An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 107 of 176

An-Nisa 4:107

وَلَا تُجَـٰدِلْ عَنِ ٱلَّذِينَ يَخْتَانُونَ أَنفُسَهُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَا يُحِبُّ مَن كَانَ خَوَّانًا أَثِيمًا

“And do not argue on behalf of those who deceive themselves. Indeed, Allāh loves not one who is a habitually sinful deceiver.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Whoever betrays others has first betrayed himself, so do not argue on behalf of such people, for Allah does not love the habitual betrayer.

A reflection

The first person a betrayer robs

Alladhīna yakhtānūna anfusahum: those who betray themselves.

The ayah is about a man who stole from a neighbour and blamed an innocent man. So why does it say he betrayed himself?

One classical commentator explains that the harm of their betrayal returns to them. Another puts it plainly. Whoever commits a sin deprives his own soul of reward and drives it towards punishment. That is a betrayal of the self. It is why the Quran so often calls wrongdoing 'wronging oneself'.

The root deepens the picture. One lexicon gives the whole root as a single idea: diminishing. A poet said endless travel had worn his camel thin. A betrayer wears down what was entrusted to him. The first thing he wears down is himself.

One lexicon notes the form chosen here, ikhtāna. It points to the pull of desire towards betrayal, the soul that urges evil (12:53). The betrayal begins inside before it ever reaches a neighbour's storeroom.

Picture a man who, for years, has told his wife small untruths about where his money goes. Nothing dramatic: a few hundred pounds here and there. One evening she says she spent the afternoon at her mother's. He finds he cannot believe her. There is no reason to doubt her, and he lies awake doubting her anyway. He has robbed himself of the ability to trust.

That is why this prohibition is a gift. Allah needs nothing from our honesty. He is the Free of need (35:15), and whoever strives, strives only for himself (29:6). The person kept back from betrayal is the person kept whole.

Many people today feel strangely thin inside, though nothing dramatic has happened to them. Sometimes the cause is a small, steady betrayal they have stopped noticing.

So guard the trusts you hold, for their sake and for yours. The first account you protect is your own.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.