Transliteration:( Yaaa aiyuhal lazeena aamanoo izaa darabtum fee sabeelil laahi fatabaiyanoo wa laa taqooloo liman alqaaa ilaikumus salaama lasta mu'minan tabtaghoona 'aradal hayaatid dunyaa fa'indal laahi maghaanimu kaseerah; kazaalika kuntum min qablu famannnal laahu 'alaikum fatabaiyanoo; innallaaha kaana bimaa ta'maloona Khabeeraa )
“O you who believe! When you go forth in the cause of Allah, make proper investigations and do not say to those who offer you peace, ‘You are not a believer’ [302], seeking the goods of worldly life. For with Allah are abundant spoils. You were like that before [303], but Allah bestowed His special bounty upon you, so investigate properly [304]. Surely, Allah is fully aware of what you do.”
This verse was revealed concerning Hazrat Mardas bin Naheek, a resident of Fidak. While the rest of his people were infidels, he had accepted Islam, but the Muslim army was unaware of it.
When the Muslim forces approached, all others fled except Hazrat Mardas, who remained and greeted the army with Salaam. However, Hazrat Usama bin Zayd (Radiallahu Anhu), thinking Mardas was trying to save his sheep, killed him and took the animals as booty.
From this, we learn:
If a person shows outward signs of belief (such as greeting with Salaam), and no sign of infidelity is evident, he should not be labelled an infidel.
However, this does not mean that every person who gives Salaam is necessarily a true believer—as the hypocrites also offered Salaam and performed prayers, yet Allah declared them as liars and disbelievers:
“But Allah bears witness that the hypocrites are most surely liars.” (Surah Al-Munafiqun, 63:1)
The phrase “you too were such before” reminds the believers that:
In the early days of Islam, they themselves were accepted as Muslims purely based on their verbal recitation of the Kalima, without any deeper investigation.
Their lives and property were protected merely by their public declaration of faith.
If deep inner confirmation had been required at that time, their Islam might not have been accepted.
Thus, the verse instructs:
Treat new converts with the same respect and assumption of sincerity that was once shown to you.
From this, we also understand that:
If a Muslim is killed due to misinterpretation of Islamic law, there is no capital punishment or blood compensation.
Such a person is neither declared an infidel nor considered a sinner.
Hazrat Usama bin Zayd, despite this incident, was declared a believer by the Holy Qur’an, and no punishment or compensation was imposed upon him.
The command “so investigate properly” reinforces the duty of verifying information before taking action—especially in warfare.
From this, we learn:
If a Muslim resides among non-Muslims, and his faith is unknown, and he is killed mistakenly, then:
No expiation or blood compensation is required from the killer.
In contrast:
The previous verse addressed the situation where a Muslim’s faith was known, but he was killed due to circumstantial misunderstanding (e.g., in the dark, in confusion, etc.).
There is no contradiction—both verses deal with distinct scenarios.
94. O you who believe! When you go (to fight) in the cause of Allah, verify (the truth), and say not to anyone who greets you: “You are not a believer;” seeking the perishable goods of the worldly life. There is much more benefit with Allah. Even as he is now, so were you yourselves before, till Allah conferred on you His Favors, therefore, be cautious in discrimination. Allah is Ever Well-Aware of what you do.
Imam Ahmad recorded that `Ikrimah said that Ibn `Abbas said, “A man from Bani Sulaym, who was tending a flock of sheep, passed by some of the Companions of the Prophet and said Salam to them. They said (to each other), `He only said Salam to protect himself from us.’ Then they attacked him and killed him. They brought his sheep to the Prophet , and this Ayah was revealed,
(O you who believe!), until the end of the Ayah.” At-Tirmidhi recorded this in his (chapter on) Tafsir, and said, “This Hadith is Hasan, and it is also reported from Usamah bin Zayd.” Al-Hakim also recorded it and said, “Its chain is Sahih, but they did not collect it.” Al-Bukhari recorded that Ibn `Abbas commented;
(and say not to anyone who greets you: “You are not a believer;”), “A man was tending his sheep and the Muslims caught up with him. He said, `As-Salamu `Alaykum.’ However, they killed him and took his sheep. Allah revealed the Ayah;
(And say not to anyone who greets you: “You are not a believer; seeking the perishable goods of the worldly life).” Ibn `Abbas said; “The goods of this world were those sheep.” And he recited,
(Peace) Imam Ahmad recorded that Al-Qa`qa` bin Abdullah bin Abi Hadrad narrated that his father `Abdullah bin Abi Hadrad said, “The Messenger of Allah sent us to (the area of) Idam. I rode out with a group of Muslims that included Abu Qatadah, Al-Harith bin Rab`i and Muhallam bin Juthamah bin Qays. We continued on until we reached the area of Idam, where `Amr bin Al-Adbat Al-Ashja`i passed by us on his camel. When he passed by us he said Salam to us, and we did not attack him. Because of some previous problems with him, Muhallam bin Juthamah killed him and took his camel. When we went back to the Messenger of Allah and told him what had happened, a part of the Qur’an was revealed about us,
(O you who believe! When you go (to fight) in the cause of Allah), until,
(Well-Aware).” Only Ahmad recorded this Hadith. Al-Bukhari recorded that Ibn `Abbas said that the Messenger of Allah said to Al-Miqdad,
