The Ocean of the Quran

A verse by verse explanation of The Ultimate Scripture

Al-Nūr – Verse 10

وَلَوْلَا فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ حَكِيمٌ

Were it not for Allah’s grace and His mercy upon you, and that Allah is all-clement, all-wise …

EXEGESIS

Tawwāb (all-clement) is the intensive active participle of tāba, meaning to turn towards something. When used for a servant of God it means one who often turns towards God in either repentance, regret, or affection. When used for God it means that He turns towards His subjects in mercy and kindness.

EXPOSITION

This verse concludes the subsection of verses 2-9, which dealt with the rulings of zināʾ and declares that, as per the main theme of the surah,[1] these clear commandments of God that preceded are a grace and mercy from Him, as they are of the means by which God guides the Muslim community.

Were it not for Allah’s grace and His mercy upon you: there is an omission in this verse regarding what would have happened Were it not for Allah’s grace and His mercy. This omission is purposeful and a powerful rhetorical device, as it causes the reader to pause and consider more carefully the words and ponder what had been said in the previous verses.[2] Furthermore, it prompts the mind to consider the different consequences of the contingent clause, which may be manifold, instead of mentioning just one consequence. Here, various consequences may come to mind had Allah not graced the community with His guidance and mercy, such as: a community immersed in vices and enmities, confused about what to do in cases of such disputes, legislating unjust laws, enforcing excessive or insufficient punishments for crimes, and so on.

And that Allah is all-clement, all-wise: God is all-clement because He accepts the repentance of those who may have committed the sins mentioned in the preceding verses, especially before the revelation of these verses. He is all-wise in the laws and boundaries that He has set up for the believers.[3]

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Different opinions have been expressed by the commentators about the main clause of Were it not for Allah’s grace and His mercy upon you:

  1. God would have made the private sins of Muslims public and would have destroyed them because of them.[4]
  2. God would not have made fornication (and other sins) impermissible, which would have resulted in a host of problems for society.[5]
  3. He would not have revealed the ruling of liʿān in verses 6-9, which is a mercy from Him.[6]
  4. Or some variations and combinations of the aforementioned.

As regards the third one, it has been pointed out that in liʿān it is certain that one of the two parties is a liar, but it is by the mercy of God that He hides their misdeed and grants both parties the benefit of being treated as honest in their community. Nevertheless, it should not be forgotten that whilst this mercy may hide their misdeed in this life and save both parties from worldly punishment (for either slander or adultery), it does not avert from them the punishment of the hereafter, which is far more severe.[7] God then follows this by declaring that He accepts the repentance of His servants, reminding them that it is better for them to repent in this life than face punishment in the hereafter.

Shaʿrāwī has considered this verse not as a conclusion to what was said, but rather as a prelude to what is to come in the following verses. He argues it means that if it were not for the grace of God and His mercy then the slander levelled against ʿĀʾishah would have caused enmity to spread amongst the Muslims.[8] While the apparent meaning of it links to the previous verses, there is no problem to see it as acting as a prelude to what comes after as well. In fact, this verse and verse 20 seem to act as markers separating two sections of the surah.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

  1. I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.[9]
  2. Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity and passing over transgression for the remnant of his inheritance? He does not retain his anger forever, because he delights in steadfast love. He will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.[10]
[1] For a discussion on the main theme, see the Introduction.
[2] See Nemuneh, 14/385; Tabari, 18/68.
[3] Tabrisi, 7/203; Munyah, 19/85.
[4] Tibyan, 7/413; Tabari, 18/68; Thalabi, 7/68; Baydawi, 4/100.
[5] Tabrisi, 7/203; Mizan, 15/118; Munyah, 19/85.
[6] Razi, 23/337; Muhit, 8/19; Alusi, 9/308; Nemuneh, 14/382; Tantawi, 10/90; Mudarrisi, 8/269.
[7] Alusi, 9/308.
[8] Sharawi, p. 10209.
[9] Jonah 4:2.
[10] Micah 7:18-19.