33:1. O Prophet, fear Allah and do not yield to the disbelievers and hypocrites. Verily Allah is All-Knowing, Most Wise.

33:2. Follow that which is revealed to you from your Lord. Verily Allah is well aware of all that you do.

33:3. Put your trust in Allah, for sufficient is Allah as a disposer of affairs.

That is, O you whom Allah has blessed with prophethood, chosen to receive His revelation and favoured above all creation, give thanks for the blessing that your Lord has bestowed upon you by fearing Him, which is more appropriate for you to do than others, for what is expected of you is that you should attain more than anyone else. Socomply with His commands and prohibitions, convey His message, deliver His revelation to His slaves and be sincere towards all people.

Nothing should prevent you from doing that and nothing should deter you from it. So do not yield to any disbeliever who shows enmity towards Allah and His Messenger or to any hypocrite who is concealing his rejection and disbelief, and making a show of the opposite.

These are the real enemies, so do not obey them in some matters that undermine piety and are contrary to it, and do not follow their whims and desires lest they lead you astray from the right path.

Rather ﴾Follow that which is revealed to you from your Lord﴿ for it is guidance and mercy, and hope by doing so for the reward of your Lord, for He is well aware of what they are doing and He will requite them according to what he knows of them, whether good or evil.

If it occurs to you that if you do not yield to their misguided whims and desires, you will suffer some harm from them, or that your efforts to guide people may be undermined, then ward off that notion from your mind and resort to that which will avert such thoughts, namely putting your trust in Allah, by relying on your Lord in the manner of one who has no power to cause harm or benefit himself, or to cause death, give life or resurrect, trusting Him to protect you from their evil and to establish the religion that has been enjoined upon you, and trusting Him to bring that about no matter what the case.

e﴾for sufficient is Allah as a disposer of affairs﴿ - therefore matters are to be referred to Him and left to Him, so He will direct them in a way that is in the best interests of the individual, because He knows what is in the best interests of His slave, whereas the individual may not know, and He is able to bring it about in a way that the individual cannot. Allah is more merciful towards His slave than he himself or his parents are, and He is more kind than anyone else, especially in the case of the chosen ones among His slaves, who He has constantly been taking care of and bestowing blessings upon them, both visibleand hidden, especially when He has commanded him to leave his affairs to Him and promised to take care of him.

When a person has put his trust in Allah in that manner, then do not ask about how every endeavour becomes easy, every difficult task becomes smooth, every calamity becomes bearable, every stressful situation is alleviated, all needs are met, blessings come down, trouble is warded off and evils are averted. Then you will see how the weak slave who delegated all his affairs to his master will be able to achieve many things that a group of people could not achieve, for Allah will make easy for him that which is too difficult for the toughest and strongest of men to do. And it is Allah Whose help we seek.

33:4. Allah has not made for any man two hearts inside him;^{1What is meant is that there cannot coexist in a person’s heart faith and disbelief, guidance and misguidance, repentance and persistence in sin, nor does anyone possess two hearts, one for faith and one for disbelief. (al-Qurtubi) The verse then goes on to state that, likewise, the wife divorced by dhihar does not become a mother to her husband, for no man can have two mothers, and no man can be the son of two men, his natural father and his adoptive father. (ash-Shawkani)} nor has He made your wives whom you divorce by dhihar yourmothers; nor has He made your adopted sons your sons [in reality]. These are mere words that you utter. But Allah speaks the truth and He guides to the [right] path.

33:5. Call them [adopted sons] after their [real] fathers; that is more appropriate before Allah. If you do not know who their fathers are, then they are your brothers in faith and your allies. There is no sin on you if you make a mistake in that regard, but [you are accountable] for what your hearts deliberately intend. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) rebukes His slaves for saying things that have no basis in reality, for He did not decree them to be as they describe them, and such words are lies and fabrications that may lead to evil consequences. This is a general principle that is applicable to all kinds of speech and speaking of things that are not real.

But He singles out the things mentioned because they happen and there is a great need for discussion and explanation of them. Hence He says:

sf Allah has not made for any man two hearts inside him﴿. This does not happen, so beware of saying of anyone that he has two hearts inside him, for then you would be telling lies about what Allah has created.

﴾nor has He made your wives whom you divorce by dhihar﴿ that is, by saying to one’s wife, “You are to me like my mother’s back (dhahr ummi)” or “like my mother”. Allah has not made them ﴾your mothers﴿, for y°ur mother is the one who gave birth to you, and is the woman who has the most sanctity in relation to you and is the most prohibited for you in marriage, whereas your wife is the most permissible of women for you. So how can you liken something to its opposite?

This is not permissible, as Allah says elsewhere:

e﴾As for those among you who divorce their wives by likening them to their mothers, they are not their mothers; none can be their mothersexcept those who gave them birth. Verily, they utter words that are abhorrent and false. ..﴿ (al-Mujadilah 58: 2)

﴾nor has He made your adopted sons your sons [in reality]﴿. The adopted son is someone whom a man named after himself when he was not his real son, or who was named after a man because he had adopted him, as was the practice during the pre-Islamic period and the beginning of Islam.

But Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) wanted to put a stop to this practice and abolish it, but before doing so He highlighted its abhorrent nature, because it is invalid and is a lie, and anything that is invalid and a lie is not to be found in the laws of Allah and His slaves should not do such things.

So Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us: Allah has not made adopted sons whom you claim as your own or who are attributed to you your real sons, for your real sons are those whom you fathered and who come from you. As for these adopted sons, they were fathered by others, and Allah has not made the one like the other.

﴾These﴿ namely the things that you say about the adopted son, describing him as the son of the one who claimed him as his son, or saying that his father is So-and-so (the man who adopted him), ﴾are mere words that you utter﴿ that is, words that have no basis in reality and are of no significance.

﴾But Allah speaks the truth﴿ that is, that which is certain and true. Therefore He instructs you to follow Him in His word and His law, for His word is true and His law is true, and false words and deeds cannot be attributed to Him in any way whatsoever, for they are not part of His guidance, as He only guides to the straight path and the ways of truth.

Although that occurred by His will. His will includes everything that happens, both good and bad.

Then He clearly states that they must give up this false practice, which includes false words: and He says﴾Call them [adopted sons] after their [real] fathers﴿ who fathered them in a real sense.

﴾that is more appropriate﴿ that is, more just, more fair and more proper ﴾before Allah﴿.

﴾If you do not know who their fathers are﴿ that is, who their real fathers are

﴾then they are your brothers in faith and your allies﴿ that is, they are your brothers in the religion of Allah, and your allies in that regard, so call them true brothers and allies in faith; it is essential to stop attributing them to their adoptive fathers, for doing so is wrong.