(You killed a believing man who hid his faith with disbelieving people, after he had announced his faith to you. Remember that you used to hide your faith in Makkah before.) Al-Bukhari recorded this shorter version without a complete chain of narrators. However a longer version with a connected chain of narrators has also been recorded. Al-Hafiz Abu Bakr Al-Bazzar recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, “The Messenger of Allah sent a military expedition under the authority of Al-Miqdad bin Al-Aswad and when they reached the designated area, they found the people had dispersed. However, a man with a lot of wealth did not leave and said, `I bear witness that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.’ Yet, Al-Miqdad killed him, and a man said to him, `You killed a man after he proclaimed: “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah. By Allah I will mention what you did to the Prophet .’ When they went back to the Messenger of Allah, they said, `O Messenger of Allah! Al-Miqdad killed a man who testified that there is no deity worthy of worship except Allah.’ He said,
(Summon Al-Miqdad before me. O Miqdad! Did you kill a man who proclaimed, “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah” What would you do when you face, “There is no deity worthy of worship except Allah tomorrow”) Allah then revealed;
(O you who believe! When you go (to fight) in the cause of Allah, verify (the truth), and say not to anyone who greets you: “You are not a believer;” seeking the perishable goods of the worldly life. There are much more profits and booties with Allah. Even as he is now, so were you yourselves before till Allah conferred on you His Favors, therefore, be cautious in discrimination). The Messenger of Allah said to Al-Miqdad,
(He was a believing man who hid his faith among disbelieving people, and he announced his faith to you, but you killed him, although you used to hide your faith before, in Makkah.)” Allah’s statement,
(There is much more benefit with Allah.) means, better than what you desired of worldly possessions which made you kill the one who greeted you with the Salam and pronounced his faith to you. Yet, you ignored all this and accused him of hypocrisy, to acquire the gains of this life. However, the pure wealth with Allah is far better than what you acquired. Allah’s statement,
(so were you yourselves before, till Allah conferred on you His Favors.) means, beforehand, you used to be in the same situation like this person who hid his faith from his people. We mentioned the relevant Hadiths above. Allah said,
(And remember when you were few and were reckoned weak in the land). `Abdur-Razzaq recorded that Sa`id bin Jubayr commented about Allah’s statement,
(so were you yourselves before), “You used to hide your faith, just as this shepherd hid his faith.” Allah said,
(therefore, be cautious in discrimination), then said,
(Allah is Ever Well-Aware of what you do.) and this part of the Ayah contains a threat and a warning, as Sa`id bin Jubayr stated.
(4:94) Believers! When you go forth in the way of Allah, discern (between friend and foe), and do not say to him who offers you the greeting of peace: You are not a believer.’[126] If you seek the good of this worldly life, there lies with Allah abundant gain. After all, you too were such before, and then Allah was gracious to you.[127] Discern, then, for Allah is well aware of what you do.
126.In the early days of Islam the greeting as-salam ‘alaykum (‘peace be on you’) was a distinguishing symbol of the Muslims. When a Muslim greeted another Muslim with this expression it signified that he was a member of the same community, that he was a friend and well-wisher, one who wished peace and security, from whom he need entertain no fear of hostility and towards whom, in return, he should not behave with hostility. The Islamic greeting occupied virtually the same position among Muslims as the passwords used by sentries to distinguish friend from foe. This was particularly important in those days because there were no distinctions in dress, language and so on by which Muslims could be conclusively marked off from their non-Muslim Arab compatriots.
The Muslims also encountered a strange problem on the battlefield. Whenever a Muslim was in danger of being harmed inadvertently by other Muslims during the fighting, he resorted to either the Islamic greeting (as-salam ‘alaykum) or the Islamic creed There is no god save Allah’ (ili-Jl^y) in order to indicate that he was their brother-in-faith. The Muslims, however, often suspected this to be merely a ruse of the enemy and therefore sometimes disregarded the utterance of the Islamic greeting or of the Islamic creed, and killed such people and seized their belongings as booty. Although whenever the Prophet (peace be on him) came to know of such incidents, he severely reproached the people concerned, it, nevertheless, continued to take place. In the end God solved the problem by revelation. The purport of the verse is that no one has the right summarily to judge those who profess to be Muslims, and assume them to be lying for fear of their lives. At least two possibilities exist: the claim may either be true or it may be false. The truth can only be ascertained by proper investigation. While it is impossible to investigate a person’s case properly during fighting and this may enable him to save his life by lying, it is equally possible that an innocent, true believer might be put to death by mistake. The error of letting an unbeliever go unpunished is preferable to that of killing a true believer.
127.The Muslims are now told that there was a time when they were scattered among different tribes of unbelievers. They were, therefore, forced to conceal the fact of being Muslims since they feared that they would be subjected to persecution and hardship. In those days they had nothing else besides their verbal profession to testify to their faith. Later on, some time before these verses were revealed, God benevolently enabled the Muslims to develop a collective entity of their own and thus to raise the banner of Islam in the face of strong opposition from the unbelievers. That the Muslims should fail to appreciate the hardships which other Muslims were enduring, and which they themselves had endured until not long before, and not to treat them with consideration and forbearance, did not seem an adequate way of thanking God for His benevolence.
[211]- Do not assume that he pretends Islām merely in order to save himself, for he may be sincere in faith.
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