4.111
Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs
(Whoso commiteth a sin) steals and falsely swears by Allah (commiteth it only against himself) he only earns the punishment of that sin. (Allah is ever Knower) of the one who stole the armour, (Wise) by commanding that his hand be cut.
And whoever commits a sin commits it against himself only since the evil consequences fall on him harming no one else; and God is ever Knower Wise in His actions.
And whoever does evil or wrongs himself but afterwards seeks Allah's forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful. Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn Abbas commented about this Ayah, "Allah informs His servants of His forgiveness, forbearing generosity and expansive mercy. So whoever commits a sin, whether minor or major,
(but afterwards seeks Allah's forgiveness, he will find Allah Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful), even if his sins were greater than the heavens, the earth and the mountains.'' Imam Ahmad recorded that Ali said,
"Whenever I hear anything from the Messenger of Allah, Allah benefits me with whatever He wills of that. Abu Bakr told me, and Abu Bakr has said the truth, that the Messenger of Allah said,
No Muslim commits a sin and then performs ablution, prays two Rak`ahs and begs Allah for forgiveness for that sin, but He forgives him. He then recited these two Ayat, وَمَن يَعْمَلْ سُوءًا أَوْ يَظْلِمْ نَفْسَهُ (And whoever does evil or wrongs himself), (4:110) and, وَالَّذِينَ إِذَا فَعَلُواْ فَاحِشَةً أَوْ ظَلَمُواْ أَنْفُسَهُمْ (And those who, when they have committed Fahishah or wronged themselves with evil).'' (3:135) Allah's statement,
And whoever earns sin, he earns it only against himself. is similar to His statement,
وَلاَ تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَى
And no bearer of burdens shall bear the burden of another. (35:18) So no one will avail anyone else. Rather, every soul, and none else, shall carry its own burden. This is why Allah said,
... وَكَانَ اللّهُ عَلِيمًا حَكِيمًا ١١١
And Allah is Ever All-Knowing, All-Wise. meaning, this occurs due to His knowledge, wisdom, fairness and mercy.
Had not the grace of Allah and His mercy been upon you, a party of them would certainly have made a decision to mislead you, but they mislead none except their own selves, and no harm can they do to you in the least. Allah has sent down to you the Book, and the Hikmah,
.... وَعَلَّمَكَ مَا لَمْ تَكُنْ تَعْلَمُ...
and taught you that which you knew not, before this revelation was sent down to you. Similarly, Allah said,
And thus We have sent to you (O Muhammad) a Ruh (a revelation, and a mercy) of Our command. You knew not what is the Book) until the end of the Surah. (42:52-53) Allah said,
(save him who orders Sadaqah (charity), or goodness, or reconciliation between mankind;) meaning, except for this type of talk. Imam Ahmad recorded that Umm Kulthum bint `Uqbah said that she heard the Messenger of Allah saying,
(He who brings about reconciliation between people by embellishing good or saying good things, is not a liar.) She also said, "I never heard him allow what the people say (lies) except in three cases: in war, bringing peace between people and the man's speech (invented compliments) to his wife and her speech to her husband.'' Umm Kulthum bint `Uqbah was among the immigrant women who gave their pledge of allegiance to the Messenger of Allah. The Group also recorded this Hadith, with the exception of Ibn Majah. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Ad-Darda' said that the Messenger of Allah said,
(Should I tell you what is better than the grade of fasting, praying and Sadaqah) They said, "Yes, O Allah's Messenger!'' He said,
«إِصْلَاحُ ذَاتِ الْبَيْن»
(Bringing reconciliation between people.) He also said,
«وَفَسَادُ ذَاتِ الْبَيْنِ هِيَ الْحَالِقَة»
(Spoiling the relationship (between people) is the destroyer.) Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi also recorded this Hadith, and At-Tirmidhi said, "Hasan Sahih''. Allah said,
وَمَن يَفْعَلْ ذلِكَ ابْتَغَآءَ مَرْضَـتِ اللَّهِ
(and he who does this, seeking the good pleasure of Allah,) with sincerity and awaiting the reward with Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored,
فَسَوْفَ نُؤْتِيهِ أَجْراً عَظِيماً
(We shall give him a great reward.) meaning, an immense, enormous and tremendous reward.
