Quran Quote  : 

Quran-16:91 Surah An-nahl English Translation,Transliteration and Tafsir(Tafseer).

وَأَوۡفُواْ بِعَهۡدِ ٱللَّهِ إِذَا عَٰهَدتُّمۡ وَلَا تَنقُضُواْ ٱلۡأَيۡمَٰنَ بَعۡدَ تَوۡكِيدِهَا وَقَدۡ جَعَلۡتُمُ ٱللَّهَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ كَفِيلًاۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَعۡلَمُ مَا تَفۡعَلُونَ

Transliteration:( Wa awfoo bi Ahdil laahi izaa 'aahattum wa laa tanqudul aimaana ba'da tawkeedihaa wa qad ja'altumul laaha 'alaikum kafeelaa; innal laaha ya'lamu maa taf'aloon )

91. And fulfill the promise (203) of Allah when you have made it, and break not (204) the oaths after making them fast (205), and you have already made Allah a surety upon you. Surely Allah knows what you are doing.

Related Ayat(Verses)/Topics

Surah An-Nahl Ayat 91 Tafsir (Commentry)



  • Tafseer-e-Naeemi (Ahmad Yaar Khan)
  • Ibn Kathir
  • Ala-Madudi

203. Whether this covenant is made with Allah Almighty or His beloved Prophet صلى الله عليه وآله وسلم or made with any other person in the name of Allah Almighty. It includes all types of promises. Thus, the condition accepted at the time of marriage, the promise made with the religious guide (MURSHID) at the time of taking the oath of allegiance (BAI'AT) etc. are all part of this.

 For this reason the groom is made to recite the Kalimas at the time of marriage (NIKAH) so that this contract will be strong.

204. In this verse covenant signifies those things on which the oath is taken, and taking this in Allah's name is for the purpose of strengthening it. Thus, there is no contradiction of subject in the verse. 

205. By making Allah Almighty a surety is meant taking an oath in His name. You had convinced and gained the of others. It should be remembered that while it is important to fulfill every promise made by you, it is absolutely essential to fulfil those in which the name of Allah Almighty is taken. Therefore breach of these makes expiation (KAFFARAH) obligatory. Furthermore, do not fulfil a promise which is not permissible even if you took the name of Allah Almighty on it.

 

Ibn-Kathir

91. And fulfill the covenants (taken in the Name of) Allah when you have taken them, and do not break the oaths after you have confirmed them – and indeed you have appointed Allah as your guarantor. Verily, Allah knows what you do. 92. And do not be like the one who undoes the thread which she has spun, after it has become strong, by taking your oaths as a means of deception among yourselves when one group is more numerous than another group. Allah only tests you by this, and on the Day of Resurrection, He will certainly clarify that which used to differ over.

The Command to fulfill the Covenant

This is one of the commands of Allah, to fulfill covenants, keep promises and to fulfill oaths after confirming them. Thus Allah says:

﴿وَلاَ تَنقُضُواْ الاٌّيْمَـنَ بَعْدَ تَوْكِيدِهَا﴾

(and do not break the oaths after you have confirmed them) There is no conflict between this and the Ayat:

﴿وَلاَ تَجْعَلُواْ اللَّهَ عُرْضَةً لاًّيْمَـنِكُمْ﴾

(And do not use Allah as an excuse in your oaths) ï´¿2:224ï´¾

﴿ذلِكَ كَفَّارَةُ أَيْمَـنِكُمْ إِذَا حَلَفْتُمْ وَاحْفَظُواْ أَيْمَـنَكُمْ﴾

(That is the expiation for oaths when you have sworn. And protect your oaths.) ï´¿5:89ï´¾ meaning, do not forgo your oaths without offering the penance. There is also no conflict between this Ayah (16:91) and the Hadith reported in the Two Sahihs according to which the Prophet said:

«إِنِّي وَاللهِ إِنْ شَاءَ اللهُ لَا أَحْلِفُ عَلَى يَمِينٍ فَأَرَى غَيْرَهَا خَيْرًا مِنْهَا إِلَّا أَتَيْتُ الَّذِي هُوَ خَيْرٌ وَتَحَلَّلْتُهَا وَفِي رِوَايَةٍ وَكَفَّرْتُ عَنْ يَمِينِي»

(By Allah, if Allah wills, I will not swear an oath and then realize that something else is better, but I do that which is better and find a way to free myself from the oath. According to another report he said: “and I offer penance for my oath. ”) There is no contradiction at all between all of these texts and the Ayah under discussion here, which is:

