The man who stole some flour and lessons from the Quran

We have seen many cases where people are wrongly convicted of crimes that they didn't commit. Often times, the circumstantial evidence against them is overwhelming and only after many years does the truth come out. In some cases it never comes out.

Surah Nisa is one of my favorite surahs in the Quran because the back stories are amazing and they offer a lot of lessons. The style of the Quran is such that even though the ayat refer to a particular episode , the lessons are not limited to that episode. They are valuable for all times.

The ayat are as follows:

105 We have sent down the Scripture to you [Prophet] with the truth so that you can judge between people in accordance with what God has shown you. Do not be an advocate for those who betray trust.
106 Ask God for forgiveness: He is most forgiving and merciful.
107 Do not argue for those who betray their own souls: God does not love anyone given to treachery and sin.
108 They try to hide themselves from people, but they cannot hide from God. He is with them when they plot at night, saying things that do not please Him: He is fully aware of everything they do.
109 There you [believers] are, arguing on their behalf in this life, but who will argue on their behalf with God on the Day of Resurrection? Who will be their defender?
110 Yet anyone who does evil or wrongs his own soul and then asks God for forgiveness will find Him most forgiving and merciful.
111 He who commits sin does so against his own soul– God is allknowing and wise–
112 and anyone who commits an offence or a sin, and then throws the blame on to some innocent person, has burdened
himself with deceit as well as flagrant sin.
113 If it were not for the grace of God and His mercy to you [Prophet], a party of them would have tried to lead you astray; they only lead themselves astray, and cannot harm you in any way, since God has sent down the Scripture and Wisdom to you, and taught you what you did not know. God’s bounty to you is great indeed.

The first ayah (105) admonishes the Messenger (Peace and blessings be upon him).. The question is why? Story time

The man who stole some flour

The setting was the early medinian period of the life of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). The muslims were facing all kinds of difficulties, hunger and deprivation. Wheat flour was very rare and was not available in Medina.

A man from Banu Ubayriq tribe named Bashir (or Tumar) broke into the house of Rifa'ah (RA), the uncle of Qatadah (RA) and committed a theft. Rifa'ah (RA) had purchased some wheat flour for himself, put it in a bag along with some arms and stored it in his room. Somehow Bashir (or Tumar) came to know about this bag and stole it (i.e the wheat and arms).

Rifa'ah (RA) found out about the theft in the morning, went to his nephew, Qatadah(RA) and told him about it. Together, they were around town investigating the incident. Some people stated that they had seen some smoke from the Banu Ubayriq house suggesting that some cooking was going on.

Banu Ubayriq denied all allegations and leveled the blame on a Jewish man. They (the tribe) had cleverly made a slit in the bag and made flour track leading to the house of the Jew. Banu Ubayriq also gave the arms to the Jewish man for 'safe keeping'.

When the tracks were discovered, further investigations revealed that the arms were in the house of this Jew. All the evidence seemed to be against him. He denied any knowledge of the flour and stated that the arms were given to him by Banu Ubayriq.

Rifa'ah and his cousin Qatadah (RA) were convinced that the crime was committed by Banu Ubayriq and didn't buy the plot to frame the jew so Qatadah went to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) and stated that he was convinced that Banu Ubayriq had committed the crime.

Banu Ubayriq tribe heard this news and came to the Prophet complaining that Qatadah and Rifa'ah had no proof to label them thieves. They stated that the stolen property were recovered from the house of the Jew.

It is important to note that Banu Ubayriq was a muslim tribe. They appealed to the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) to admonish Aqtadah and Rifa'ah for accusing them of theft. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) began to incline towards the probability that the crime was committed by the jew given the evidence pointing in that direction.

The prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) admonished Qatadah(RA) for accusing a muslim of committing a crime without any proof.

Allah then reveals this passage, exonerating the jew and giving general instructions on how to handle such cases. The Quran exposed Banu Ubayriq and exonerated the jew. Banu Ubayriq returned what was left of what was stolen and the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) returned it to rifa'ah who donated it for Jihad.

The thief , Bashir fled to Mecca and became a disbeliever. He was killed by a falling wall when he broke into another house in Mecca.

(Story narrated in Tirmidhi, Hakim, Al baghawi and ibn jarir)

Examining the ayat and the lessons learnt

(Roughly translated)

105 We have sent down the Scripture to you [Prophet] with the truth so that you can judge between people in accordance with what God has shown you. Do not be an advocate for those who betray trust.

After revealing the truth of the theft to the messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) in the first ayah (105): Allah tells the messenger to judge matters using the knowledge and insight given to him via revelation and abstain from taking sides with the traitors. In this case: Banu Ubayriq.

Now the obvious circumstances and evidence point to the Jew so a tilt towards the probability that the Jew committed the theft is not a sin. However, prophets are held to a much higher standards that Allah does not favour the issuance of even something that is insignificant from them.

106 Ask God for forgiveness: He is most forgiving and merciful.

Hence in the second ayah (106) , the prophet is asked to seek forgiveness..

107 Do not argue for those who betray their own souls: God does not love anyone given to treachery and sin.

Again, in the third ayah (107), Allah asserted that the messenger should not defend or argue for the Banu Ubayriq tribe. For Allah does not love those given to treachery and sin.

Lesson: We should not stand for members of our tribe when we know that they have committed a crime. We should stand for the truth even against members of our tribe. This lesson is important in modern day Nigeria where people who commit acts of corruption are backed by members of their tribe.

108 They try to hide themselves from people, but they cannot hide from God. He is with them when they plot at night, saying things that do not please Him: He is fully aware of everything they do.

