Commentary
This is the most comprehensive verse of the Holy Qur’ an where the essence of the entire range of Islamic teachings has been condensed into a few words. Therefore, from the blessed period of the most righteous elders upto this day, the practice has continued that this verse is recited at the end of the special Khutbah (address) of Jumu'ah and the two 'Eids ('Eid al-Fitr and 'Bid al-Adha). Sayyidna ` Abdullaa ibn Masud ؓ says that the most comprehensive verse of the Holy Qurin appears in Surah An-Nahl and it is: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ (16:90 cited above) [ Ibn Kathir ]
Then, there is the case of another Sahabi, Sayyidna Aktham ibn al-Saifi. He actually embraced Islam on the basis of this very verse. Imam Ibn Kathir, quoting Ma` rifatus-Sahabah, a book by Abu Ya` la, who was known as a Hafiz of Hadith (virtually a living data bank of Hadith in contemporary terms), has reported with sound authority that Aktham ibn al-Saifi was the chief of his people. When he learnt about the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، his claim to prophethood and his propagation of Islam, he decided to visit the Holy Prophet ﷺ personally. But, his people suggested to him that he was their chief, the highest ranking person among them, therefore, his going there personally was not appropriate. Then, Aktham proposed the alternative that they should select two persons from the tribe who should go there, survey the situation and report back to him. These two people presented themselves before the Holy Prophet and submitted that they had come from Aktham ibn al-Saifi to find out two things. Aktham has two questions for you:
مَن اَنتَ و مَا اَنتَ
Who are you and what are you?'
He said: 'The answer to the first question is that I am Muhammad ibn ` Abd Allah, and the answer to the second question is that I am a servant of Allah and His Rasul (messenger) '. After that, he recited this verse of Surah An-Nahl which begins with: إِنَّ اللَّـهَ يَأْمُرُ بِالْعَدْلِ وَالْإِحْسَانِ (90). The two emissaries requested him to recite those sentences to them once again. He kept reciting the verse before them until the verse was committed to their memory.
The emissaries returned to Aktham and reported that by asking the first question their intention was to find out his lineage. But, he did not give much attention to this. He simply considered it sufficient to give the name of his father. Yet, when they checked on his lineage with others, they found out that he was very high in lineage and nobility. Then, they told Aktham that the Holy Prophet also recited some words before them which they would narrate to him.
When the emissaries recited the verse under reference to Aktham ibn al-Saifi, he promptly said: 'This tells us that he bids morals which are high and forbids morals which are low. Let all of you embrace his religion as soon as possible so that you stay ahead of other people, and not lag behind as camp followers.' [ Ibn Kathir ]
Similarly, Sayyidna ` Uthman ibn Maz` un ؓ says: 'At the initial stage, I had embraced Islam because people around said so. But, Islam had not taken roots in my heart. Then, there came a day when I was pre-sent in the blessed company of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . All of a sudden, signs associated with the descent of revelation on him became apparent, and after some strange things had transpired, he said: "The emissary of Allah Ta` ala came to me and this verse was revealed upon me". Sayyidna ` Uthman ibn Maz` un ؓ says that once he saw this event and heard this verse, his faith became all firm and fortified in his heart and the love for Rasulullah ﷺ came to be settled there for good'. [ After reporting this event, Ibn Kathir has said that it is supported by strong and authentic chain of transmitting authorities ]
Likewise, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ recited this verse before Walid ibn Mughirah, he went to report his impression before his people, the Quraish of Makkah, in the following words:
وَاللہ انّ لہ لحلاوۃ و انَّ علیہ لطلاوۃ وانَّ اصلہ لمورق وأعلاۃ لمثمر وما ھو بقول بشر
By God, in it, there is a special sweetness and, above it there is a unique hallow of light, and leaves are going to sprout out from its roots and fruits are going to show up on its branches - and this can never be the speech of any human being.
