Selected Verses from Quran: Do not Usurp the Property of the Orphans

Islam lays down very strict instructions for dealing with the properties of the orphans, specially those whose parent died while their children were still in their infancy and had not attained adulthood. In fact Islam regards taking an orphan’s wealth unlawfully and those who do it will taste the fire of hell. Therefore the guardians of orphans must take special care in taking and are warned against usurping their wealth, if the fear Allah and believe in the Day of Judgement. 

وَاٰ تُوا الۡيَتٰمٰٓى اَمۡوَالَهُمۡ​ وَلَا تَتَبَدَّلُوا الۡخَبِيۡثَ بِالطَّيِّبِ وَلَا تَاۡكُلُوۡۤا اَمۡوَالَهُمۡ​ اِلٰٓى اَمۡوَالِكُمۡ​ؕ اِنَّهٗ كَانَ حُوۡبًا كَبِيۡرًا‏‏  

"To orphans restore their property (when they reach their age) nor substitute (your) worthless things for (their) good ones; and devour not their substance (by mixing it up) with your own. For this is indeed a great sin." (Surah 4 An Nisa: 2)

Allah directs the guardians of the orphans to spend out of the latter's property while they are still minors, and to restore it to them when they attain majority.

The order not to exchange the bad for the good has several meanings. On the one hand, it means that one should not replace honest by dishonest living. At the same time, it also means that one should not exchange one's own property which is of little value for the more valuable property of the orphans.

This verse should also be read inn conjunction with verse 220 of Surah II al Baqarah:

(Their bearings) on this life and the Hereafter. They ask thee concerning orphans. Say: "The best thing to do is what is for their good; if ye mix their affairs with yours they are your brethren; but Allah knows the man who means mischief from the man who means good. And if Allah had wished He could have put you into difficulties: He is indeed Exalted in Power Wise." 

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Justice to orphans is enjoined, and three things are particularly mentioned as temptations in the way of a guardian: (I) He must not postpone restoring all his ward's property when the time comes; (2) If there is a list of property, it is not enough that that list should be technically followed: the property restored must be of equal value to the property received: the same principle applies where there is no list. (3) If property is managed together, or where perishable goods must necessarily be consumed, the strictest probity is necessary when the separation takes place, and this is insisted on. 

Explanation Professor Ghamidi:
The actual words are: خَبِیۡث and طَّیِّب. Just as these are used for what is evil and good in the moral sense, they are also used for what is defective and good in the material sense.

The actual words are: وَ لَا تَاۡکُلُوۡۤا اَمۡوَالَہُمۡ اِلٰۤی اَمۡوَالِکُمۡ. The preposition اِلٰی is related to ضَمًّا or some similar word which has been suppressed as per linguistic principles.

The whole verse means that guardians of the orphans should return their wealth to them and should not think of devouring it themselves. They should know that unjustly consuming the wealth of orphans is like filling one’s belly with fire. So no one should try to swap his poor merchandise and assets for their good ones. Neither should a person try to benefit from their wealth while mixing it with his own feigning administrative ease. If such intermingling needs to be done, then it should only be for the orphans’ welfare and well-being and not to usurp their wealth.

Continuing with the same theme, the verse 6 of Surah 4 An Nisa further explains the responsibilities of the guardians:

وَابۡتَلُوا الۡيَتٰمٰى حَتّٰىۤ اِذَا بَلَغُوا النِّكَاحَ​ ۚ فَاِنۡ اٰنَسۡتُمۡ مِّنۡهُمۡ رُشۡدًا فَادۡفَعُوۡۤا اِلَيۡهِمۡ اَمۡوَالَهُمۡ​ۚ وَلَا تَاۡكُلُوۡهَاۤ اِسۡرَافًا وَّبِدَارًا اَنۡ يَّكۡبَرُوۡا​ ؕ وَمَنۡ كَانَ غَنِيًّا فَلۡيَسۡتَعۡفِفۡ​ۚ وَمَنۡ كَانَ فَقِيۡرًا فَلۡيَاۡكُلۡ بِالۡمَعۡرُوۡفِ​ ؕ فَاِذَا دَفَعۡتُمۡ اِلَيۡهِمۡ اَمۡوَالَهُمۡ فَاَشۡهِدُوۡا عَلَيۡهِمۡ​ ؕ وَكَفٰى بِاللّٰهِ حَسِيۡبًا‏  

"Test the orphans until they reach the age of marriage, and then if you find them mature of mind hand over to them their property, and do not eat it up by either spending extravagantly or in haste, fearing that they would grow up (and claim it). If the guardian of the orphan is rich let him abstain entirely (from his ward's property); and if he is poor, let him partake of it in a fair measure. When you hand over their property to them let there be witnesses on their behalf. Allah is sufficient to take account (of your deeds)."

