Tafsir of Surah At-Tahrim - Verse 10

The Command for Jihad against the Disbelievers and the Hypocrites

Allah the Exalted orders His Messenger to perform Jihad against the disbelievers and hypocrites, the former with weapons and armaments and the later by establishing Allah's legislated penal code,

وَاغْلُظْ عَلَيْهِمْ

(and be severe against them) meaning, in this life,

وَمَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَبِئْسَ الْمَصِيرُ

(their abode will be Hell, and worst indeed is that destination.) that is, in the Hereafter.

The Disbeliever shall never benefit from His Believing Relative on the Day of Resurrection

Allah the exalted said,

ضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلاً لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُواْ

(Allah sets forth an example for those who disbelieve) meaning, the disbelievers who live together in this life with Muslims, their mixing and mingling with Muslims will not help the disbelievers, nor will it avail them with Allah, until and unless they gain faith in their hearts. Then Allah mentioned the parable, saying,

امْرَأَتَ نُوحٍ وَامْرَأَتَ لُوطٍ كَانَتَا تَحْتَ عَبْدَيْنِ مِنْ عِبَادِنَا صَـلِحَيْنِ

(the wife of Nuh and the wife of Lut. They were under two of our righteous servants,) means, they were the wives of two of Allah's Messengers and were their companions by day and night, eating with them and sleeping with them, as much as any marriage contains of interaction between spouses. However,

فَخَانَتَاهُمَا

(they both betrayed them.) meaning, in the faith, they did not adhere to the faith sent through their husbands nor accepted their message. Therefore, all the intimate knowledge of their husbands neither helped them nor prevented punishment, hence Allah's statement,

فَلَمْ يُغْنِينَا عَنْهُمَا مِنَ اللَّهِ شَيْئاً

(So, they availed them not against Allah) means, because their wives were disbelievers,

وَقِيلَ

(and it was said) meaning, to these wives,

ادْخُلاَ النَّارَ مَعَ الدَخِلِينَ

(Enter the Fire along with those who enter!) The part of the Ayah that reads,

فَخَانَتَاهُمَا

(but they both betrayed them) does not pertain to committing illegal sexual intercourse, but to refusing to accept the religion. Surely, the wives of the Prophets were immune from committing illegal sexual intercourse on account of the honor that Allah has granted His Prophets, as we explained in Surat An-Nur. Al-`Awfi reported from Ibn `Abbas, "They betrayed them by not following their religion. The wife of Prophet Nuh used to expose his secrets, informing his oppressive people whenever any person embraced the faith with Nuh. As for the wife of Prophet Lut, she used to inform the people of the city (Sodom), who committed the awful sexual act (sodomy), whenever a guest was entertained by her husband." Ad-Dahhak reported that Ibn `Abbas said, "No wife of a Prophet ever committed adultery and fornication. Rather, they betrayed them by refusing to follow their religion." Similar was said by `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Ad-Dahhak and others.

ضَرَ‌بَ اللَّـهُ مَثَلًا لِّلَّذِينَ كَفَرُ‌وا امْرَ‌أَتَ نُوحٍ ( Allah has cited for the disbelievers the example of the wife of Nuh (علیہ السلام) and the wife of Lut (علیہ السلام) ...66:10). Towards the end of this Surah, Allah has set forth examples of four women. The first example comprises two women who were the wives of two Holy Prophets (علیہما السلام) .

They, in matters of religion, opposed their husbands and secretly sided with the unbelievers and pagans. As a result, they ended up in the abyss of Hell, and their marital relation with the prophets could not save them from the punishment. The name of the wife of Nuh (علیہ السلام) is said to be Waghilah, while the name of the wife of Lut (علیہ السلام) is said to be Walihah. [ Qurtubi ] Some scholars have attributed other names to them.

The third woman is the one who was the wife of the Pharaoh, the worst disbeliever and claimant of godhead, but she believed in Musa (علیہ السلام) . She was given such a high rank by Allah that she was shown her place in the Paradise, right here in this world, and the infidelity of her husband did not prove to be an impediment in her achieving this high rank.

The fourth woman is Maryam (علیہا السلام) . She was not wife of anyone, but her faith and virtuous deeds earned for her such a high degree that she was invested with perfections of the prophets, even though she was not a prophet according to the majority of scholars. Verse [ 11] serves as a warning to the unbelievers who think that they will attain salvation merely by their companionship with believers, the good company will not rescue them in the Hereafter if they persist in their disbelief. So likewise, a disbeliever's disbelief will not harm a believing relative. Therefore, the auliyas' and ambiyas' wives should not carelessly take for granted that they will attain salvation on account of their husbands nor should the wife of a disbeliever think that his disbelief will harm her. Every person, man or woman, should be concerned about his/her own faith and action.

This means, ‘Take hypocrites severely to task.’ This is a regular permanent command. Elders and other responsible people should keep a watchful eye on all members of society, and if any Muslim adopts a wrong path, all possible efforts should be made to prevent him from doing so. Only such deeds as are performed by a man himself will have meaning in the eyes of God. Even having connections with saints or being related to pious people will be of no avail. Noah and Lot were prophets of God, but their wives had nevertheless formed strong ties with the enemies of Truth. Consequently, in spite of being the wives of prophets, they were held liable to be sent to hell.