What is the interpretation of Allah’s saying: “What good befalls you is from Allah…”?
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Question:
What is the interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted:[An-Nisa 4:79]? And how is it reconciled with His saying in another verse: [An-Nisa 4:78]
Answer:
There is no contradiction between the two verses. The meaning is that whatever good comes from Allah—meaning whatever goodness, blessing, rectification, health, success, and guidance—then it is from the grace of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He.[An-Nisa 4:79] means by the causes of your sins, by the causes of your mistakes and errors, by your failure to do what is required, and by your failure to take the necessary measures. This is from yourself, and all of it is by the decree of Allah. Say, "All is from Allah." It is by the decree of Allah, but its causes are from yourself. As for the good deed, it is from the grace of Allah, Exalted and Majestic is He, all of it from His grace, and its causes are your obedience to Him, His guidance, and His success for you. So everything is from Allah in terms of decree and will. What is a good deed is from Allah as a favor; He is the one who granted you success, guided you, and decreed it for you. What is an evil deed, its causes are from yourself; its causes are your sins, and your failure to carry out the measures required of you, as He said: [Ash-Shuraa 42:30] This is from Allah in terms of decree, and from you by the cause of your causes and your bad deeds and your shortcoming.
What is the interpretation of the saying of Allah the Exalted:
What comes to you of good is from Allah, but what comes to you of evil, [O man], is from yourself
مَّا أَصَابَكَ مِنْ حَسَنَةٍ فَمِنَ اللَّهِ وَمَا أَصَابَكَ مِن سَيِّئَةٍ فَمِن نَّفْسِكَBut if good comes to them, they say, "This is from Allah "; and if evil befalls them, they say, "This is from you." Say, "All [things] are from Allah."
وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ حَسَنَةٌ يَقُولُوا هَٰذِهِ مِنْ عِندِ اللَّهِ وَإِن تُصِبْهُمْ سَيِّئَةٌ يَقُولُوا هَٰذِهِ مِنْ عِندِكَ قُلْ كُلٌّ مِّنْ عِندِ اللَّهِAnswer:
There is no contradiction between the two verses. The meaning is that whatever good comes from Allah—meaning whatever goodness, blessing, rectification, health, success, and guidance—then it is from the grace of Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He.
but what comes to you of evil, [O man], is from yourself
وَمَا أَصَابَكَ مِن سَيِّئَةٍ فَمِن نَّفْسِكَAnd whatever strikes you of disaster - it is for what your hands have earned; but He pardons much.
وَمَا أَصَابَكُم مِّن مُّصِيبَةٍ فَبِمَا كَسَبَتْ أَيْدِيكُمْ وَيَعْفُو عَن كَثِيرٍ
Source
قناة «فضيلة الشيخ ابن باز Alsheikh Binbaz»، 55 ما تفسير قوله تعالى ما أصابك من حسنة فمن الله إلخ؟ للإمام ابن باز — youtube.com
The Arabic text is a machine transcription of the audio recording.