Surah an-Nisa' (Women ) 4 : 163

Overview (Verses 163 - 165)

The Purpose of Sending Messengers
 
The sūrah continues its confrontation with the people of earlier revelations, particularly the Jews in this instance, condemning their attitude, particularly their rejection of the Prophet Muĥammad’s message and their false claim that God did not send him as a Messenger. It refers to the distinction they tried to draw between messengers and their arrogant demands for proof of this message in the form of a book sent to him, Muĥammad, from heaven. This sūrah states clearly that revelation to a messenger is not something new or strange. Indeed, it is the normal practice with all messengers since the time of Noah to that of Muĥammad. All of them have been sent as messengers bringing happy news and delivering strong warnings. This is an aspect of Divine mercy bestowed by God on His servants that they may have no argument to justify their disbelief. They have been amply warned before the Day of Judgement. All these messengers were sent for the same aim, and to convey the same message. Hence, to try to distinguish between them is an attitude smacking of arrogance and conceit. If people deny this fact, God bears witness to it, together with the angels. God is sufficient for a witness.
 
We have sent revelations to you just as We did send revelations to Noah and the prophets after him; as We sent revelations to Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob and their descendants, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron and Solomon, and as We vouchsafed to David a book of Divine wisdom; and as [We inspired other] messengers whom We have mentioned to you previously, as well as other messengers whom We have not mentioned to you. And God has spoken His word directly to Moses. [These] were messengers sent to bring good news and to give warning, so that people may have no argument against God once these messengers (had come). God is Almighty, Wise. (Verses 163-165)
 
It is then the same procession moving forward throughout human history, conveying a single message, bringing the same guidance to warn and to give a piece of happy news. It includes a group of chosen men like Noah, Abraham, Ishmael, Isaac, Jacob, and their descendants, Jesus, Job, Jonah, Aaron, Solomon, David, Moses, as well as others whom God spoke about to His Messenger in the Qur’ān and still others about whom He told the Prophet nothing. It is a procession which includes people from various nations and various countries, living at different times. Nothing gives any of them distinction over others. No consideration of race, nation, place, or time divides them. They all give the same guiding light, to warn and motivate, and they all try to lead human beings towards the light. This applies to those of them who were sent to a particular tribe, community, nation, city, country, or the one who was sent to all mankind, namely, Muĥammad, the last of all messengers.
 
Every one of them received revelations from God. None of them invented anything of his own accord. If Moses was spoken to directly by God, this was simply one aspect of revelation and none of us knows how it happened. The Qur’ān, which is the only authentic source we have on such matters, has not given us any details. The only thing we know is that God gave this revelation in words. How and in what manner or in what sense or power Moses used to receive it we do not know. All that is part of the knowledge God has kept to Himself. If the Qur’ān does not speak to us about it, then any interpretation is simply guesswork lacking foundation.
 
It is Divine mercy and justice which has required that these messengers tell mankind about what God has prepared in the way of happiness and bliss for those who respond to Him and obey Him. It is their task also to warn mankind against the suffering in hell God has prepared for those who disobey. All this has a definite purpose: “So that people may have no argument against God once these messengers had come.” (Verse 165)
 
To God belongs the overriding argument against all creation. God has given man intelligence of the type that enables him to understand every sign that points towards faith. Nevertheless, Divine mercy is demonstrated in the fact that messengers have been sent by God to remind people and show them the way. The role of these messengers is to try to liberate human intelligence from the fetters of desire, which conceal the signs and indicators leading to faith. God is Almighty, which means that He is able to punish people for what they perpetrate. He is also “Wise”. He deals with every matter wisely. Both His might and wisdom have their role in what He decides and does.
 
A multitude of subtle and profound impressions are left in our minds as we read the statement: “So that people may have no argument against God once these messengers had come.” (Verse 165) We will briefly discuss only three of these impressions so as to keep within the framework we have set for ourselves in this commentary.
 
There is firstly the question of the value of human intellect and its role in believing in God. Man’s life on earth, its substance, form, direction and action, is based on this question of faith, as is man’s destiny in the hereafter, which is even more serious and everlasting.
 
