4. An-Nisaa

O people of Mecca fear your Lord that is His punishment by being obedient to Him Who created you of a single soul Adam and from it created its mate Eve Hawwā’ from one of his left ribs and from the pair of them Adam and Eve scattered separated and spread many men and many women; and fear God by whom you claim your rights from one another tassā’alūna the original tā’ of tatasā’alūna has been assimilated with the sīn; a variant reading has tasā’alūna so that one of you says to the other ‘I ask you by God…’ or ‘For God’s sake…’; and fear kinship ties lest you sever them a variant reading of wa’l-arhāma ‘and kinship ties’ is wa’l-arhāmi as a supplement to the pronoun contained in bihi sc. God. They used to implore one another by ties of kinship. Surely God has been watchful over you heedful of your deeds for which He will requite you that is to say He is ever possessed of such an attribute.

The following was revealed regarding an orphan who demanded his property from his guardian but was refused it Give the orphans the under-age ones that have no father their property when they have reached maturity and do not exchange the evil the unlawful for the good the lawful that is taking the one in place of the other as you do when you take what is good from the orphan’s property and leave him your faulty property instead; and absorb not their property by adding it into your property; surely that the absorbing of it is a great crime a serious sin. When this was revealed they found it difficult to maintain guardianship over orphans and some of them had ten or eight wives under their care and did not treat them all equally and so the following was revealed

And give women their dowries saduqāt plural of sudqa their bridal money mahr muhūr as a free gift nihlatan is a verbal noun a present given out of the kindness of one’s heart; but if they are pleased to offer you any of it of their own accord nafsan ‘of their own accord’ is for specification and is taken from the subject of the verb thus it refers back to ‘they’ the women meaning if their own selves are pleased that you should have something of the dowry and they give it to you then consume it with good wholesome appetite a praiseworthy consequence with no harm therein for you with regard to the Hereafter this was revealed in response to those who were opposed to this consumption.

But do not O guardians give to the foolish the squanderers from among men women and children your property that is the property that is theirs but held by you which God has assigned to you as maintenance qiyāman ‘maintenance’ is the verbal noun from qāma; a variant reading has qiyaman the plural of qīma ‘value’ that is that with which property is valued meaning that the property which sustains your livelihoods and the well-being of your children lest they expend it improperly; provide for them thereof that is feed them from it and clothe them and speak to them decent words prepare for them a kind reception by giving them their property when they reach maturity.

Try test well the orphans before reaching maturity with regard the duties of religion and before they can legally manage their own affairs until they reach the age of marrying that is until they have become eligible for it through puberty or legal age which according to al-Shāfi‘ī is the completion of fifteen years; then if you perceive in them maturity that is right judgement in matters of religion and their property deliver their property to them; consume it not O guardians wastefully without due merit and in haste that is hastening to expend it fearing lest they should grow up and become mature at which time you will be obliged to hand it over to them. If any man who is a guardian is rich let him be abstinent that is let him abstain from the orphan’s property and refrain from consuming it; if he is poor let him consume of it honourably that is in line with the wage for his work. And when you deliver to them the orphans their property take witnesses over them that they have received it and that you are absolved of the obligation so that if any dispute occurs you are able to refer to a clear proof this is a command intended for guidance. God suffices as a reckoner as a guardian of His creatures’ deeds and as a reckoner of these deeds the bā’ in bi’Llāhi is extra.

The following was revealed as a repudiation of pre-Islamic practices in which women and children were not given any inheritance To the men young ones and kin belongs a share a portion of what deceased parents and kinsmen leave and to the women belongs a share of what parents and kinsmen leave whether it the property be little or much. God has made it an obligatory share apportioned to be given to them.

And when the division of the inheritance is attended by kinsmen those of kinship who cannot inherit and orphans and the poor grant them something out of it before the division is effected; and if the inheritors are young speak to them O guardians honourable words kindly by apologising to them that it is not your possession to divide as you wish but that it is for the young inheritors. Some say that this stipulation was abrogated; others say that it was not only that people were all too readily neglecting it since it was encouraged but not prescribed. According to Ibn ‘Abbās however it is a duty.

And let them fear let them be concerned for the orphans those who if they are about to leave behind them that is after their death weak offspring young children would be afraid for them; that they be ruined; let them fear God in the matter concerning orphans and let them give what they would love for their own offspring after their death; and speak to the one approached by death pertinent words the right words by enjoining him to give as voluntary almsgiving no more than the third of the inheritance and leave the remainder for the ones inheriting so that they do not end up as dependants.

Those who consume the property of orphans unjustly without any right are only consuming the whole of it as fire in their bellies because that is where such action leads and they shall be exposed to read active yaslawna or passive yuslawna that is they shall enter a blaze an intense fire in which they shall burn.