As for calling them after their real fathers, if their fathers are known then they must be called after them, but if they are not known, then we should limit it to calling them according to what is known about them, which is that they are brothers in faith and allies. So do not think that if you do not know who their fathers are, that it is an excuse to call them after those who adopted them, because that is not appropriate and the problem cannot be resolved in that manner.

﴾There is no sin on you if you make a mistake in that regard﴿ that is, there is to be no blame if, by a slip of the tongue, someone calls a man after the one who adopted him, if it was widely believed that a particular man was his father so they called him after that man, when in reality he was not his father. There is no blame on you for doing that, if it is a mistake.

﴾but [you are accountable] for what your hearts deliberately intend﴿ of saying things that are not permissible.

﴾And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful﴿ - for He forgave you and showed mercy towards you, as He did not punish you for what is in the past, and He overlooks your mistakes in that regard and has mercy on you, as He has explained to you the rulings that are appropriate with regard to your religious and worldly affairs. To Him be praise.

33:6. The Prophet has a greater claim over the believers [and is closer to them] than their own selves,^{1That is, the believers should give precedence to what the Prophet decrees over what anyone else decrees and whatever they themselves desire, and they should love him more than they love themselves.} and his wives are their mothers. And kindred by blood are nearer to one another [regarding inheritance], according to the decree ordained by Allah, than fellow believers and emigrants,^{2In the earliest days, Muslims would inherit from one another on the basis of Hijrah (migration) and faith, not on the basis of blood ties, then revelation came to abrogate that ruling and restrict inheritance to those related by blood.} except that you may show kindness [by making bequests] to close friends or allies. That is written in the Book [of our decrees].^{3That is. al-Lawh al-Mahfoodh.}

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells the believers something by which they may recognise the true status of the Messenger (ﷺ) and interact with him accordingly.

﴾The Prophet has a greater claim over the believers [and is closer to them] than their own selves﴿). The closest of things to any person is his own self, but the Messenger (ﷺ) is closer to him than his own self, because he showed them sincerity, compassion and kindness that proved him to be the most merciful and kindest of all people. Thus they owe the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) more than they owe anyoneelse, for not the slightest good reached them and not the slightest harm was warded off from them but it was because of him.

Therefore it became a must on them, in the event of a conflict between what they or any of the people want and what the Messenger (ﷺ) wants, that precedence must be given to what the Messenger (ﷺ) wants, and the word of the Messenger (ﷺ) should not be contradicted by the view of anyone, no matter who he is. They should be ready to sacrifice themselves, their wealth and their children to protect him, and give precedence to loving him over loving others; they should not speak until he speaks or put themselves forward before him.

The Prophet (ﷺ) is a father to the believers, as is understood from the recitation of some of his Companions; he takes care of them as a father takes care of his children.

One of the consequences of his being a father to them is that his wives are their mothers; that is, in terms of sanctity, respect and honour, not in terms of it being permissible to be alone with them or regarding them as mahrams. It is as if this was an introduction to what follows of the story of Zayd ibn Harithah (radiya Allahu ‘anhu - may Allah be pleased with him), who was previously known as Zayd ibn Muhammad, until Allah revealed the words:

﴾Muhammad is not the father of any man among you...p (al-Ahzdb 33: 40)

Thus He severed the father-son connection between them.

In this verse, Allah tells us that all the believers are the children of the Messenger (ﷺ), so there is no superiority of any of them over another. Even if the claim of adoption is ended, the bond of faith is not severed, so there is no need to grieve or be sad.

The fact that the wives of the Messengers are mothers of the believers means that it is not permissible for anyone to marry them after he dies, as Allah clearly states:

is not proper for you to cause annoyance to the Messenger of Allah or to ever marry his wives after he is gone...﴿ (al-Ahzdb 33: 53)

﴾And kindred by blood﴿ that is, relatives, whether close or distant ﴾are nearer to one another [regarding inheritance], according to the decree ordained by Allah﴿ that is, according to His ruling. So they inherit from one another and should honour one another, for they are more entitled to alliance and support. Adopted sons used to inherit on the basis of adoption instead of blood relatives, but Allah put an end to that, and ordained that inheritance should be for blood relatives, out of kindness and on the basis of wisdom. If the matter had continued as it was, it would have led to a great deal of corruption, evil and trickery to deprive blood relatives of inheritance.

﴾than fellow believers and emigrants﴿ - whether the relatives are believers who migrated or did not migrate, blood relatives take precedence with regard to inheritance.

This verse offers proof that relatives may be in charge of and have authority over the affairs of their relatives, as in the case of marriage, property and other matters.

﴾except that you may show kindness [by making bequests] to close friends or allies﴿ that is, they have no allocated share of inheritance; rather this is the matter of choice: if you wish you may give them something and show them kindness on your part.

﴾That﴿ namely the rulings mentioned above ﴾fis written in the Book [of our decrees]﴿ that is, it has been written, ordained and decreed by Allah, so it must be implemented.

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33:7. And [remember] when We took their covenant from the Prophets, and from you [O Muhammad], from Nooh, Ibraheem, Moosa and ‘Eesa ibn Maryam; We took from them a solemn covenant.

33:8. For Allah will question the truthful about their sincerity; and He has prepared for the disbelievers a painful punishment.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us that He took a covenant from the Prophets in general, and from the Messengers of strong will - who are the five mentioned here - in particular. That was a solemn covenant and a binding pledge to support the religion of Allah and strive in His cause. This is the path that was followed by the earlier Prophets, until the series of Prophets ended with the leader and the best of them, namely Muhammad (ﷺ). And Allah commands people to follow their example.

Allah will question the Prophets and their followers about this solemn covenant: did they fulfil it and were they true to it, so that He might reward them with paradise, or did they disbelieve, in which case He will inflict upon them the painful punishment? Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

﴾Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah...h (al-Ahzdb 33: 23)

33:9. O you who believe, remember the favour that Allah bestowed upon you, when [enemy] troops came against you, but We sent against them a strong wind and forces that you could not see. And Allah sees well all that you do.

33:10. That was when they came upon you from above you and from below you, your eyes stared fixedly with horror, and your hearts came up into your throats [out of fear], and you began to entertain various thoughts about Allah.

33:11. In that situation the believers were tested and severely shaken.

Here Allah reminds His believing slaves of His blessings to them, and urges them to give thanks for it, for the troops of the people of Makkah and the Hejaz came to them from above them, and the people of Najd came to them from beneath them, and they resolved to eradicate the Messenger (Up and his Companions. That was during the Battle of al-Khandaq (the Trench), when the disbelievers were supported by the groups of Jews who lived around Madinah; they came with huge numbers of troops.

The Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) dug a trench around Madinah, and the pressure on the Muslims grew intense, to the point that until their hearts were in their mouths and some of them began to entertain all sorts of negative thoughts, because of what they saw of the measures being taken against them and the calamities intensifying. The siege of Madinah went on for a long time, and the situation was as Allah describes:

t﴾your eyes stared fixedly with horror, and your hearts came up into your throats [out of fear], and you began to entertain various thoughts about Allah﴿ that is, you thought negative thoughts, that Allah would not grant victory to His religion or perfect His word. t°(In that situation the believers were tested﴿ by this great turmoil ﴾and severely shaken﴿ by fear, anxiety and hunger, so as to highlight the level of faith and increase their certainty. Thus - praise be to Allah- the high level of their faith and certainty became apparent, by means of which they surpassed the earlier and later nations.

When the turmoil intensified and hardship grew worse, their faith became certain. ﴾When the believers saw the confederates, they said: This is what Allah and his Messenger had promised us, and the promise of Allah and His Messenger is true. And it only increased them in faith and submission﴿ (33: 22).

The hypocrisy of the hypocrites, which they had been concealing, also became apparent:

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33:12. And [remember] when the hypocrites and those in whose hearts is a disease said: Allah and His Messenger made promises to us only in order to deceive us!

This is the usual way of the hypocrite at times of hardship and trials. His faith is not steadfast, and he looks at passing events and reaches the wrong conclusion in an immature manner.

33:13. And [remember] when a group among them said: O people of Yathrib, you cannot withstand [the enemy onslaught], so go back. Another group asked the Prophet’s permission to leave.saying: Our houses are exposed, although they were not exposed; they only wanted to flee.

﴾And [remember] when a group among them﴿ namely the hypocrites, after they panicked and grew impatient, and tried to discourage others too. They were not steadfast themselves, and they did not spare other people from their evil. This group said:

4﴾0 people of Yathrib﴿, meaning, O people of Madinah. They only used the old name of the city, which may indicate that religious commitment and bonds of faith had no value in their hearts, and what made them do that was the fear they felt in their hearts.

people ofYathrib, you cannot withstand [the enemy onslaught]﴿ that is, you had better leave the positions to which you came outside Madinah. They had camped near the trench, outside the city. ﴾so go back﴿ to Madinah. This group tried to discourage people from engaging in jihad and told them that they had no strength to fight the enemy, and that they should refrain from fighting. This was the worst of the groups and was the group that caused the most harm.

There was another group which was less evil than them; they acted in a cowardly manner and panicked, and they withdrew from the ranks, giving false excuses. They are the ones of whom Allah said: ﴾Another group asked the Prophet’s permission to leave, saying: Our houses are exposed﴿ that is, they are in danger and we fear that the enemy may attack them whilst we are away, so give us permission to go back to them and guard them. But they were lying when they said that.

﴾although they were not exposed﴿ that is, their only aim was ﴾to flee﴿ but they used these words as a means and as an excuse. These people were lacking in faith and were unable to be steadfast at times of turmoil and calamity.

33:14. If the city had been stormed from all directions and they had been incited [by the enemy] to apostatise and rebel, they would have done so with very little hesitation.

That is, if the disbelievers had entered the city from all directions and taken control of it - Allah forbid - then these people were asked ﴾to apostatise and rebel﴿, that is, to turn away from their religion and go back to the religion of the invaders,

﴾they would have done so with very little hesitation)﴿ that is, they would have hastened to do so.

In other words, they did not have any strong or solid commitment to religion; rather as soon as the enemy gained the upper hand and gave them what they wanted, they would go along with them in their disbelief This is how they were.

33:15. Yet before that they had made a covenant with Allah that they would not turn and flee, and a covenant with Allah will [surely] be asked about.

Yet that was at a time when ﴾they had made a covenant with Allah that they would not turn and flee, and a covenant with Allah will [surely] be asked about﴿. He will ask them about that covenant.and He will find that they broke it, so how do they think their Lord will deal with them?

33:16. Say [O Muhammad]: Fleeing will not benefit you. If you manage to escape death or slaughter, you will only be left to enjoy life for a little while.

﴾Say [O Muhammad];﴿ to them, criticising their flight and telling them that it will not avail them in any way:

﴾Fleeing will not benefit you. If you manage to escape death or slaughter﴿, even if you remain in your homes, those for whom death is decreed will go forth to the place of their death.

Taking proper measures of protection may benefit a person, if that is not contrary to the divine will and decree, but when the divine will and decree come to pass, then any measures will be to no avail, and every means one thinks could save him will not do so.

﴾lf﴿ when you flee, you manage to save yourself from death and slaughter, and enjoy life, ﴾you will only be left to enjoy life for a little while;﴿ - this is a temporary type of pleasure that is not worth fleeing for and abandoning the command of Allah, thus missing out on eternal bliss in an abode of eternal delight.

33:17. Say: Who is there that can protect you from Allah if it be His will to harm you or if it be His will to show you mercy? And they will not find for themselves, besides Allah, any protector or helper.

Then Allah confirms that means and measures will not avail a person at all, if Allah intends ill for him:

﴾Say: Who is there that can protect you from Allah if it be His will to harm you or if it be His will to show you mercy?﴿ For He is the One Who gives and withholds, causes harm or grants benefit; no one brings good except He and no one wards off evil except He.

﴾f And they will not find for themselves, besides Allah, any protector﴿ to protect them and bring them benefit c﴾for helper﴿ to help them and ward off harm from them.

So they should comply with the commands of the One in Whose Hand alone is control of all their affairs, Whose will is always done and Whose decree is always carried out, for no ally or helper can benefit a person if he abandons his alliance with Allah and is deprived of His support.

33:18. Verily Allah knows those among you who discourage others and those who say to their brothers: Come and join us,^{1This refers to when the hypocrites sought to discourage others from joining the Prophet (jig) in the defence of Madinah when Quraysh wanted to attack the city. They were leaving the defensive positions and calling on others to join them in doing so.} and they do not take part in the fighting except a little,

33:19. begrudging you any help. Then when danger threatens, you see them looking to you, their eyes rolling like one who is overshadowed by death. Yet when the danger has passed, they lash out at you with sharp tongues, begrudging you all that is good. Such people have not truly believed, so Allah will cause their deeds to come to nothing. That is easy for Allah.

