An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 95 of 176

An-Nisa 4:95

لَّا يَسْتَوِى ٱلْقَـٰعِدُونَ مِنَ ٱلْمُؤْمِنِينَ غَيْرُ أُو۟لِى ٱلضَّرَرِ وَٱلْمُجَـٰهِدُونَ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ بِأَمْوَٰلِهِمْ وَأَنفُسِهِمْ ۚ فَضَّلَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُجَـٰهِدِينَ بِأَمْوَٰلِهِمْ وَأَنفُسِهِمْ عَلَى ٱلْقَـٰعِدِينَ دَرَجَةً ۚ وَكُلًّا وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ وَفَضَّلَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْمُجَـٰهِدِينَ عَلَى ٱلْقَـٰعِدِينَ أَجْرًا عَظِيمًا

“Not equal are those believers remaining [at home] - other than the disabled - and the mujāhideen, [who strive and fight] in the cause of Allāh with their wealth and their lives. Allāh has preferred the mujāhideen through their wealth and their lives over those who remain [behind], by degrees. And to all [i.e., both] Allāh has promised the best [reward]. But Allāh has preferred the mujāhideen over those who remain [behind] with a great reward -”

Saheeh International

Essence

Those who give wealth and self for Allah rise above those who sit back; the disabled are excepted, and every believer is promised good.

A reflection

A blind man's question, written into the verse

The narrations preserve the scene in detail. Zayd ibn Thabit sits beside the Prophet ﷺ with a shoulder-blade bone to write on. The words come: lā yastawī al-qāʿidūna mina al-muʾminīna wa-al-mujāhidūna fī sabīli Allāh. Not equal are the believers who sit back and those who strive.

Then a voice. ʿAbd Allah ibn Umm Maktum, who was blind, has heard. Sahih al-Bukhari records his words: by Allah, if I were able to strive, I would. Other reports have him ask: what of the believers who cannot?

Zayd describes what followed. The Prophet's thigh was resting against his own, and it grew so heavy he feared it would crush his leg. Then the weight lifted. Read it back, Zayd. He read it. Then came three words: ghayru ulī al-ḍarar. Other than those with a disability.

A narration in Sunan Abi Dawud, graded ḥasan ṣaḥīḥ, keeps one small detail. Zayd says he added the words in their place on the bone. He swears by the One who holds his soul. I can almost see where I wrote it, he says, near a crack in the bone.

Hold that picture. A verse about ranks and rewards was interrupted by one blind man's sorrow. Revelation did not move on. It paused, and answered him inside the very sentence that had grieved him.

Listen to the shape of his words, too. They were not a complaint about duty. They were grief at missing out on good. The answer honoured that grief rather than dismissing it.

No one is beneath Allah's notice. A whole community would recite this ayah for ever. But its exception was written first for one man who could not see the bone it was written on.

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.