The Hidden Destruction: Orphans’ Wealth, Denial, and the Soul

Surah al-Nisā’ 4:2 — Orphans’ Wealth and the Danger of Externalizing

"And give the orphans their property, and do not exchange the defective for the good, and do not consume their property by mixing it with your own; surely this is a great sin." (4:2)

Much of tafsīr, including al-Mīzān, has the tendency to move quickly from such verses into a critique of world powers, oppressors, and civilizational destruction—whether the USSR, USA, or the specter of nuclear weapons. While that has its place, the danger is that we externalize too quickly. We read about destruction in the world while ignoring the closer destruction within ourselves.

The Qur’an is first and foremost a mirror to the soul. How do I consume the rights of others? How do I substitute the defective for the good in my own life, hiding behind outward respectability? How often do I rationalize injustice while appearing to be religious?

If we turn to the abjad connection (2477), the resonance is striking. The closest verses are in Surah al-Mursalāt:

77:24 — "Woe that Day to the deniers!"

77:42 — "And fruits from whatever they desire."

It is as though Allah Himself connects this warning (4:2) directly to the reality of denial and its opposite.

To consume the orphan’s wealth—or more broadly, to consume the rights of others—is in reality to be among the deniers (77:24), even if one looks outwardly like a believer.

To restrain oneself, to give others their due, to avoid mixing others’ wealth with one’s own—this is the path that leads to fruits of true desire (77:42).

Here the Qur’an ties together the apparent “small act” of injustice with the ultimate reality of either destruction or reward.

"There are deeds that appear as deeds of the people of Paradise, but they end up in the Fire.
And there are deeds that appear as deeds of the people of the Fire, but they end up in Paradise."

— Prophet Muhammad (ṣ)

This hadith makes clear that what looks heavenly—piety, fasting, charity—can in fact conceal the fire, if beneath it a person violates the rights of others. To consume what belongs to the orphan while showing an outwardly religious image is the very definition of this warning.

So the path is not about outward images of “heavenly deeds,” nor about pointing to the destruction of nations. The real destruction is nearer: when I cross the limits of justice in our own choices, when I consume what is not mine, when I deny the truth by trampling on others’ rights.

The Qur’an, through abjad resonance, links it all together: 4:2 warns us of the orphan’s wealth, 77:24 declares woe upon the deniers, and 77:42 promises fruits to those who restrain and preserve justice.

This is where reflection begins—not with external bombs and empires, but with the bombs we light in our own souls when we betray justice.