'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful'

Surah Al-Hujurat

Its purpose is to guide towards the noble morals by honoring the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, with proper conduct towards him in himself and in his community. It emphasizes the preservation of this through outward respect, which serves as evidence of the inward belief, and is called faith. Just as faith in Allah requires the performance of outward deeds and compliance with their conditions, pillars, and limits to be clear evidence of the inward belief and a witness for it.

"Do the people think that they will be left alone to say, 'We have believed,' while they will not be tried?" (Al-Ankabut: 2). Therefore, the essence of its purpose is to observe the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in proper conduct towards him, as it is the first of the detailed chapters, which is a summary of the Qur'an. Just as the purpose of Al-Fatiha, which is the first of the Qur'an, is to observe Allah. The second of the detailed chapters begins with a letter from the disjointed letters, just as the second of the others begins with disjointed letters. Its name, Al-Hujurat, clearly indicates this by what is indicated in its verse, "In the name of Allah, the King, the Compeller, the Supreme, who is not pleased with the actions of those who fail to honor His Messenger, blessings and peace be upon him; 'the Most Gracious,' whose general mercy establishes the etiquettes to reach a good end; 'the Most Merciful,' who has specifically favored the people of understanding with the inclination towards what brings them beautiful rewards.

And when He, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned the Prophet ﷺ in the context of fighting, beginning it with His noble name and naming the chapter with it, and filled the chapter of Muhammad with His glorification, and concluded it with His name, and praised His followers for His sake, He opened this with the condition of having good manners with Him in words and actions to be counted among His party and to attain closeness to Him. The essence of this is high morals, which are either with Allah, glorified and exalted is He, or with His Messenger ﷺ, or with others, although each section does not lack a moment of the other. The others may either be included with the believers in the rank of obedience or outside of it, which is the disobedient. The one who enters into the obedience of the believers, following their way, may either be present with them or absent from them. So, these are five categories. The call was separated because of them five times, each time for one of the categories. He began with Allah because good manners with Him is the foundational principle that encompasses all, and the basis upon which nothing else is built. He said, calling out to those who are characterized by the first stages of the hearts, as a reminder that the reason for its revelation is from their actions, not from the actions of the people of perfection. For it is a slip that is said, and what should not have been said. And to include the customary address for the lesser, even if with hypocrisy, those above him by priority: 'O you who have believed,' meaning: acknowledge faith. 'Do not advance,' and he omitted the object to encompass all that can be rightly advanced, so that the misunderstanding goes every way. It may be that its omission is intended from the outset, rather the prohibition is directed at the very act of advancing; that is: do not engage in this action. It may also be from 'qaddama,' with emphasis, meaning 'to encourage oneself to advance,' and from it is the vanguard of the army, and they are its advance guard. He indicated the abhorrence of what they were prohibited from and the depiction of its disgrace, and that they are in a grip as a terror for them, saying: 'Before Allah,' meaning: the King whose vengeance cannot be endured.

And when the context is for the prohibition of precedence and advancement, and the requirement of the message is to carry out the commands and prohibitions from the King without there being any objection from the messenger to them, it is thus deserving that nothing be spoken in His presence regarding an important matter, nor should any important matter be done except by His permission. This is because the servants, due to their deficiencies, have no independence in anything at all. He expressed by 'the messenger' without mentioning 'the prophet' after mentioning His greatest name, as an increase in the depiction of glorification. He said: ﴿and His messenger﴾ meaning: the one whose greatness is very apparent. Therefore, he coupled his name with His name and his mention with His mention. This is a prelude to what will come regarding His glorification. The expression by that indicates that when the soul is left to its original nature, it is filled with awe of Him simply by seeing Him, and with reverence for Him. No one acts otherwise except by encouragement from Him to himself and by obliging it against what the original upright nature calls for. The meaning is: do not be ahead in anything while Allah speaks the truth and guides the way, and the messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, conveys from Him and does not speak from desire. Therefore, it is upon others to follow and adhere, not to initiate and innovate, whether the prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, is absent or present, by death or otherwise.

