And when he prohibited rushing to inflict harm merely upon hearing what necessitates dispute, and concluded with what is hoped for mercy, and it was that sometimes the news which he commanded glorified and exalted is He to clarify was explicit, he prohibited the causes of evil that are reported, which become a reason for the grudges that result in the evil that is a cause for wrath, as mercy for the servants of Allah and an expectation of mercy from Him. So he said, as a result of that, mentioning what is in the fourth section of the manners and benefits of the obligation to refrain from harming the believers in their presence and belittling their condition, which removes their joy and brings about their misfortunes: "O you who have believed," meaning: affirm the acknowledgment of truthfulness, "do not ridicule," meaning: do not mock and belittle.

And when mockery occurs in the presence of people, he expressed in a way that makes it understood that whoever participates or is pleased or remains silent while able is a mocker, a participant with the speaker: "a people," meaning: people in whom there is strength of endeavor. In that expression, there is a shaking to the standing of a person over himself and restraining it from what it desires of deficiencies, in gratitude for what Allah has given him of strength: "from a people," for that necessitates evil; because the weakest of people, when stirred to belittle, becomes strong by what arises within him from the desires of the self.

And when the original opinion necessitates that a person does not belittle anyone except one who is secure that he may become at some time stronger than him in this world and the Hereafter, he explained by saying: "perhaps," meaning: because he is worthy and deserving for them "that they may be," meaning: those who are mocked, "better than them," so the matter may turn against them and they may have a bad outcome. Ibn Mas'ud, may Allah be pleased with him, said: calamity is entrusted to the saying, and if I mocked a dog, I feared that I would be turned into a dog; and Al-Qushayri said: no one has belittled anyone except that he was made to be over him, and it is not appropriate to consider the apparent conditions of people; for indeed, in corners there are hidden matters, and the truth, glorified is He, conceals His allies in the veil of suspicion, as in the report: "How many a disheveled, dusty one, with two garments, is not paid attention to, if he swore by Allah, He would fulfill his oath."

And when the release of the people is for one who has the capacity for resistance, and they are the men, he expressed what is from the women by opening the noon that the abandonment of action: "and no women from women." Then he explained the prohibition by saying: "perhaps," meaning: they should fear that "they may be" the mocked ones "better than them," meaning: the mockers.

And when mockery involves blame, and it is not explicitly stated, and when slander is the blame itself, the matter was elevated to him and he said: ﴿And do not slander﴾ meaning: do not blame in a hidden manner ﴿yourselves﴾ by one of you blaming another with a gesture or something similar. So how about if it is openly? For you are in mutual support and compassion like one soul. Or a person does something that is blamed, and he has indeed slandered himself or he slanders another, and his slander of him becomes a reason for him to search for his faults and slander him, thus he is the one who has slandered himself. ﴿And do not call one another﴾ meaning: let one of you not call another, that is, to call in a manner of change and degradation ﴿by nicknames﴾ by calling a person with a name that he dislikes, whether he was the one who invented it first. As for the names of praise, they are good, like Al-Siddiq and Al-Faruq.

And when faith is a restraint against the horrors of disobedience, and when slander and mockery cut that restraint, he explained what indicates that it is a sin, expressing it with the comprehensive word for all blame, deterring from that, and he said: ﴿Evil is the name of disobedience﴾ meaning: the departure from the bond of religion ﴿after faith﴾. He left the neighbor to indicate that whoever falls into that is likely to persist in it, thus spending his time in it; for the soul is fond of deficiencies, especially that which involves superiority. So whoever does that has accepted for himself to be branded with disobedience after having been described with faith.

And when the implication is: so whoever repents, they are the rightly guided, and when the position of warning is more appropriate, he added to it his saying: ﴿And whoever does not repent﴾ meaning: returns from what Allah has forbidden, thus alleviating for himself what was made strict upon him ﴿then those﴾ meaning: the ones far from Allah ﴿are﴾ specifically ﴿the wrongdoers﴾ meaning: those entrenched in placing things in their inappropriate places.