4:97

Salaam all,

This is 4:97
إِنَّ الَّذِينَ تَوَفَّاهُمُ الْمَلآئِكَةُ ظَالِمِي أَنْفُسِهِمْ قَالُواْ فِيمَ كُنتُمْ قَالُواْ كُنَّا مُسْتَضْعَفِينَ فِي الأَرْضِ قَالْوَاْ أَلَمْ تَكُنْ أَرْضُ اللّهِ وَاسِعَةً فَتُهَاجِرُواْ فِيهَا فَأُوْلَـئِكَ مَأْوَاهُمْ جَهَنَّمُ وَسَاءتْ مَصِيرًا
Inna allatheena tawaffahumu almalaikatu thalimee anfusihim qaloo feema kuntum qaloo kunna mustadAAafeena fee alardi qaloo alam takun ardu Allahi wasiAAatan fatuhajiroo feeha faolaika mawahum jahannamu wasaat maseeran

The Aya says:
Verily, those who the angels take while transgressing against themselves. They (the angels) said: in what were you?! They responded: We were weak in the land. They (the angels) countered: Was not the land of Allah wide, so you would migrate in her. Then those their ending is Hell, and happened to be an ugly ending.

My personal note:
The aya seems to touch on people who stayed in a place where they were not able to worship God as they should have. At the moment of death, they were asked, why? And the response was because of our weakness, we did what we did. This was not accepted as a legitimate answer. Either because the people were not truthful in their response, or because their effort in practicing the religion that they knew is correct was lacking.

The message is that if a person is unable to practice the religion that God prescribed for him or her because of persecution, then it is better or may be ordered upon them to leave to a place where they can practice it more freely. The context of the aya is the Muslims who remained behind in Mecca and who may have been forced to abandon Islam because they took the easier route. The next Aya gives us the exceptions to this general rule.

Translation of the transliterated words:
Inna: indeed/ verily
Allatheena: those who
Tawaffahumu: take them/ make them meet their dues
Note: the root is W-F-Y and it means meeting dues. This then takes different meanings according to the plane of thought of the sentence. One meaning could be death since it is a meeting of dues, or just a taking of someone or something depending on the situation, or other forms of meeting dues. TAWAFFAHUMU is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of making the object (HuMU= them) meet dues is happening or will be happening by the subject (ALMALAIKATU= the angels). So, here the meeting of the dues is taking them by the angels and it points to death.
Almalaikatu: the angels
Note: the root is L-Hamza-K and it means to convey a message for the verb and angel or messenger for the noun. ALMALAIKATU are the messengers or angels. It was never however used to point to human messengers.
Thalimee: Unjust towards/ unjust against
Note: the root is THA-L-M and it means darkness in the most concrete form. This word also takes the meaning of misplacing right from wrong and transgression or injustice since injustice is displacing right from wrong and a decision made in darkness. THTHALIMEE is the unjust or the one who misplaces right from wrong intentionally and that is the one who decides and acts in darkness.
Anfusihim: themselves
Note: ANFUSIHIM is derived from the root N-F-S and it means to breath but is extended to mean self since the self breathes and that defines her existence. ANFUSI is a noun that is derived from this root and it means Selves of. HIM means them.
Qaloo: they (the angels) said/ communicated
Note: QALOO is derived from the root Qaf-W-L and it means saying in any way possible. QALOO is an action that is completed that is derived from the root. It means the action of saying happened by the subject (third person plural). This, in turn means: they said or they happened to say or communicate.
Feema: in what
Kuntum: were you (plural)/ you happened to be
Note: the root is K-W-N and it means being. KUNTUM is an action that is completed that is derived from the root. It means: the action of being happened by the subject (second person plural). This in turn means: you (plural) happened to be
Qaloo: they (the people) said/ communicated/ responded
Note: QALOO is derived from the root Qaf-W-L and it means saying in any way possible. QALOO is an action that is completed that is derived from the root. It means the action of saying happened by the subject (third person plural). This, in turn means: they said or they happened to say or communicate.
Kunna: We were/ we happened to be
Note: the root is K-W-N and it means being. KUNNA is an action that is completed that is derived from the root. It means: the action of being happened by the subject (first person plural). This in turn means: we were or we happened to be
mustadAAafeena: weak/ exploited for weakness/ humble
Note: MUSTADAAaFEENA is derived from the root Dhad-Ain-F and it means in concrete, when the thing is folded upon itself, therefore giving two potential meanings for the derivatives, one is weakness, since the weak gets folded and the other is multiplication since the fold one object becomes two which is the context of this sentence. MUSTADAAaFEENA are the one who are weak or taken by others as weak or the ones whose weakness was exploited by others or all.
Fee: in
Alardi: the land/ the earth
Note: the root is Hamza-R-Dhad and it means land or earth. AlARDI is the land or the earth.
Qaloo: they (the angels) said/ communicated/ responded
Note: QALOO is derived from the root Qaf-W-L and it means saying in any way possible. QALOO is an action that is completed that is derived from the root. It means the action of saying happened by the subject (third person plural). This, in turn means: they said or they happened to say or communicate.
Alam: is it not?/ did it not?!
Takun: happen to be
Note: the root is K-W-N and it means being. TAKUN is an action that is being completed or will be completed that is derived from the root. It means: the action of being is happening or will be happening by the subject (third person singular pointing to the land).
Ardu: land of/ earth of
Note: the root is Hamza-R-Dhad and it means land or earth. ARDU means land of or earth of.

Allahi: Allah
wasiAAatan: wide open
Note: the root is W-S-Ain and it means the opposite of narrow which gives the feeling of being wide and open as a concept. WASiAAaTAN means wide open.
Fatuhajiroo: So you (plural) migrate
Note: FA means then or so or therefore. TUHAJIROO is derived from the root H-J-R and it means moving on through leaving or abandoning an entity. This entity can be someone or something or some place and so forth. TUHAJAROO is an action that is being completed or will be completed. It means: the action of moving on and leaving behind an entity is happening or will be happening in an interactive manner by the subject (second person plural) to an object that is undeclared. The context here points to migration because it talks about movement in the land.
Feeha: in her
Faolaika: So those
Mawahum: their place of resorting/ their end place/ their place of refugeNote: MAWAHUM is derived from the root Hamza-W-Y and it means resorting or taking resort or refuge in a place or the place and time where one ultimately ends. It also could mean placing or refuge. MAWA means place or time of resort of or place and time of. HUM means them.
Jahannamu: Hell
Note: JAHANNAM is one of the Arabic names for Hell. The root J-H-N-M points to a very deep well where if one falls in it, there is no way out or very very difficult to come out. The relationship with Hell is that it is a deep trouble to fall into.
Wasaat: and she is hated/ ugly
Note: WA is a letter that links what is before with what is after. This link is through inclusion, either one is included in the other or they are all included in the bigger sentence or bigger picture. WA often corresponds with “and/ addition” but the more encompassing meaning is in inclusion one in another or all in a bigger picture or sentence. SAAT is derived from the root S-Y-Hamza and it means hated word or deed. It can also mean ugly or vulnerable. All the meanings are linked somehow by one concept. This word then means different things according to the plane of thought that is being talked about. SAAT is an action that is completed. It means: the action of becoming hated or ugly happened by the subject (Jahannam= Hell).
Maseeran: ending/ final outcome
Note: The root is Sad-Y-R and it means in concrete where the water ends. It is used to mean the end of a transformation or the ending of any process. MASEERAN is the place or time of ending or both. It can also mean the ending.

Salaam all and have a great day.


Hussein