Study the Quran

Tafsir

Scholarly commentary explaining a verse — its context, its meaning and how the scholars have understood it.

An-Nisa 4:26

Word by word

يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ لِيُبَيِّنَ لَكُمْ وَيَهْدِيَكُمْ سُنَنَ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ وَيَتُوبَ عَلَيْكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ

Allāh wants to make clear to you [the lawful from the unlawful] and guide you to the [good] practices of those before you and to accept your repentance. And Allāh is Knowing and Wise.

Ibn Kathir (Abridged) English Ma'arif al-Qur'an English Tafsir Muyassar Arabic Tafsir Ibn Kathir Arabic All sources

Ibn Kathir (Abridged)

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

وَيَهْدِيَكُمْ سُنَنَ الَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ(And to show you the ways of those before you,) meaning their righteous ways and how to adhere to the commandments that He likes and is pleased with.وَيَتُوبَ عَلَيْكُمْ(and accept your repentance) from sin and error,وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ(and Allah is All-Knower, All-Wise.) in His commands, decrees, actions and statements. Allah's statement,وَيُرِيدُ الَّذِينَ يَتَّبِعُونَ الشَّهَوَتِ أَن تَمِيلُواْ مَيْلاً عَظِيماً(but those who follow their lusts, wish that you (believers) should deviate tremendously away from the right path)) indicates that the followers of Shaytan among the Jews, Christians and the adulterous, wish that you would take the horrendous path of falsehood instead of the truth.يُرِيدُ اللَّهُ أَن يُخَفِّفَ عَنْكُمْ(Allah wishes to lighten (the burden) for you") His legislation, orders, what He prohibits and what He decrees for you.

This is why Allah has allowed free men to marry slave girls under certain conditions, as Mujahid and others have stated.وَخُلِقَ الإِنسَـنُ ضَعِيفاً(and man was created weak.) and this is why it is suitable in his case that the commands are made easy for him, because of his weakness and feebleness. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that Tawus said that,وَخُلِقَ الإِنسَـنُ ضَعِيفاً(and man was created weak), "Concerning women". Waki` said, "Man's mind leaves when women are involved."

Ma'arif al-Qur'an

Mufti Muhammad Shafi

Sequence

Mentioned in the previous verses were details of injunctions. Now, in the present verses, Allah Almighty points to his blessings and favours saying that your being obligated with these injunctions is for your own good, even though you may not be able to understand its manifestation in details. Then, along with it, there is the motivation to follow the divine injunctions. Finally, there is the message of alert against the evil intentions of the misguided who wish ill of you and would like you to stray far away from the straight path.

Commentary

Following the description of several injunctions relating to marriage, the present verses say that Allah Almighty is making His injunctions very clear and explicit for you, and He is putting you in line with the ways of the noble prophets and the righteous who have come earlier. Do not think that these details of what is unlawful and what is not are there for you alone. The fact is that communities, earlier than you, were also charged with such injunctions. Those who acted in accordance with them were rewarded with Allah's favour.

As for those who follow the dictates of their desires, which includes fornicators, adulterers and nations and peoples adhering to false creeds who just do not recognize the restrictions of halal and haram and make no distinction between lawful and unlawful would very much like you too to move away from the straight path and start giving ear to their false intentions and crooked ways. Be on your guard against them. There are creeds where it is all right to marry women - marriage with whom is not proper. Then there are many atheists who favour the very elimination of the institution of marriage as something out of tune with modern times. Not content with what they call "living together", there are people in some countries who are talking about women as a shared item of enjoyment. All this comes from people who take orders from their desiring self.

Some Muslims, subscribing to Islam yet weak in their faith, when they keep company with disbelievers and atheists of such inclinations, fall a prey to their lustful claims and begin to think that their own religion is out-dated and that the position of the enemy is the very epitome of human progress. They do not realize that they have been framed into believing that people with such ideas are modern and forward-looking, something they start wishing their own religion could have permitted. Refuge with Allah from such spineless surrendering! The best policy is to take the warning given by Allah Almighty and stay away from owning and practicing ideas and ways of people with dispositions so wicked.

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

يريد الله تعالى بهذه التشريعات، أن يوضح لكم معالم دينه القويم، وشرعه الحكيم، ويدلكم على طرق الأنبياء والصالحين من قبلكم في الحلال والحرام، ويتوب عليكم بالرجوع بكم إلى الطاعات، وهو سبحانه عليم بما يصلح شأن عباده، حكيم فيما شرعه لكم.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

يخبر تعالى أنه يريد أن يبين لكم - أيها المؤمنون - ما أحل لكم وحرم عليكم ، مما تقدم ذكره في هذه السورة وغيرها ، ( ويهديكم سنن الذين من قبلكم ) يعني : طرائقهم الحميدة واتباع شرائعه التي يحبها ويرضاها ( ويتوب عليكم ) أي من الإثم والمحارم ، ( والله عليم حكيم ) أي في شرعه وقدره وأفعاله وأقواله .

Tafsir is provided for educational reference. Paragraph breaks are added for readability — the wording of each commentary is unchanged. For religious guidance, consult a qualified scholar.