Is there any contradiction between surat Annisa ayat 78 and 79?

Question

I've read about the translation in two different language Indonesia and English between these two ayats 78 and 79 in surah Annisa.

I found something that I think it is a contradiction, but I'm not sure myself since the Quran is from our Creator and it is impossible to have a single contradiction.

From the ayat 78 :

Wherever you may be, death will overtake you, even if you should be within towers of lofty construction. But 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 ." So what is [the matter] with those people that they can hardly understand any statement?

from what I understand this ayat told us that every good or evil that comes to us is From Allah.

From the ayat 79 :

What comes to you of good is from Allah , but what comes to you of evil, [O man], is from yourself. And We have sent you, [O Muhammad], to the people as a messenger, and sufficient is Allah as Witness.

this ayat from what I understand that Good is from Allah and evil is from our self.

and I check on both ayat there are using the same word which is

So if I'm not mistaken it is clear that from ayat 78 Good or Evil comes from Allah, but when I comes to ayat 79 Good is from Allah and Evil is From our self?

I'm not an expert on this field, but I like to read quran with their translation so I could understand them. may be I got something wrong with this, so please someone with deep understanding explain this two ayat. thank you.

Answer 1

All perfect praise be to Allah

As this is a tafseer related question so this does not necessarily require references, but it requires to make it clear how these 2 ayahs are compatible. I will try to explain this, with help of of tafseer from Dr. Israr Ahmed (late), which you can listen(in urdu) here.

There are many opinions about this, we will discuss 2 of them.

But first, let's understand the background of this. We don't need to discuss details here, just focus on these 2 ayahs, in first ayah, Allah is describing what munafiqeen used to say:

But if good comes to them, they say, "This is from Allah "; and if evil befalls them, they say, "This is from you."

"You" here refers to Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, so Allah is describing that when something good happens, the munafiqeen say it is from Allah, Allah is great alhamdulillah and all that, but when something bad happens(these ayahs are related to a gazwa/war, so you can expect anything in war) they say that this is happening because of you(Muhammad ﷺ), because of your decision or with anything they can hold on to blame him.

So, allah nullify their claim in first ayah about this, and makes it crystal clear and whatever happens good or bad happens as per Allah's wish. So, you can't blame prophet for bad things and praise Allah for good things. You should have complete faith on Allah and his decisions.

Having said that, in the very next ayah, comes the different explanations. The most popular one is:
The first ayah is related to munafiqeen and to nullify what they say, although everything good or bad "IS" from Allah, but true muslims don't attribute anything bad to Allah, so allah is commanding "MUSLIMS" to attribute good things to Allah, and on bad things, a true believer should say that this is because of some of my mistake, and Allah wanted to warn me or something, and this bad thing is because of me not because Allah ENFORCED it on me. This is first view.

You can read more about why believers should not attribute bad things to Allah on internet.

Now, coming to 2nd view, which is that the reality is that everything good or bad is with the will of Allah,(Now, i will have to apologize for my weak english vocabulary, i don't know they word, so i will try to explain the scenario) so in second ayah, Allah is kind of repeating like if someone says something illogical and the other person answers him with a question in his logic. Like... for example, let's suppose, if i say something like "Hey, you look great in this dress, but this color does not suits you." And you will reply like "Oh, i look great in this dress, and this color does not suits me??(How come? how illogical...)" This is something like that in this ayah, Allah is saying that whatever comes good is from me, and whatever bad is from you(This is what munafiqeen say, how illogical is this?). This is the second view on this ayah.

1st view is more strong, and more scholars support that view(According to Dr Israr, and he also prefers this view.).

Now, let me quote some related things:

“No evil ever touches a Muslim, but it becomes a source of forgiveness for him – even the pinch of a thorn in his feet.” [ Tirmidhi]

“No hardship befalls a servant of Allah, be it light or tough, but it is always due to his sin – and the sins Allah forgives (without afflicting with a calamity) are much more.” [Tirmidhi]

Also read This and this.

I hope i helped.

Allah knows best

Answer 2

Let me try and explain these 2 Ayah from a slightly different perspective, with all due respect to the other answers mentioned here.

The first of these two Ayah is talking about the people who were blaming the Prophet for their own mistakes. And in the next Ayah, Allah is telling them, that you need to blame your own self for your own mistakes. When a calamity befalls you, it is because Allah is punishing you for your mistakes. (Therefore, both have been destined from Allah). Don't blame the Prophet for that calamity.

However, in both the Ayah (first and second), when a reward or victory is granted to you, you should thank Allah for it.

So Allah is saying, that these people followed the first part of the ruling, but not the second part. This is why they are not true believers.

Hope this clarifies. There is no contradiction.