Huqooq al-Yatama kama jaat fi Surat al-Nisa
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- Dār al-‘Āṣimah lil-Nashr wa-al-Tawzī‘
Huqooq al-Yatama kama jaat fi Surat al-Nisa (The Rights of Orphans as Presented in Surat al-Nisa) is a thematic Quranic exegesis by the Saudi scholar Sulayman ibn Ibrahim al-Lahim, examining the legal protections, financial guardianship, and moral obligations concerning orphans outlined in Surat al-Nisa.
Background and Scope
The work was prepared as the seventh entry in al-Lahim's analytical exegesis series, al-Silsilah al-Qur'aniyyah fi Tafsir Kitab Allah wa Bayan ma Fihi min al-Fawa'id wa al-Ahkam wa al-Durus al-Tarbawiyyah (The Quranic Series on the Exegesis of the Book of Allah and the Elucidation of Its Benefits, Legal Rulings, and Pedagogical Lessons).
In the introduction, al-Lahim notes that Surat al-Nisa addresses essential social and familial matters while reforming pre-Islamic practices (jahiliyyah) that deprived vulnerable groups of justice. The book focuses specifically on the verses of the surah that mandate the safeguarding and fair management of orphans' estates, regulate the marital rights of female orphans, grant them inheritance rights alongside adults, and warn against the misappropriation of their wealth.
Structure and Content
The study proceeds through an exegesis of the relevant passages in Surat al-Nisa, primarily centered on:
- Safeguarding and Restitution of Property: An exposition of verse 2 ( وَآتُوا الْيَتَامَى أَمْوَالَهُمْ وَلَا تَتَبَدَّلُوا الْخَبِيثَ بِالطَّيِّبِ وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَهُمْ إِلَى أَمْوَالِكُمْ إِنَّهُ كَانَ حُوبًا كَبِيرًا , "And give to the orphans their properties and do not substitute the defective of your own for the good"), establishing the legal necessity of preserving the property of orphans and prohibiting guardians from consuming or replacing high-quality orphan property with inferior goods.
- Equity in Marriage: Analysis of verse 3 ( وَإِنْ خِفْتُمْ أَلَّا تُقْسِطُوا فِي الْيَتَامَى فَانْكِحُوا مَا طَابَ لَكُمْ مِنَ النِّسَاءِ , "And if you fear that you will not deal justly with the orphan girls, then marry those that please you of [other] women"), which instructs guardians who fear failing to deliver fair bridal dowries (mahr) or just treatment to orphan wards under their care to marry other women instead.
- Testing Maturity and Delivery of Assets: Discussion of the statutory criteria for relinquishing control of property to orphans upon reaching both the age of marriage and sound judgment (rushd), alongside the strict limits placed on impoverished guardians taking maintenance from an orphan's wealth.
- Severe Warnings against Usurpation: Highlighting the divine warnings against consuming orphans' wealth unjustly, referencing verse 10 and related passages that equate such exploitation with consuming fire into one's belly.
Method and Sources
For each verse or passage, al-Lahim structures his analysis into systematic sub-sections:
- Contextual Link (Silat al-Ayah bi-ma Qablaha): Demonstrating the organic link between the verse and preceding commands, such as how the injunction to protect orphans serves as the initial practical application of general piety and familial duty (taqwa al-arham).
- Occasions of Revelation (Asbab al-Nuzul): Citing classical reports, such as narratives related by Sa'id ibn Jubayr concerning disputes between guardians and orphan nephews over withheld property.
- Lexical and Grammatical Analysis (Ma'ani al-Mufradat wal-Jumal): Defining technical terms, including the linguistic root of orphanhood (yutm) as singularity and its legal definition (a child whose father died before reaching puberty), documented through prophetic tradition, such as لا يُتْمَ بعد احتلام ("There is no orphanhood after puberty"). He also evaluates Arabic grammatical features, such as semantic implication (tadmin) and syntactic structures.
- Legal Rulings and Pedagogical Lessons (al-Fawa'id wal-Ahkam wal-Durus al-Tarbawiyyah): Extracting legal deductions concerning guardianship (wilayah), financial stewardship, and the moral responsibilities incumbent upon Muslim society toward the vulnerable.
Al-Lahim draws extensively upon classical works of exegesis and jurisprudence, citing Ibn Jarir al-Tabari, Ibn Abi Hatim, Abu Bakr al-Jassas, al-Zamakhshari, Abu Bakr ibn al-Arabi, Ibn Atiyyah, al-Qurtubi, Ibn Taymiyyah, Ibn Kathir, and modern exegetical works such as those of Abd al-Rahman al-Sa'di and Muhammad al-Amin al-Shinqiti.
Publication
The book was published in Riyadh by Dar al-Asimah li al-Nashr wa al-Tawzi'.
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