“O people - your Lord is One, and your father is one: all of
you are from Adam, and Adam was from the ground. The noblest of you in Allah’s
sight is the most God-fearing: Arab has no merit over non-Arab other than piety.”
O people: the Devil has despaired of ever being worshipped
in this land of yours, though he is content to be obeyed in other works of
yours that you deem to be of little importance.
O people: postponing the inviolability of a sacred month
[claiming to postpone the prohibition of killing in it to a subsequent month,
so as to continue warring despite the holy month’s having arrived] is a
surfeit of unbelief, by which those who disbelieve are led astray, making it
lawful one year and unlawful in another, in order to match the number [of months]
Allah has made inviolable. Time has verily come to a complete turn on how it was the
day Allah created the heavens and the earth. Four months there are which are
inalienable, three in a row and forth by itself: Dhul Qa‘da, Dhul Hijja, and
Muharram; and Rajab, which lies between Jumada and Sha‘ban. Have I given the
message?—O Allah, be my witness.
O people: verily you owe your women their rights, and they
owe you yours. They may not lay with another man in their beds, let anyone into their houses they do not want without their permission, or commit indecency. If
they do, Allah has given you leave to debar them, send them from your beds, or
[finally] strike them in a way that does no harm. But if they desist and obey
you, then you must provide for them and clothe them fittingly. The women who
live with you are like captives, unable to manage for themselves: you took them
as a trust from Allah and enjoyed their sex as lawful through a word [legal
ruling] from Allah. So fear Allah in respect to women, and concern yourselves
with their welfare. Have I given the message?—O Allah, be my witness.
O people, believers are but brothers. No one may take his
brother’s property without his full consent. Have I given the message?—O Allah,
be my witness. Never go back to being unbelievers, smiting each other’s necks,
for verily, I have left among you that which, if you take it, you will never
stray after me: the Book of Allah. Have I given the message?—O Allah, be my
witness.
O people, your Lord is One, and your Father is one: all of
you are from Adam, and Adam was from the ground. The noblest of you in Allah’s
sight is the most god-fearing: Arab has no merit over non-Arab other than
godfearingness. Have I given the message?—O Allah, be my witness. —At this,
they said yes.
He said, Then let whoever is present tell whoever is
absent.
O people, Allah has apportioned
to every deserving heir his share of the estate, and no deserving heir may
accept a special bequest, and no special bequest may exceed a third of the
estate. A child’s lineage is that of the [husband who owns the] bed, and
adulterers shall be stoned. Whoever claims to be the son of someone besides his
father or a bondsman who claims to belong to other than his masters shall bear
the curse of Allah and the angels and all men: no deflecting of it or ransom
for it shall be accepted from him.
