4. An-Nisaa

And when you are going forth, travelling, in the land you would not be at fault if you shorten the prayer, by making it two [genuflexions] instead of four, if you fear that you may be afflicted by those who do not believe, that is, [if you fear] that you may be harmed [by them]: this [fear of affliction at the hands of the disbelievers] is [just intended as] an explication of the reality [of the situation] at that time and the point no longer applies. In the Sunna, it is pointed out that ‘travel’ (safar) means long-distance [travel], which is [approximately] 50 miles. God’s words ‘you would not be at fault’ should be understood as [denoting] a dispensation and not a requirement, and this is the opinion of al-Shāfi‘ī; the disbelievers are a manifest foe to you, their enmity being evident.

When you, O Muhammad (s), are, present, among them, while you [all] fear an enemy, and you stand to lead them in prayer (this type of address is customary in the Qur’ān), let a party of them stand with you, while another party stand back, and let them, the party standing with you, take their weapons, with them. Then when they have performed their prostrations, that is, [when] they have prayed, let them, the other party, be behind you, on guard until you complete the prayers; thereupon, let this party go on guard, and let another party who have not prayed come and pray with you, taking their precautions and their weapons, with them until you have completed the prayers. The Prophet (s) did this once at Batn Nakhla, as reported by the two Shaykhs [Bukhārī and Muslim]. The disbelievers wish, when you have stood up to pray, that you should be heedless of your weapons and your baggage that they may descend upon you all at once, by making an assault against you and capturing you, and herein is the reasoning behind keeping weapons on oneself. You are not at fault, if rain bothers you, or if you are sick, to lay aside your weapons, and not carry them: this implies that when there is no such excuse, it is compulsory to carry them, and this is one of two opinions held by al-Shāfi‘ī [on this matter]; the other [opinion] is that this [precaution] constitutes a sunna, and this is the more preferable opinion. But take your precautions, against the enemy and be on your guard as best you can; God has prepared for the disbelievers a humiliating chastisement.

When you have performed the prayer, [when] you have completed it, remember God, by [repeating] ‘There is no god but God’ (tahlīl) and ‘Glory be to God’ (tasbīh), standing and sitting and on your sides, lying down, in other words, in all states. Then, when you are reassured, [when] you are secure, observe the prayer, perform it with its proper due, surely the prayer is for believers a prescription, enjoined, that is, an obligation, at specific times, that is, its appointed times are set, and so it should not be postponed from these times.

After they returned from Uhud, the Prophet (s) dispatched a group to seek out Abū Sufyān and his companions, but they complained about their wounds, and the following was revealed: Be not faint, [be not] weak, in seeking, in pursuing, the enemy, the disbelievers, in order to fight them; if you are suffering, [if] you have pains from a wound, they are also suffering as you are suffering, that is, just like you, yet they do not shrink from fighting you; and you hope from God, in the way of victory and the reward for it, that for which they cannot hope, and since you have this advantage over them, you should be more willing for it than them. God is ever Knower, of all things, Wise, in His actions.

Tu‘ma b. Ubayriq stole a coat of mail and hid it with a Jew. When it was discovered with the latter, Tu‘ma accused him of having stolen it, and swore by God that he [Tu‘ma] had not stolen it, and his clan asked the Prophet (s) to advocate on his behalf and absolve him, whereupon the following was revealed: Surely We have revealed to you the Book, the Qur’ān, with the truth (bi’l-haqq is semantically connected to anzalnā, ‘We have revealed’) so that you may judge between people by that which God has shown you, what God has taught you. And do not be a disputant for traitors, like Tu‘ma, disputing on their behalf.

And pray for forgiveness from God, for that which you considered doing; surely God is ever Forgiving, Merciful.

They, the likes of Tu‘ma and his clan, hide themselves, in shame, from people, but they do not hide themselves from God; for He is with them, in His knowledge [of them], while they plot, they conspire, at night with discourse displeasing to Him, in their resolve to swear by God and deny the theft and accuse the Jew of it. God is ever Encompassing, in knowledge, of what they do.

Ah! There you are (addressing Tu‘ma’s clan) you have contested, you have disputed, on their behalf, that is to say, on behalf of Tu‘ma and his men (a variant reading has ‘anhu, ‘on his behalf’) in the life of this world; but who will contest against God on their behalf on the Day of Resurrection, if He were to punish them, or who will be a guardian for them, and take charge of their affair or defend them? In other words, no one will do such a thing.

Whoever does evil, [commits] a sin by which another is harmed, as when Tu‘ma falsely accused the Jew, or wrongs himself, committing a sin [the consequences of which are] limited to him, and then prays for God’s forgiveness, for it, that is to say, [and then] he repents, he shall find God is Forgiving, Merciful, to him.