سورة النساء

Ibn Abbas (may Allah have mercy on him): The occasion of revelation of the verse: يا أَیُّهَا الَّذینَ أُوتُوا الْکِتابَ آمِنُوا بِما نَزَّلْنا مُصَدِّقاً لِما مَعَکُمْ مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ نَطْمِسَ وُجُوهاً فَنَرُدَّها عَلی أَدْبارِها [O you who have been given the Book! Believe in what We have revealed, verifying what you have, before We alter faces then turn them on their backs] is about Abdullah ibn Salam and people like him who [were not Muslims but] when they embraced Islam, this punishment was averted from them.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): يَا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ أُوتُواْ الْکِتَابَ آمِنُواْ بِمَا [O you who have been given the Book! Believe in what] I have revealed concerning Ali (peace be upon him). مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا مَعکُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن نَّطْمِسَ وُجُوهًا فَنَرُدَّهَا علَی أَدْبَارِهَا أَوْ نَلْعنَهُمْ کَما لَعَنَّا أَصْحابَ السَّبْتِ وَ کانَ أَمْرُ اللهِ مَفْعُولاً [verifying what you have, before We alter faces then turn them on their backs, or curse them as We cursed the violators of the Sabbath, and the command of Allah shall be executed]. As for this saying of Allah, مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا مَعکُم [verifying what you have], it means believing in the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): آمِنُوا بِما نَزَّلْنا [Believe in what We have revealed] means: believe in what We have revealed concerning Ali (peace be upon him).

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): فَنَرُدَّها عَلی أَدْبارِها [then We turn them on their backs] means: We return him to that darkness in which he was [which is disbelief], and this return is a censure and reproach for him, because he will never again be reformed.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) said in the sermon of Ghadir: ... "O gathering of people! Believe in Allah and His Messenger and the light that has been revealed with him — the Quran — before We alter faces then turn them on their backs. O gathering of people! The light of Allah has entered into me, then into Ali (peace be upon him), and after that it shall flow in his progeny until al-Qa'im al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble relief), the Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble relief) who takes the right of Allah and every right, is from us, for indeed Allah has made us a proof over the people of shortcoming, obstinacy, opposition, treachery, sin, oppression, and in short, over all the worlds."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): The Sufyani sends an army of seventy thousand men towards Kufa. This army sets about killing, crucifying and taking captive the people of Kufa. While they are engaged in these deeds, banners come forth from the direction of Khurasan, traversing the stages swiftly, and with them are a group of the companions of the Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble relief). A man from the mawali of Kufa rises up with a weak group, and the commander of the Sufyani's army martyrs him between Hira and Kufa. The Sufyani dispatches a company towards Medina. The Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble relief) departs from Medina towards Mecca. News reaches the commander of the Sufyani's army that the Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble relief) has left Medina and is going to Mecca; so he dispatches an army after him, but before the army arrives, following the sunnah of Musa ibn Imran (peace be upon him), he enters Mecca in fear and watchful [of what may happen]. The commander of the Sufyani's army descends at the wilderness of Bayda. At that moment, a caller from the heavens calls out: 'O wilderness! Destroy this people,' and the wilderness swallows them, such that none of them escapes alive except three men. Allah turns the faces of these three around to the back of their heads. They are from the tribe of Kalb. This verse was revealed concerning these three: يَا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ أُوتُواْ الْکِتَابَ آمِنُواْ بِمَا نَزَّلْنَا مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا مَعکُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن نَّطْمِسَ وُجُوهًا فَنَرُدَّهَا علَی أَدْبَارِهَا [O you who have been given the Book! believe that which We have revealed, verifying what you have, before We alter faces then turn them on their backs].

