding.

Fourth: The subject of the next two verses has nothing to do with fleeting thoughts and transitory ideas; nor do those verses stand face to face with this verse as an abrogating verse stands in relation to an abrogated one.

In short, the purpose of the next verses is quite different from the aim of this verse, as you will see.