By themselves, meaning by those among them from the believers, both men and women. As His saying goes: 'And do not slander yourselves.' [Mawood said: 'Its meaning is that they thought of those among them from the believers, as Allah, the Exalted, said: And do not slander yourselves.' Ahmad said: 'The secret in this expression is the admonition of the believer to his brother and reproaching him for mentioning him with evil. This is depicted as if one were to throw himself and accuse himself of something that is not in him of immorality, and there is nothing more disgraceful than that. And Allah knows best.'] It is similar to what is narrated that Abu Ayyub al-Ansari said to Umm Ayyub: 'Do you not see what is being said?' She replied: 'If I were in place of Safwan, would you think ill of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him?' He said: 'No.' She said: 'And if I were in place of Aisha, may Allah be pleased with her, I would not betray the Messenger of Allah, for Aisha is better than me, and Safwan is better than you.' [He returned to his words. It was reported that Abu Ayyub al-Ansari said to his wife: 'Do you not see what people are saying?' She said to him: 'If I were in place of Safwan, would you betray the sanctity of the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him?' He said: 'No.' She said: 'And if I were in place of Aisha, I would not betray him, and Safwan is better than you and Aisha is better than me.' Ahmad said: 'Indeed, I was inspired by the light of faith to this secret that is implied in the expression about others from the believers as being oneself. For she placed her husband in the position of Safwan, and herself in the position of Aisha, and then affirmed for herself and her husband innocence and trustworthiness, even affirming it for Safwan and Aisha by way of priority, may Allah be pleased with her. And it is possible, and Allah knows best, that there is a contrary meaning to what al-Zamakhshari said: that the expression by 'the selves' is literal, and the intent is to hold the one with bad thoughts accountable for himself, for he did not regard the motivation of faith concerning others, but dismissed it and considered it for himself, claiming innocence before knowing the ruling of desire, not by the ruling of guidance. And Allah knows best.'] If you say: 'Why was it not said: 'If only when you heard it, you thought well of yourselves and said?' And why was it shifted from direct address to the third person, and from the pronoun to the explicit? I say: To emphasize the reproach in a way of turning, and to state the word of faith, indicating that sharing in it necessitates that no believer should believe a statement from a gossiper about his brother or a believer about her sister. And it indicates that the right of a believer, when he hears a statement about his brother, is to base the matter on assumption, not on doubt. And he should say openly based on his good assumption of the believer: 'This is a manifest falsehood,' thus with the wording that explicitly affirms his innocence. Just as one who is certain and aware of the reality of the matter would say. And this is from the good manners that are rarely upheld and preserved. I wish you could find someone who hears and remains silent and does not spread what he has heard among others.