Surah An-Nisaa (4) — Ayah 115

(Ayah 115) ➊ From {وَ مَنْ يُّشَاقِقِ الرَّسُوْلَ …: ”يُشَاقِقِ“ ’’شق‘‘} is derived a present tense verb from the form of Mufa‘alah. The meaning of {’’ شق‘‘} is side, edge, that is, whoever or whichever group opposes the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) in such a way that they come face to face with him—on one side is Allah’s Messenger, on the other side is this person or group—and after the truth has become clear, they turn away from the straight and clear path of the believers (which, in every case, is following the Messenger), then We will turn him to the direction he has turned to, and We will let him go on that crooked path which will eventually throw him into Hell, and that is a very evil path.

➋ After guidance has become clear, opposing the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and leaving the path of the believers to follow another path is, in reality, leaving the religion of Islam itself, for which the warning of Hell has been mentioned here. By “believers” is meant the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them), who were the very first followers of Islam and the complete example of its teachings, and at the time of the revelation of these verses, there was no other group of believers present who could be meant here. Therefore, opposing the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and following other than the path of the believers are, in reality, one and the same thing; thus, deviating from the path of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) is also disbelief and misguidance. Some scholars have taken {’’ سَبِيْلِ الْمُؤْمِنِيْنَ“ } to mean the consensus (ijma‘) of the Ummah, that is, to deviate from the consensus of the entire Ummah is also disbelief. The consensus of the Ummah means the agreement of all the scholars and jurists of the Ummah on an issue, or the agreement of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) on an issue; both these cases are forms of the consensus of the Ummah. The agreement of the Companions (may Allah be pleased with them) is found in many issues, that is, this form of consensus is found, but after the consensus of the Companions, claims of consensus and agreement of the entire Ummah on many issues have been made, but there are very few such issues in which, in reality, all the scholars and jurists of the Ummah are in agreement. Then, to find out about the agreement of all the scholars and jurists on such issues is even more difficult. Then, the formation of many sects in the Ummah has resulted in every group claiming consensus to strengthen its own position, even if it is clearly against the Qur’an and Hadith, for example, building structures over graves, covering them with cloth, lighting lamps on them, slaughtering animals in the name of other than Allah, taking out processions for mourning, not considering the Prophets as humans, attributing divine qualities to them, celebrating Mawlid, Gyarhwin, Teejah, Satwan, Daswan, Chaliswan, Urs, fairs, adhering to the concept of a Pir, accepting everything right or wrong from him—in short, acts of clear shirk and innovation have been given the name of consensus. However, there is no doubt that to deny such issues on which, in reality, there is consensus of all the scholars and jurists of the Ummah is also disbelief, just like denying the consensus of the Companions, because the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: “Allah will not gather my Ummah upon misguidance, and Allah’s hand is upon the group.” [ ترمذی، الفتن، باب ما جاء فی لزوم الجماعۃ : ۲۱۶۷، و صححہ الألبانی ]

➌ {وَ سَآءَتْ مَصِيْرًا:} In this verse, there is a severe warning for those who turn away from the Sunnah of the Prophet (peace be upon him) and the way of the righteous predecessors, and follow others, inventing new innovations day by day. It needs no explanation that the invention of taqlid (blind following) also occurred in later centuries; there is absolutely no evidence of it in the era of the righteous predecessors, nor is there any allowance for it from the Book and Sunnah.