In the fourth ayah (108), Allah describes the condition of these people who betray trust. They try to hide their crimes from people but they do not feel the same shame for Allah. Allah was watching when they conspired to put the blame on the Jew and they even had the courage to present the lie in front of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).

Lesson: As muslims, we should always be conscious that Allah watches us. We should not conspire to commit evil forgetting that Allah watches.

109 There you [believers] are, arguing on their behalf in this life, but who will argue on their behalf with God on the Day of Resurrection? Who will be their defender?

In the fifth ayah (109) , Allah addresses the muslims that were in support of Banu Ubayriq telling them that their support for the criminals does not end here. They will not be there to defend them in the hereafter.

Here the muslims are admonished and reminded of the hereafter.

Lesson: As muslims, we should avoid arguing in favour of falsehood.

110 Yet anyone who does evil or wrongs his own soul and then asks God for forgiveness will find Him most forgiving and merciful.

In the Sixth ayah (110), Then Allah reminds us that the doors of forgiveness are always open. This is an amazing feature of the Quran. Forgiveness is always open to the believer.

Lesson: Allah is always forgiving to the believer who repents sincerely.

111 He who commits sin does so against his own soul– God is allknowing and wise–

And if the person doesn't repent, his crime is for his soul alone. Allah is aware of everything. Allah then says:

112 and anyone who commits an offence or a sin, and then throws the blame on to some innocent person, has burdened
himself with deceit as well as flagrant sin.

In the eight ayah (112), Allah highlights the magnitude of accusing another person of a crime that you committed as in the case with Banu Ubayriq. Stating that the burden lies with the criminal.

Lesson: Muslims should take responsibility for their crimes and not shift blame to innocents.

113 If it were not for the grace of God and His mercy to you [Prophet], a party of them would have tried to lead you astray; they only lead themselves astray, and cannot harm you in any way, since God has sent down the Scripture and Wisdom to you, and taught you what you did not know. God’s bounty to you is great indeed.

In the last ayah (113), Allah assures the prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) of his grace. If not for the insights from Allah into this case, the Jew could easily have been convicted of a crime that he did not commit as the evidence appeared stacked against him. The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is assured that he can not be led astray by these people because of the revelation and wisdom given to him.


Hopefully when next, you come across these ayat, you think of the man who stole some flour and do some honest reflection...


Assalam Aleikum

Very insightful posts...guess I'll have to go through those ayat in shaa ALLAH.

Wa alaikum salaam...Jumua'h mubarak!!

golpen: Very insightful posts...guess I'll have to go through those ayat in shaa ALLAH.

Wa alaikum salaam...Jumua'h mubarak!!

JazakAllahu Khair.

tbaba1234:

JazakAllahu Khair.

Wa iyakum ya sheikh...

golpen:

Wa iyakum ya sheikh...

sheikh ?? Where

Masha Allah...this topic is full of wisdom

Fkforyou: Masha Allah...this topic is full of wisdom

JazakAllahu Khair.

ʝαzααкυмυℓ ℓℓαнυ кнαуʀαη.мαу Allah ιηċʀєαѕє уσυ αηɗ υѕ ιη вєηєƒιċιαℓ кησωℓєɗgє.

busar: ʝαzααкυмυℓ ℓℓαнυ кнαуʀαη.мαу Allah ιηċʀєαѕє уσυ αηɗ υѕ ιη вєηєƒιċιαℓ кησωℓєɗgє.

Wa iyyakum

tbaba1234:

JazakAllahu Khair.

how am I suppose to reply you in arabic...?...lol...

Fkforyou:
how am I suppose to reply you in arabic...?...lol...

I said: May Allah grant you goodness

The response:

Wa iyyakum : And to you also

tbaba1234:

sheikh ?? Where

Here and probably... . May ALLAH forgive you your sins.

golpen:

Here and probably... . May ALLAH forgive you your sins.

And you too Akhi... Ameen

Btw, I am not a scholar or a teacher. I do not even qualify to be called a student of knowledge. I am just a brother who shares the little i learn from Allah's book.

tbaba1234:

And you too Akhi... Ameen

Btw, I am not a scholar or a teacher. I do not even qualify to be called a student of knowledge. I am just a brother who shares the little i learn from Allah's book.

I understand ur show of humility but actually you are a scholar here on nairaland....

tbaba1234:

I said: May Allah grant you goodness

The response:

Wa iyyakum : And to you also

tbaba1234:

I said: May Allah grant you goodness

The response:

Wa iyyakum : And to you also

wa iyyakum

.

A reminder

Excellent thread. Jazakumllahu Khayra to the OP.

Copacetic...

**page saved**

Rilwayne001:
Space booked

Illegal space booking.

Rilwayne001:
Space booked

Assalam'alaikum
To the authorities here(Maclatunji) I've nominate this thread to grace the FP tomorrow.

Please do the needfull.

Ma'assalam.

lanrexlan:
Illegal space booking.

After using style to book it as well


Jumat Kareem

cannonnier:



Assalam'alaikum
To the authorities here(Maclatunji) I've nominate this thread to grace the FP tomorrow.

Please do the needfull.

Ma'assalam.

LOL! He has already done sir.

We are now on FP

[size=20pt] We are proud to be a MUSLIM [/size]

Masha Allah...

May Almighty Allah make us a better muslim, heart touching one I would say.Alaesa llahu bi a'kaamil aaki miin?

May allah increase us all in iman wa taqwa.

Interesting. JazaakAllahu khair

Very Educative post, Jazakallahu Khairun O.P.