Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo la taqraboo alssalata waantum sukara hatta taAAlamoo ma taqooloona wala junuban illa AAabiree sabeelin hatta taghtasiloo wain kuntum marda aw AAala safarin aw jaa ahadun minkum mina alghaiti aw lamastumu alnnisaa falam tajidoo maan fatayammamoo saAAeedan tayyiban faimsahoo biwujoohikum waaydeekum inna Allaha kana AAafuwwan ghafooran
English
Ahmed Ali
O you who believe, do not perform your service of prayer when you are intoxicated until you are sure of what you are saying, nor when in a state of seminal pollution, until you have taken a bath, except when you are travelling. But in case you are ill or are travelling, or you have relieved yourself of nature's call, or cohabited with a woman, and cannot find water, then take wholesome dust and pass it over your face and hands: God is benign and forgiving.
43
Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : allah revealed the following about the companions of muhammad prior to the prohibition of intoxicants: (o ye who believe!) in muhammad and the qur'an (draw not near unto prayer) in the mosque of the prophet (pbuh) with the prophet (pbuh) (when ye are drunken, till ye know that which ye utter) so that you know what the prayer leader recites during the prayer, (nor when ye are polluted) nor when you are in a state of major ritual impurity, (save when journeying upon the road) except when passing through when you have to, (till ye have bathed) to purify yourselves from major ritual impurity. (and if ye be ill) wounded, (or on a journey, or one of you cometh from the closet, or ye have touched women) made love to them, (and ye find not water, then go to high clean soil and rub your faces) with the first clap (and your hands (therewith)) with the second clap. (lo! allah is benign) allah is generous for the abundance he has given you, (forgiving) of any shortcoming that may ensue from you.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : o you who believe, draw not near to prayer, that is, do not perform prayer, whilst you are inebriated, by a drink: this was revealed concerning being drunk during the congregational prayer; until you know what you are saying, when you have sobered up; nor whilst you are defiled, as a result of [sexual] penetration or ejaculation (junuban, ‘defiled’, is in the accusative because it is a circumstantial qualifier, and may be used to refer to the singular or plural) — unless you are traversing, crossing, a way, a route, that is, [unless] you are travelling — until you have washed yourselves, in which case you may perform prayer: a proviso is made for the traveller because a different stipulation applies to him, as will follow. it is said that the purpose [of this verse] is to prohibit the approach to places of prayer, that is, mosques, the exception being if one were merely passing through and not staying. but if you are sick, with an illness made worse by [contact with] water, or on a journey, that is, [or] travelling whilst you are [ritually] defiled or impure, or if any of you comes from the privy (al-ghā’it), a place designated for relieving nature, that is to say, [or if any of you] have defecated, or you have touched women (lāmastum, a variant reading has lamastum: both mean lams, that is, ‘touching with the hand’, as stated by ibn ‘umar; this is also the opinion of al-shāfi‘ī, and it extends to touching with other parts of the skin; according to ibn ‘abbās, however, it is [referring to] sexual intercourse); and you can find no water, with which to purify yourselves for prayer, having made the effort to seek it out and search for it — the sick being exempt in this case — then resort to, seek, when the time [for the prayer] has commenced, wholesome soil, clean earth, strike it twice, and wipe your faces and your hands, with it, up to the elbows (the verb masaha, ‘to wipe’, may stand on its own with a direct object or take a particle [before the direct object, sc. masaha bi-]). god is ever pardoning, forgiving.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (o ye who believe! draw not near unto prayer when ye are drunken…) [4:43].
this was revealed about some people who were companions of the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace. they were in the habit of drinking wine and then going to pray while still drunk. because of this they did not know how many units of prayer they performed or what they said in their prayers.
abu bakr al-asfahani informed us> abu’l-shaykh al-hafiz> abu yahya> sahl ibn ‘uthman> abu ‘abd al-rahman al-afriqi> ‘ata’> abu ‘abd al-rahman who said: “one day, ‘abd al-rahman ibn ‘awf prepared food and invited some companions of the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace. they ate and drank and when the time for the maghrib prayer was due they stood up to pray. one of them stepped forward to lead the prayer. he recited (say: o disbelievers…) [surah 109] but did not recite correctly, and so allah, exalted is he, revealed (o ye who believe! draw not near unto prayer when ye are drunken, till ye know that which ye utter…)”.
(…and if ye find not water, then go to high clean soil…) [4:43].
abu ‘abd allah ibn abi ishaq informed us> abu ‘amr ibn matar> ibrahim ibn ‘ali al-dhuhli> yahya ibn yahya> malik ibn anas> ‘abd al-rahman ibn al-qasim> his father> ‘a’ishah who said: “we travelled with the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, in one of his travels and when we reached al-bayda’ or dhat al-jaysh i dropped my necklace and so the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give peace, set camp to look for it and people camped with him too, except that that area did not have water and they did not carry water with them either. so people went to abu bakr and said: ‘did you see what ‘a’ishah has done? she made the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, camp along with people when they have no water with them and this area does not have any water?’ and so abu bakr came. he found the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, sleeping with his head on my thigh. he said: ‘you have held back the messenger of allah and people with him when this area has no water and people have no water with them either’. abu bakr kept rebuking me, saying whatever allah willed him to say all while poking me with his hand in my waist. the only thing that prevented me from moving was the head of the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, on my thigh. the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, slept until dawn and when he woke up, he had no water. allah, exalted is he, then revealed the verse on dry ablution (tayammum). usayd ibn huday, who was one of the leaders, said then: ‘this is not your first blessing, o household of abu bakr’. when the camel which i was riding was made to rise, we found my necklace beneath it”. this was narrated by al-bukhari from isma‘il ibn abi uways and also by muslim from yahya ibn yahya, and both ibn abi uways and ibn yahya related it from malik.
abu muhammad al-farisi informed us> muhammad ibn ‘abd allah ibn al-fadl> ahmad ibn muhammad ibn al-hasan al-hafiz> muhammad ibn yahya> ya‘qub ibn ibrahim ibn sa‘d> his father> abu salih> ibn shihab> ‘ubayd allah ibn ‘abd allah ibn ‘utbah> ibn ‘abbas> ‘ammar ibn yasir who said: “the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, camped once in dhat al-jaysh. he had with him then ‘a’ishah his wife who dropped a necklace made of gems from dhafar and so he held back people to look for it and they remained there until dawn. because people did not have water with them, abu bakr got very angry with her. then allah, exalted is he, revealed to his messenger, allah bless him and give him peace, the story of purifying oneself with clean soil. the muslims got up, struck the soil with their hands and then lifted them up without retaining any soil on them and wiped their faces and hands up to the shoulders as well as the palms of their hands up to the armpits”. said al-zuhri: “we heard that abu bakr then said to ‘a’ishah: ‘by allah, i know that you are blessed’ ”.