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him)- Jabir al-Ju'fi said: Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said to me in a long hadith: "O Jabir! [In that year much dispute will arise in every part of the western regions.] The first land that will be ruined is Sham. At that time the people will become three groups and will gather under three banners: first the red-and-white banner, second the black-and-white banner, and third the banner of the Sufyani. Then the Sufyani will encounter the bearer of the black-and-white banner and they will fight one another, and he will kill him and all his companions. Then the Sufyani will kill the red-and-white man, and he will have no aim thereafter except to advance toward Iraq. His armies will pass through Qirqisiya and will kill hundreds of thousands of tyrants there. The Sufyani will send an army toward Kufa numbering seventy thousand fighting men. They will set about killing, crucifying and taking captive the people of Kufa. While they are engaged in these atrocities, banners will rise from the region of Khurasan, swiftly traversing the stages, and with them will be a number of the companions of Hazrat al-Qa'im (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance). Then a man from the freedmen of the people of Kufa will rise with a group of weak persons, and the commander of the Sufyani's army will kill him between al-Hira and Kufa. Then the Sufyani will send a party to Medina, whereupon Hazrat al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) will depart from there toward Mecca. News will reach the commander of the Sufyani's army that Hazrat al-Mahdi (may Allah hasten his noble reappearance) has left Medina, so he will dispatch an army in pursuit of that noble one, but they will not reach him until that Imam enters Mecca in fear and apprehension, like Musa ibn Imran (peace be upon him)." Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "And the commander and the soldiers of the Sufyani will descend upon the desert of al-Bayda, then a caller from the sky will cry out: 'O Bayda! Destroy this people,' and the earth of al-Bayda will swallow them up. None of them will escape with his life except three persons. Allah will turn the faces of those three around to their backs. They are of the tribe of Kalb, and concerning them this verse was revealed: يَا أَیُّهَا الَّذِینَ أُوتُواْ الْکِتَابَ آمِنُواْ بِمَا نَزَّلْنَا مُصَدِّقًا لِّمَا مَعکُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن نَّطْمِسَ وُجُوهًا فَنَرُدَّهَا علَی أَدْبَارِهَا [O you who have been given the Book! Believe in what We have revealed, confirming what is with you, before We alter faces and turn them on their backs]."

Imam al-Sajjad (peace be upon him): They were a people who lived on the seashore, whom Allah and His prophets had forbidden from catching fish on Saturday, up to where he said: "In that city there lived eighty-odd thousand people, of whom seventy thousand used to do this (disobeying Allah's command). When those ten thousand and odd people saw that the rest of the city's inhabitants did not accept their counsel, and did not trouble themselves over the warning and admonition given to them, and did not accept it and did not desist from their action, they left them and moved to a village near that village, and said: 'We do not like that Allah's punishment should descend upon them while we are among them.' Then the night passed and Allah transformed all of those [who had remained in the city] into monkeys, and they were transfigured. The gates of the city remained shut, no one came out of the city, and no one was able to enter the city. This news reached the neighbouring villages and they set out towards this village and climbed up the walls of the city and became aware of their condition, and they saw that all of them and their women had been transformed into monkeys, moving about in groups together. The people recognised some of them by certain marks and by the closeness they had with them and the dealings they had had with them, and the informed person would face that monkey and say: 'You are so-and-so, and you are so-and-so.' And [the monkey] would begin to weep and strike its head [indicating] that yes, you are so-and-so. They continued in this state for three days, until Allah sent upon them rain and a fierce wind which swept them (the monkeys) into the sea, and no transfigured creature remained after three days. But these monkeys which you see today are only similar to them; they are not the same ones, nor are they of their descendants. Allah transfigured these people because they killed and hunted the fish of the sea, so consider what is the judgement before Allah of one who kills the children of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) and violates their sanctity?! And if He does not transfigure them in this world, He has prepared for them in the Hereafter a punishment many times over the punishment of transfiguration. If those people who transgressed regarding the ruling of Saturday, at the time when they were about to fall into their sin, had asked their Lord by the standing of Muhammad and his family (making them intercessors before Allah), Allah would surely have preserved them from that punishment; but Allah did not inspire them with this meaning and they were not granted success in this, so what is written in the Preserved Tablet and is known and certain with Allah was carried out concerning them."