When orphans approach their majority their mental development should be watched so as to determine to what extent they have become capable of managing their own affairs.

Two conditions have been laid down for handing over the charge of their properties to such people. The first of these is the attainment of puberty, and the second is that of mental maturity - i.e. the capacity to manage their affairs in a sound and appropriate manner. There is full agreement among Muslim jurists with regard to the first condition. As for the second condition, Abu Hanifah is of the opinion that if an orphan does not attain mental maturity after he has attained puberty, the guardian of the orphan should wait for a maximum of seven years after which he should hand over the property to its owner regardless of whether he has attained maturity or not. According to Abu Yusuf, Muhammad b. al-Hasan and Shafi'i, maturity is an indispensable pre-condition for the handing over of property. If one were to apply the doctrine of the latter jurists it would probably be more appropriate to refer particular cases to a judge under Islamic law. If the judge is convinced that the person concerned lacks maturity he should make adequate arrangements for the supervision of that person's financial affairs. (For a more complete study of the subject see Jassas, vol. 2, pp. 59 ff.; Ibn Rushd, Biddyat al-Mujtahid, 2 vols., Cairo, Al-Maktabahal-Tijariyahal-Kubra, n.d., vol. 2, pp. 275ff.-Ed.)

The guardian is entitled to remuneration for his service. The amount of this remuneration should be such as is deemed to be fair by neutral and reasonable people. Moreover, the guardian is instructed that he should take a fixed and known amount by way of remuneration, that he should take it openly rather than secretly, and that he should keep an account of it.

Yusuf Ali Explanation:
It is good to take human witnesses when you faithfully discharge your trust; but remember that, however fully you satisfy your fellow-men when you give your account to them, there is a stricter account due from you to Allah. If you are righteous in Allah's eyes, you must follow these stricter standards.

I have resisted the temptation to translate "next to kin," as this phrase has a technical meaning in Indian Law, referring to certain kinds of heirs, whereas here the people meant are those whose inheritance is to be divided. The shares are specified. Here the general principles are laid down that females inherit as well as males, and that relatives who have no legal shares, orphans, and indigent people are not to be treated harshly, if present at the division.

Explanation Professor Ghamidi:
Translation: "And keep evaluating them until they reach marriageable age.Then if you find them capable, hand over their wealth to them, and do not devour it by squandering it and consuming it hastily fearing that they would soon come of age. And the [guardian of the orphan] who is rich should abstain [from his wealth] and he who is poor should benefit [from it in lieu of his service] according to the norms [of society]. Then when you hand over their wealth to them, call in witnesses; And [remember that] God alone suffices to take account of all your actions."

Explanation:
by entrusting them with some small or heavy responsibilities, they should keep judging whether the orphans have developed in them the ability to bear their responsibilities and an appreciation of matters. The reason is that sexual maturity does not necessarily entail intellectual maturity. In all such matters, this principle should be kept in consideration.

The guardians are advised here that though charging for a service they offer is not prohibited yet if they are well-off, they should not take anything from the orphans in return for their service, and if they are poor, they can take their due according to the norms of the society. Imam Amin Ahsan Islahi writes:

… Norms (مَعْرُوْف) means to benefit in a sensible manner from the wealth of the orphans in a way that is congruous with the nature of obligations, status of the property, general circumstances and the standard of living of the guardian. It should not be the case that a sane person should start speedily devouring and consuming the wealth of an orphan thinking that he would soon reach the age of maturity. (Amin Ahsan Islahi, Tadabbur-i Qur’an, vol. 2, 255).

They should remember that one day they will have to present this account before Allah also Who hears and knows all; so nothing can be concealed from Him.