For indeed, his effects are like his eyes. Whoever exerts effort in them is guided to what is best,

﴿And those who strive in Us, We will surely guide them to Our ways﴾ [al-Ankabut: 69].

And when he borrowed the expression of the hands to indicate capability and depicted the evidence as a warning from the retribution of the capable if opposed, he stated this clearly by His saying: ﴿And fear Allah﴾ meaning: place a barrier between you and the wrath of the greatest King. For indeed, piety is a means to prevent you from neglecting His right, opposing His command, and advancing upon something of which you do not know His pleasure.

And when He, glorified and exalted is He, is with everyone by His knowledge, and is closer to him than his own soul, yet He is still purely hidden due to His being veiled by the garment of pride and the garment of greatness and might, and since man, due to what is absent from him, forgets, He mentioned Him as a warning by saying, starting anew or reasoning, affirming a reminder of what is in that of strangeness and greatness for which it is right for a person to strive against his soul for the sake of faith in Him and to persist in continuously bringing Him to mind. This is because the actions of the disobedient are the actions of one who denies Him: ﴿Indeed, Allah﴾ meaning: the One who encompasses the attributes of perfection. And when what precedes in it is either a saying or an action, He said: ﴿Hearing﴾ meaning: to your words that you say, ﴿Knowing﴾ meaning: of your deeds before you act upon them.

And Imam Abu Ja'far ibn al-Zubair said: When He, glorified and exalted is He, described His chosen servants, the companions of His Prophet, and those specifically honored by witnessing him and his noble companionship, He said: ﴿Muhammad is the Messenger of Allah, and those with him are severe against the disbelievers, merciful among themselves﴾ [Al-Fath: 29] 'to the end of it'. So He praised them, glorified and exalted is He, and mentioned His description of them, exalted is He, in the Torah and the Gospel. This is a characteristic they alone possess, distinguished by the honor of it, and it aligns with His clear saying, exalted is He: ﴿You are the best nation brought forth for mankind; you enjoin what is right﴾ [Al-Imran: 110] 'to the end of it'. And it testified for them of their great status with Him. This corresponds to their request for the fulfillment of the branches of faith, in word and deed, outwardly and inwardly, with the clearest action and the purest intention. And they were purified from what occurred from them in their addresses to their Prophets, such as the saying of the Children of Israel: ﴿O Moses, invoke for us your Lord﴾ [Al-A'raf: 134] 'to' what was witnessed of this type due to their poor condition. So He, exalted is He, said: ﴿O you who have believed, do not put [yourselves] before Allah and His Messenger﴾ the verse. [And] ﴿O you who have believed, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor be loud to him in speech﴾ [Al-Hujurat: 2] 'to His saying: ﴿And Allah is Forgiving and Merciful﴾ [Al-Hujurat: 5]. So they sought with manners that befit the height of their faith, even if some of it is forgiven for others who are not in their rank. It has been said: The good deeds of the righteous are the sins of the close ones. It is as if it was said to them: Do not neglect what has been granted to you in the Torah and the Gospel; for it is a rank that no one else among the nations has attained. So accept it with the purification of your deeds from being presumed in their appearances to have arisen from a lack of concern in the address, or ill intent in the response. And align your outward with your inward. And let your public be indicative of your sound inner selves. ﴿Indeed, those who lower their voices in the presence of the Messenger of Allah, those are the ones whom Allah has tested their hearts for righteousness﴾ [Al-Hujurat: 3]. Then they recognized the poor condition of those who deviated from this attribute, so He, exalted is He, said: ﴿Indeed, those who call you from behind the chambers, most of them do not understand﴾ [Al-Hujurat: 4]. Then they were commanded to be cautious at the provocation of Satan, or the false accusation of a slanderer: ﴿O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with a report﴾ [Al-Hujurat: 6] the verse. Then He commanded them to rectify what is between them and to cooperate in that by fighting the rebellious tyrants, improving companionship, and adhering to what cultivates love, mutual affection in faith, and humility. And that all good is in righteousness: ﴿Indeed, the most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most righteous of you﴾ [Al-Hujurat: 13]. And all of this is a warning for the lofty attributes they were described with at the conclusion of Surah Al-Fath.