سُوۡرَةُ الحُجرَات

1. سُوۡرَةُ الحُجرَات بِسۡمِ ٱللهِ ٱلرَّحۡمَـٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

2. سُوۡرَةُ الحُجرَاتTafsir Ibn Kathir • Tafsir Ibn Kathir • “Tafsir Surah Al-Hujurat” By Dr. Abu Ameenah Bilal Philips • “The Meaning of the Qur’an” by Abul A’la Maududi • Bukhari and Muslim

3. Background of Surah Al-Hujurat • Name of the surah: “Hujurat” is plural for “Hujrah” which means “room”. It refers to the one-room houses or apartments of the prophet’s wives. • Revelation: It was revealed in the 9th year A.H. (after Hijrah, or migration of Muslims from Mekkah to Medina). • Themes: • After Fat’h Mekkah, many tribes from desert began entering Islam. But they were many times rude. Allah (SWTA) sent down this Surah in order to teach them and to lay down the ideals of the true Islamic society. They are: • Obeying the Prophet (S) and recognizing his great status • To confirm news when it comes to you before spreading it • What to do when Muslims fall into fighting amongst each other • The prohibition of making fun of others, calling each other by bad nicknames, spying, having bad suspicion, and backbiting • Destroying the concept of racism and nationalism • True belief

4. يَـٰٓأَيُّہَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَا تُقَدِّمُواْ بَيۡنَ يَدَىِ ٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ‌ۖ وَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ‌ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ۬ (١) • O you who believe! Make not (a decision) in advance before Allâh and His Messenger (SAW), and fear Allâh. Verily! Allâh is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. • مومنو! (کسی بات کے جواب میں) خدا اور اس کے رسول سے پہلے نہ بول اٹھا کرو اور خدا سے ڈرتے رہو۔ بےشک خدا سنتا جانتا ہے

5. Interesting note • Allah (SWTA) ended Surah Al-Fat’h, the surah before Surah Al-Hujurat, by saying, “…Allah has promised those among them who believe and do righteous good deeds forgiveness and a mighty reward (i.e. Paradise).” He (SWTA) then begins Surah Al-Hujurat by saying, “Oh you who believe…”. The reason why is because we are being reminded that, if we want forgiveness and a great reward, we’re going to have to have the characteristics of those who believe, and thus, we are going to want to follow the orders that come after “Oh you who believe…” which happens to appear five times in Surah Al-Hujurat. This is mentioned by Dr. Wahad Al-Zuhail on his book Tafsir Al-Munir.

6. Reason for revelation verse 1-3 • The tribe of Banu Tamim came to the Prophet (S), while he was sitting with some of his companions. The prophet (S) was going to choose for them a leader. Abu Bakr (R) recommended that Al-Qa’qa’ Ibn Ma’bad should be their leader. Umar ibn Al-Khattab differed and recommended Al-Aqra’ Ibn Haabis. Abu Bakr said to Umar, “You only wanted to be different from me Umar”. Umar replied, “No, I did not want to be disagree with you.” They went back and forth, all the while, raising their voices in front of the Prophet, drowning out his voice. The Allah (SWTA) revealed the first three verses.

7. Lessons we can take • Notice how even the best of Sahaba would argue with each other. Just like us. But we should learn from them how they argued. Firstly, they would allow what Islam teaches to be the judge between them. Second, they would not use foul words, as the Prophet (S) said, as is mentioned in Bukhari and Muslim, “The signs of a hypocrite are 4, if you possess one, then you possess a sign of hypocrisy” one of which is when a person quarrels, he uses foul words.

8. 2.Imam Alaama Al-Shanqiti mentions in his book that when Allah uses the word “تُقَدِّمُوا” in this verse, it requires an object, but the object is not mentioned here. Why? Because we each have our own sin, so this verse addresses all of us by allowing us to plug in whatever sins we do. Some ways we put ourselves in front of Allah and His Messenger (S) are mentioned by Imam Al-Shanqiti. They are: Speaking without knowledge We put our desires in front of Allah and his messenger We put our culture in front of Allah and his messenger We put success in front of Allah and his messenger. For example, cheating in school.

9. 3.In this verse, we find a very fundamental concept in Islam, which is total submission to Allah (SWTA).That is why Ibn Abbas (R) said about this verse,“Do not say anything contradicting the Qur’an and Sunnah.”

10. 4.In a famous hadith found in the 40 Hadith by Imam Nawawi, Jibril (AS) once came to the Prophet (S) in the form of a man. He asked him some questions, among which were tell me about Islam and Iman. One thing to take note of is that Umar ibn Al-Khattab (R) is the narrator of this hadith. And obviously, Umar (R) knows the 5 pillars of Islam and 6 pillars of Iman, yet he remained silent and did not put himself in front of the Prophet (S). So we too should take the lesson. Some times we just like to drop fatwahs left and right. Or, if we’re at a Da’wah table and one of the brothers is asked a question by a non-Muslim, like five other guys come into the conversation and start answering it and overwhelm the questioner.

11. 5.A Fiqh lesson from this verse is that we shouldn’t move before the Imam moves in Salah. Back then, the Prophet (S) was the Imam. We wait until the Imam moves and then we move. 6.Similarly, don’t pray before prayer comes in, or do other acts of worship before their prescribed times. Hasan Al-Basri said this verse was sent about some people who slaughtered their animals before the prophet prayed and the prophet ordered them to slaughter them again. 7.When Allah says “And Allah is the Hearer and Knower”, it applies to both our actions and our intentions. So even if we have slightest disrespect to the Prophet (s) Allah knows it.