These are not the only verses about the rights of orphans and showing kindness to them. It is mentioned in the Holy Quran:

(2:83), “…..and (you shall do) good to (your) parents, and to the near of kin and to the orphans….” It has been explained by exegetes that orphans are mentioned right after the parents and the kin because when going outside the circle of relatives; the orphans are the most deserving of kindness. It is because they are deprived of a father who is the guardian, protector and bread-earner of the family. Next, the Quran (76:8) describes the righteous people as those who give food to the orphans – “And they give food out of love for Him to the poor and the orphan and the captive.” In Chapter 4 verse 127, Allah calls to justly treat the orphan children. 

Therefore, the Islamic community should be raised with a thought of justice and equity towards the orphans. May Allah help us understand Qur'an and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. Aameen.

For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.

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Reading the Holy Quran should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully.

An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the Sūrahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:

• The plain translation has been taken from the Holy Quran officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 
• The exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. 

In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from following sources: 

• Exegesis by Maulana Mufti Muhammad Sharif, revised by Justice Mufti Muhammad Taqi  Usmani
• Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
• Tafsir Ibn Khatir
• Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
• Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid

In addition the references of  other sources which have been explored have also been given in each page. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.

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Understanding Islam: Responsibility of Man towards His Actions vs Doctrine of Substitutionary Atonement

The Doctrine of Substitutionary Atonement is an important pillar of Christianity like the doctrine of Trinity. Substitutionary atonement, also called vicarious atonement, is the idea that Jesus died "for us." There is also a less technical use of the term "substitution" in discussion about atonement when it is used in "the sense that [Jesus, through his death,] did for us that which we can never do for ourselves". According to Collins English Dictionary, it is used to describe the redemption through Jesus' death and resurrection, to reconcile the world to himself, and also of the state of a person having been reconciled to God. [2]

As explained in Wikipedia, a distinction has to be made between substitutionary atonement (Christ suffers for us), and penal substitution (Christ punished instead of us), which is a subset or particular type of substitutionary atonement. Care should be taken when one reads the language of substitution in, for example, patristic literature, not to assume any particular substitution model is being used but should, rather, check the context to see how the author was using the language.

In simple words, the doctrine hinges on the fact that all Christians are absolved of their sins since Prophet Eesa (Jesus, peace be upon him) took over the responsibility of all the sins of Christians, thus absolving them of their sins and errors. It also means that a god died to absolve its people of the sins, for as per Trinity, Prophet Jesus is part of the Three Gods.

The details of this doctrine can be read in the Wikipedia [2]. However, Islam has a different view altogether about the responsibility of towards his actions, specially the sins. Not only that, the concept of a god dying is completely alien to teachings of Islam. In fact Muslims believes here is only One True God without any associates who is always presents before the begging and will be here forever even when this worldly empires come to an end. And it will be Only He and none else Who would decide who to reward, who to forgive and who to punish.  We have already written a detailed post on the Doctrine of Tawhid / Oneness of Allah in a separate post, which may be consulted for details.

Talking specifically about the sins and the authority which can forgive the sins of man, please read the following verse from Surah 17. Al-Isra [verse 15], wherein the Divine commandant reads: 

"Whoever is guided is only guided for [the benefit of] his soul. And whoever errs only errs against it. And no bearer of burdens will bear the burden of another. And never would We punish until We sent a messenger."

This is to impress that if a person adopts the right way, he does not do any favor to God or His Messenger or a reformer but he himself gets its benefits. On the other hand, if a person deviates from the right way, he can do no harm to God or His Messenger or a reformer, for they desire only to protect men from wrong ways and guide him on to the right way, and not for any selfish ends. Therefore, the right course for a wise man is to adopt the righteous way when it becomes distinct to him what is truth and what is falsehood. On the other hand, if he rejects truth because of his prejudices and self interest, he will be his own enemy and not a well wisher.