Then Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) warns those who discourage others and try to weaken their resolve, as He says:

﴾Verily Allah knows those among you who discourage others﴿ from going out, among those who have not yet gone out ﴾and those who say to their brothers﴿ who have gone out: ﴾Come and join us﴿ that is, come back; this is like what they said previously: 40 people of Yathrib, you cannot withstand [the enemy onslaught],

In addition to their discouragement and attempts to weaken the people’s resolve, ﴾they do not take part in the fighting﴿ that is, they do not take part in the jihad themselves, ﴾except a little﴿. They are the keenest of people to stay behind, because they have no motive to fight, such as faith and patience, and because they have reasons to be cowardly, namely hypocrisy and lack of faith.

﴾begrudging you any help﴿ whether that is physical help, by joining the fight, or financial help, by spending on the cause. So they do not engage in jihad with their wealth or with their own selves.

﴾Then when danger threatens, you see them looking to you﴿ like one who is overshadowed by death, because of their extreme cowardice which has shaken them to the core and the anxiety which has stunned them and their fear that they may be forced to do that which they dislike, namely fighting.

﴾Yet when the danger has passed﴿ and they have become safe and secure,

﴾they lash out at you with sharp tongues﴿ that is, they address you, speaking harshly to you, and start making claims that are not true, and when you hear them you think that they are courageous and daring ﴾begrudging you all that is good﴿ and reluctant to do anything good that is expected of them. This is the worst thing a person can do, to be reluctant to do as he is instructed and to be stingy with his wealth and not spend it in the proper manner, stingy in terms of physical effort and refusing to engage with the enemies of Allah or call people to the path of Allah, and stingy by refusing to benefit others by means of their position, knowledge, advice or opinion.

﴾Such people have not truly believed﴿ - and because of their lack of faith, Allah causes their deeds to come to nothing. ﴾That is easy for Allah﴿.

As for the true believers, Allah protects them from this stingy attitude and enables them to do as they are commanded, by offering their physical effort in fighting in His cause, to make His word supreme, and by offering their wealth in good causes, and by using their status and knowledge to benefit others.

33:20. They think that the confederates have not yet withdrawn; if the confederates did come again, they would wish that they were in the desert with the Bedouin, asking for news of you [from a safe distance], and if they remained among you, they would fight but little.

﴾They think that the confederates have not yet withdrawn﴿ that is, the hypocrites think that these confederates who came together to fight the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and his Companions will not leave until they eradicate the Muslims. But they were disappointed and their calculations proved to be wrong.

﴾if the confederates did come again, they would wish that they were in the desert with the Bedouin, asking for news of you [from a safe distance]﴿ that is, if the confederates came back a second time, like the first time, these hypocrites would wish that they were not in Madinah or anywhere near it, and that they were with the Bedouin in the desert, seeking news of you and asking about you, trying to find out what happened to you.

Away with them, let them perish! For they are not people who one should care whether they are present or not.

﴾)and if they remained among you, they would fight but little﴿. So do not pay any attention to them and do not feel sorry to lose them.

33:21. Verily in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example for those who look with hope to Allah and the Last Day, and remember Allah much.

c: Verily in the Messenger of Allah you have a good example﴿ for he himself was present in the battlefield, and he himself took up a position, ready to fight, for he was the perfect leader and courageous hero. So how can you be so reluctant to join the fight when the Messenger of Allah himself was involved in it? Therefore you must follow his example in this matter and others.

The scholars of usool quote this verse to prove that the Messenger’s deeds constitute evidence for shar‘i rulings and that in principle his Ummah is subject to the same rulings as him, unless there is clear evidence to prove that some rulings are applicable to him alone.

Examples are of two types: good examples and bad examples.

The good example is to be found in the Messenger (ﷺ), because the one who follows his example will be on the path that leads to the blessings of Allah, which is the straight path.

As for following the example of others in matters that are contrary to his teachings, that is following bad examples, such as the words of the disbelievers when the Messengers called them to follow their example and they said:

﴾..,We found our forefathers following a certain path, and we are following in their footsteps.﴿) (az-Zukhruf43: 22)

This good example is only followed by those who are guided and enabled to follow it, those who look with hope to Allah and the Last Day, because what they have of faith, fear of Allah, hope for His reward and fear of His punishment motivates them to follow the example of the Messenger (ﷺ).

33:22. When the believers saw the confederates, they said: This is what Allah and his Messenger had promised us, and the promise of Allah and His Messenger is true. And it only increased them in faith and submission.

Having mentioned the attitude of the hypocrites at times of fear, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) now mentions the attitude of the believers, as He says:

﴾When the believers saw the confederates﴿ who had come together and taken up their positions (outside Madinah), and fear was at its peak,

﴾they said: This is what Allah and his Messenger had promised us﴿ when He said:

﴾Or do you think that you will enter paradise without such [trials] as came to those who passed away before you? They encountered suffering and adversity, and were so shaken in spirit that even the Messenger and the believers who were with him said: When will the help of Allah come? Verily, the help of Allah is [always] near.﴿

﴾and the promise of Allah and His Messenger is true﴿ for we have seen what He foretold.

﴾And it﴿ namely this matter ﴾only increased them in faith﴿ in their hearts ﴾and submission﴿ in terms of their physical actions and surrender to the command of Allah.

33:23. Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah. Some of them have fulfilled their pledgeand others are still waiting, and they have never wavered in the least.

Having mentioned that the hypocrites gave their promise to Allah not to turn and flee, but they broke that promise, Allah now tells us how the believers fulfilled it:

﴾Among the believers are men who have been true to their covenant with Allah﴿ that is, they fulfilled their covenant perfectly and completely, offering their souls in pursuit of His pleasure and in obedience to Him.

﴾Some of them have fulfilled their pledge﴿ that is, their wish and goal, by carrying out their duty, and they were killed in Allah’s cause, or they died having fulfilled their duties without falling short in any way, ﴾and others are still waiting﴿ to carry out their duties in full, for they are already engaged in carrying out their duties and fulfilling their covenant, but they have not yet completed it. These people are hoping to complete it and striving hard to attain that.

﴾and they have never wavered in the Ieast﴿ as others did; rather they are still adhering to the pledge and have never faltered or changed. These are real men, and others only appear outwardly to be men, as they have fallen short in terms of manly characteristics.

