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SURE
Nisa Suresi
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O mankind! have taqwa of your Lord who created you from a single self and created its mate from it and then disseminated many men and women from the two of them. Have taqwa of Allah in whose name you make demands on one another and also in respect of your families. Allah watches over you continually.
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Keep a close check on orphans until they reach a marriageable age, then if you perceive that they have sound judgement hand over their property to them. Do not consume it extravagantly and precipitately before they come of age. Those who are wealthy should abstain from it altogether. Those who are poor should use it sensibly and correctly. When you hand over their property to them ensure that there are witnesses on their behalf. Allah suffices as a Reckoner.
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Allah instructs you regarding your children: A male receives the same as the share of two females. If there are more than two daughters they receive two-thirds of what you leave. If she is one on her own she receives a half. Each of your parents receives a sixth of what you leave if you have children. If you are childless and your heirs are your parents your mother receives a third. If you have brothers or sisters your mother receives a sixth, after any bequest you make or any debts. With regard to your fathers and your sons, you do not know which of them is going to benefit you more. These are obligatory shares from Allah. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.
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You receive half of what your wives leave if they are childless. If they have children you receive a quarter of what they leave after any bequest they make or any debts. They receive a quarter of what you leave if you are childless. If you have children they receive an eighth of what you leave after any bequest you make or any debts. If a man or woman has no direct heirs, but has a brother or sister, each of them receives a sixth. If there are more than that they share in a third after any bequest you make or any debts, making sure that no one’s rights are prejudiced. This is an instruction from Allah. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Forbearing.
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You who have iman! it is not halal for you to inherit women by force. Nor may you treat them harshly so that you can make off with part of what you have given them, unless they commit an act of flagrant indecency. Live together with them correctly and courteously. If you dislike them, it may well be that you dislike something in which Allah has placed a lot of good.
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Haram for you are: your mothers and your daughters and your sisters, your maternal aunts and your paternal aunts, your brothers’ daughters and your sisters’ daughters, your foster mothers who have suckled you, your foster sisters by suckling, your wives’ mothers, your stepdaughters who are under your protection: the daughters of your wives whom you have had sexual relations with (though if you have not had sexual relations with them there is nothing blameworthy for you in it then), the wives of your sons whom you have fathered, and marrying two sisters at the same time – except for what may have already taken place. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
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And also married women, except for those you have taken in war as slaves. This is what Allah has prescribed for you. Apart from that He has made all other women halal for you provided you seek them with your wealth in marriage and not in fornication. When you consummate your marriage with them give them their prescribed dowry. There is nothing wrong in any further agreement you might come to after the dowry has been given. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.
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If any of you do not have the means to marry free women who are muminun, you may marry slavegirls who are muminun. Allah knows best about your iman; you are all the same in that respect. Marry them with their owners’ permission and give them their dowries correctly and courteously as married women, not in fornication or taking them as lovers. When they are married, if they commit fornication they should receive half the punishment of free women. This is for those of you who are afraid of committing fornication. But being patient is better for you. Allah is Ever-Forgiving, Most Merciful.
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Men have charge of women because Allah has preferred the one above the other and because they spend their wealth on them. Right-acting women are obedient, safeguarding their husbands’ interests in their absence as Allah has guarded them. If there are women whose disobedience you fear, you may admonish them, refuse to sleep with them, and then beat them. But if they obey you, do not look for a way to punish them. Allah is All-High, Most Great.
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Worship Allah and do not associate anything with Him. Be good to your parents and relatives and to orphans and the very poor, and to neighbours who are related to you and neighbours who are not related to you, and to companions and travellers and your slaves. Allah does not love anyone vain or boastful.
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You who have iman! do not approach the prayer when you are drunk, so that you will know what you are saying, nor in a state of major impurity – unless you are travelling – until you have washed yourselves completely. If you are ill or on a journey, or any of you have come from the lavatory or touched women, and you cannot find any water, then do tayammum with pure earth, wiping your faces and your hands. Allah is Ever-Pardoning, Ever-Forgiving.
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Some of the Jews distort the true meaning of words, saying,‘We hear and disobey,’ and ‘Listen without listening,’ and ‘Ra’ina!’ twisting them with their tongues, disparaging the deen. If they had said, ‘We hear and we obey,’ and ‘Listen,’ and, ‘Undhurna!’ that would have been better for them and more upright. But Allah has cursed them for their kufr. Very few of them have iman.
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Do you not see those who were told: ‘Hold back from fighting but establish salat and pay zakat’? Then when fighting is prescribed for them, a group of them fear people as Allah should be feared, or even more than that. They say, ‘Our Lord, why have you prescribed fighting for us? If only You would give us just a little more time!’ Say, ‘The enjoyment of this world is very brief. The Next World is better for those who have taqwa. You will not be wronged by so much as the smallest speck.’
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Wherever you are, death will catch up with you, even if you are in impregnable fortresses. If a good thing happens to them, they say, ‘This has come from Allah.’ But if a bad thing happens to them, they say, ‘This has come from you.’ Say, ‘Everything comes from Allah.’ What is the matter with these people that they scarcely understand a single word?
