Surah An-Nisa: Following Allah and His Prophet | Divine Reminders with Mufti Abdul Wahab Waheed

Surah An-Nisa: Following Allah and His Prophet

In the fifth juz' which we just recited, which is Surah An-Nisa, the dominant theme in the surah is that Allah now encourages and urges the sahabah رضي الله عنهم أجمعين and all of those in Medina to fall in love with the Prophet ﷺ and to obey him and to make the Prophet their eternal role model. And this came with challenges for the munafiqoon, because the munafiqoon wanted to do things their own way. And Allah in this surah — in this chapter and this juz' — explains that it doesn't happen that way. If we say we believe, we must believe in the sunnah, in the tradition, in the commandments, in the practices of our Habib ﷺ.

Two Words for Obedience: Ittiba' and Ta'ah

There are two words that are used for this form of obedience and this form of implementation of the sunnah. One is:

"Say to them, O Muhammad ﷺ, that if they love Allah, they must follow me" — i.e., the Prophet ﷺ. And another word that is used is where Allah says:

"Obey Allah and His Prophet." These two words have some intricate differences and I don't want to go into too much detail about them, but just generally: ta'ah refers to following Allah and the Prophet ﷺ in that which has been informed to us and that which has been ordered to us. And ittiba' is to follow the Prophet in that which we know he would like for us to do, but it's not something which he made a compulsory sunnah — it's something that if we do, the Prophet would be happy with us.

So in the passage of the fifth juz', Allah expounds upon this idea of having complete obedience to the Prophet's sunnah. Allah says in ayah number 64:

"We never sent down a Prophet except that they should be obeyed and listened to, by the permission of Allah."

The Unique Oath of Allah — Ayah 65

And in the next verse, Allah says — and this is the first ayah that I will highlight in this short reflection, this short reminder:

فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ — O Prophet of Allah, "We swear, We take an oath by your Lord." This is the only time in the entire Quran where Allah is taking an oath but by saying "your Lord." Normally Allah takes an oath by saying وَالضُّحَىٰ, وَالْعَصْرِ, وَالْفَجْرِ — different forms of nouns that Allah uses as an oath. This is the only ayah in which Allah says فَلَا وَرَبِّكَ — "We are swearing by your Lord."

Because all of these people — including the Jews, which this ayah was revealed about according to some scholars — do not believe in Allah. So We swear by your Lord: لَا يُؤْمِنُونَ — no one has believed, no one has brought iman in their heart — حَتَّىٰ يُحَكِّمُوكَ — until you, O Prophet of Allah, become the deciding factor in all of their decisions. فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ — in all of the issues that arise in their life, the foundation of their decisions are made by your sunnah.

It's like how Imam Qurtubi explains: if spouses are having differences, if families are having differences — if we make our reference point the Prophet's sunnah or the Quran and of course the Prophet's sunnah — then by doing so, the confrontations, the arguments, the disputes will weather away, because you've made the deciding factor the Prophet's sunnah.

This ayah was revealed about the companions, and some say it was revealed about a munafiq — when the Prophet ﷺ gave a decision about how to allow the water to flow in his garden and he didn't like it. So Allah said: حَتَّىٰ يُحَكِّمُوكَ فِيمَا شَجَرَ بَيْنَهُمْ — whatever disputes are taking place between you, the Prophet should be the one that decides it for you.

And then Allah continues: ثُمَّ لَا يَجِدُوا فِي أَنفُسِهِمْ حَرَجًا مِّمَّا قَضَيْتَ وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا — and then after accepting it, there should be absolutely no form of reluctancy or hesitation. وَيُسَلِّمُوا تَسْلِيمًا — there is complete acceptance.

The Hypothetical — Ayah 66

Then Allah continues this sequence of discussion. He says:

"And if We were to make it fard upon them, if We were to make it compulsory upon them" — this is hypothetically, so no one should be alarmed — "hypothetically, if We were to say that you should go ahead and kill yourself, or if We were to tell you to leave and forsake your homes, leave everything" — مَّا فَعَلُوهُ إِلَّا قَلِيلٌ مِّنْهُمْ — "very few people would do this." And when this ayah was revealed, Umar رضي الله عنه and Abu Bakr رضي الله عنه came to the Prophet ﷺ and said, "Ya Rasulullah, we are ready to do it." The Prophet ﷺ said, "No, this is just a hypothetical."

"And if they were to do what they are ordered to do — regardless of what it is, even if it is as far-fetched as something like this — hypothetically, if it was as far-fetched as leaving our homes and leaving our families, which it isn't — it would have been better for them." لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَّهُمْ.

