Surah An-Nisaa (4) — Ayah 105

(Ayah 105) ➊ {اِنَّاۤ اَنْزَلْنَاۤ اِلَيْكَ الْكِتٰبَ بِالْحَقِّ … :} The majority of commentators have reported the reason for the revelation of these verses (105 to 114) as an incident of theft, which is mentioned in detail in Tirmidhi, and Shaykh Nasir al-Din al-Albani (may Allah have mercy on him) has graded it Hasan. Its summary is as follows: Bishr, Bashir, and Mubashir were three brothers, sons of Ubayriq or Tu‘mah bin Abi Yariq. Some have said that among them, Bashir’s kunya was Abu Tu‘mah. These people were from the tribe of Banu Zufar in Madinah. Among them, Bashir was the worst; he was a hypocrite and used to satirize the Muslims and attribute those poems to others. These were poor, destitute people and neighbors of Rifa‘ah bin Zayd. Once, a caravan came from Syria bringing fine flour, so Rifa‘ah bin Zayd bought a sack from it. The people of Madinah used to eat flour, but fine flour was kept aside for the elders of the household. Rifa‘ah stored that fine flour with his weapons in his armory. The sons of Ubayriq broke into the store and stole the fine flour and weapons. In the morning, Rifa‘ah discussed the theft of his weapons and fine flour with his nephew Qatadah bin Nu‘man. He began investigating and found out that the sons of Abi Yariq had lit a fire that night, and perhaps they had prepared food from Rifa‘ah’s fine flour. When the secret of the sons of Abi Yariq was exposed, they threw the stolen weapons, etc., into the house of a Jew, and some people from their tribe, Banu Zufar, came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and complained that Rifa‘ah bin Zayd and his nephew had accused one of our household, who are faithful and righteous people, of theft. Qatadah says, I came to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), and he said: “You have accused faithful, righteous people of theft without evidence.” These people spread the rumor that the stolen goods were found in the Jew’s house, so these verses were revealed. [ ترمذی، التفسیر، باب ومن سورۃ النساء : ۳۰۳۶ ] Allah Almighty exposed the reality of the matter so that no one could say that the crime was committed by Banu Ubayriq, but the Jew was made the criminal because he was not one of their own. This could have cast a great stain on the justice of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him).

➋ {وَ لَا تَكُنْ لِّلْخَآىِٕنِيْنَ خَصِيْمًا: } This refers to the sons of Abi Yariq, that you should not support them. From this, it is understood that you were not the knower of the unseen, otherwise Allah Almighty would not have needed to say, “Do not argue on behalf of those who deceive.”

15. 1. In the context of the revelation of these verses (from 14 to 113), it has been stated that in the Ansar tribe of Banu Zufar, a person named Tu'mah or Bashir bin Abi Riq stole the armor of an Ansari. When this became known and he felt the danger of being exposed, he threw the armor into the house of a Jew and, along with some men from Banu Zufar, went to the service of the Prophet ﷺ. All of them said that the one who stole the armor was that particular Jew. The Jew appeared before the Prophet ﷺ and said that Banu Abi Riq had stolen the armor and thrown it into his house. Banu Zufar and Banu Abi Riq (Tu'mah, Bashir, etc.) were clever and kept trying to convince the Prophet ﷺ that the thief was the Jew and that the accusation against Tu'mah was false. The Prophet ﷺ was also influenced by their smooth talk and was about to acquit the Ansari from the accusation of theft and charge the Jew with the crime of theft, when Allah revealed this verse. From this, it is learned that the Prophet ﷺ, as a human being, could also fall into misunderstanding. The second thing that is learned is that he was not 'Alim al-Ghayb (knower of the unseen), otherwise the situation would have become clear to him ﷺ immediately. The third thing that is learned is that Allah protects His Messenger ﷺ, and if ever a situation arises where the truth remains hidden or is about to be diverted, then Allah immediately warns him and corrects him, as is required by the infallibility of the Prophets. This is the station of infallibility that is not granted to anyone except the Prophets.

15. 2. By this is meant those same Banu Abi Riq, who themselves committed the theft but, with their eloquence, were intent on convincing others that the Jew was the thief. In the next verse as well, their and their supporters' wrongful conduct is highlighted, and the Prophet ﷺ is being warned.

105. We have sent down to you the Book in truth so that you may judge between people by what Allah has shown you. And do not be an advocate for those who are deceitful [143].

[143]
The Recovery of Lost Property Does Not Prove Theft:

The background of this verse and the next few verses is that a man from the Ansar tribe of Banu Zafar, Bashir bin Abi Riq, stole a sack of flour and a coat of mail from the house of another Ansari. And cunningly, he deposited the sack of flour and the coat of mail overnight as a trust with a Jew. The sack happened to be slightly torn, so some flour kept falling out, which made it very easy to trace. The actual owner followed the trail and reached the house of Bashir bin Abi Riq and mentioned his stolen goods, but he flatly denied it and even allowed a search of his house, from which nothing was recovered. Now the owner, continuing his pursuit, reached the Jew’s house and mentioned his stolen goods. The Jew said, “Such a coat of mail is indeed with me, but so-and-so person deposited it with me as a trust. Therefore, I cannot give it to you.” Eventually, the owner brought this case to the court of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Now the thief and his family members decided among themselves that the real culprit should be proven to be this Jew, and the matter of the trust should not be mentioned at all, and they should express complete ignorance of the incident. They thought that you would not trust the word of the Jews, and in this way, we would be acquitted. Indeed, this is what happened. The Ansari thief and his supporters expressed complete ignorance of the incident and even started swearing oaths, as a result of which you were inclined to believe these traitors and considered the Jew to be a liar, and you were about to acquit this Ansari thief and declare the Jew guilty and pronounce the punishment of cutting off the hand against the Jew. At that point, Allah Almighty informed you of the real situation through revelation and warned you that you should never support such dishonest people.

[144] In this verse, those Muslims have been declared traitors who supported the criminal merely on the basis of family and tribal prejudice, and it has been made clear to everyone that no kind of prejudice will be tolerated in matters of justice. If one party belongs to an enemy nation and is in the right, then support will be given to him, not to the Muslims.