Muhammad Asad, The Message of the Qur’ān; Translated and Explained by Muhammad Asad (1980)
This is an alleviation from your Sustainer, and an act of His grace. And for him who, none the less,150 wilfully transgresses the bounds of what is right, there is grievous suffering in store: (179) for, in [the law of] just retribution, O you who are endowed with insight, there is life for you, so that you might remain conscious of God!151
(180) It is ordained for you, when death approaches any of you and he is leaving behind much wealth, to make bequests in favour of his parents and [other] near of kin in accordance with what is fair:152 this is binding on all who are conscious of God. (181) And if anyone alters such a provision after having come to know it, the sin of acting thus shall fall only upon those who have altered it.153 Verily, God is all-hearing, all-knowing.
(182) If, however, one has reason to fear that the testator has committed a mistake or a [deliberate] wrong, and thereupon brings about a settlement between the heirs,154 he will incur no sin [thereby]. Verily, God is much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace.
(183) O you who have attained to faith! Fasting is ordained for you as it was ordained for those before you, so that you might remain conscious of God: (184) [fasting] during a certain number of days.155 But whoever of
situation of the accused and, on the latter’s part, by acquitting himself of his obligation willingly and sincerely (cf. Manār II, 129).
150 Lit., “after this” – i.e., after the meaning of what constitutes “just retribution” (qiṣāṣ) has been made clear in the above ordinance (Rāzī).
151 I.e., “there is a safeguard for you, as a community, so that you might be able to live in security, as God wants you to live”. Thus, the objective of qiṣāṣ is the protection of the society, and not “revenge”.
152 The word khayr occurring in this sentence denotes “much wealth” and not simply “property”: and this explains the injunction that one who leaves much wealth behind should make bequests to particularly deserving members of his family in addition to – and preceding the distribution of – the legally – fixed shares mentioned in 4:11–12. This interpretation of khayr is supported by sayings of ʿAʾishah and ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, both of them referring to this particular verse (cf. Zamakhsharī and Bayḍāwī).
153 Lit., “and as for him who alters it” – i.e., after the testator’s death – “after having heard it, the sin thereof is only upon those who alter it : that is, not on anyone who may have unwittingly benefited by this alteration. It is to be noted that the verb samiʿa (lit., “he heard”) has also the connotation of “he came to know”.
154 Lit., between them – i.e., a settlement overriding the testamentary provisions which, by common consent of the parties concerned, are considered unjust.
155 I.e., during the twenty-nine or thirty days of Ramaḍān, the ninth month of the Islamic lunar calendar (see next verse). It consists of a total abstention from food, drink and sexual intercourse from dawn until sunset. As the Qurʾān points out, fasting has been widely practiced at all times of man’s religious history. The extreme rigour and the long duration of the Islamic fast-which is incumbent on every healthy adult, man or woman – fulfils, in addition to the general aim of spiritual
