“Whosoever intercedes for a good cause will have a ‘naseeb’ thereof, and whosoever intercedes for an evil cause will have a ‘kifl’ of it. And Allah is Ever All-Able to do everything.” [al-Nisaa: 85]

Asalaam alaikum Warahmatulah Wabarakatuh.



Allaah `azza wa jall, says in Soorah al-Nisaa:

مَّن يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً حَسَنَةً يَكُن لَّهُ نَصِيبٌ مِّنْهَا ۖ وَمَن يَشْفَعْ شَفَاعَةً سَيِّئَةً يَكُن لَّهُ كِفْلٌ مِّنْهَا ۗ وَكَانَ اللَّهُ عَلَىٰ كُلِّ شَيْءٍ مُّقِيتًا

 “Whosoever intercedes for a good cause will have a ‘naseeb’ thereof, and whosoever intercedes for an evil cause will have a ‘kifl’ of it. And Allah is Ever All-Able to do everything.”  [al-Nisaa: 85]

Let’s have a look at these 2 separate words (in bold):

 نصيبٌ

كِفْلٌ


They both mean the same thing – they both mean ‘ portion’ or ‘a part of something’.

Allaah (`azza wa jall) is informing us that the one who intercedes for a good or a bad cause will receive a portion of that deed written down for him.



But why the 2 different words if they both mean the same thing? Well, do they mean exactly the same thing? Let’s take a look.





Kifl:

The word ‘kifl’ is very ‘muhaddad’ – restricted and bounded. In language it means: a portion that is equal in all spheres, as they say النصيب المساوي – an equal portion, no shortcoming therein nor any ‘ziyaada’ – increase.

Allaah `azza wa jall used this word here to inform us that the one who does intercede for an evil cause will only receive an equal portion thereof – there is no injustice. As He says in Soorah al-Ghaafir:

مَنْ عَمِلَ سَيِّئَةً فَلَا يُجْزَىٰ إِلَّا مِثْلَهَا ۖ  وَمَنْ عَمِلَ صَالِحًا مِّن ذَكَرٍ أَوْ أُنثَىٰ وَهُوَ مُؤْمِنٌ فَأُولَٰئِكَ يَدْخُلُونَ الْجَنَّةَ يُرْزَقُونَ فِيهَا بِغَيْرِ حِسَابٍ

“Whosoever does an evil deed, will not be requited except the like thereof…”  [al-Ghaafir: 40]

Naseeb:

As for the word ‘naseeb’ then again it also means ‘ portion’ but amazingly it has an added meaning of ‘ziyaada’ (increase) and that the portion can be multiplied. It is for this reason that when speaking of the reward/portion of the one who intercedes for a good cause, Allaah subhaanahu wa ta’aala uses the word ‘naseeb’. As is known, out the mercy, favour and generosity of Allaah, the reward for good deeds are multiplied by ten times and more (up to 700 times) whereas the evil deed is only written down once and this is highlighted ever so subtly and yet so profoundly in the simple ayah above:

“Whosoever intercedes for a good cause will have a ‘naseeb’ thereof, and whosoever intercedes for an evil cause will have a ‘kifl’ of it. And Allah is Ever All-Able to do everything.” [al-Nisaa: 85]

It is for this reason that the above ayah in Soorah al-Ghaafir ends with…
“Whosoever does an evil deed, will not be requited except the like thereof, and whosoever does a righteous deed, whether male or female and is a true believer, such will enter Paradise, where they will be provided therein without limit.” [al-Ghaafir: 40]