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13 Jumada al-awwal 1448 AH Saturday, 24 October 2026
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Tafsir

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

An-Nisa 4:28

Word by word

يُرِيدُ ٱللَّهُ أَن يُخَفِّفَ عَنكُمْ ۚ وَخُلِقَ ٱلْإِنسَـٰنُ ضَعِيفًا

And Allāh wants to lighten for you [your difficulties]; and mankind was created weak.

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

After this, in the first part of verse 28, it was said: يُرِ‌يدُ اللَّـهُ أَن يُخَفِّفَ عَنكُمْ : It means that Allah, great in His majesty, intends to make things easy on you, that is, prescribes injunctions which can be carried out by everyone obligated with them. If one cannot afford marrying free women, permission has been given to marry bond-women. Parties to a marriage were given the right to settle the dower by mutual consent. Also given was the right to marry more than one woman under circumstantial necessity, of course, on condition that justice is not compromised.

At the end, in the second part of verse 28, the text says: وَخُلِقَ الْإِنسَانُ ضَعِيفًا ،(And man has been created weak). It means that man is weak by nature, and constituted desire-prone. If man was asked to stay away from women, totally and absolutely, he would have been a hopeless performer when it came to obeying the injunctions of Allah. It was, in view of his weakness and limitations, that he was not only permitted to marry women, but also that he was induced to do so. It goes without saying that the post-marriage life of a couple offers great benefits of mutual self-realization and most of all they enjoy the blessings of a sight that is untainted and a character that is unalloyed. This mutual purity of the couple increases the moral quality of life for both of them, making them strong, self-reliant and happy. So, marriage is a smart mutual contract to remove any chances of weakness that may afflict men and. women - a peerless method indeed.

Tafsir Muyassar

Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Saudi Arabia

يريد الله تعالى بما شرعه لكم التيسير، وعدم التشديد عليكم; لأنكم خلقتم ضعفاء.

Tafsir Ibn Kathir

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

أي : في شرائعه وأوامره ونواهيه وما يقدره لكم ، ولهذا أباح [ نكاح ] الإماء بشروطه ، كما قال مجاهد وغيره : ( خلق الإنسان ضعيفا ) فناسبه التخفيف; لضعفه في نفسه وضعف عزمه وهمته .وقال ابن أبي حاتم : حدثنا محمد بن إسماعيل [ الأحمسي ] حدثنا وكيع ، عن سفيان ، عن ابن طاوس ، عن أبيه : ( خلق الإنسان ضعيفا ) أي : في أمر النساء ، وقال وكيع : يذهب عقله عندهن .وقال موسى الكليم عليه الصلاة والسلام لنبينا صلوات الله وسلامه عليه ليلة الإسراء حين مر عليه راجعا من عند سدرة المنتهى ، فقال له : ماذا فرض عليكم ؟ فقال : " أمرني بخمسين صلاة في كل يوم وليلة " فقال له : ارجع إلى ربك فاسأله التخفيف; فإن أمتك لا تطيق ذلك ، فإني قد بلوت الناس قبلك على ما هو أقل من ذلك فعجزوا ، وإن أمتك أضعف أسماعا وأبصارا وقلوبا ، فرجع فوضع عشرا ، ثم رجع إلى موسى فلم يزل كذلك حتى بقيت خمسا [ قال الله عز وجل : " هن خمس وهن خمسون ، الحسنة بعشر أمثالها " ] الحديث .

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.