33:24. [Such trials are ordained] so that Allah may reward those who are sincere for their sincerity and punish the hypocrites, if He so wills, or turn to them in mercy [and guide them to repentance]. Verily Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

﴾[Such trials are ordained] so that Allah may reward those who are sincere for their sincerity﴿ that is, because of their sincerity in word and deed, and their doing things for the sake of Allah, and being the same both outwardly and inwardly. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us elsewhere that He will say:

^...This is the day when the truthful will benefit from their truthfulness; theirs will be gardens through which rivers flow, to abide therein forever. Allah is pleased with them and they are pleased with Him. And that is the supreme triumph.﴿ (al-Ma idah 5: 119)

In other words: We ordained these turmoils, trials and calamities in order to differentiate the sincere from the insincere. Then Allah will reward the sincere for their sincerity, and He will ﴾punish the hypocrites)﴿ who changed their attitude and their actions at times of turmoil, and did not fulfil the pledge that they had made to Allah. ﴾fif He so wills﴿ that is, if it is His will to punish them, because it was not His will to guide them. Rather he knew that there was nothing good in them, therefore He did not guide them ﴾for turn to them in mercy﴿ by guiding them to repent and turn back to Him. This is more likely to be the case, because Allah is the Most Generous. Hence the verse ends with two divine names that are indicative of forgiveness, grace and kindness, as He says: Verily Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful﴿ - He forgives the sins of those who transgressed against themselves, even if they commit many sins, if they turn to Him in repentance, and He is ﴾Most Merciful﴿ to them, as He enables them to repent, then He accepts that repentance from them and conceals the sins they committed.

33:25. Allah turned back the disbelievers in their fury, without any gain; thus Allah spared the believers from fighting. Allah is Strong, Almighty.

Allah turned back the disbelievers in their fury, without any gain﴿ that is. He turned them back empty-handed, and they were not able to achieve their goal (of defeating the Muslims) despite all their rage and fury, even though they had the capability to do that and were certain that they would have the upper hand. They were deceived by their large numbers and were very proud of the confederacy that they had put together; they exulted in their numbers and equipment.

But Allah sent against them a mighty wind, which was the east wind, and it shook their camp, brought down their tents, overturned their cooking pots, caused a great deal of disturbance and struck fear into their hearts. So they left disappointed. This was the help that Allah granted to His believing slaves.

﴾thus Allah spared the believers from fighting﴿ by means of what He made available to them of ordinary measures and extraordinary divine help.

﴾Allah is Strong, Almighty﴿, and no one opposes Him but he is defeated; no one seeks His help but he becomes victorious. Nothing is beyond Him if He wills it, and power and might are of no avail to those who possess them if Allah does not help them by His power and might.

33:26. He brought down from their fortresses those among the People of the Book^{1This refers to the tribe of Banu Quraydhah who switched sides when the confederates besieged Madinah, breaking their covenant with the Muslims and supporting their enemies against them.} who had supported them, and cast terror into their hearts, so that some of them you killed and others you took captive.

﴾He brought down from their fortresses those among the People of the Book﴿ namely the Jews

﴾who had supported them﴿ that is, helped them. They were defeated and were subject to the rule of Islam.

﴾fand cast terror into their hearts﴿ so that they had no strength to fight; rather they surrendered and submitted, and were humiliated ﴾so that some of them you killed﴿ namely the men of fighting age ﴾and others you took captive﴿ this refers to the rest of them, women and children.

33:27. He caused you to inherit their land, their houses and their possessions, and a land on which you had not yet set foot. And Allah has power over all things.

﴾He caused you to inherit﴿ that is. He granted to you as booty ﴾their land, their houses and their possessions, and a land on which you had not yet set foot﴿ that is, land which, because it was so dear to its owners, you had not yet set foot, then Allah made you victorious and caused them to be defeated, and He granted you their wealth as booty, and you killed some of them and took others captive.f(And Allah has power over all things﴿ - nothing is beyond Him and by His might He decrees for you what He decrees.

This group of the People of the Book was the Jewish tribe of Banu Quraydhah, who lived in a town not far from Madinah. When the Prophet (ﷺ) migrated to Madinah, he made a treaty with them, that he would not fight them and they would not fight him, and they would continue to follow their religion, and nothing would change for them.

But when, on the Day of al-Khandaq, they saw the confederates who had united against the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), and how numerous they were in comparison to the small numbers of the Muslims, they thought that they would eradicate the Messenger (ﷺ) and the believers. This idea was reinforced by the lies of some of their leaders, so they broke the treaty that they had with the Messenger of Allah and took the side of the polytheists in the fight against him.

When Allah defeated the polytheists, the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) focused on fighting these Jews. So he besieged them in their fortresses until they agreed to accept the verdict of Safcd ibn Mu‘adh (رضي الله عنه). His verdict was that their fighting men were to be killed, their women and children were to be taken captive, and their wealth was to be seized as booty.

Thus Allah completed His favour upon His Messenger (ﷺ) and the believers, and showered them with abundant blessings, and gave them the joy of seeing their enemies humiliated, with some of them killed and others taken captive. For Allah is constantly kind to His believing slaves.

33:28. O Prophet, say to your wives: If you seek the life of this world and its splendour, then come, I will give you a gift [as compensation] and let you go in an amicable manner.

33:29. But if you seek Allah and His Messenger, and the final abode, then verily Allah has prepared for those among you who do good an immense reward.

When the wives of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) began to make demands on him with regard to maintenance and clothing, they asked for something that he was not able to do all the time, but they all persisted in their demands, which caused him some distress, to the extent that he kept away from them for a month.

Allah wanted to make things easier for His Messenger (ﷺ) and to raise his wives in status, and remove from them anything that could detract from their reward. Therefore He instructed His Messenger (ﷺ) to give them the choice, as He said:

ciO Prophet, say to your wives: If you seek the life of this world and its splendour﴿ that is, if you have no desire other than that and your happiness is connected to having its splendour, and your anger is connected to that not being available, then I have no need of you if you are like that.

﴾then come, I will give you a gift [as compensation]:) that is, I will give you something of what I possess of worldly goods

﴾and let you go in an amicable manner﴿ that is, I will separate from you without argument or trading insults; rather I will do so in an easy manner and willingly, before the problem escalates to an inappropriate level.

﴾But if you seek Allah and His Messenger, and the final abode﴿ that is, if these are your goal and ultimate aim, and if you prefer Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) and paradise, and you do not worry about whether you have plenty or little in this world, or if you have ease or hardship, and you are content with whatever the Messenger of Allah(ﷺ) can give you, and you do not make demands on him and put pressure on him, ﴾then verily Allah has prepared for those among you who do good an immense reward﴿ - the reward is connected to their being among those who do good, because the promise of reward is connected to doing good, not to being the wives of the Messenger (ﷺ). Simply being his wives is not enough; rather nothing is to any avail without doing good. So the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) gave them the choice, and they all chose Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) and the final abode, and not one of them differed. May Allah be pleased with them all.