God certainly knows man, his potentials and his limits. Had He known that the intellect He granted man is sufficient for him to distinguish guidance and to identify his overall interest in this life and the life to come, He would have left him to his intellect. This would mean, then, that man would rely entirely on his intellect to search for and interpret all signs and indicators that draw him closer to faith. This also means that man would be left to draw up a constitution and a way of life which keep him away from error, relying solely on his intellect. Had this been true, God would not have sent messengers to people throughout history, nor would He have assigned them the role of conveying His Divine message. Indeed, the opposite is true: had there been no messenger sent by God with His guidance, He would have allowed people a powerful argument against Himself: “So that people may have no argument against God once these messengers had come.” (Verse 165)
 
God knows that the intellect He has given man is inadequate as a tool to achieve guidance by itself, without being assisted, directed and disciplined by a Divine message. It is also inadequate to draw a course for human life that ensures that man achieves his best interest and saves himself from doom in this life and in the life to come. Knowing all this, God’s wisdom and mercy have dictated that He sends messengers to mankind and He does not hold people to account until His message has been conveyed to them: “We would not have punished any community before We have sent a messenger [to them].“ (17:15) Considering this Qur’ānic statement, this seems to be readily apparent, or at least an essential requirement.
 
This leads to the question: What is the role of human intellect in the question of believing in God and determining man’s way of life?
 
In short, it is to receive the message and to understand what the messenger conveys to it. The role of the messenger is to explain his message and to rescue human nature from what blurs its vision and to alert the human intellect to everything within man and in the universe which points in the direction of faith. The messenger also draws for man the method of receiving Divine guidance and how to deal with it. He also shows man the basis on which practical life is conducted according to the Divine method, in order to enable man to achieve what is best for him in this life and what is best in the life to come.

The Human Mind and Divine Messages
 
It should be clear in our minds that it is not for the human intellect to pass judgement on the principles laid down by religion. Nor can we judge through normal human reasoning the validity or otherwise of religious orders and prohibitions, or indeed decide whether to accept or reject them, after having ascertained their meaning and that they have been proclaimed by God. Had it been up to the human intellect to reject Divine legislation, because it disapproves of them or does not wish to respond to them, no punishment would have been incurred for rejecting the Divine faith after it was explained. Man is, indeed, required to accept religious teachings once he gets to know them through a proper source and has correctly understood their import.
 
When we say that this message of Islam addresses the human mind, we mean that it awakens our minds and directs us to use a proper method of evaluation. It certainly does not mean that it is up to our minds to judge whether the message of Islam is right or wrong, acceptable or unacceptable. Once we have an authentic statement, it provides the judgement to be obeyed and enforced, whether it sounds immediately acceptable or totally strange. We use our minds to understand the import of a particular statement, in accordance with linguistic rules and idiomatic usage. Once the import of a particular statement is ascertained, it remains valid and enforceable because it is a statement given by God. We cannot consider the human intellect a deity to evaluate and judge what has been given to us by God.
 
A great deal of confusion may occur here. Some people try to give the human intellect the role of a deity, giving it the power to judge the validity or otherwise of authentic religious instructions. Others try to minimise its importance and the role it plays in accepting the faith and following guidance. Neither attitude is correct. It is the middle attitude, which we have already explained, that is the proper and correct one. What it means practically is that man cannot put religious teachings against premises of his own, which he might have already developed on the basis of human logic, observations or experience. The proper attitude is that he should develop and establish his premises on the basis of correct and authentic religious statements. These are certainly more correct than his own premises and rely on a more accurate system than his own.
 
It is perfectly acceptable that one intellectual understanding of a religious statement may be opposed by another. Once a statement admits more than one interpretation according to the principles and methodology approved by Islam, then no authority or individual can restrict people or compel them to follow a single interpretation or force on them one way of implementation. Again this is part of the meaning of our statement that the message of Islam addresses human intellect.
 
It is true that Islam is the religion of reason. This means that it does not use any supernatural power in order to make our minds submit to it. It explains its principles, judgements and teachings in a way that addresses our minds. It calls on us to contemplate and reflect on every aspect of creation within ourselves and in the universe at large. Such contemplation will undoubtedly point the way in the direction of accepting the faith. Thus, it attempts to free the human mind from the pressures of familiarity, continuity, laziness, as well as from desires that distract minds and distort human nature. Its address to the human mind means that man is not compelled to believe in what he cannot understand. It assigns to us the task of understanding the statements which express religious teachings. Once we have understood these, we have the choice of submission to them — and in this case we are believers — or denying them and becoming unbelievers. We cannot pass a judgement of validity or invalidity on separate religious statements. Nor do we have the right to accept or reject them. We cannot select and choose. Otherwise, we will be believing in part of the Divine message whilst denying other parts. Those who do this are described in the Qur’ān as unbelievers, and have been warned against grievous punishment. When God states something about the universe, man, creation, or religious teachings, His commandments must be obeyed and implemented by everyone who is aware of them and understands their import.
 
