And when He, glorified and exalted is He, mentioned the religious brotherhood, it was a reminder by which one is obliged to honor and prevented from taking revenge. He forbade matters that lead to self-admiration due to the glorification of parents and high lineage. He made it clear that there is no lineage except that which is borne by faith, which begins with piety. He expressed this in a way that indicates the wavering and confusion, pointing to the low status of those who boast of their lineage. He indicated that whoever does not take heed from what has passed and rises above the rank of those who have believed has indeed fallen into a great lowliness: "O mankind," meaning: all believers and others, "Indeed, We created you" meaning: We brought you into existence from non-existence, based on what you are in terms of your measures in your forms and what you are upon in terms of the diversity that escapes enumeration. And We brought forth each one of you, "from male," which is intended for strength and determination, "and female," which is the place of weakness and comfort. There is no superiority for any of you in that over another, nor pride in lineage.

And when their preference was to groups known by each of them, it was a remarkable matter. He expressed this with the pronoun of greatness, saying: "And We made you" meaning: by Our greatness, "nations" that branch from a single origin, the plural of nation with a fathah, which is the first level of the six levels of lineage that the Arabs have. "And tribes" beneath the nations, and "clans" beneath the tribes, and "lineages" beneath the clans, and "branches" beneath the lineages, and "families" beneath the branches. Khuzaymah is a nation, Kinānah is a tribe, Quraysh is a clan, Qusayy is a lineage, and Abd Manaf is a branch, and Hashim is a family, and Abbas is a clan. Al-Baghawi said: And there is no group after the clan that can be described as such. This is the end. He limited it to the first two because they are the furthest that a human can easily know, and what is below them is more appropriate. Then he mentioned the reason for the branching so that it may be understood, saying: "So that you may know one another," meaning: so that a person may know who is close to him in lineage to connect with his relatives what is due to him, not to boast and pride.

And when the benefit of boasting through lineage among them was honor for whoever was more noble, the previous verse that this is based on commanded piety. The intended meaning was: So fear Allah regarding your relatives and those of your kin. He then invalidated boasting about lineage, explaining what the context indicated regarding its intended meaning, confirming that the true nobility is by piety: ﴿Indeed, the most noble of you﴾ O those who boast ﴿with Allah﴾ meaning: the King with whom no one has any authority and no one is noble except for whom He honors with His nobility, and there is no perfection for anyone besides Him ﴿is the most pious among you﴾. That is the male whose origin is valid by following his father Adam, peace be upon him. He did not incline towards femininity, even if he had the lowest lineage. For this reason, it was emphasized. This is the meaning of his saying, blessings and peace be upon him: "The best of you in the days of ignorance are the best of you in Islam if they understand." That is: they know that they possess the quality of understanding and act upon what they know, as Al-Hasan, may Allah have mercy on him, said: The true scholar is the one who acts upon his knowledge. It has already been established that this is what is meant by His saying, exalted is He: ﴿Are those who know equal to those who do not know?﴾ [Az-Zumar: 9] for what is indicated by its context and preceding verses. The most pious does not boast over others; because he does not believe that he is more pious. Al-Razi said in Al-Lawa'ih: The most noble of nobility is piety, and it is the essence of human virtues. The most despicable of vice is immorality. This is because nobility is a name for praiseworthy actions, and these actions are only praiseworthy if they are based on knowledge and intended for Allah. This is piety; thus, piety is nothing but knowledge and striving for praiseworthy actions. This is because piety establishes perfections and negates deficiencies, so its possessor becomes a human being of angelic quality.

And when this is ingrained in their nature, rooted in their disposition, and inherited among them that pride is indeed in lineage, and that the noble is only one whose origin is good, the removal of that from their souls, in what Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has made customary in the abode of causes, depends on an affirmation. Allah, glorified and exalted is He, has affirmed it, explaining His saying to inform them of the most noble: "Indeed, Allah" meaning: the One who encompasses knowledge and power, "is Knowing" meaning: possessing profound knowledge of the apparent, "and All-Aware" encompassing knowledge of the hidden and secrets as well. Al-Baghawi narrated with a chain from the route of Abdullah ibn Humayd from Ibn Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, that the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, circumambulated on the Day of the Conquest on his mount to touch the corners with his staff. When he exited, he did not find a place to dismount, so he descended onto the hands of the men. Then he stood and addressed them, praising Allah and extolling Him, and said: "All praise is due to Allah who has removed from you the arrogance of ignorance and its pride in your forefathers. [Indeed] people are of two types: a righteous, pious one who is noble before Allah, and a wicked, miserable one who is insignificant before Allah - then he recited: "O mankind" the verse. Then he said: I say this saying of mine and I ask Allah for forgiveness for me and for you." Abu Dawood and Al-Tirmidhi narrated it [and he graded it as good] and Al-Bayhaqi. Al-Mundhiri said, with a [good] chain, and the wording is his from Abu Huraira, may Allah be pleased with him, from the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, who said: "Indeed, Allah, the Mighty and Majestic, has removed from you the arrogance of ignorance and its pride in forefathers. People are the children of Adam, and Adam is from dust. A believer is pious, and a wicked one is miserable. Certain groups will cease to pride themselves in men who are merely coal from the coal of Hell, or they will be less significant to Allah than the beetles that push away filth with their noses."