From the giving of this choice to his wives, we learn the following:

• Allah cared for His Messenger (ﷺ) and came to his aid, because Allah did not want him to be in this difficult situation with a lot of worldly demands from his wives.

• Allah wanted to keep him away from any wife who preferred this world to Allah, His Messenger (ﷺ) and the final abode, and to prevent him from staying with such a wife.

• Allah wanted to save his wives from sin and from being exposed to the wrath of Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ). Therefore He protected them, by giving them this choice, from expressing discontent towards the Messenger (ﷺ), which would lead to him becoming displeased, for that would incur the wrath of Allah, and that would in turn lead to His punishment.

• This was a demonstration of their high status and high ambition, because Allah, His Messenger (ﷺ) and the final abode were their goal, not this world and its transient gains.

• Offering this choice prepared them to attain the most sublime levels in paradise, and to be his wives both in this world and the hereafter.

• It demonstrated that there was compatibility between him and them, because he was the most perfect of people, and Allah wanted his wives to be perfect, good and obedient.

«f.. .good women are for good men and good men are for good

• This choice would bring about contentment, by means of which one would feel at ease and comfortable, and it would take away stinginess and discontent that would lead to anxiety, grief and worry.

• This choice of theirs was a means of increasing and multiplying their reward, and enabling them to reach a status that no other women could attain. Hence Allah said:

33:30. O wives of the Prophet, if any of you were to be guilty of manifestly immoral conduct, the punishment would be doubled for her, and that is easy for Allah.

When they chose Allah, His Messenger (ﷺ) and the final abode, Allah mentioned that they would have a multiple reward, and that their burden of sin would be multiplied if they were to commit sin, so as to make them more cautious and more grateful to Allah (*$£>. Therefore He ordained that if any of them were to be guilty of manifestly immoral conduct, she would receive a double punishment.

33:31. But whoever among you is devoutly obedient to Allah and His Messenger, and does righteous deeds, We will give her a double reward, and We have prepared for her a generous provision.^{1The meanings of the verses of the Qur’an in this book (with some minor changes to the punctuation) have been translated by the translator. (Editor)}

﴾But whoever among you﴿ this is addressed to the wives of the Prophet (Ṣalla Allahu ‘alayhi wa sallam - blessings and peace be upon him)

﴾fis devoutly obedient to Allah and His Messenger, and does righteous deeds﴿ whether they are few or many,

﴾We will give her a double reward﴿ that is, twice as much as is given to anyone else,

﴾and We have prepared for her a generous provision﴿ namely paradise. They were devoutly obedient to Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta ‘ala - Glorified and Exalted is He) and His Messenger (ﷺ), and they did righteous deeds, thus the extent of their reward is known.

33:32. O wives of the Prophet, you are not like other women, provided that you fear Allah. So do not speak too softly, lest one in whose heart is a disease should be moved with desire; but speak in an appropriate manner.

33:33. Stay in your homes and do not flaunt your charms as was done during the former [times of] ignorance;^{1Jahilivah (the times of ignorance): this refers to the period before Islam.} establish prayer and give zakcih;^{2Wherever possible, Arabic terms have been translated into English. In cases where we have chosen to retain the Arabic, the transliterated word or phrase is shown in italics the first time it appears in the text. The term is also defined in the glossary found at the end of this book. (Editor)} and obey Allah and His Messenger. Allah only wants to keep all that is loathsome away from you, O members of the [Prophet’s] household, and to purify you thoroughly.

33:34. And remember what is recited in your homes of the revelations of Allah and wisdom. Verily Allah is Knower of subtleties, All- Aware.

﴾0 wives of the Prophet﴿ - this is addressed to all of them﴾you are not like other women, provided that you fear Allah﴿; by doing so, you will surpass all other women and no other woman will be able to catch up with you. So strive to perfect your fear of Allah by all possible means and achieve all the goals thereof.

Hence Allah instructed them to avoid all means that could lead to what is prohibited, as He said:

﴾So do not speak too softly﴿ that is, when addressing men, or, knowing that they can hear you, by making your voice soft or speaking in a gentle manner which may cause ﴾one in whose heart is a disease﴿ - namely the disease of desire for fornication - to be moved with desire, for such a person is always ready and watching out for the slightest move that could stir desire, because his heart is not sound. The sound heart has no desire for that which Allah has prohibited and can hardly be moved or stirred to desire even when there is a reason for that, because it is free of sickness.

This is in contrast to the one who is sick at heart, who cannot cope with that which the sound-hearted person can cope with, and he cannot be patient like him. If there is the slightest reason that calls him to that which is prohibited, he will respond to it and will not refrain from it.

This indicates that the means come under the same rulings as the ends. Speaking softly and gently is basically permissible, but if it is a means that leads to something prohibited, then it is not allowed. Therefore when addressing men, women should not make their voices soft.

Because Allah forbade women to speak softly, it may be thought that they are instructed to make their voices harsh. In order to ward off this notion, Allah says: ﴾but speak in an appropriate manner﴿ that is, one that is not harsh or rough, just as it is not soft and alluring.

Think about how Allah says ﴾do not speak too softly﴿, and He did not say “do not speak softly”, because what is prohibited is soft speech that is alluring to men, in such a manner that anyone whohears it may be moved with desire. This is different from speaking in a gentle manner in which there is no alluring softness; rather it has the quality of being confident and firm when dealing with an opponent. No one would be moved with desire when hearing this. Hence Allah praised His Messenger (ﷺ) for his gentleness, as He said:

﴾It is by the mercy of Allah that you deal gently with them...﴿ (Al

And He said to Moosa (‘alayhi as-salam - peace be upon him) and Haroon:

﴾Go, both of you, to Pharaoh, for he has indeed transgressed all bounds. But speak to him gently, so that perhaps he may pay heed or

The fact that Allah says ﴾lest one in whose heart is a disease should be moved with desire﴿ in conjunction with the command to restrain carnal desires, and praise for men and women who do so, as well as the prohibition on approaching or coming near unlawful sex, indicates that if a person sees such an inclination in himself, and realises that he is tempted to commit prohibited deeds when he sees or hears the words of someone to whom he is attracted, and finds himself motivated to do that which is forbidden, he should remember that this is a disease. Therefore he should strive to combat this disease, put an end to evil thoughts that may lead to trouble, strive to overcome this serious malady, and ask Allah to protect him and guide him. This is all included in the command to restrain carnal desires.

﴾Stay in your homes﴿ that is, remain there because that is safer and more protecting for you

﴾fand do not flaunt your charms as was done during the former [times of] ignorance﴿ that is, do not go out often, wearing adornment or perfume, as was the custom among the people of the former times of ignorance, who had no knowledge or religious commitment. All of this is aimed at warding off evil and that which leads to it.

