Tafsir of Surah Nooh - Verse 4

Which was revealed in Makkah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

(In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Nuh's Invitation to His People

Allah says concerning Nuh that He sent him to his people commanding him to warn them of the punishment of Allah before it befell them. He was to tell them that if they would repent and turn to Allah, then the punishment would be lifted from them. Due to this Allah says,

إِنَّآ أَرْسَلْنَا نُوحاً إِلَى قَوْمِهِ أَنْ أَنذِرْ قَوْمَكَ مِن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِيَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ - قَالَ يقَوْمِ إِنِّى لَكُمْ نَذِيرٌ مُّبِينٌ

("Warn your people before there comes to them a painful torment." He said: "O my people! Verily, I am a plain warner to you.") meaning, clarity of the warning, making the matter apparent and clear.

أَنِ اعْبُدُواْ اللَّهَ وَاتَّقُوهُ

(That you should worship Allah, and have Taqwa of Him,) meaning, `abandon those things that He has forbidden and avoid that which He has declared to be sinful.'

وَأَطِيعُونِ

(and obey me,) `In that which I command you to do and that which I forbid you from.'

يَغْفِرْ لَكُمْ مِّن ذُنُوبِكُمْ

(He will forgive you of your sins) meaning, `if you do what I command you to do and you believe in what I have been sent with to you, then Allah will forgive you for your sins. '

وَيُؤَخِّرْكُمْ إِلَى أَجَلٍ مُّسَمًّى

(and respite you to an appointed term.) meaning, `He will extend your life span and protect you from the torment that He would have made befall you if you did not stay away from His prohibitions.' This Ayah is used as proof by those who say that obedience (to Allah), righteousness and maintaining the family ties truly increase the life span of a person. This is like that which has been reported in the Hadith,

«صِلَةُ الرَّحِمِ تَزِيدُ فِي الْعُمُر»

(Maintaining the family ties increases the life span.) Concerning Allah's statement,

إِنَّ أَجَلَ اللَّهِ إِذَا جَآءَ لاَ يُؤَخَّرُ لَوْ كُنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ

(Verily, the term of Allah when it comes, cannot be delayed, if you but know.) means, hasten to the obedience (of Allah) before the coming of His vengeance. For verily, if He commands that to happen, it cannot be repulsed or prevented. For He is the Great One Who compels everything, and He is the Almighty Whose might all of creation succumbs to.

Commentary

يَغْفِرْ‌ لَكُم مِّن ذُنُوبِكُمْ and Allah will forgive you your sins, 71:4). The particle min is often used to indicate division into parts, that is, to refer to only a part of an amount, group or number. If it is taken in that sense here, it would signify that by embracing the faith only those sins would be forgiven which pertains to the Divine rights because violation of human rights would be forgiven only when the believer fulfills the human rights which he has violated [ such as pecuniary obligations ] and if they cannot be fulfilled [ such as hurting somebody physically or verbally ], then the person who has been so hurt must first be requested to forgive. The hadith which reports that by embracing the faith all sins are forgiven must be understood in the light of the foregoing explanation. In other words, the hadith has the same conditions attached to it as the verse under comment, that is, violation of the rights of the human beings is not forgiven except upon fulfillment of those rights or seeking forgiveness from the victims of that violation. Other scholars of Tafsir interpret the particle min as za'idah, (having no meaning, and added only because of usage). In this way, it signifies that all their sins would be forgiven. However, on the basis of other texts, this general expression is subject to the conditions mentioned above.

Noah is perhaps the first prophet after Adam. The message that he gave to the corrupted people of those days has been put here in three words—worship (‘ibadah), fear of God (taqwa) and obedience to the Prophet (ita‘ah), i.e. the worshipping of God and renouncing the worship of anything other than God, leading one’s life in the world with the fear of God in one’s heart and considering the prophet of God an example to be followed in all matters. This has been the real message of all prophets in every age and this is the true message of the Quran itself.