The Command To Do Three Things And Not To Do Three
Allah Ta’ ala bids three things in this verse. These are: (1) To do justice, (2) to be good, (3) to give relatives (their due). Then, He forbids three things. These are: (1) Shameful acts, (2) evil deeds, (3) transgression. The Islamic legal sense of these six words, and their limits, are being explained as follows:
Al-` Adl: الْعَدْلِ : The real and literal meaning of this word is to make equal. Pertinent to this, the equitable judgment of officials in the disputed cases of people is called Al-'Adl or justice. The statement: أَن تَحْكُمُوا بِالْعَدْلِ بِالْعَدْلِ (and that when you judge between people, judge with fairness - 4:58) in the Holy Qur’ an carries this very sense and, in view of this, the word Al-` Adl (justice) also refers to moderation (al-i'tidal) between the two extremes of excess (al-ifrat) and deficiency (at-tafrit). Then, very much in congruity with this sense, some Tafsir authorities have explained Al-` Adl at this place as the equality of the outward and the inward state of a per-son, that is, what one says or does through the obvious organs of his body should also be compatible with what he believes in and lives by. However, the truth of the matter is that the word Al-` Adl here has been used in its general sense which is inclusive of all these forms and shades reported from different Tafsir authorities. There is no contradiction or divergence in them.
And according to Ibn al-` Arabi, the intrinsic meaning of Al-` Adl is to make equal, then, different congruities go to make its sense different. For instance, one sense of Al-'Adl or justice is that man should do justice between his Nafs (self) and his Rabb (Lord-God). If so, it would mean that he should give preference to the right of Allah Ta’ ala over the pleasure of his self and make the seeking of His pleasure far more urgent and prior than the pursuit of his own desires and obey His commands and to-tally abstain from what He has forbidden.
Then, there is the second kind of justice which requires that one enter into a deal of justice with his own self, that is, protect his self from all such challenges which bring physical or spiritual destruction upon him, refuse to fulfill such desires of his self which are harmful for him in the end, be content and satisfied observing patience, and avoid putting unnecessary burden on his self without valid excuse.
The third kind of justice prevails between one's own self and the rest of Allah's creation. In this case, the essential sense is that one should deal with the whole creation in a cooperative spirit wishing well, doing good and having sympathy, never betray anyone with the slightest breach of trust in any transaction whether minor or major, demand from his self justice for everyone, and see to it that no human being is hurt by anything said or done by him whether apparent or concealed.
Similarly, there is the justice done when two parties bring one of their cases for adjudication before a person, then, it is the duty of that person that he must decide the case without any tilt towards anyone and in accordance with what is the truth. Then, it is also a form of justice when one leaves out the extreme options of excess and deficiency in all matters and takes to the path of moderation. This is the sense Abu ` Abdullah al-Razi prefers when he says that the word Al-'Adl (justice) is inclusive of moderation in belief, moderation in deed, moderation in morals, everything. [ Al-Bahr al-Mubit ]
Finally, Imam Al-Qurtubi who gives all these details to determine the sense of Al-` Adl also considers it good for the purpose. This also tells us that the one single word, Al-` Adl, in this verse encompasses in itself the adherence to all good morals and deeds and the avoidance of all bad morals and deeds.
Al-Ihsan : الْإِحْسَانِ : The real and literal meaning of Al-Ihsan is to make something good. It has two kinds: (1) that one makes deeds or morals and habits become good and perfect in one's own person; (2) that one deals with the other person nicely, decently and favourably. To cover this second sense, Arabic usage takes:إِلَىٰ (ila) as the preposition after it, as it appears in a verse of the Qur'an: أَحْسِن كَمَا أَحْسَنَ اللَّـهُ إِلَيْكَ (be good as Allah has been good to you - 28:77).
Imam Al-Qurtubi has said that this word has been used in its general sense in the cited verse, therefore, it is inclusive of both kinds of Ihsan. Then, the first kind of Ihsan, that is, doing something well in its own right, is also general - for instance, to come out with acts of worship in their best possible form, to make efforts to improve upon personal deeds and morals and to seek betterment in dealings with others.
The meaning of Ihsan given by the Holy Prophet himself in the famous Hadith of Jibra'il relates to the quality of Ihsan in acts of ` Ibadah or worship. The gist of his blessed statement is: Worship Allah as if you are seeing Allah. And if you cannot imagine Divine presence at this level, then, each person must have at least this much certitude that Allah Almighty is, after all, seeing what he or she is doing. The reason is that it is a cardinal part of Islamic faith that not the minutest molecule of this universe can remain outside the reach of the knowledge and perception of Allah Ta’ ala.
To sum up, it can be said that the second command given in this verse is that of Ihsan. Included here is the Ihsan of ` Ibadah (the betterment of acts of worship) as explained by the Hadith. Also included here is the Ihsan or betterment of all deeds, morals and habits, that is, seeing that they come out right, good and authentic in the form and spirit de-sired. And also included here is to be good to the whole creation of Allah, whether believer or infidel, human or animal.