Having enjoined them to fear Him in general terms and to fear Him with regard to issues that pertain to women in particular, Allah also enjoins them to obey Him, especially in terms of prayer and zakah, which are deeds that everyone needs to do, for they are the greatest acts of worship and the noblest acts of obedience. Prayer involves sincerity and devotion to Allah, and zakah involves kindness to His slaves.

Then Allah enjoins obedience in general terms, as He says:

﴾and obey Allah and His Messenger﴿. Obedience to Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) involves everything that is enjoined, whether it is obligatory or recommended.

﴾Allah only wantsby ordaining these commands and prohibitions for you

﴾to keep all that is loathsome﴿ that is, evil and bad

﴾away from you, O members of the [Prophet’s] household, and to purify you thoroughly﴿ so that you will be pure and purified.

In other words: praise your Lord and give thanks to Him for these commands and prohibitions of which He has told you, for they are in your best interests and are purely for your benefit. Allah would never want to cause you any hardship or difficulty; rather the aim is to purify your souls and your conduct and attitude, to make your deeds good and to increase your reward thereby.

Having commanded them to strive in His way, by means of the commands and prohibitions, Allah now tells them to seek knowledge and explains to them the way to attain that:

﴾And remember what is recited in your homes of the revelations of Allah and wisdom﴿ what is meant by the revelations of Allah is the Qur’an, and what is meant by wisdom is the subtle meanings thereof, or the Sunnah of His Messenger (ﷺ). Allah commanded them to remember these things, which includes remembering the words, reciting them, remembering the meanings, reflecting uponthem and pondering them, deriving rulings and wisdom from them, acting in accordance with them, and interpreting them correctly. ﴾Verily Allah is Knower of subtleties, All-Aware﴿ - He is aware of the subtleties and hidden meanings of things, what is hidden in people’s hearts, what is hidden in the heavens and on earth, and deeds that are done both openly and in secret.

His knowledge and awareness mean that He urges them to be sincere and to keep doing deeds in secret that Allah will reward.

One of the meanings of the divine name a/-La/ee/(translated here as ﴾Knower of subtleties﴿) is that He guides His slave to do good and protects him from evil in very subtle ways of which he is not aware, and He sends to him provision that he does not expect, and guides him to take measures that are difficult but will be the path by which he will attain the highest levels.

C//S

33:35. For Muslim men and Muslim women, believing men and believing women, obedient men and obedient women, truthful men and truthful women, patient men and patient women, humble men and humble women, charitable men and charitable women, men who fast and women who fast, men who restrain their camal desires and women who do likewise, men who remember Allah much and women who do likewise - for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and an immense reward.

Having mentioned the reward of the wives of the Messenger (ﷺ), and their punishment if they do not comply, and stating that they are not like other women, Allah now speaks of other women.

Because the rulings on men and women are the same, Allah says: ﴾For Muslim men and Muslim women﴿ that is, with regard to visible actions and rulings, if they comply with them ﴾believing men and believing women﴿ this refers to inward actions, namely beliefs and deeds of the heart

﴾obedient men and obedient women﴿ who are obedient to Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ)

﴾truthful men and truthful women﴿ who are true in their words and deeds

﴾patient men and patient women﴿ who are patient in bearing hardship and calamity

﴾humble men and humble women﴿ who are humble in all circumstances, especially in worship, and especially in prayer ﴾charitable men and charitable women﴿ who give in charity, both obligatory and voluntary

﴾)men who fast and women who fast﴿ which includes both obligatory and supererogatory fasts c﴾men who restrain their carnal desires and women who do likewise﴿, refraining from zina (unlawful sex) and that which leads to it ﴾men who remember Allah much and women who do likewise﴿ that is, they remember Him at most times, especially at times when specific dhikr is to be recited, such as in the morning and afternoon, and following the obligatory prayers.

for them﴿ that is, for these people who are described in these glowing terms as possessing these noble characteristics, which include beliefs, deeds of the heart, physical deeds, spoken words, and doing acts that may benefit oneself or others, as well as doing good deeds and refraining from evil deeds, for the one who does these thingshas established the religion in the fullest sense, both outwardly and inwardly, and has attained Islam, eeman (faith) and ihsan,

﴾Allah has prepared forgiveness﴿ - Allah will reward them for their deeds with forgiveness of their sins, because good deeds erase bad deeds

﴾and an immense reward﴿ that cannot be estimated except by the One Who gives it, of that which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has it ever crossed the mind of man. We ask Allah to make us among them.

Ihsan is referred to in the well-known hadith in which it was narrated that ‘Umar (radiya Allahu ‘anhu - may Allah be pleased with him) said: «We were sitting with the Prophet (ﷺ) when a man came to him whose clothes were intensely white and whose hair was intensely black; no signs of travel could be seen upon him, and none of us knew him. He sat down facing the Prophet with his knees touching his, and he put his hands on his thighs, and said: O Muhammad, what is Islam? He said: To testify that there is no god except Allah, and that I am the Messenger of Allah; to establish regular prayer; to pay zakah; to fast in Ramadan; and to perform pilgrimage to the House (the Kaaba). He said: You have spoken the truth. We were amazed by him: he asked a question then told him that he had spoken the truth. Then he said: O Muhammad, what is faith? He said: To believe in Allah, His angels. His Messengers, His Books, the Last Day, and the divine decree (al-qadr), both good and bad. He said: You have spoken the truth. We were amazed by him; he asked a question then told him that he had spoken the truth. Then he said: O Muhammad, what is ihsan (right action, goodness, sincerity)? He said: To worship Allah as if you see Him, for even though you cannot see Him, He sees you.» This version was narrated by Ibn Majah; the hadith was also narrated by Bukhari, Muslim and others.

33:36. It is not fitting for any believing man or believing woman, when Allah and His Messenger have decided concerning a matter, to have any choice in that matter. Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has clearly gone astray.

That is, it is not appropriate or right for one who is a believer to do anything but hasten to do that which pleases Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), to shun that which angers Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), and to comply with their commands and heed their prohibitions.

It is not befitting for the believing man or the believing woman, ﴾when Allah and His Messenger have decided concerning a matter﴿ and have made it obligatory and binding,

﴾fto have any choice in that matter﴿ that is, the choice of whether to comply or not. Rather the believing man and the believing woman know that the Messenger (ﷺ) is closer to them than their own selves, and they do not let some of their own whims and desires prevent them from obeying the command of Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ).

