سورة النساء

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abd al-A'la said: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: 'Whoever commits an act of oppression, Allah will give the one oppressed dominion over him and his children and his children's children.' I said to myself: 'He commits the oppression, and the oppressed will gain dominion over his child or his child's child?!' He [before I said a word] said: 'Allah says: وَ لْیَخْشَ الَّذِینَ لَوْ تَرَکُوا مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّیَّةً ضِعافاً خافُوا عَلَیْهِمْ فَلْیَتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ لْیَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِیداً [And let those fear who, should they leave behind them weakly offspring, would fear on their account, so let them be careful of (their duty to) Allah, and let them speak right words].'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Allah, Blessed and Exalted, has promised two punishments to those who consume the property of an orphan; one of them is the punishment of the Hereafter, that is, Hellfire, and as for the punishment of this world, it is this noble verse in which He says: وَ لْیَخْشَ الَّذِینَ لَوْ تَرَکُوا مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّیَّةً ضِعافاً خافُوا عَلَیْهِمْ فَلْیَتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ لْیَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِیداً [And let those fear who, should they leave behind them weakly offspring, would fear on their account, so let them be careful of (their duty to) Allah, and let them speak right words]. And His intent is that the very thing he used to do to the orphans of others should not be done by others to his own offspring.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Allah has promised two punishments concerning [consuming] the property of an orphan; one of them is a calamity in the Hereafter, which is the Fire of Hell, and the other is a calamity of this world, in which He says: وَ لْیَخْشَ الَّذِینَ لَوْ تَرَکُوا مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّیَّةً ضِعافاً خافُوا عَلَیْهِمْ فَلْیَتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ لْیَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِیداً [And let those fear who, should they leave behind them weakly offspring, would fear on their account, so let them be careful of (their duty to) Allah, and let them speak right words]. The meaning is this: he should fear that his own survivors be treated in the same way as he treats these orphans.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Whoever consumes the property of an orphan through injustice and oppression will in the end taste the evil consequence of his deed in this world and in the Hereafter. The punishment of this world is that Allah says: وَ لْیَخْشَ الَّذِینَ لَوْ تَرَکُوا مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّیَّةً ضِعافاً خافُوا عَلَیْهِمْ فَلْیَتَّقُوا اللهَ [And let those fear who, should they leave behind them weakly offspring, would fear on their account, so let them be careful of (their duty to) Allah]. And concerning the punishment of the Hereafter He also says: إِنَّ الَّذِینَ یَأْکُلُونَ أَمْوالَ الْیَتامی ظُلْماً إِنَّما یَأْکُلُونَ فِی بُطُونِهِمْ ناراً وَ سَیَصْلَوْنَ سَعِیراً [Indeed, those who consume the property of orphans unjustly are only consuming into their bellies fire, and they will be burned in a Blaze].

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Allah the Exalted has forbidden the consumption of an orphan's property through injustice and oppression because of many corruptions [it entails]. Those corruptions are: first, that one who forcibly consumes an orphan's property has had a hand in killing him, for the orphan is needy and unable to look after himself or manage his own affairs, and he has no one, like his father and mother, to take charge of him and provide for him. So if [someone] consumes his property, it is as though he has killed him and made him destitute and poor. In addition to this, Allah the Exalted has warned such a person of punishment and has said: وَ لْیَخْشَ الَّذِینَ لَوْ تَرَکُواْ مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّیَّةً ضِعافًا خَافُواْ علَیْهِمْ فَلْیَتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ لْیَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِیداً [And let those fear who, should they leave behind them weakly offspring, would fear on their account, so let them be careful of (their duty to) Allah, and let them speak right words]. According to Imam Baqir (peace be upon him), Allah has promised two punishments for the one who consumes the property of an orphan: 'a punishment in this world and a punishment in the Hereafter.' In prohibiting the property of the orphan there are benefits, among them that the orphan stands on his own feet and becomes independent, and the children of the one who holds the orphan's property remain safe from the consequences of what he does to the orphan, and also that person is saved from the punishment that Allah has promised. In addition, otherwise, if the orphan reaches the age of understanding and awareness, he can take his revenge, and until they both die, rancour, enmity and hatred will arise between them.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ لْیَخْشَ الَّذِینَ لَوْ تَرَکُوا مِنْ خَلْفِهِمْ ذُرِّیَّةً ضِعافاً خافُوا عَلَیْهِمْ فَلْیَتَّقُوا اللهَ وَ لْیَقُولُوا قَوْلًا سَدِیداً* إِنَّ الَّذِینَ یَأْکُلُونَ أَمْوالَ الْیَتامی ظُلْماً إِنَّما یَأْکُلُونَ فِی بُطُونِهِمْ ناراً وَ سَیَصْلَوْنَ سَعِیراً [And let those fear who, should they leave behind them weakly offspring, would fear on their account, so let them be careful of (their duty to) Allah, and let them speak right words. Indeed those who consume the property of orphans unjustly, only consume fire into their bellies and they shall enter a burning fire]. Allah says: Do not wrong the orphans, for what you did to the orphans will befall your own children. Allah the Exalted, when a person wrongs an orphan and considers it lawful, does not protect his children and leaves them to their father; and if [the father] is righteous, He protects their children on account of the righteousness of their fathers. The proof of this is Allah's saying: 'And as for the wall, it belonged to two orphan boys in the city, and beneath it was a treasure belonging to them, and their father had been a righteous man; so your Lord intended that they should reach maturity and bring forth their treasure — a mercy from your Lord' (Kahf/82). For Allah does not wrong the orphans because of the corruption of their father, but rather He leaves the child to his father; if he was righteous, the child too is protected on account of the father's righteousness.