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When news of any matter reaches them they spread it about, whether it is of a reassuring or disquieting nature. If they had only referred it to the Messenger and those in command among them, those among them able to discern the truth about it would have had proper knowledge of it. If it were not for Allah’s favour to you and His mercy, all but a very few of you would have followed Shaytan.
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except for those who seek shelter with people with whom you have a treaty, or who come to you greatly perturbed at the prospect of fighting either you or their own people. If Allah had willed, He could have given them the upper hand over you and then they would have fought you. If they keep away from you and do not fight you and submit to you, Allah has not given you any way against such people.
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You will find others who desire to be safe from you and safe from their own people. Each time they are returned to fitna they are overwhelmed by it. If they do not keep away from you or submit to you or refrain from fighting, seize them and kill them wherever you find them. Over such people We have given you clear authority.
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A mumin should never kill another mumin unless it is by mistake. Anyone who kills a mumin by mistake should free a mumin slave and pay blood-money to his family unless they forgo it as a sadaqa. If he is from a people who are your enemies and is a mumin, you should free a mumin slave. If he is from a people you have a treaty with, blood money should be paid to his family and you should free a mumin slave. Anyone who cannot find the means should fast two consecutive months. This is a concession from Allah. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.
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You who have iman! when you go out to fight in the Way of Allah verify things carefully. Do not say, ‘You are not a mumin’, to someone who greets you as a Muslim, simply out of desire for the goods of this world. With Allah there is booty in abundance. That is the way you were before but Allah has been kind to you. So verify things carefully. Allah is aware of what you do.
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Those muminun who stay behind – other than those forced to by necessity – are not the same as those who do jihad in the Way of Allah, sacrificing their wealth and themselves. Allah has given those who do jihad with their wealth and themselves a higher rank than those who stay behind. Allah has promised the Best to both, but Allah has preferred those who do jihad over those who stay behind by an immense reward:
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When you are with them and leading them in salat, a group of them should stand with you, keeping hold of their weapons. When they prostrate, the others should guard your backs. Then the other group who have not yet prayed should come and pray with you. They too should be careful and keep hold of their weapons. Those who are kafir would like you to be negligent of your arms and equipment so that they can swoop down on you once and for all. There is nothing wrong, if you are bothered by rain or you are ill, in laying your weapons down; but take every precaution. Allah has prepared a humiliating punishment for the kafirun.
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Were it not for Allah’s favour to you and His mercy, a group of them would almost have managed to mislead you. But they mislead no one but themselves and do not harm you in any way. Allah has sent down the Book and Wisdom to you and taught you what you did not know before. Allah’s favour to you is indeed immense.
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They will ask you for a fatwa about women. Say, ‘Allah gives you a fatwa about them; and also what is recited to you in the Book about orphan girls to whom you do not give the inheritance they are owed, while at the same time desiring to marry them; and also about young children who are denied their rights: that you should act justly with respect to orphans.’ Whatever good you do, Allah knows it.
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You who have iman! be upholders of justice, bearing witness for Allah alone, even against yourselves or your parents and relatives. Whether they are rich or poor, Allah is well able to look after them. Do not follow your own desires and deviate from the truth. If you twist or turn away, Allah is aware of what you do.
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Those who anticipate the worst for you say, ‘Were we not with you?’ whenever you gain a victory from Allah, but if the kuffar have a success they say, ‘Did we not have the upper hand over you and yet in spite of that keep the muminun away from you?’ Allah will judge between you on the Day of Rising. Allah will not give the kuffar any way against the muminun.
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The People of the Book will ask you to bring down a Book from heaven to them. They asked Musa for even more than that. They said, ‘Let us see Allah with our own eyes.’ So the lightning-bolt struck them down for their wrongdoing. Then they adopted the Calf after the Clear Signs had come to them, but We pardoned them for that and gave Musa clear authority.
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and their saying, ‘We killed the Messiah, ‘Isa son of Maryam, Messenger of Allah. ’ They did not kill him and they did not crucify him but it was made to seem so to them. Those who argue about him are in doubt about it. They have no real knowledge of it, just conjecture. But they certainly did not kill him.
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People of the Book! do not go to excess in your deen. Say nothing but the truth about Allah. The Messiah, ‘Isa son of Maryam, was only the Messenger of Allah and His Word, which He cast into Maryam, and a Spirit from Him. So have iman in Allah and His Messengers. Do not say, ‘Three.’ It is better that you stop. Allah is only One God. He is too Glorious to have a son! Everything in the heavens and in the earth belongs to Him. Allah suffices as a Guardian.
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They will ask you for a fatwa. Say: ‘Allah gives you a fatwa about people who die without direct heirs: If a man dies childless but has a sister she receives half of what he leaves, and he is her heir if she dies childless. If there are two sisters they receive two-thirds of what he leaves. If there are brothers and sisters the males receive the share of two females. Allah makes things clear to you so you will not go astray. Allah has knowledge of all things.’