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Qur'an 4:129

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Qur'an 4:129
Verse's Information
NameVerse of Tijara
SuraSura al-Nisa (Qur'an 4)
Verse29
Juz'5
Page82
Content Information
Place of
Revelation		Medina
TopicJurisprudential
AboutProhibition of unlawful financial transactions
OthersProhibition of suicide


Qur'an 4:129, knwon as the Verse of Tijāra (Arabic: آيَة ٱلتِّجَارَة, Verse of Trade), is verse 29th of Sura al-Nisa, which refers to the prohibition of unlawful financial transactions and exchanges. Commentators believe that trade in Islam must be conducted with the mutual consent of both parties, without which, the option of cancellation (khiyār) may be exercised. This verse also forbids suicide and murder.

Commentary

Verse 29 of Sura al-Nisa establishes the prohibition of invalid transactions.[1] According to commentators, "consuming illegitimate wealth" (akl mal bi-l-batil) refers to any possession and authority over wealth or property acquired through unlawful means, even if one does not directly use or benefit from it.[2] In many jurisprudential books, the Verse of Tijara is cited in the section of transactions.[3] Some commentators have said that the verse is comprehensive in it's guidance in that it recommends the preservation of life and wealth, which in reality is a form of compassion towards the self as wealth is a means through which the self is sustained and maintained. God has instituted these two prohibitions with the aim of perfecting the soul through virtue as He says at the end of the verse: "Indeed Allah is most merciful to you" (inna Allaha kana bikum rahima). This shows that His commands and prohibitions reflect His all-encompassing mercy.[4]

Text and Translation

Meaning of Akl

In al-Mufradat, Raghib al-Isfahani defines "akl" literally to mean ingestion.[5] The author of Tafsir al-Mizan interprets "akl" as appropriating and exercising absolute possession.[6] In the book Ahkam al-ghasb fi al-fiqh al-Islami, "akl" is defined as whatever a human possesses or consumes and not the literal ingestion.[7] Al-Alusi considers "akl" to be broader than ingestion and inclusive of taking and possessing.[8]

Meaning of Mal

Al-Tabrisi believes that "mal" (wealth/property) has a clear and evident meaning and does not need definition.[9] Imam Khumayni considers "mal" to be something that can be demanded, is rationally desired, and for which a price is paid.[10] According to Muḥaqqiq Bujnurdi, anything that satisfies human needs or serve as a means of acquiring them are considered "mal".[11]

Meaning of Batil

Ibn Manzur considered anything that is not "Haqq" (truth/right) as "Batil" (false/vain).[12] According to Raghib al-Isfahani, Batil is something that, upon examination and investigation, has no reality or stability.[13] Al-Tabrisi considers Batil as something that perishes.[14] Allama Tabataba'i has considered the meaning of Batil as opposed to the meaning of Haqq, which has a state of stability and realization.[15]

There are two opinions regarding the meaning of Batil amoung jurists and commentators:

  • al-Tabrisi considers it to mean legally invalid (batil sharʿi), meaning that property should not be taken through unlawful means (usury, gambling, deception, and injustice) and should not be consumed in a way that is not permissible.[16] Regarding this view, it is narrated from Imam al-Baqir (a) and Imam al-Sadiq (a) that if the intention behind an act is: gambling, suht (bribery/unlawful gain), usury, and deception it would cause the wealth obtained to be unlawful.[17]
  • According to Hasan al-Basri, it refers to customarily invalid (batilʿurfī).[18] Customary invalidation includes all things that are considered invalid based on common understanding. So if people consumed each other's property without entitlement or permission, it would be customarily invalid.[19] According to Hasan al-Basri, after the revelation of this verse, people refrained from using each other's property until the ruling was abrogated by Verse 60 of Sura al-Nur.[20]

Meaning of Batil in 'Consuming Illegitimate Wealth'

  • According to Shaykh al-Ansari and Imam Khumayni, "Batil" in the noble verses includes customary invalidation as well and is not limited to legal invalidation.[21]
  • The author of Misbah al-faqaha considers the verse to refer only to legal invalidation.[22] The author of Kanz al-irfan writes under the Verse of Tijara that Batil includes whatever the Lawgiver has not made permissible, such as: usurpation, theft, treachery, and corrupt contracts.[23]

Property Acquired Unrightfully (Mal Batil)

According to al-Shaykh al-Tusi, possessing and taking others' property through oppression and aggression such as: theft, usurpation, treachery, etc., and possessing property through unlawful means like gambling, etc., are among the instances of consuming illegitimate wealth.[24]

According to some commentators, "property acquired unrightfully" includes any unlawful transaction, aggression, fraud, possession, and unjust dominance over others' property.[25] Also, al-Tabrisi, quoting Imam al-Baqir (a), has mentioned gambling, usury, deceiving the customer, and oppressing them among the instances of "property acquired unrightfully".[26] According to Ayatollah Makarim Shirazi, Imam al-Baqir's (a) narration expresses examples of forbidden property.[27] "Property acquired unrightfully" has also been considered to refer to the incorrect use of resources.[28] According to Allama Tabataba'i, "property acquired unrightfully" refers to any transaction that not only does not lead society to happiness and salvation but causes harm, loss, corruption, and its destruction; such transactions are invalid from the religious perspective, like gambling, usury, and trades based on ignorance, deception, and harm.[29]