God, glorified be He, says: “God is He who has created seven heavens and a similar number of the earth.” (65: 12) “Are the unbelievers unaware that the heavens and the earth were [once) one single entity and We split them apart? — and that We made out of water every living thing?” (21: 30) “God has created all animals out of water” (24: 45) “He has created man out of sounding clay, like pottery, whereas the jinn He has created out of smokeless fire.” (55: 14-15) He also states many other things about the nature of the universe, life and creation. All that He has stated is the truth, no doubt. It is not up to the human intellect to say, after having understood these texts, that their import does not agree with human knowledge or experience. That knowledge and experience is liable to err, while God’s statements are always true.
 
Similarly, God makes in the Qur’ān statements such as: “Those who do not judge according to what God has bestowed from on high are indeed unbelievers.”(5: 44) “Believers, fear God and give up what remains outstanding of usury gains, if you are true believers. If you do not, then war is declared against you by God and His messenger. If you repent, however, you shall remain entitled to your principal. Thus, you shall commit no wrong, nor suffer any wrong yourselves.” (2: 278-9) “And stay in your homes and do not flaunt your charms as women used to do in the old days of pagan ignorance.” (33: 33) “Let [Muslim women] draw their head-coverings over their bosoms. And let them not display their charms.” (24: 31) He also delivers many other statements and teachings which have a direct bearing on people’s way of life. These statements are correct and valid. It is not up to the human intellect to say that something which is in conflict with Divine teachings is more valid or serves people’s interests better. Intellectual judgement is liable to error and can be influenced by desire. What God has determined can only be right.
 
As we see, the same rule applies to what God has stated in matters of faith and concepts, and to His statement with regard to the way of life which must be implemented. Once a statement is authentic, definitive and not restricted to a particular time, then it must be implemented. We cannot say: we accept the ideological part and what relates to worship, but times have changed and we choose our own system. Had it been God’s wish to make a particular ruling or legislation limited to a particular time, He would have made that clear. We can use our human intellect and discretion in applying a particular statement to a certain case. This is different from accepting or rejecting a piece of legislation in principle.
 
The foregoing does not limit the role of the human mind or belittle its importance. It has wide scope open to it in determining how religious statements apply to new situations. It also has wide scope in trying to understand the nature of the universe, its potentials and the forces working within it as well as the nature of different creatures, and to make use of what God has given us in this universe. It can play a great role in improving the quality of life and developing it according to the Divine system, not by merely following the dictates of desire which throw the mind off the right course.
 
Making God’s Argument
 
We need to consider from another angle the statement, “so that people may have no argument against God once these messengers had come”. (Verse 165)
 
It is indeed a great responsibility which has been assigned to God’s messengers, (peace be upon them all) and those who believe in their messages towards humanity. For the destiny of mankind, in both this life and the life to come, depends primarily on the messengers and their followers. If they convey this message to people, as they are required to do, people may achieve reward and happiness in both this world and the next. Otherwise, they live in misery and deserve punishment.
 
When we describe this as a great responsibility, we are only making a statement of fact. Indeed God’s messengers have shown themselves to be keenly aware of the great importance of their task. God has pointed out to them the true nature of their responsibility. He made it clear to His last Messenger that the message he has been assigned is a weighty one, which he needed to prepare himself for: “O you enwrapped one, keep awake [in prayer] at night, all but a small part of one half of it, or make it a little less than that, or add to it; and recite the Qur’ān calmly and distinctly, with your mind attuned to its meaning. We shall bestow on you a weighty message.” (73: 1-5) “It is We who have bestowed from on high this Qur’ān on you, step by step, truly a bestowal from on high. Await, then, in all patience your Lord’s judgement and pay no heed to any of them who is a wilful sinner or an ingrate; and bear in mind your Lord’s name at morning and evening and during some of the night, and prostrate yourself before Him, and extol His limitless glory throughout the long night.” (76: 23-6) It is this meaning which God makes clear to the Prophet and He commands him to make certain statements which show that he truly understands the message he has been given and its great importance: “Say; indeed no one could ever protect me from God, nor could I ever find a place to hide from Him, if I should fail to convey [to the world what has come to me] from God and His messages... He alone knows that which is beyond the reach of human perception, and to none does He disclose what He has chosen to keep to Himself of His unfathomable knowledge, unless it be to a messenger whom He has been pleased to elect... so as to make manifest that it is indeed only their Lord’s messages that these [messengers] deliver.” (72: 22-8)
 
The question then is that of mankind’s life, happiness and reward, indeed of existence itself. Either man accepts the Divine message when it is conveyed to him and implements it to achieve happiness in this life and in the life to come, or he rejects it and brings misery upon himself in both worlds. Alternatively, if no message has been conveyed to him, he has an argument to make against God. In this case, the responsibility for the misery he endures in this life lies fairly and squarely on those who have been assigned the task of conveying God’s message but who have failed to do so.
 
