Lu'lu' wal-Marjan

Hazrat Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) said: The Children of Israel were commanded to enter Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) in a state of prostration and bowing, and to say: "O Allah! Forgive us." But they did the opposite; they entered dragging themselves on their buttocks and saying, "Habbah fi sha'rah" (meaning: may there be plenty of grain in the ears).

Hazrat Anas bin Malik (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that Allah the Exalted continued to send revelation frequently to the Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him), and in the time close to his passing, a great deal of revelation was sent. Then, after that, the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) passed away.

Once a Jew said to Hazrat Umar Farooq (may Allah be pleased with him), "O Commander of the Faithful! There is a verse in your Book (the Qur'an) which you recite. If it had been revealed to us Jews, we would have made the day of its revelation a day of festival." You asked, "Which verse is that?" He replied, "(The verse of Surah Al-Ma'idah:) 'Today I have perfected your religion for you, and completed My favor upon you, and have chosen for you Islam as your religion.'" Hazrat Umar (may Allah be pleased with him) said, "We know well the day and the place when this verse was revealed to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). At that time, he (peace be upon him) was standing in Arafat on the day of Friday."

Urwah bin Zubair (may Allah be pleased with him) asked Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) about the command of Allah Almighty: "If you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphans, then marry those women who please you, two, three, or four" (An-Nisa: 3). Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: My nephew, this verse is about that orphan girl who is under the guardianship of her guardian relative, such as a paternal cousin, maternal cousin, or uncle's son, and she shares in the inheritance. If he, being attracted by her wealth and beauty, wishes to marry her but does not give her the full dowry (mahr) justly as she would get elsewhere, then he is forbidden from marrying such orphan girls. However, if their guardians can deal justly with them and give them the best possible treatment regarding the dowry according to their means, then in that case, marriage is permitted. And it is also said to them that apart from these, they may marry any other women they like. Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: Then, after the revelation of this verse, people asked about the ruling regarding marrying such girls. So Allah Almighty revealed this verse: "They ask you for a ruling concerning women. Say: Allah gives you a ruling about them, and what is recited to you in the Book concerning the orphan girls to whom you do not give what is prescribed for them, while you desire to marry them, and concerning the weak among children, and that you should deal justly with orphans. Whatever good you do, surely Allah is Ever All-Knowing of it." (An-Nisa: 127) In this verse, where Allah Almighty says, "what is recited to you in the Book," it refers to the previous verse, i.e., "If you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphans, then marry other women who please you." Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: In the second verse, where Allah says, "while you desire to marry them," it means that the orphan girl under your care who has less wealth and beauty, you dislike her, and therefore, for the orphan girl whose wealth and beauty you desire, do not marry her either, except in the case where you give her full dowry justly.

Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrated that whoever is wealthy should protect himself (from consuming the wealth of the orphan under his care), and whoever is poor may eat from it with good intention. This verse was revealed concerning those guardians of orphans who supervise and look after them and their wealth, that if they are poor, they may eat from it with good intention (in return for this service).

Hazrat Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said regarding the verse of the Holy Qur'an, "If a woman fears ill-treatment or aversion from her husband," that it refers to a man who has a wife, but the husband does not come to her often, rather he wants to separate from her. In this situation, his wife says, "I forgo my right over you." It was about this that the verse was revealed.

Hazrat Saeed bin Jubair narrated that the scholars of Kufa differed regarding a verse. So I traveled to Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) to ask him about it. He said: This verse, "And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell." (An-Nisa: 39) was revealed, and it is the last verse of this chapter; no other verse has abrogated it.

Hazrat Abdur Rahman bin Abza (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated that he asked Hazrat Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with both of them) about the verse: "And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell..." (An-Nisa: 93) and the verse from Surah Al-Furqan: "And those who do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right..." up to "except he who repents and believes..." (I asked him) about this verse, so he said: When this verse was revealed, the people of Makkah said: Then we have also associated partners with Allah, and have unjustly killed those whom Allah had forbidden to kill, and we have also committed immoralities. Upon this, Allah the Exalted revealed this verse: "Except for those who repent, believe, and do righteous deeds, for them Allah will replace their evil deeds with good. Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful." (Al-Furqan: 70)

Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) said regarding the verse, "And do not say to the one who greets you with peace, 'You are not a believer,'" that a man (named Mirdas) was grazing his goats. While on an expedition, some Muslims met him, and he said, "Assalamu Alaikum," but the Muslims, thinking he was making an excuse, killed him and took possession of his goats. Upon this, Allah Almighty revealed this verse. The phrase at the end of the verse, "the goods of worldly life," refers to those very goats.

Hazrat Bara bin Azib (may Allah be pleased with him) said that this verse was revealed about us, the Ansar. When we used to come for Hajj, after entering the state of Ihram, we would not enter our houses through the doors, but would climb over the walls to enter the house. After embracing Islam, an Ansari man came and entered his house through the door. People cursed and reproached him for this, so this revelation was sent down: "It is not righteousness that you enter houses from the back (by climbing over the walls), but righteousness is for the one who fears Allah. So enter houses through their doors."