Wala tajAAaloo Allaha AAurdatan liaymanikum an tabarroo watattaqoo watuslihoo bayna alnnasi waAllahu sameeAAun AAaleemun
English
Ahmed Ali
Do not implicate God in your oaths to avoid doing good and being pious and keeping peace among men, for God hears all and knows everything.
224
Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (and make not allah, by your oaths, a hindrance) a reason by means of which you make your oaths. this was revealed about 'abdullah ibn rawahah who swore not to show kindness to his sister and her husband and not to speak with them or make up between them. but allah warned him against doing so, saying: do not make allah a reason by means of which you make oaths, (to your being righteous) that you should not honour your oath (and observing your duty unto him) and ward off severing ties of kinship (and making peace) and not make peace (among mankind). he says: return to that which is better for you and make amend for your oaths; it is also said that this means: avoid making oaths by allah about not showing kindness to anyone and your not making peace between people. (for allah is hearer) of your oath to stop showing kindness to people, (knower) of your intentions and the amends that will absolve you from your oaths.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : do not make god, by swearing in his name, a hindrance, a cause of impediment, in your oaths, that is, setting up [such impediments] by swearing in his name frequently, so as not, to be pious and god-fearing; in such instances oaths are hateful, and result in perjury, which requires a redemption, effected by doing the opposite [of the oath], such as performing righteous deeds and so forth, which constitute an act of obedience; and to put things right between people: this means, do not be prevented from doing righteous deeds, as mentioned, just because you swore against them; nay, do them and make redemption; [this understanding of the verse is] justified by the reason for its revelation, namely, their refraining from such deeds; surely god is all-hearing, of what you say, knower, of your circumstances.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (and make not allah, by your oaths, a hindrance to your being righteous…) [2:224].
said al-kalbi: “this was revealed about ‘abd allah ibn rawahah to warn him against boycotting the husband of his sister, bashir ibn al-nu‘man. ‘abd allah ibn rawahah had sworn that he will never visit him, speak to him or reconcile between him and his sister. he said: ‘i swore by allah that i will not do any of these and it is forbidden for me not to honour my oath’. allah then revealed this verse”.
Sahl al-Tustari
تفسير : do not make god’s [name] an excuse in your oaths not to be righteous…sahl was asked concerning this verse, ‘what is this righteousness (birr)?’ he replied: ‘this means that you do not maintain your family ties [just] because of an oath.’ then [in this connection] someone mentioned to him the verse: it is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards east or west [2:177], and he [sahl] said:this means: it is not righteousness that you do nothing other than this; [true] righteousness is [that of] the one who believes in god [2:177], to the end of that verse. do you not notice how he says, do you bid others to righteousness, while you forget [to practise it] yourselves? [2:44], which is a reference to jews who were commanding their foster brothers to obey god, exalted is he, and to follow the prophet <img border="0" src="images/salatonmassenger.jpg" width="24" height="22">, while they themselves did not do that.