As for God’s messengers, (peace be upon them all), they have indeed been faithful to their trust and conveyed their message. They have discharged their responsibility and gone to their Lord. They have not only conveyed the message by word of mouth, but they have also provided a practical example to be followed, and have striven hard, day and night, to remove all impediments of every shape and form: suspicions raised, temptations offered and tyrannical forces turning people away from faith. This is what Muĥammad (peace be upon him), God’s Messenger and the last of all Prophets did. Since his was the final and complete message, he did not merely speak of removing impediments, but he actually removed them with action so that “there is no more oppression and that submission is made to God”. (2: 193)
 
The same hard task continues to be assigned to those who believe in his message. Generations come and go and the Divine message must be conveyed to all by the Prophet’s followers. They will not fulfil their heavy responsibility, make God’s argument against people, and save them from misery in this life and suffering in the hereafter, unless they actually convey God’s message, on the same lines followed by the Prophet Muĥammad (peace be upon him). People are the same throughout all generations and the message is the same. There are, however, diversions, which lead us astray, tempting desires and doubts; and there are tyrannical forces which try to turn us away from faith, either by deception or by brute force. The same situation then, the same impediments and the same people!
 
The task must be fulfilled and the message conveyed by word of mouth and practical action testifying to the effects brought about by the implementation of the message. Moreover, impediments must be removed. Otherwise, the message is not properly conveyed. There is simply no way this task can be left undone, otherwise the responsibility for mankind’s continued error, their misery in this life and their having an argument to make in front of God on the Day of Reckoning must be faced. This is indeed a fearsome responsibility, sending a shudder through the entire body of anyone who realises that he must face it. No one can take it lightly.
 
A person who claims to be a Muslim must either convey the message of Islam in the way mentioned above, or he cannot save himself in either this or the next life. When he says that he is a Muslim and stops short of conveying God’s message as the Prophet did, he is actually testifying against Islam in which he claims to believe. He is indeed required to make a testimony for Islam so that the following Qur’ānic verse applies to him: “Thus We have made you the community of the middle way, so that you may stand witness against the rest of mankind and the Messenger shall be a witness against you.” (2: 143)
 
The testimony a Muslim has to make for Islam begins with himself, his home, family and his immediate society, as he endeavours to make them a living example of Islamic life. The second step in this testimony is his advocacy of Islamic life, as he calls on all mankind to implement Islam in their personal, social, economic and political life. The final step is his striving hard, i.e. jihād, for the removal of impediments which cause people to live in error and which turn them away from faith, regardless of what these impediments are. If he sacrifices his life for this cause, he is then a martyr, or, to use the Arabic term, shahīd, having made his testimony an sought to please His Lord. The term shahīd can only apply to this type of person.
 
Grace of the Highest Type
 
Before we conclude our comments on this verse, we need to reflect a little with our heads bowed in acknowledgement of God’s greatness, His knowledge of man, His fairness to him, as well as the care, mercy and grace He extends to him, despite his excessive ingratitude.
 
Let us first reflect for a moment on God’s thorough and perfect knowledge of man, his capabilities and potentials, as well as his inherent susceptibility to follow guidance or to go astray. It is on the basis of His knowledge of man that God has not left him to what his mind, the great gift He has given him, may dictate, even though it makes numerous and clear indicators which point out the way to faith. God knows that this great tool He has placed at man’s disposal may be influenced by man’s desires and that the indicators He has placed all over the horizon and within man himself may be screened from man, deliberately or through ignorance. Therefore, He does not hold man’s intellect responsible for following right guidance or for turning away from it until He has made it clear to him through His messengers. Moreover, even after such a clear message has been given, the task of devising a way of life is not assigned to man. What he is assigned is the implementation of the way of life laid down by God. Beyond that, God has given man a vast dominion to do with it whatever he likes, changing it as he pleases, and analysing it the way he wishes.
 
