Sūrah At-Taghābun The Mutual Disillusion: Tafsīr al-Qurṭubī Qurʾānic Rulings and Law

DetailInformationClassificationSignificance

SurahAt-TaghābunMedinanFamily as trial and the call to taqwā and obedience

Key Fiqh IssueWasiyyah to non-Muslim relatives validity across religious differenceValid (majority) / Restricted (minority)Ensures non-inheriting relatives can receive a bequest

School ComparisonḤanafī: wasiyyah to dhimmī relative valid; Mālikī: wasiyyah to dhimmī permitted (majority); Shāfiʿī: valid for non-hostile non-Muslim relatives; Ḥanbalī: permitted for dhimmī; not for actively hostile non-MuslimsMostly permittedReligious difference does not automatically invalidate bequest

Uṣūl PrincipleMawqūf ʿalā l-ijāzah standing on the permission of heirs if exceeding one-thirdConditional validityHeirs can ratify or reject excess bequests

Al-Qurṭubī derives from verse 14 "indeed among your spouses and children are enemies to you" a legal context where family relationships are complicated by differing religious commitments. Since non-Muslim relatives do not inherit through Islamic farāʾiḍ (inheritance law), the only mechanism for a Muslim to provide for them at death is the wasiyyah (bequest) limited to one-third of the estate to non-heirs.

The schools' majority positions permit wasiyyah to dhimmī non-Muslim relatives, deriving from the general Qurʾānic permission of birr (goodness) toward non-hostile non-Muslims in surah Al-Mumtaḥanah. Al-Qurṭubī notes the uṣūl principle of mawqūf ʿalā l-ijāzah: if the Muslim dies bequeathing more than one-third to non-heirs, the excess is only valid if the Muslim heirs consent. Without their consent, only one-third is enforceable. He also derives from the verse's "fear Allah as much as you are able" (verse 16) the softened obligation principle that applies to hardship cases in wasiyyah enforcement.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنَّ مِنْ أَزْوَاجِكُمْ وَأَوْلَادِكُمْ عَدُوًّا لَّكُمْ Yā ayyuhā lladhīna āmanū inna min azwājikum wa-awlādikum ʿaduwwan lakum Meaning: "O you who believe, among your spouses and children are enemies to you" Al-Qurṭubī: the context is spouses and children who obstruct religious obligations; al-Qurṭubī derives that even family relationships that create legal complications (like non-Muslim relatives excluded from inheritance) require careful fiqh navigation, not blanket exclusion from all legal relationships.

فَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ مَا اسْتَطَعْتُمْ Fa-ttaqū llāha ma-staṭaʿtum Meaning: "So fear Allah as much as you are able" Al-Qurṭubī: "mā-staṭaʿtum" (as much as you are able) introduces a softened obligation principle that applies across fiqh including wasiyyah enforcement in complex family situations; impossible obligations are reduced to the possible.

Wasiyyah to non-Muslim dhimmī relatives is valid by majority of all four schools Islamic inheritance law excludes them, but wasiyyah provides an alternative mechanism.
One-third cap applies to wasiyyah for non-Muslim relatives just as for any other non-heir bequest religious difference does not create a special exception.
Mawqūf ʿalā l-ijāzah: bequests exceeding one-third to non-heirs are conditional on Muslim heirs' ratification heirs may accept or reject the excess.
Wasiyyah to actively hostile non-Muslims (those at war with Muslims) is not permitted the same hostility threshold from surah Al-Mumtaḥanah applies.
The "as much as you are able" principle applies to wasiyyah obligations debts and obligations must be fulfilled as completely as the estate permits, then remaining capacity goes to the bequest.

Finished this lesson?