TAFSIR 

OF SURAT AL-NISA’:141

{Allah will never allow the non-believers to have a way (sabil) over the believers}

***

{Allah will never allow the non-believers to have a way (sabilan) over the
believers [Surat al-Nisa’:141]}…“and refers to the Day of Judgment if by “sabil” is
meant ‘victory’ and ‘triumph’ or the present world if by “sabil” is meant
‘evidence’ and ‘proof’. Ibn `Atiyya said: the majority of the commentators say it
refers to the Day of Judgment. Ibn al-`Arabi however said that this opinion was
weak because the report in the verse would be redundant and that such an
interpretation was based on thinking that the end part of the sentence refers back
to the initial part, i.e. the part that reads {And Allah will judge between them on
the Day of Judgment} which would be pointless and non-beneficial because it would
just be a repetition of the same point. It is also said that Allah will not allow
the non-believers to have a way over the believers to mean to obliterate or
exterminate their state or to extinguish their tradition and legacy or to prevail
completely over their lands as indicated by the sahih narration…”[1]

‫ قال جميع‬:‫ قال ابن عطية‬.‫ أو في الدنيا إن كان المراد به الحجة‬،‫ النصر والغلب‬:‫هذا في يوم القيامة إذا كان المراد بالسبيل‬
‫ وسببه توهم من توهم أن آخر‬،‫ وهذا ضعيف لعدم فائدة الخبر فيه‬:‫ قال ابن العربي‬.‫ إن المراد بذلك يوم القيامة‬:‫أهل التأويل‬
ْ َ‫ { فَٱلَل ّـ َّ ُه ي‬:‫الكالم يرجع إلى ّأوله يعني قوله‬
‫ إذ يكون تكرار هذا معنى كالمه وقيل‬،‫حك ُُم بَيْنَك ُْم يَ ْو َم ٱل ْ ِقيَـ ٰ َم ِة } وذلك يسقط فائدته‬
‫ كما يفيده الحديث‬،‫ ويستبيح بيضتهم‬،‫ ويذهب آثارهم‬،‫ إن الله ال يجعل للكافرين سبيال ً على المؤمنين يمحو به دولتهم‬:‫المعنى‬
‫الثابت في الصحيح‬ …

The negation particle ‘lan’ in the verse is emphatic and is grammatically known as
the ‘negation of the future’ (li nafy al-mustaqbal).

So, Allah will never allow or want – ever – the enemies of the believers to
establish themselves, preside over them or to dominate them.

The noble mufassirun have commented that the word ‘sabilan’ (‘way’, ‘path’ or

‘means’) can mean at least three things in the verse:

[1] That the non-believers will not have a way over the believers on the Day of
Judgment;

[2] That they will not triumph, prevail or conquer (al-zuhur) the believers in
the dunya and

[3] That the non-believers will never be the competent authority or intellectual
proof (hujjah) over the Muslims in the dunya, rather it will be the other way
around.[2]

The reality is that the non-believers do have political dominance and intellectual
authority over the believers in this world. So how then is the truth of this verse
maintained? The answer: the interpretation must involve a required meaning (dalalat
al-iqtida’) to give validity and truthfulness (sidq) to the report (khabr) in the
verse. This diverts the meaning to a decisive prohibition (nahy jazim) of not
allowing non-believers authority over the believers. Thus, it becomes mandatory for
Muslims to prevent non-believers from having authority over them.

Imam Taqi al-Din al-Nabhani (ra) writes: “…dalalat al-iqtida’ is that thing which
is necessary, derived and required from the meanings of the words (ma’ani al-alfaz)
in that it is a condition for there to be congruous meaning of what is indicated.
The necessary aspect (al-lazim) is sometimes required by reason (al-`aql) or by the
Law (al-shar`)[3] and is required for either making the speech of the speaker
correct and truthful or for making what is stated valid […] and another example is
Allah’s saying {Allah will never allow the non-believers to have a way (sabilan)
over the believers}.[4] The non-believers having authority over the believers
sometimes occurs as in the time of the Messenger of Allah in Mecca because there
were Muslims under the rule of the disbelievers [s: i.e. the Quraysh]. This was
also the case after the Messenger of Allah (saw) as in al-Andalus where some
Muslims were under the authority of the non-believers. The same holds for today.
[From the verse] there is a prohibition of permitting the non-believers to have an
authority over the believers through the particle “lan” which indicates a permanent
negation (li ’l-ta’bid), i.e. a prohibition from allowing it to ever occur…so it is
not lawful for non-believers to have a way over the believers. This is an example
of what the Law requires in order to maintain the truth of the report.”[5]

And Allah knows best.

s.z.c.

[1] al–Shawkani, Fath al-Qadir, p.426

[2] For more on the tafsir of this verse, see for example, Imam Ibn al-Jawzi, Zad
al-Masir, p.336; al-Shawkani, Fath al-Qadir, p.426; al-Baydawi, Anwar al-Tanzil,
vol.1, p.244; al-Nasafi, Madarik al-Tanzil, p.260; al-Baghawi, Ma`alim al-Tanzil,
vol. p.492 and Imam al-Shinqiti, Adwa’ al-Bayan fi Idah al-Qur’an bi ’l-Qur’an,
vol.1, p.378.

[3] Or by language (lughatan); see Shaykh `Ata’ b. Khalil, al-Taysir al-Wusul

ila’l-Usul, pp.160-161.

[4] See Q.4:141.

[5] al-Nabhani, al-Shakhsiyya al-Islamiyya, vol.3, pp.183-184.