Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AN NISAA' [110]

110. And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allah's forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. 111. And whoever earns sin, he earns it only against himself. And Allah is Ever All-Knowing, All-Wise. 112. And whoever earns a fault or a sin and then blames it on someone innocent, he has indeed burdened himself with falsehood and a manifest sin. 113. Had not the grace of Allah and His mercy been upon you, a party of them would certainly have made a decision to mislead you, but they mislead none except their own selves, and no harm can they do to you in the least. Allah has sent down to you the Book, and the Hikmah, and taught you that which you knew not. And ever great is the grace of Allah unto you. 114. There is no good in most of their secret talks save him who orders Sadaqah (charity), or goodness, or reconciliation between mankind; and he who does this, seeking the good pleasure of Allah, we shall give him a great reward. 115. And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger after the right path has been shown clearly to him and follows other than the believers' way, We shall keep him in the path he has chosen, and burn him in Hell --- what an evil destination! Allah emphasizes His generosity and kindness, in that He forgives whoever repents to Him from whatever evil they commit. Allah said,

And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allah's forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn Abbas commented about this Ayah, "Allah informs His servants of His forgiveness, forbearing generosity and expansive mercy. So whoever commits a sin, whether minor or major,

(but afterwards seeks Allah's forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful), even if his sins were greater than the heavens, the earth and the mountains.'' Imam Ahmad recorded that Ali said, "Whenever I hear anything from the Messenger of Allah, Allah benefits me with whatever He wills of that. Abu Bakr told me, and Abu Bakr has said the truth, that the Messenger of Allah said,

No Muslim commits a sin and then performs ablution, prays two Rak`ahs and begs Allah for forgiveness for that sin, but He forgives him. He then recited these two Ayat, وَمَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُ (And whoever does evil or wrongs himself), (4:110) and, وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُواْ فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُواْ أَنْفُسَهُمْ (And those who, when they have committed Fahishah or wronged themselves with evil).'' (3:135) Allah's statement,

And whoever earns sin, he earns it only against himself. is similar to His statement,

And no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another. (35:18) So no one will avail anyone else. Rather, every soul, and none else, shall carry its own burden. This is why Allah said,

And Allah is Ever All-Knowing, All-Wise. meaning, this occurs due to His knowledge, wisdom, fairness and mercy.

And whoever earns a fault or a sin and then blames it on someone innocent, he has indeed burdened himself with falsehood and a manifest sin.

Had not the grace of Allah and His mercy been upon you, a party of them would certainly have made a decision to mislead you, but they mislead none except their own selves, and no harm can they do to you in the least. Allah has sent down to you the Book, and the Hikmah,

and taught you that which you knew not, before this revelation was sent down to you. Similarly, Allah said,

And thus We have sent to you (O Muhammad) a Ruh (a revelation, and a mercy) of Our command. You knew not what is the Book) until the end of the Surah. (42:52-53) Allah said,

And you were not expecting that the Book (this Qur'an) would be sent down to you, but it is a mercy from your Lord. (28:86) So Allah said;

And ever great is the grace of Allah unto you (O Muhammad). Allah said,

(There is no good in most of their secret talks) meaning, what the people say to each other.

(save him who orders Sadaqah (charity), or goodness, or reconciliation between mankind;) meaning, except for this type of talk. Imam Ahmad recorded that Umm Kulthum bint `Uqbah said that she heard the Messenger of Allah saying,

(He who brings about reconciliation between people by embellishing good or saying good things, is not a liar.) She also said, ”I never heard him allow what the people say (lies) except in three cases: in war, bringing peace between people and the man's speech (invented compliments) to his wife and her speech to her husband.'' Umm Kulthum bint `Uqbah was among the immigrant women who gave their pledge of allegiance to the Messenger of Allah . The Group also recorded this Hadith, with the exception of Ibn Majah. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Ad-Darda' said that the Messenger of Allah said,

(Should I tell you what is better than the grade of fasting, praying and Sadaqah) They said, ”Yes, O Allah's Messenger!'' He said,

(Bringing reconciliation between people.) He also said,

(Spoiling the relationship (between people) is the destroyer.) Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi also recorded this Hadith, and At-Tirmidhi said, ”Hasan Sahih''. Allah said,

(and he who does this, seeking the good pleasure of Allah,) with sincerity and awaiting the reward with Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored,

(We shall give him a great reward.) meaning, an immense, enormous and tremendous reward.   Allah's statement,

(And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger after the right path has been shown clearly to him.) refers to whoever intentionally takes a path other than the path of the Law revealed to the Messenger, after the truth has been made clear, apparent and plain to him. Allah's statement,

(and follows other than the believers' way,) refers to a type of conduct that is closely related to contradicting the Messenger . This contradiction could be in the form of contradicting a text (from the Qur'an or Sunnah) or contradicting what the Ummah of Muhammad has agreed on. The Ummah of Muhammad is immune from error when they all agree on something, a miracle that serves to increase their honor, due to the greatness of their Prophet. There are many authentic Hadiths on this subject. Allah warned against the evil of contradicting the Prophet and his Ummah, when He said,

(We shall keep him in the path he has chosen, and burn him in Hell --- what an evil destination!) meaning, when one goes on this wicked path, We will punish him by making the evil path appear good in his heart, and will beautify it for him so that he is tempted further. For instance, Allah said,

(Then leave Me Alone with such as belie this Qur'an. We shall punish them gradually from directions they perceive not),

(So when they turned away (from the path of Allah), Allah turned their hearts away), and,

(And We shall leave them in their trespass to wander blindly). Allah made the Fire the destination of such people in the Hereafter. Indeed, the path of those who avoid the right guidance will only lead to the Fire on the Day of Resurrection, as evident by Allah's statements,

((It will be said to the angels): ”Assemble those who did wrong, together with their companions (from the devils)), and,

(And the criminals, shall see the Fire and apprehend that they have to fall therein. And they will find no way of escape from there).