In the Verse of Tijara, transactions that are carried out with the mutual consent of parties and in a lawful manner are considered valid.[30] Allama Tabataba'i considers the phrase "illa an takuna tijaratanʿan taradin" as a disconnected exception (istithnaʾmunqatiʿ), meaning that a trade based on mutual consent is not an instance of consuming illegitimate wealth.[31] According to some, mutual consent of parties is achieved when the transaction is carried out in the form of a sales contract, and according to some Shi'a and Sunni scholars, consent in a transaction is achieved either through the mutual agreement of the parties or by one party exercising the option to annul the contract.[32]

Killing

In part of the Verse of Tijara, suicide and murder are forbidden.[33] Commentators, regarding the connection between suicide and murder with unjust possession of people's property, have said: If people's transactions and trades are not based on consent and religious law, they become angry with each other and may harm themselves and others.[34] Muhsin Qara'ati, the author of Tafsir-yi Nur, has suggested that the reason for the prohibition of murder ("la taqtulu") comes after the prohibition of consuming illegitimate wealth ("la taʾkulu") might be that an unhealthy economic system leads to the uprising of the deprived against the hoarders which results in the occurrence of conflicts, the emergence of murder, suicide and the destruction of society.[35]

Also, according to al-Tabrisi, the meaning of "la taqtulu anfusakum" (do not kill yourselves) is avoiding sins and forbidden transactions that lead to people's anger and causes disputes.[36] It is also narrated from Imam al-Baqir (a) that suicide is fighting an enemy stronger than oneself.[37] Allama Tabataba'i considered this narration as an instance of suicide.[38] Some believe that consuming illegitimate wealth is actually suicide and destroying one's own life and society.[39]

Notes

  1. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 322; Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 3, p. 59.
  2. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 318.
  3. ↑ Imām Khumaynī, Kitāb al-bayʿ, vol. 1, p. 64; Anṣārī, Kitāb al-makāsib, vol. 1, pp. 111, 130, 152; Najafī, Jawāhir al-kalām, vol. 22, p. 437; Shahīd Awwal, al-Lumʿa al-dimashqiyya, vol. 7, p. 341; Ibn Taymiyya, Majmūʿ al-fatāwā, vol. 32, p. 223; Ibn Qudāma, al-Mughnī, vol. 4, p. 302; Ibn Ḥazm, al-Aḥkām, vol. 5, p. 730.
  4. ↑ Ḥusaynī Shāh-ʿAbd al-ʿAẓīmī, Tafsīr-i ithnā-ʿasharī, vol. 2, p. 439.
  5. ↑ Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt, under the entry 'akl'.
  6. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 2, p. 51.
  7. ↑ Ḥamadsharāra, Aḥkām al-ghaṣb fī al-fiqh al-Islāmī, p. 82.
  8. ↑ Ālūsī, Rūḥ al-maʿānī, vol. 1, p. 69.
  9. ↑ Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 1, p. 238.
  10. ↑ Khumaynī, Kitāb al-bayʿ, vol. 1, p. 15.
  11. ↑ Bujnūrdī, al-Qawāʿid al-fiqhiyya, vol. 2, p. 30.
  12. ↑ Ibn Manẓūr, Lisān al-ʿArab, vol. 11, p. 56.
  13. ↑ Rāghib al-Iṣfahānī, al-Mufradāt, p. 50.
  14. ↑ Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 2, p. 24.
  15. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 2, p. 52.
  16. ↑ Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 115.
  17. ↑ Baḥrānī, al-Burhān, vol. 2, p. 16.
  18. ↑ Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 115.
  19. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī Qummī, Dirāsātunā, vol. 3, p. 158; Rūḥānī, Fiqh al-Ṣādiq (a), vol. 4, p. 188.
  20. ↑ Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 5, p. 115.
  21. ↑ Anṣārī, Kitāb al-makāsib, vol. 5, p. 20; Imām Khumaynī, Kitāb al-bayʿ, vol. 1, p. 64.
  22. ↑ Khūʾī, Miṣbāḥ al-faqāha, vol. 2, p. 141.
  23. ↑ Fāḍil al-Miqdād, Kanz al-ʿirfān, vol. 2, p. 31.
  24. ↑ Ṭūsī, al-Tibyān, vol. 2, p. 138.
  25. ↑ Ṭabarī, Tafsīr Ṭabarī, vol. 5, p. 20; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 355.
  26. ↑ Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 3, p. 59.
  27. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 355.
  28. ↑ Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 3, p. 59.
  29. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 317.
  30. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 317; Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 356; Fakhr Rāzī, Mafātīḥ al-ghayb, vol. 10, p. 58.
  31. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 317.
  32. ↑ Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 3, p. 59; Ṭabarī, Tafsīr Ṭabarī, vol. 5, p. 21.
  33. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 322.
  34. ↑ Makārim Shīrāzī, Tafsīr-i nimūna, vol. 3, p. 357.
  35. ↑ Qarāʾatī, Tafsīr-i nūr, under verse 29 of Sura al-Nisa.
  36. ↑ Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 3, p. 60.
  37. ↑ Ṭabrasī, Majmaʿ al-bayān, vol. 3, p. 60.
  38. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 322.
  39. ↑ Ṭabāṭabāʾī, al-Mīzān, vol. 4, p. 320.

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