We should also reflect a little on the Divine justice which provides people with an argument against God, had He not sent them messengers to raise before them happy prospects and also to warn them against the pitfalls in their way. These messengers are sent in addition to all the indicators in the universe and within man, testifying to God’s oneness, His great creation, profound knowledge and infinite ability. Added to this is also the strong inclination of human nature to believe in God and to submit to Him. We should also remember in this respect the harmony between the indicators in the universe and the natural inclination and ability of man’s mind to collate information and arrive at conclusions. God, however, is fully aware of the weaknesses that may affect all these factors, clouding their work, bluring people’s vision and causing them to arrive at the wrong findings. Therefore, the pointers of the universe, human nature and intellect are not judged by God as sufficient on their own, unless He sends messengers to make sure that these instruments are not influenced by any foreign element as also to control their work according to the right standard shown in the Divine message. It is only when this is accomplished that the universe, human nature, and intellect will give the right and proper judgement. At this point in time, it becomes obligatory for people to submit to God and to obey Him. Their argument for not doing so is rendered futile and they, then, deserve punishment.
 
We must also reflect a little on the great care God takes of man and the grace He bestows on him, knowing, as He does, what weaknesses and shortcomings he may have. Nevertheless, He puts him in charge of the earth, which is, to man, a great kingdom, although it is no more than a little particle within God’s great dominion.
 
God’s care, grace and mercy take man even further. Despite all the indicators and the work of God’s messengers, man continues to reject the faith, stubbornly following erring ways. Yet God does not withhold from him His grace and favour. Nor does He deprive him of the guidance He has made available through His messengers. Indeed, He does not inflict punishment on him either in this world or in the hereafter until His messengers have conveyed His messages and man continues in rejecting them until his death.
 
Man very often boasts to himself that he can do without his Lord, His care, mercy, guidance, religion and messengers. He claims that he has all he needs for proper guidance, making use of his intellect, when God, his Creator, knows that this is not sufficient for him, unless it is set on the proper course pointed out by Him. This brings to mind the example of a little child just beginning to walk. He feels a little strength in his legs and lets go of his mother’s supporting hand. He immediately stumbles and falls. The child in this example, however, is wiser and more responsive to nature. He is naturally inclined to make use of his latent skill, develop his ability, train his muscles and become totally independent. By contrast, the man who lets go of God’s supporting hand has no natural inclination to steer away from Divine guidance. The best that he can do for himself is to follow Divine guidance, which ensures that all his powers are used properly and directed wisely. If he turns away from Divine guidance and trusts to his own devices, his powers will be certain to malfunction.
 
Erroneous, indeed, is every claim which suggests that great minds are not in need of God’s message to make great achievements. The fact is that the Divine message provides the human mind with the proper method of reflection and deduction to arrive at proper conclusions. If it errs, its error is similar to that of a clock set right, but later influenced by atmospheric and other factors affecting its movement. It is not like the error of a clock that was never properly set, but left to work at random, giving the right time only by pure coincidence. The difference between the two is great indeed.
 
Using his intellect and guided by the Divine message, man can make great achievements to which he cannot aspire otherwise. This is evidenced by the fact that throughout human history, no great mind has managed to devise the ideological concept, the personal discipline, the code of living or the social system which ordinary intellects were able to devise when guided by the Divine message.
 
Plato and Aristotle were endowed with great minds. It is even said that Aristotle had the greatest mind in human history. When we consider his concept of the Divine being as he devised it independently from God’s guidance, we realise how greatly inferior it is to the concept of an ordinary Muslim who follows the Divine message.
 
In ancient Egypt, Akhenaton advocated monotheism. He might have been influenced by the messages of the Prophets Abraham and Joseph, but even then, there are gaps and legends in his faith making the monotheistic concept of an ordinary Muslim infinitely superior to Akhenaton’s monotheistic religion.
 
In moral standards, we find in the early periods of Islam ordinary people, educated and disciplined by God’s Messenger, achieving heights to which even the greatest of people cannot aspire, when they are not guided by a Divine message. As for principles, systems and legislation, Islam achieves a degree of balance and harmony which is absolutely unique. The sort of harmony and ease of life which are characteristic of Islamic society are never to be found in any other society, prior to Islam or after it.
 
It is not the standard of material civilisation which we should judge. This is something that increases with scientific advancement. The quality of life at any particular time is judged by the balance and harmony achieved between all its aspects and systems. That balance is the source of happiness which brings out all human potentials and gives them a chance to work in harmony, without any excesses. As we have already said, humanity has never known a perfect system such as that of Islam. Imbalance is characteristic of every non-Islamic system, although it may have its bright aspects. It is always the trend that certain aspects of human life may be promoted at the expense of others. With such an imbalance, humanity continues to suffer. Its only saviour is the perfect, balanced and harmonious system of Islam.