Surah An-Nisa - سورة النساء

An-Nisa

Surat An-Nisa recited by 345 different reciters

Information about Surat An-Nisa

  • Number of verses : 176
  • Type : Madaniya
  • Name translation : The Women
  • Chronological order : 92
  • Traditional order : 4

Description

About Surat An Nisa

Surat An-Nisa is the fourth Surat in the holy Quran, as it comes directly after Surat Al Emran and before Surat Al Maeda. It is a Medinan Surat, that contains 176 verses, 3745 words and 16030 letters. This Surat was named by An Nisa because it includes a large number of rules and laws and Shari’a for women more than any other Surah. For this reason, the scholars describe it as the great surah of women in comparison to the little Surat of women « Surat Al Talaq ».

Reasons of its descent

Like other long Surat, Surat An-Nisa did not descent for only one reason, as every verse in it has its own meaning and descent reasons. For example, verse n°2 talks about a man who had money for his nephew, and when the orphan requested his money, his uncle did not approve and Allah said in this verse: « And give to the orphans their properties and do not substitute the defective [of your own] for the good [of theirs] ». Also, verse n°4 talks about the men who used to marry their daughters in order to take their dots without their permission, as the Almighty Allah said: « And give the women [upon marriage] their [bridal] gifts graciously ». As for the verse n°19, and according to Al Boukhari, as Allah said:  « O you who have believed, it is not lawful for you to inherit women by compulsion. And do not make difficulties for them in order to take [back] part of what you gave them unless they commit a clear immorality ».

Its content

Surat Al Nisa addresses various topics, most of which concern the issues of the family, society and women in particular. In this context, This Surah focuses on the importance of guaranteeing the rights of women, whether orphans, wives or heirs. Also it contains verses that explain the inheritance rules in details in order to identify what is forbidden for women, to regulate relations between men and women according to the satisfaction of Allah, in order to achieve justice and equality. Also, it addresses the issues of the Muslim community by emphasizing the importance of solidarity and the value of jihad for the sake of Allah, while warning against the machinations of Jews and hypocrites and reminding about the unity of Allah.

Its meanings

This Surat has numerous purposes such as the importance of the unification of Allah as a baseline of the Muslim community, and the importance of building families by following a good education and morals in order to organize this society. It also contains information and rules concerning the different society categories in order to provide for them their rights, including orphans, women and widows. Besides that, the Muslim community should be built according to justice and to Allah’s rules and to avoid the outsiders to preserve the stability of the nation.

z