Does Allah not wrong even as much as the husk of a date stone (fatilan) or the spot on a date stone (naqiran)?

- My question is this: I read a verse (verse 40) in the chapter of an-Nisa. “Allah is never unjust in the slightest (mithqala dharrah).” Then, in verse 49 of the same chapter, He says, “Never will they fail to receive justice in the least little thing (fatilan).”
- What I do not understand is this: “mithqala dharrah” or “fatilan”?
- What is the reason for those two different expressions? Why is a different way of expression chosen?

Dear Brother / Sister,

Allah Almighty declares in different ways that He will not wrong (do injustice to) His servants. Let us list a few them:

وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلًا But never will they fail to receive justice in the least little thing (fatilan). (see an-Nisa, 4/49; al-Isra, 17/71)

وَلَا تُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلًا Never will ye be dealt with unjustly in the very least (fatilan). (see an-Nisa, 4/77)

According to Ibn Abbas, Imam Mujahid and Imam Ata, the word fatil mentioned in the verse is the thin membrane on the date stone.

We understand from this expression that Allah Almighty does not wrong even as much as that membrane, which can hardly be seen with the naked eye; every deed of His is right and just.

Another verse regarding the issue is as follows:

وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ نَقِيرًا and not the least injustice (naqiran) will be done to them. (see an-Nisa, 4/124)

The word naqir mentioned in the verse is the spot where the date comes out of itself. Accordingly, the meaning is as follows: They will not be wronged even as much as that spot of the stone; nor injustice will be done to them.

Another verse:

وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ شَيْئًا and they will not be wronged in the least (shay’an). (see Maryam, 19/60)

In the verse, above Allah declares that He will not wrong His servants in the least.

Another verse:

اِنَ اللّٰهَ لَا يَظْلِمُ مِثْقَالَ ذَرَةٍ Allah is never unjust in the least degree (mithqala dharrah). (see an-Nisa, 4/40)

We can show other verses too. The essence of the issue is as follows:

Allah Almighty declares that He will never wrong His servants, sometimes with the word “fatil”, sometimes with the word “naqir”, sometimes with the word “shay’”, and sometimes with the phrase “mithqala dharrah” and sometimes with other words. All of these have the same meaning, which means that Allah will never wrong them.

In that case, a question like “Does Allah not wrong even as much as fatil or naqir?” or “Does Allah not wrong even as much as shay’an or mithqala dharrah?” will be meaningless because the meaning of all those verses is that Allah will never wrong. This “never” is sometimes expressed with the word “fatil”, sometimes with the word “naqir”, sometimes with the phrase “mithqala dharrah”, and sometimes with other words. It is called “tafannun” in the art of rhetoric.

Questions on Islam