Tafsir of Surah An-Nahl - Verse 95

If Allah had willed, He would have made all of Humanity one Nation

Allah says:

وَلَوْ شَآءَ اللَّهُ لَجَعَلَكُمْ

(And had Allah willed, He would have made you) meaning - O mankind,

أُمَّةً وَحِدَةً

((all) one nation,) This is like the Ayah:

وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ لآمَنَ مَن فِى الاٌّرْضِ كُلُّهُمْ جَمِيعًا

(And had your Lord willed, all of those on earth would have believed together.) 10:99, meaning, He could have created harmony among them, and there would not be any differences, conflicts or hatred between them.

وَلَوْ شَآءَ رَبُّكَ لَجَعَلَ النَّاسَ أُمَّةً وَاحِدَةً وَلاَ يَزَالُونَ مُخْتَلِفِينَ

إِلاَّ مَن رَّحِمَ رَبُّكَ وَلِذلِكَ خَلَقَهُمْ

(And if your Lord had so willed, He would surely, have made mankind one Ummah nation or community, but they will not cease to disagree. Except him on whom your Lord has bestowed His mercy, and for that did He create them.) (11:118-119) Similarly, Allah says here:

وَلـكِن يُضِلُّ مَن يَشَآءُ وَيَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ

(but He allows whom He wills to stray and He guides whom He wills. ) Then on the Day of Resurrection, He will ask them all about their deeds, and will reward or punish them even equal to a scalish thread in the long slit of a date stone or the size of a speck on the back of a date stone, or even a thin membrane of the date stone.

The Prohibition on taking an Oath for Purposes of Treachery

Then Allah warns His servant against taking oaths as means of deception, i.e., using them for treacherous purposes, lest a foot should slip after being firmly planted. This is an analogy describing one who was on the right path but then deviated and slipped from the path of guidance because of an unfulfilled oath that involved hindering people from the path of Allah. This is because if a disbeliever were to find that after having agreed to a covenant, then the believer betrayed him, then the believer will have hindered him from entering Islam. Thus Allah says:

وَتَذُوقُواْ الْسُّوءَ بِمَا صَدَدتُّمْ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلَكُمْ عَذَابٌ عَظِيمٌ

(and you taste the evil of having hindered from the path of Allah, and you will suffer a terrible punishment.)

Do not break Oaths for the sake of Worldly Gain

Then Allah says:

وَلاَ تَشْتَرُواْ بِعَهْدِ اللَّهِ ثَمَناً قَلِيلاً

(And do not use an oath by Allah for the purchase of little value.) meaning, do not neglect an oath sworn in the Name of Allah for the sake of this world and its attractions, for they are few, and even if the son of Adam were to gain this world and all that is in it, that which is with Allah is better for him, i.e., the reward of Allah is better for the one who puts his hope in Him, believes in Him, seeks Him and fulfills his oaths in the hope of that which Allah has promised. This is why Allah says:

إِن كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَمَا عِندَكُمْ يَنفَدُ

(if you only knew. Whatever you have will be exhausted,) meaning, it will come to an end and will vanish, because it is only there for a certain, limited time.

وَمَا عِندَ اللَّهِ بَاقٍ

(and what is with Allah will remain.) meaning, His reward for you in Paradise will remain, without interruption or end, because it is eternal and will never change nor disappear.

وَلَنَجْزِيَنَّ الَّذِينَ صَبَرُواْ أَجْرَهُمْ بِأَحْسَنِ مَا كَانُواْ يَعْمَلُونَ

(And to those who are patient, We will certainly grant them their rewards in proportion to the best of what they used to do. ) Here the Lord swears, with the Lam of affirmation, that He will reward the patient for the best of their deeds, i.e., He will forgive them for their bad deeds.

Accepting Bribe is Sternly Forbidden as It Breaks the Covenant of Allah

Verse 95 which begins with the words: وَلَا تَشْتَرُ‌وا بِعَهْدِ اللَّـهِ ثَمَنًا قَلِيلًا (And do not take a paltry price against the pledge of Allah) that is, 'do not break the Covenant of Allah for a paltry price.' Here, 'a paltry price' refers to worldly life and its gains. No matter how major they may be yet, as compared with the gains of the Hereafter, even the entire world and its en-tire wealth is nothing but paltry. Whoever opts for the gains of the mortal world at the cost of the far superior returns in the Hereafter has struck a deal which will bring nothing but utter loss - because, selling off a blessing which is supreme and a wealth which is everlasting in exchange for something fast perishing and intrinsically low is what no sensible person would ever elect to do.

Ibn ` Atiyyah said: If doing something is obligatory on a person, then, it is a Covenant of Allah due against him. He is responsible for it. And in the process of fulfilling this duty, the act of charging wages or something in return, and not doing what duty calls for without being first paid off in cash or kind, is what amounts to breaking the Covenant of Allah. Sim-ilarly, if not doing something is obligatory on a person, then, should that person do it against returns received from someone, that too will constitute the breaking of the Covenant of Allah.

This tells us that all prevailing kinds of bribery are unlawful. For example, a government servant who receives a salary for what he does has virtually given a pledge to Allah that he would perform the job assigned to him against the salary he receives. Now, if he goes about asking for some sort of return from someone in order to do that job, and keeps hedging and postponing the required action until he has that return, then, this official is breaking the Covenant of Allah. Similarly, doing something for which the department has not empowered him, even doing it by accepting bribe, is also a breach of pledge. [ A1.-Bahr al-Muhit ]

A Comprehensive Definition of Bribe

The statement of Ibn ` Atiyyah quoted above also accomodates a fairly inclusive definition of bribe (Rishwat) which, in the words of Tafsir Al-Bahr al-Muhit, is as follows:

اَخَذ الاموال علی فعل ما یجب علی الاٰخذ فعلہ او فعل ما یجب علیہ ترکہ

Taking a return for not doing a job the doing of which is obligatory on a person, or taking a return for doing a job not doing which is obligatory on a person, is what bribe is. [ A1-B4r al-Muhit, p. 533, v. 5]

That the combined blessings of the whole world are paltry has been stated in the next verse (96) through the words: مَا عِندَكُمْ يَنفَدُ وَمَا عِندَ اللَّـهِ بَاقٍ that is, 'what is with you (meaning worldly gains; is to end; and what is with Allah Ta’ ala (meaning the reward and punishment of the Hereafter) is to last forever'.

Executing an agreement on oath is the final shape of a firm agreement. From this point of view, all agreements are covered by this verse. If Muslims enter into transactions involving agreements with others and thereafter, without any real reason and only for the sake of self-interest, break them, this will result in destroying the moral credibility of Muslims in general. This will create an atmosphere such as will discourage others from adopting the way of God. Ibn Kathir writes that when a rejecter of Islam sees that a Muslim has entered into an agreement, but goes against it, he will have no faith in the religion of Islam and will abstain from embracing the religion of God. The act of breaking an agreement against the principles of Islamic law inevitably occurs when one partner to it sees that he will receive certain worldly benefits by doing so. But a believer’s view is Hereafter-oriented. Whenever it is the self which makes a move to break the agreement, the person concerned curbs his self by saying that there may be some worldly benefit in breaking it, but he will gain no advantage thereby in the Hereafter. And the advantage of the Hereafter is definitely greater than any worldly benefit.