Imam Al-Qurtubi has said: The person in whose house his cat is not fed and taken care of and the birds in whose cage are not attended to as due, then, no matter how devoted to acts of worship he may be, he would still not be counted among the Muhsinin, those who are good to others.
In conclusion, the first command given in this verse is that of Al-` Adl or justice, then, that of Al-Ihsan or being good. Some Tafsir authorities have said that justice means that one should give the right of the other person in full and take what comes to him, neither less nor more; then, should someone hurt you, you hurt him only as much as he did, no more. And Ihsan or being good means that you give the other person more than his real due and, as for your own right, ignore it to the limit that you willingly accept even if it turns out to be less than due. Similarly, when someone hurts you physically or verbally, then, rather than inflict an equal retaliation against that person, you better forgive him, in fact, return the evil done by him with what is good for him. Thus, the command to do justice comes in the form of what is Fard and Wajib (obligatory and necessary as duty) while the command to be good appears in the status of an act which is voluntary (Nafl) and is motivated by a well-meaning desire to contribute more in the way of what is good.
Give relatives (their due) إِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ. The third command given in this verse is to give relatives (their due). The word: إِيتَاءِ ('i'ta' ) used in the text means to give something - with the added sense of giving as gift or presentation in good grace. The word: الْقُرْبَىٰ (al-qurba) means relationship or kinship; and: ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ (dhil-qurba) means relatives or kin. Thus, the command: إِيتَاءِ ذِي الْقُرْبَىٰ (ita' dhil-qurba) comes to mean to give something to relatives. That which has to be given has not been spelled out here. But, there is another verse in the Qur’ an where the object does find mention: وَآتِ ذَا الْقُرْبَىٰ - (give the relative his due - 17:26). As obvious, the same object applies here too, that is, relatives be given their due. Included under this 'due' is serving them financially, as well as serving them physically, and visiting them when sick, and taking care of them when in need, and the giving of verbal comfort and the expression of concern and sympathy too. Though, giving relatives their due was included under the spectrum of the word: Al-Ihsan, yet it has been mentioned separately in order to place stress on its added importance.
Given upto this point were three commands asserted positively. The other three asserted negatively, denoting prohibition and unlawfulness, are as follows:
"And forbids from shameless acts, evil deeds and transgression": وَيَنْهَىٰ عَنِ الْفَحْشَاءِ وَالْمُنكَرِ وَالْبَغْيِ : The first word: الْفَحْشَاءِ (al-fahsha' ) translated as 'shameful acts', refers to such evil word or deed the evil of which is all too open and clear and which everyone considers bad. Then, الْمُنكَرِ (al-munkar) translated as 'evil deeds', denotes the word or deed the unlawfulness or impermissibility of which is agreed upon by the well-recognized authentic exponents of the Shari` ah of Islam. Therefore, no side can be regarded as 'munkar' in their Ijtihad-based differences and, as for the word: الْمُنكَرِ 'Al-Munkar', it includes all sins whether outward or in-ward, done practically or committed morally. The real meaning of the third word: الْبَغْيِ (al-baghy) translated as 'transgression' is to cross the limit. The sense is that of injustice and excess. At this place, though the sense of the word: الْمُنكَرِ Al-Munkar (evil deeds) is inclusive of both Al-Fahsha' (shameful acts) and Al-Baghy (transgression), but Al-Fahsha' has been picked out as a separate entry, and made to appear first as well, because of its extreme evil and abomination. And the word: Al-Baghy has been taken up separately because its fallout is contagious. It affects others. Sometimes this transgression reaches the outer limits of mutual hostility, even armed confrontation, or it could go still further and cause international disorder.
According to a saying of the Holy Prophet ﷺ ، there is no sin, except injustice, the retaliation against which and the punishment for which comes so quickly. From this we learn that the ultimate severe punishment for injustice due in the Hereafter has to come anyway, however, much before that happens, Allah Ta` a1a punishes the perpetrator of in-justice in this mortal world as well - even though, he may fail to realize that the punishment he received was for a particular injustice committed by him and that Allah Ta’ ala promised to help the victim of injustice.
The six commands, imperative and prohibitive, given in this verse are - if pondered upon - an elixir for the perfect prosperity of man's individual and collective life. May Allah bless us all with the ability of following them.