Four Blessings of Obeying the Prophet ﷺ

And now, four things happen by us listening to the Prophet ﷺ and making him our decision-making judge for everything that takes place in our life:

1. A Good Ending — Thibaat

Number one: وَأَشَدَّ تَثْبِيتًا — a firm and good ending. Whenever Allah uses the word thibaat, as in:

It is referring to when we leave this world — Allah will give us a good ending.

2. A Tremendous Reward Directly from Allah

Number two:

"We will give to them a reward from Us" — مِّن لَّدُنَّا, from Us — that nobody else has. The angels are not writing it. We are giving that reward directly.

3. Continued Guidance on the Straight Path

Number three:

"We will continue to keep them rightly guided in this world." That du'a that we make a minimum of 17 times a day — اهْدِنَا الصِّرَاطَ الْمُسْتَقِيمَ — Allah says that du'a will be accepted when we make the Prophet the deciding factor, not only in our deeni things in life — the things that are related to deen — but even in things that are related to dunya. Is this business halal for me? Is this good for me to do according to the Prophet ﷺ or by Allah? When we do that, Allah says, "We continue to guide them on the right path."

4. Companionship with the Prophets, the Truthful, the Martyrs, and the Righteous

Number four — and this is perhaps the best one for us:

"Whosoever obeys Allah and the Prophet ﷺ" — going back to obeying the Prophet ﷺ: some people try to separate these two things, but they come hand in hand. Obedience of Allah comes with the obedience of the Prophet's sunnah, and the obedience of the Prophet's sunnah leads towards obedience of Allah. One that separates them cannot get either of them. One that puts them together will get both of them — they come hand in hand, they are lazim malzum.

Allah says: فَأُولَٰئِكَ — they will be with الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم — those whom Allah has favored. And this is interesting, because in Surah Al-Fatiha, Allah says:

"Guide us to the straight path — the path of those whom You have favored." And in this ayah of Surah An-Nisa, Allah says وَلَهَدَيْنَاهُمْ صِرَاطًا مُّسْتَقِيمًا, and then وَمَن يُطِعِ اللَّهَ وَالرَّسُولَ فَأُولَٰئِكَ مَعَ الَّذِينَ أَنْعَمَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْهِم — this is a response to that du'a, or an explanation of that du'a that is made in Surah Al-Fatiha. And it comes in the same sequence.

So Allah says they will be with the prophets, the siddiqeen (the truthful), the shuhada (the martyrs), and the saliheen (the pious and righteous individuals). They will be with those people. Who are these people who will be with them? Those that obey Allah and take the Prophet as their decision-making reference — their decision-making process goes back to the Prophet ﷺ.

And then Allah ends this passage by saying:

"This is the great virtue of Allah — that we are even able to follow the Prophet's sunnah and the Prophet's tradition."

The Story of Thauban — The Companion Who Feared Separation

This last verse was also revealed about an incident involving the companions. There was a man by the name of Thauban, who was a disciple of the Prophet ﷺ. One day he walked into the Prophet's ﷺ gathering and the color of his face had changed. The Prophet said to him:

"Why do I see that the complexion of your face has changed?"

And Thauban said, "Ya Rasulallah, when I think of you in Jannah, I realize that we will be in a Jannah which is lower than yours, and you will be in a Jannah which is higher than ours. And that brings sadness to me, because I won't be able to visit you and meet you — and what is Jannah without having the ability of sitting in your company and seeing your blessed face?" That was all they wanted. They wanted to see the Prophet ﷺ smile. That was their goal.

The Prophet ﷺ became sad by this too — "What's going to happen in Jannah?" — and Allah revealed this ayah: that those who follow the Prophet and love him, they will be with him in Jannah.

Conclusion and Takeaway

As a recap, as a takeaway: in the fifth juz', one of the main dominant themes is the separation of the munafiqoon and the believers. And that happened because the believers were able to take the Prophet's commandments and his requests and accept them without hesitation and reluctancy. And that should be the same for us.

Yes, no one is saying that we shouldn't look at whether or not a hadith is da'if or sahih. But when it comes to us through the correct chain and through the correct process, it should be accepted. It doesn't mean that we're doing it right away, but we should at least yearn and desire to do it. Of course we're weak and we're making efforts to get better — that's understandable. But we shouldn't reject it just because it's difficult for us to comprehend or understand.

May Allah reward you all for joining. JazakAllah khair.

رَبَّنَا تَقَبَّلْ مِنَّا ۖ إِنَّكَ أَنتَ السَّمِيعُ الْعَلِيمُ وَتُبْ عَلَيْنَا يَا مَوْلَانَا

وَعَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَةُ اللَّهِ وَبَرَكَاتُهُ — JazakAllah khair. As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. We'll see you all tomorrow at 2pm.