LESSON # 526 - Be Careful from Them, Who Loiter

LESSON # 526 FROM HOLY QUR’AN

Be Careful from Them, Who Loiter

Surah Nisaaa’ (Women) - Chapter - 4)

Verses –71 & 72 of 176, Section – 10/24 (Part – 5)

71.  O ye who believe! Take your precautions, then move on as separate units, or advance all together. And lo! Among you there is he who loitereth; and if disaster overtook you, he would say: Allah hath been gracious unto me since I was not present with them.

71.  Yaaa-‘ayyu-hallaziina  ‘aa-manuu  khuzuu  hizrakum  fan-firuu  subaatin  ‘awinfiruu  jamii-‘aa. 72.  Wa  ‘inna  minkum lamalla-yubatti-‘ann.  Fa-‘in  ‘asaabat-kum-musii-batun-  qaala  qad  ‘an-‘amAllaahu  ‘a-layya  ‘iz  lam  ‘akum-ma-‘ahum  shahiidaa.

Lesson

subaatin  - it is plural of sabat which means separate units and little groups.

Shahiidan – witness, being present (at a particular place) - There are some narrations about this verse that in the beginning, many people embraced Islam in imitation. When Jihad became their duty, they disobeyed and even that some of them began to oppose the religion obviously accompanying the infidels. This verse was revealed at that time.

Behavior of the hypocrites was mentioned in the previous verses. In this verse, their manner of acts at the time of Crusade (Jihad) has been discussed and the Muslims have been prevented to adopt the behavior like them. Islam likes very much that the people should live reciprocally with reconciliation and smoothness. But selfishness of the infidels compelled the Muslims to fight. Until the people will remain the slaves of their wishes and turn their faces from the Straight Path due to following and misleading of the Satan, the war may not be ended from the world. The servants of Allah Almighty would have to fight against these slaves of the wishes by compulsion.   

The Believers have been directed with urgency in this verse that they should arrange for precautionary things to save themselves from the enemies of the humanity and remain dressed with warlike arms and equipment. When it becomes necessary, then you should move on as separate units, or advance all together to fight against them. You should not loiter at that time, because sometimes it spoils due to delay at the time of the battle and the enemy prospers.

Remember it that there are some such people between you, who practise delay while proceeding for Jihad and loiter intentionally. They are called hypocrites. Their leader was AbdUllah bin Ubaii. He had determined this method that whenever the Muslims used to go for fighting, he used to remain in the rear with his followers by evading. If the Muslims suffered any disaster or faced any defeat, he used to say, Thank God since I was not present with them. Otherwise, I would have died too. As though, this wrong subject had dwelled in his heart that he would remain safe at the home from the death and in the battlefield he would expire before the time.  

Transliterated Holy Qur’an in Roman Script & Translated from Arabic to English by Marmaduke Pickthall, Published by Paak Company, 17-Urdu Bazar, Lahore, Lesson collected from Dars e Qur’an published By Idara Islaah wa Tableegh, Lahore (translated Urdu to English  by Muhammad Sharif).