The Punishment for Contradicting and Opposing the Messenger and Following a Path Other than That of the Believers
(And whoever contradicts and opposes the Messenger after the right path has been shown clearly to him.) refers to whoever intentionally takes a path other than the path of the Law revealed to the Messenger, after the truth has been made clear, apparent and plain to him. Allah's statement,
وَيَتَّبِعْ غَيْرَ سَبِيلِ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ
(and follows other than the believers' way,) refers to a type of conduct that is closely related to contradicting the Messenger. This contradiction could be in the form of contradicting a text (from the Qur'an or Sunnah) or contradicting what the Ummah of Muhammad has agreed on. The Ummah of Muhammad is immune from error when they all agree on something, a miracle that serves to increase their honor, due to the greatness of their Prophet. There are many authentic Hadiths on this subject. Allah warned against the evil of contradicting the Prophet and his Ummah, when He said,
(We shall keep him in the path he has chosen, and burn him in Hell --- what an evil destination!) meaning, when one goes on this wicked path, We will punish him by making the evil path appear good in his heart, and will beautify it for him so that he is tempted further. For instance, Allah said,
(Then leave Me Alone with such as belie this Qur'an. We shall punish them gradually from directions they perceive not),
فَلَمَّا زَاغُواْ أَزَاغَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ
(So when they turned away (from the path of Allah), Allah turned their hearts away), and,
وَنَذَرُهُمْ فِى طُغْيَانِهِمْ يَعْمَهُونَ
(And We shall leave them in their trespass to wander blindly). Allah made the Fire the destination of such people in the Hereafter. Indeed, the path of those who avoid the right guidance will only lead to the Fire on the Day of Resurrection, as evident by Allah's statements,
احْشُرُواْ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ وَأَزْوَجَهُمْ
((It will be said to the angels): "Assemble those who did wrong, together with their companions (from the devils)), and,
(And the criminals, shall see the Fire and apprehend that they have to fall therein. And they will find no way of escape from there).
4.105-112
Maududi - Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi - Tafhim al-Qur'an
In vv. 105-115, very important issues concerning an event that occurred at that time have been discussed. There was in the Bani Zafar clan of the Ansar, a man known as Ta'mah or Bashir bin-Ubairiq. He stole the armor of another Ansari and hid it in the house of a Jew. When an investigation started into the theft, the owner of the armor placed the matter before the Holy Prophet and told him that he suspected Ta'mah of the theft. But the accused and his relatives and many other people of the Bani Zafar clan conspired and laid the guilt at the door of the Jew, who asserted that he was innocent of the thing. But Ta'mah's people went on pleading his case vehemently. They argued: "The statement of the Jew who is an enemy of the Truth and who disbelieves in Allah and His Messenger cannot be trusted; whereas we are Muslims, and, therefore, should be trusted." The Holy Prophet was naturally influenced by the seeming correctness of the argument and was about to acquit Ta'mah and give a warning to the plaintiff for bringing a false charge against a Muslim, and decide the case against the Jew, when this Revelation came and disclosed the reality of the matter. It is true that even if the Holy Prophet had, as a judge, decided the case in the light of the evidence produced before him, he would not have incurred any blame, for judges have to give their decision according to the evidence that is presented before them and sometimes people do succeed in getting wrong judgments in their favor by misrepresentation. But the matter had another side: if the Holy Prophet had decided the case against the Jew at that time, when a bitter convict was raging between Islam and kufr, the enemies of Islam would have got a strong moral weapon against him, nay, against the Islamic Community and the Islamic Mission. They would have carried on a bitter propaganda against Islam, saying, "There is no justice among the Muslims; they practice prejudices and partisanship inspire of the fact that they preach against them as has been shown by this decision against the Jew". That is why, Allah directly intervened in the case to save them from this danger. In this passage (vv. 105 - 115) on the one hand, those Muslims who tried to shield the guilty one of their own clan, have been strongly rebuked for their partisanship, and, on the other, the Muslims in general have been taught that they should not allow partisanship to stand in the way of justice. It is sheer dishonesty that one should plead the cause of one's own party man, even though he may he in the wrong, and oppose the man of the opposite party, even though he may he right.
He who is dishonest to others is in reality dishonest to himself because he forces all his faculties of head and heart, which have been given to him as a trust, to help him in his dishonesty. Moreover, he suppresses his conscience, which Allah has given him to safeguard his morality, so as to disable it from functioning rightly and preventing him from being dishonest. Thus a man is dishonest to others only when at first he becomes unjust to himself.
And whoever commits a sin commits it against himself only; and God is ever Knower Wise. The Real has no need for the obedience of those who are obedient or the error of the disobedient. So the one who obeys acquires his good fortune fa-ḥaẓẓuhu ḥaṣṣala and the one who disobeys has abandoned it fa-ḥaẓẓuhu akhalla.
