| Tafseer - Explanation of the Qur'aan |
Tafseer of
Soorah al-Hujarat
verses 1 to 3
| verses
4 to 7 |
Verses 8 - 10
VERSE 1 -
"O Believers, do not put (yourselves) forward (hasten not to decide) in
Allah and His Messenger's (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) presence but instead
fear Allah. Verily, Allah is All-Hearing and All-Knowing."
The presence of Allah and His Messenger - One is in the presence of Allah,
when the Qur'aan is recited and likewise one is in the presence of Allah's
Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) when his Hadeeths are mentioned. Thus,
the presence of Allah and His Messenger is the Qur'aan and the Sunnah. [Ibn
Katheer vol. 4, p.315]
And forwardness in their presence would be interpreting the Qur'aan and the
Sunnah by other than what has been taught by the Messenger of Allah or giving
one's own opinion precedence over the commands of Allah (Qur'aan) and His
Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) (Sunnah).
A Believers Manhaj (way) - When clear proofs and evidences from the Qur'aan
and the Sunnah are presented to the Believer, he submits to them giving up all
his or hers mistaken concepts. Allah says: "The
only saying of the faithful believers, when they are called to Allah (His
Words: the Qur'aan) and His Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) to judge
between them, is that they say: 'We hear and we obey'. They are those who will
attain success." [Soorah an-Noor (24): 51]
Whereas, the Manhaj of an innovator is that he makes up his own concepts and
practices and then tries to make the religion comply with his ideas - by
unintentionally making false interpretations of the Qur'aan and the Sunnah or
claiming them to be the practices of his forefathers. He is no better then
those regarding whom Allah says: "Then do you
believe in a part of the Book and reject the rest? Then what is the recompense
of those who do so among you, except disgrace in the life of this world, and
on the Day of Judgement, they shall be consigned to the most grievous torment.
And Allah is not unaware of what you do." [Soorah Al-Baqarah
(2): 58]
VERSE 2 -
"O you who Believe! Raise not your voices in the presence of Allah's
Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) nor speak aloud to him in talk as you
speak loud to one another, lest your deeds may be rendered fruitless, while
you perceive not."
Revelation - Narrated Az-Zubayr (radhi
allahu anhu): "When a delegation
from tribe of Tameem came to the Prophet (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam), Abu Baqr (radhi
allahu anhu) suggested to the Prophet
that al-Qa'qaa ibn Ma'bad (radhi allahu
anhu) be sent to meet them and Umar ibn
Khattab (radhi allahu anhu)
that al-Aqra bin Qays (radhi allahu anhu)
be sent instead. Abu Baqr was irritated by Umar's counter proposal so he
turned to Umar (radhi allahu anhu)
and said: "You only said that to contradict me" Umar in turn replied
that he did not do it to be contrary. A quarrel aroused and both of them
raised their voices to such a level that the Prophet's voice was drowned out.
Allah then revealed the verse "O you who
Believe! Raise not your voices in the presence of Allah's Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam)..."
As explained earlier, here too the meaning derived from: 'in the presence of
Allah's Messenger (sallallahu alaihi
wasallam)' are the traditions of the
Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu alaihi
wasallam). [as explained by Ibn Abbass (radhi
allahu anhu) (Ibn Katheer)]. According to
the interpretation of Ibn Abbass (radhi
allahu anhu), this verse indicates that
when the Sunnah of Allah's Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam) reaches a Muslim, he
should not reject or neglect it claiming that his forefathers worked out in a
different way.
NOTE - It should be noted that it was forbidden to raise one's voice in the
presence of Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam), while he was living,
and it forbidden to raise one's voice at the grave of Prophet (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam) in Madeenah, now that he
is dead.
It has been narrated that the great Caliph, Umar ibn Khattab (radhi
allahu anhu) once he heard two men
raising their voice in the Prophet's Masjid, so he asked them: "Do you
realize where you are?" But before they could answer, he asked them,
"Where are you both from?" They replied they were from Taaif. He
then said to them: "If you had said that you
were from Madeenah, I would have given you both severe lashes for raising your
voices in the masjid of Allah's Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam)" [Saheeh
al-Bukharee]
Cure for Disagreement and Disunity among Muslims -
The revelation of this verse helps in
realizing and understanding that the cure for disputes and disagreement among
the Muslims is the adherence to the Qur'aan and the Sunnah. It is emphasized
in details in the verse: "And if you disagree
about anything you should refer it to Allah and His Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam), if
you believe in Allah and the Last Day."
[Soorah an-Nisa (4): 59]
After the death of Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam), this verse applies to
the Qur'aan and the Sunnah as the basis of all decisions. It is also important
that the decision be accepted completely by the heart, tongue and the limbs
because Allah says: "By Allah, they do not truly
believe until they make you (O Muhammad (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam)) the
judge in disputes between them, without finding within themselves any
resistance to your decision but instead accepting them completely"
[Soorah An-Nisaa (4): 65]
Because his (sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
speech was divinely guided: "Nor does he speak
of (his own) desires. It is only an inspiration that is inspired."
