An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 64 of 176

An-Nisa 4:64

وَمَآ أَرْسَلْنَا مِن رَّسُولٍ إِلَّا لِيُطَاعَ بِإِذْنِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ إِذ ظَّلَمُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَهُمْ جَآءُوكَ فَٱسْتَغْفَرُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ وَٱسْتَغْفَرَ لَهُمُ ٱلرَّسُولُ لَوَجَدُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ تَوَّابًا رَّحِيمًا

“And We did not send any messenger except to be obeyed by permission of Allāh. And if, when they wronged themselves, they had come to you, [O Muḥammad], and asked forgiveness of Allāh and the Messenger had asked forgiveness for them, they would have found Allāh Accepting of Repentance and Merciful.”

Saheeh International

Essence

After the claims, excuses and oaths, the door stays open: had they come asking forgiveness, they would have found Allah turning to them in mercy.

A reflection

Even your obedience is by His leave

'We sent no messenger except to be obeyed.' The speaker is the Sender. A messenger is not a thinker offering one opinion among many. He is sent with authority, and obeying him is obeying the One who sent him.

Then come three words: bi-idhni Allāh, by Allah's leave. The commentaries give two readings and keep both. By His command: He authorised that obedience, so it is owed to the messenger. Or by His enabling: as one early authority put it, no one obeys them except by My leave. Another commentary explains: except the one I fit for it.

The root of idhn begins with the ear. Permission, the lexicons say, is a word let into the ear: the way is open. On the second reading, even the opening is His.

This is where the ego shrinks, and it shrinks in an unexpected place. Not in sin, but in obedience. A man has not missed the dawn prayer in fifteen years. He mentions it lightly at a dinner. That week a fever keeps him in bed through three dawns. Lying there, he understands for the first time who had been waking him.

Pride in worship is the subtlest pride, because it looks like gratitude. This clause removes its ground. Whatever obedience you manage was opened for you.

Does Allah then need to be obeyed? No. He wants no provision from His creatures (51:57), and He is the Rich, free of all need (35:15). An interpreter is booked so that a man can follow his own appeal hearing. If he takes the headphones off, the loss is his, not hers. The messenger is sent to be obeyed for the sake of those he is sent to.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.