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

Tafsir of Surah Al-Hujurat

It is a Medinan surah by consensus of the people of interpretation.

His saying, exalted is He:

﴿O you who have believed, do not put [yourselves] before Allah and His Messenger and fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing﴾ ﴿O you who have believed, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor be loud to him in speech as you are loud to one another, lest your deeds become worthless while you perceive not﴾ ﴿Indeed, those who lower their voices before the Messenger of Allah - it is they who have been tested by Allah for righteousness. For them is forgiveness and a great reward﴾.

The custom of the Arabs - and it continues to this day - is to share opinions, and that everyone speaks as they wish and does as they like. Some people, who had not trained themselves with the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, acted in some of that. Qatadah said: Perhaps a group would say: If such and such were revealed in the meaning of such and such, and if Allah were to do such and such, it should be like this. Also, there were some who slaughtered their sacrifices before the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, as reported by Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan, and some acted in some of his battles and campaigns based on their opinions. Thus, this verse was revealed prohibiting all of that.

Al-Thalabi narrated from Masruq that he said: 'I entered upon Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, on the day of doubt, and she said to the maid: Give him honey. I said: I am fasting. She said: The Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, prohibited fasting on this day.' And in it was revealed: ﴿Do not put [yourselves] before Allah and His Messenger﴾. Ibn Zayd said: The meaning of 'do not put [yourselves] before' is do not walk before the Messenger of Allah, and likewise before the scholars, for they are the heirs of the Prophets. The Arabs say: I advanced in such and such and I advanced in it if you spoke in it.

The majority of the reciters read: 'tuqaddimu' with a dammah on the ta and a kasrah on the dal. Ibn Abbas, Al-Dahhak, and Ya'qub read it with a fathah on both the ta and the dal meaning: do not advance. And on this comes the interpretation of Ibn Zayd regarding walking, and the meaning of the dammah on the ta is: before the saying of Allah and His Messenger.

It has been narrated that the reason for this verse is that 'when the delegation of Banu Tamim came, Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said: O Messenger of Allah, if you would appoint Al-Aqra' ibn Habis. And Umar ibn Al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: O Messenger of Allah, rather appoint Al-Qaqa' ibn Ma'bad. Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, said to him: You only wanted to oppose me, and it is narrated: to oppose me. Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, said: I did not want to oppose you, and their voices were raised, and the verse was revealed regarding that.' Some of those who said this statement went to the meaning of His saying, exalted is He: 'do not put [yourselves] before' meaning: do not appoint leaders, for it is from the advancement of the leaders. The generality of the wording is better, meaning: make it a principle in sayings and actions. And 'Hearing' means: for your sayings, and 'Knowing' means: of your actions and the implications of your sayings.

'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿O you who have believed, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet﴾, this verse is also in that previous context. It is narrated that its reason was the words of Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, concerning the matter of Al-Aqra' and Al-Qaqa'. The correct view is that it was revealed because of the habit of the Bedouins in being rude, raising their voices, and being arrogant. And Thabit ibn Qais ibn Shammas, may Allah be pleased with him, had a loud voice. When this verse was revealed, he became worried and feared for himself, and he sat in his house, not coming out, feeling sad and gloomy, until the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, learned of his news. He sent for him and comforted him, saying: 'Walk on the earth with ease, for you are among the people of Paradise.' And he said to him once: 'Are you not pleased to live as a praised one and to die as a martyr?' He lived like that and was then killed, may Allah be pleased with him, at Yamama on the day of Musaylima. In the reading of Ibn Mas'ud: 'Do not raise your voices' with the addition of the letter 'ba'. And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: ﴿Like the raising of some of you over others﴾ means: like your raising your voices in rudeness and addressing with names and titles. They used to call the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, 'O Muhammad,' as said by Ibn Abbas and others. So Allah, glorified and exalted is He, commanded them to show respect and to call him by his prophethood and messengership and with gentle words. This is the state of the respectful. The scholars disliked raising one's voice at the grave of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, in the presence of the people and in the mosques. In all of these, there are traces. (p-8) And His saying, glorified and exalted is He: 'That your deeds may become worthless' is a result clause, meaning: out of fear that your deeds may become worthless. And 'habbat' means the corruption of the deed after its establishment. It is said 'habita' with a broken 'ba', and 'Allah has rendered it worthless.' This worthlessness, if the verse is addressing those who do that out of disdain and contempt and audacity, then that is disbelief, and worthlessness is with it in its reality. And if the implication is for the virtuous believer who does that out of negligence and following his nature, then his good deed in honoring the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, and lowering his voice in his presence would be rendered worthless if he were to do that. So it is as if He said: 'That your deeds, which are prepared for you to do and for which you will be rewarded, may become worthless.' It is possible that the meaning is: that you may incur sin and that this would be a cause of estrangement in your souls, so your beliefs may gradually regress until that leads to disbelief, and your deeds would truly become worthless. The apparent meaning of the verse is that it addresses the virtuous believers who do not do that out of contempt. And it is not said to a hypocrite who does that out of audacity: 'And you do not feel.' Because he has no deed that he believes is a deed. And in the reading of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: 'So your deeds may become worthless.' Then Allah praised the opposing group to those previously mentioned, which are those who lower their voices in the presence of the Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him. Lowering the voice means to reduce and soften it, and likewise the gaze. And from this is the saying of Jarir: 'So lower your gaze, for you are from Numair...'

It is narrated that Abu Bakr and Umar, may Allah be pleased with them, after that would not speak to the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, except as a brother in secrecy. The Prophet, blessings and peace be upon him, needed to repeat the words with Umar, may Allah be pleased with him, after that because he could not hear him due to his concealment of it. And 'testing' means: examining and purifying, as gold is tested by fire, making it easy and preparing it for piety. Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, said: 'He was tested for piety: he removed from it the desires.'

The judge Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: 'Whoever overcomes his desires and anger, that is the one whom Allah has tested his heart for piety, and with that, there will be uprightness.'