﴿وَلاَ تَنقُضُواْ الاٌّيْمَـنَ بَعْدَ تَوْكِيدِهَا﴾

(and do not break the oaths after you have confirmed them) because these are the kinds of oaths that have to do with covenants and promises, not the kind that have to do with urging oneself to do something or preventing him from doing something. Therefore Mujahid said concerning this Ayah:

﴿وَلاَ تَنقُضُواْ الاٌّيْمَـنَ بَعْدَ تَوْكِيدِهَا﴾

(and do not break the oaths after you have confirmed them) “The oath here refers to oaths made during Jahiliyyah.” This supports the Hadith recorded by Imam Ahmad from Jubayr bin Mut`im, who said that the Messenger of Allah said:

«لَا حِلْفَ فِي الْإِسْلَامِ، وَأَيُّمَا حِلْفٍ كَانَ فِي الْجَاهِلِيَّةِ فَإِنَّهُ لَا يَزِيدُهُ الْإِسْلَامُ إِلَّا شِدَّة»

(There is no oath in Islam, and any oath made during the Jahiliyyah is only reinforced by Islam.) This was also reported by Muslim. The meaning is that Islam does not need oaths as they were used by the people of the Jahiliyyah; adherence to Islam is sufficient to do away with any need for what they used to customarily give oaths for. In the Two Sahihs it was reported that Anas said: “The Messenger of Allah () swore the treaty of allegiance between the Muhajirin (emigrants) and the Ansar (helpers) in our house. ” This means that he established brotherhood between them, and they used to inherit from one another, until Allah abrogated that. And Allah knows best.

﴿إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ مَا تَفْعَلُونَ﴾

(Verily, Allah knows what you do.) This is a warning and a threat to those who break their oaths after confirming them.

﴿وَلاَ تَكُونُواْ كَالَّتِى نَقَضَتْ غَزْلَهَا مِن بَعْدِ قُوَّةٍ أَنكَـثًا﴾

(And do not be like the one who undoes the thread which she has spun, after it has become strong,) `Abdullah bin Kathir and As-Suddi said: “This was a foolish woman in Makkah. Everytime she spun thread and made it strong, she would undo it again.” Mujahid, Qatadah and Ibn Zayd said: “This is like the one who breaks a covenant after confirming it.” This view is more correct and more apparent, whether or not there was a woman in Makkah who undid her thread after spinning it. The word Ankathan could be referring back to the word translated as “undoes”, reinforcing the meaning, or it could be the predicate of the verb “to be”, meaning, do not be Ankathan, the plural of Nakth (breach, violation), from the word Nakith (perfidious). Hence after this, Allah says:

﴿تَتَّخِذُونَ أَيْمَـنَكُمْ دَخَلاً بَيْنَكُمْ﴾

(by taking your oaths as a means of deception among yourselves) meaning for the purposes of cheating and tricking one another.

﴿أَن تَكُونَ أُمَّةٌ هِىَ أَرْبَى مِنْ أُمَّةٍ﴾

(when one group is more numerous than another group. ) meaning, you swear an oath with some people if they are more in number than you, so that they can trust you, but when you are able to betray them you do so. Allah forbids that, by showing a case where treachery might be expected or excused, but He forbids it. If treachery is forbidden in such a case, then in cases where one is in a position of strength it is forbidden more emphatically. Mujahid said: “They used to enter into alliances and covenants, then find other parties who were more powerful and more numerous, so they would cancel the alliance with the first group and make an alliance with the second who were more powerful and more numerous. This is what they were forbidden to do.” Ad-Dahhak, Qatadah and Ibn Zayd said something similar.

﴿إِنَّمَا يَبْلُوكُمُ اللَّهُ بِهِ﴾

(Allah only tests you by this) Sa`id bin Jubayr said: “This means (you are tested) by the large numbers.” This was reported by Ibn Abi Hatim. Ibn Jarir said: “It means (you are being tested) by His command to you to adhere to your covenants.”

﴿وَلَيُبَيِّنَنَّ لَكُمْ يَوْمَ الْقِيَـمَةِ مَا كُنْتُمْ فِيهِ تَخْتَلِفُونَ﴾

(And on the Day of Resurrection, He will certainly clarify that which you differed over.) Everyone will be rewarded or punished in accordance with his deeds, good or evil.

(16:91) And fulfil the covenant which you have made with Allah and do not break your oaths after having firmly made them, and after having made Allah your witness. Surely Allah knows all that you do.

There is no commentary by Abul Maududi available for this verse.

Surah An-Nahl All Ayat (Verses)

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128

Sign up for Newsletter