The Quran has laid great stress on the doctrine of personal responsibility at several places, for one cannot follow the right way scrupulously without understanding fully its implication. It means that, everyone is solely responsible for his moral conduct and is accountable to God as an individual in his own person and no other person can share the burden of responsibility with him. As an instance, we take the case of a particular action or a particular way of conduct in which a generation or a community of a large number of people had collaborated. When the people will assemble before Allah on the Day of Judgment, their collective action will be analyzed so as to lay the burden of its responsibility on each and every person who had been conducive to it, and rewarded or punished in accordance with it. Neither will a person be punished for the part another had played in its performance nor shall the burden of the sin of one individual be laid on the shoulders of another. This doctrine has been emphasized over and over again so that a wise man should not act in imitation of another or justify his own conduct by similar deeds of others. If a particular person feels the sense of his own responsibility, he will act in such a way as to come out successful on the Day of Judgment, regardless of what the others do.

This is another doctrine which has been impressed on the minds by the Quran in different ways. This is to emphasize the basic importance that a Messenger has in the dispensation of divine justice because this is determined in the light of the message brought by him. This will be employed as an argument in favor of or against the concerned people. Otherwise the infliction of punishment on the people would be unjust for in that case they could argue that they should not be punished as the knowledge of the righteous way had not been conveyed to them. But after the message had been conveyed to a particular people, and they had rejected it, there would be left no excuse for them.

It is an irony that instead of accepting the message some people are misled by reading verses like this and they ask such absurd questions: What will be the position of those, who might not have received the message of any Prophet? The wise course for such persons would have been to ask themselves what their own position will be on the Day of Judgment, because they themselves had received the message. As regards to other people, Allah knows best who has received the message, and when, how and to what extent and what attitude a certain person adopted towards it. In short, Allah alone is aware of whether a particular person received the message in such a way as to fulfill the required condition for punishment. 

The doctrine of personal responsibility is insisted on, and the basis of ethics is shown to be our own good or evil as furthering or obstructing our highest development. The doctrine of Substitutionary Atonement or the Vicarious Atonement is condemned. Salvation for the wicked cannot be attained by the punishment of the innocent. One man cannot bear the burden of another: that would be unjust. Every man must bear his own personal responsibility. But Allah never visits His wrath on anyone until due warning is conveyed to him through an accredited messenger.

A similar theme is projected in Surah 6. Al-An'am, verse 164:

قُلۡ اَغَيۡرَ اللّٰهِ اَبۡغِىۡ رَبًّا وَّهُوَ رَبُّ كُلِّ شَىۡءٍ​ ؕ وَلَا تَكۡسِبُ كُلُّ نَـفۡسٍ اِلَّا عَلَيۡهَا​ۚ وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِّزۡرَ اُخۡرٰى​ۚ ثُمَّ اِلٰى رَبِّكُمۡ مَّرۡجِعُكُمۡ فَيُنَبِّئُكُمۡ بِمَا كُنۡـتُمۡ فِيۡهِ تَخۡتَلِفُوۡنَ‏  

"Say: 'Shall I seek someone other than Allah as Lord when He is the Lord of everything?' Everyone will bear the consequence of what he does, and no one shall bear the burden of another. Thereafter, your return will be to your Lord, whereupon He will let you know what you disagreed about."

Since God is the Lord of the entire universe, how could anyone be His lord?  Or how can someone else, no matter how holy or revered he may be, could be equated with One True God (as the concept of Trinity in Christianity equates the son and the holy ghost with Father). Since the entire universe is yoked to obedience to God, man is an integral part of the universe, how can he reasonably, look for another lord in that area of his life in which he uses his own volition,ind judgement? Is it appropriate for him to move in diametrical opposition to the entire universe?

There we Muslims believe that every person is responsible for whatever he does; and no one is responsible for the deeds of others. And that is what he will be accounted for his sins, errors, and the grave sin of shirk, the act of associating others at par with One True Allah.

For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Page on Understanding Islam: Frequently asked Q&A.

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You may also refer to our following sites for knowing more about Islam and Quran:

• 114 Chapters (Sūrahs) of the Holy Qur'an" for translation, meaning and summary / exegesis of all Sūrahs / chapters of the Quran
• 99 Attributes of Allah" for complete list of 99 attributes of Allah Almighty with meaning and explanation.
• Understanding Islam - Frequently Asked Q&A for knowing more about Islam.
• Islam and Life of Muslims in Non Muslim Countries

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Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

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