[Soorah an-Najm (53): 3]
Allah then warns that one might loose all his good deeds, due to disrespect to
the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi
wasallam) or his Sunnah, without he
knowing it. Also, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam) said: "A
man may inadvertently speak a word pleasing to Allah because of which Paradise
is destined to him, and another may recklessly speak a word displeasing to
Allah because of which he will be cast in the Hellfire, further then the
distance between heaven and the earth." [Saheeh al-Bukharee
v.8, p.322, no.485]
He also said: "O you who believe! Obey Allah and obey the Messenger and
make not vain your deeds." [Soorah Muhammad (47): 33]
We Learn - Morals
Anger -
The Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi
wasallam) advised the Muslim Ummah to
avoid anger and bad language. He once repeated the command: "Do
not get angry" thrice. [Saheeh Bukharee v.8, p.88, no. 137]
And: "The Muslim is the one from whose tongue
and hands the Muslims are safe." [Saheeh al-Bukharee]
He (sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
also said: "The signs of a hypocrite are four
and anyone who possesses one of them possesses a characteristic of Nifaaq
(hypocrisy) until he abandons it. When he is entrusted he betrays his trust,
when he talks he lies, when he makes a promise he breaks it, and when he
quarrels he uses foul (bad language) words" [Saheeh
al-Bukharee v.1 p.32-33, no. 33, Muslim v.1, p.40, no.111, and Abu Dawood v.3,
p.1313, no.4671]
The ill feeling produced by arguments may last forever and spoil the Muslim
unity. Hence, Islam has completely prohibited this ill behavior for Muslims on
the tongue of Prophet Muhammad (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam), he said:
"It is not allowed for a Muslim to cut off his
relations with his Muslim brother for more than three nights by turning away
from each other whenever they meet. And the best of them is the one who greets
(Salaams) to the other - first." [Saheeh Bukharee v.8,
pp.64-65, no.100]
Loud Voices
Raising the voice is a sign of bad character, and Islam has abandoned such
ill manners. Allah recalls the saying of Luqman (alaihi
as-salaam): "Lower
your voice, (my
son) for verily,
the most detestable (hateful)
voice is the braying of a donkey."
[Soorah Luqmaan (31): 19]
Furthermore, Allah's Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam) referred the raising of
voices as being among the signs of the Last Day and said: "Voices
will be raised loud in the masjids and the tribes will be lead by their most
sinful members" [At-Tirmidhee]
And he (sallallahu alaihi wasallam)
advised: "If you get angry, be quiet!"
[Adaab al-Mufrad]
VERSE 3 -
"Surely, those who lower their voices in the presence of Allah's
Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam) are
the ones whom Allah has tested their hearts for Taqwa (piety). Forgiveness and
a great reward will be theirs."
Here, Allah informs the believers that if they lower their voices in the
presence of Allah's Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam), then they will be
considered to have passed the test of piety, thereby, earning His forgiveness
and the reward of paradise.
A Test of Taqwa (Piety)
Following the Messenger (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam) - According to the
Tafseer of Ibn Abbas (radhi allahu anhu)
in which the presence of Allah's Messenger is interpreted as his (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam) Sunnah, then this test
can only be achieved through submission to Allah's Messenger. Thus, if a
believer has practices and ideas that contradict the Sunnah of Allah's
Messenger (sallallahu alaihi wasallam), then he should lower his voice by
submitting to the truth.
And if he does so, then he will have passed the test of piety and proved his
belief in the Messenger of Allah, Muhammad (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam), because the second half
of the testimony - "Muhammadur
Rasool-Allah" obligates the obedience to Prophet Muhammad
(sallallahu alaihi wasallam). And Allah says: "Whatsoever
the Messenger gives you take it and whatsoever he forbids you refrain from
it." [Soorah al-Hashr (57): 7]
Thus, this verse emphasizes the importance and obligation of following the
Messenger of Allah (sallallahu alaihi wasallam) and giving his Sunnah
precedence over one's own desires and habits.
Choice between Good and evil
Another general explanation of this verse was
given by Umar Ibn Khattab (radhi allahu
anhu), when he was asked whether a man
who never desired evil nor did he do it, was better than one who desired it
but did not do it. He replied: "Surely, those
who desire sin and do not commit it are the ones whom Allah has tested their
hearts for Taqwa. Forgiveness and a great reward will be theirs"
[Musnad Ahmad]
Also, the Messenger of Allah (sallallahu
alaihi wasallam) is reported to have
said: "Whoever intends to do a bad deed and
chooses not to do it, will have good deed recorded for him."
[Saheeh al-Bukharee v.8, p.329, no: 498 and Saheeh Muslim v.1, p.75, no: 237]
Thus, this verse also refers to those who are tempted to commit acts of
disobedience and choose to do the right. All such people have passed the test
of Taqwa.