﴾Whoever disobeys Allah and His Messenger has clearly gone astray﴿ because he has forsaken the straight path that leads to Allah and His paradise, and has chosen instead some other path that leads to the painful punishment. Allah mentions, first of all, the reason why the believer should not object to the command of Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ), namely faith, then He mentions that which should prevent him from doing that, namely fear of being misguided which is connected to punishment and vengeance.

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33:37. And [remember] when you [O Muhammad] said to him on whom Allah had conferred favour [of faith] and you [too] had conferred favour [of manumission]:^{1This refers to Zayd ibn Harithah He was the adopted son of the Prophet (*i|g) and had been known as Zayd ibn Muhammad, until revelation came down abolishing the notion of adoption and emphasising the importance of calling people after their real fathers. Allah's decree that the Prophet (3§j§) should marry the ex-wife of his adopted son put an end to the notion of adoption and what resulted from it of the taboo on marrying the ex-wife of an adopted son.} Keep your wife and fear Allah. You concealed in your heart that which Allah was going to disclose. You feared [the criticism of] the people but it was more fitting that you should fear Allah. When Zayd had completed the necessary formalities of divorce from her [and her ‘iddah had ended]. We gave her to you in marriage, so that there would not be any restrictions on the believers with regard to marrying the ex-wives of their adopted sons after they have completed the necessary formalities of divorce from them [and their 'iddah has ended]. And the decree of Allah is bound to be fulfilled.

The reason for revelation of these verses was that Allah wanted to prescribe a law that was applicable to all believers, which was that adopted sons do not come under the same rulings as real sons in all ways, and that there was no blame on those who had adopted them if they married their ex-wives.

This was something that was commonly practised and could not be abolished except through a major event. So Allah wanted this law to be demonstrated by His Messenger in word and deed. When Allah wills something, He ordains a cause for it.

Zayd ibn Harithah was formerly called Zayd ibn Muhammad, because the Prophet (ﷺ) had adopted him, so he was called after him, until the words:

ttCalI them [adopted sons] after their [real] fathers... ﴿ (al-Ahzab 33:5) - were revealed, after which he was called Zayd ibn Harithah.

He was married to Zaynab bint Jahsh (radiya Allahu ‘anha - may Allah be pleased with her), the daughter of the paternal aunt of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ). It had occurred to the Messenger (ﷺ) that if Zayd divorced her, he would marry her, then Allah decreed that there should be some problem between her and Zayd that caused Zayd ibn Harithah to come to the Prophet (ﷺ) and ask his permission to divorce her.

﴾And [remember] when you [O Muhammad] said to him on whom Allah had conferred favour [of faith]﴿ by guiding him to Islam ﴾and you [too] had conferred favour [of manumission]﴿ by setting him free. When he came to consult you about divorcing her, you said to him - advising him and telling him of that which was in his best interests, even though you wished that you could marry her - ﴾Keep your wife﴿ that is, do not divorce her, and be patient with her attitude towards you,

﴾and fear Allah﴿ with regard to your affairs in general and with regard to your wife in particular, for fearing Allah encourages and enjoins one to be patient.

﴾You concealed in your heart that which Allah was going to disclose﴿ - what he concealed was the fact that if Zayd divorced her, he would marry her.

﴾You feared [the criticism of] the people﴿ and that is why you did not disclose what was in your heart

﴾but it was more fitting that you should fear Allah﴿ and not pay attention to people.

﴾When Zayd had completed the necessary formalities of divorce from her [and her ‘iddah had ended]. We gave her to you in marriage﴿

- We only did that to serve a great purpose, which was:

﴾fso that there would not be any restrictions on the believers with regard to marrying the ex-wives of their adopted sons﴿ because they would have seen you marry the ex-wife of Zayd ibn Harithah, who had previously been called your son.

Because the words ﴾so that there would not be any restrictions on the believers with regard to marrying the ex-wives of their adopted sons﴿ are general in meaning and are applicable to all situations, but there may be some cases in which that is not permissible - which is before the necessary formalities of divorce have been completed

- these general terms are restricted by the following phrase: Rafter they have completed the necessary formalities of divorce from them [and their ‘iddah has ended]. And the decree of Allah is bound to be fulfilled﴿ that is, it must inevitably come to pass and no one can stand in its way.

We learn a number of things from these verses which mention this story, including the following:

• Allah praised Zayd ibn Harithah on two counts. Firstly, Allah mentioned him by name in the Qur’an, and He did not mention any other Ṣahabi by name. Secondly, Allah told him that He had conferred favour upon him, namely the blessing of Islam and faith. This is testimony from Allah that he was a Muslim and a believer, both outwardly and inwardly. Otherwise there is no point in singling him out for favour, were it not that what is meant is a particular favour or blessing.

• The one who is manumitted owes it to the one who manumitted him.

• It is permissible to marry the ex-wife of one’s adopted son, as is clearly stated here.• Practical teaching is more effective than verbal teaching, especially if it is also accompanied by words, for that is light upon light.

• Having love in one’s heart for someone other than one’s wife or concubine, so long as it is not accompanied by any prohibited action, is not a sin, even if it is accompanied by wishes for the husband to divorce her so that one may marry her, without making any effort to cause separation between them, or being the cause of trouble, because Allah stated that the Messenger (ﷺ) was concealing that in his heart.

• The Messenger (ﷺ) conveyed the message clearly and did not omit anything of that which was revealed to him but he conveyed it, even this matter in which there was a rebuke to him. This indicates that he is indeed the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ), who did not say anything but that which was revealed to him, and that his aim was not self-aggrandizement.

• The one whose advice is sought is in a position of trust, and he is obliged - if he is consulted about any matter - to give advice on the basis of what he knows is in the best interests of the person who is asking him for advice, even if it is contrary to his own desires. He should give precedence to the interests of the person seeking advice over his own whims and desires, and even if it is contrary to those whims and desires.

• Good advice to the one who seeks advice with regard to divorcing his wife includes advising him to keep her as much as possible, because that is better than separation.

• It is essential to give precedence to fear of Allah over fear of people, for that is more appropriate and is better.

• We also learn of the virtue of Zaynab the Mother of the Believers, because Allah ordained her marriage to His Messenger without any proposal or witnesses. Therefore she used to boast of that to the other wives of the Messengerof Allah saying: Your families gave you in marriage, but

Allah gave me in marriage from above seven heavens.

• If a woman has a husband, it is not permissible to marry her or to plan or take measures to do so, until her husband has completed divorce proceedings with her. Divorce proceedings are not complete until the ‘iddah is over, because before the ‘iddah ends, she is still married.

33:38. There is no blame on the Prophet with regard to what Allah has made lawful for him. Such was the way of Allah with those [Prophets] who came before. And the command of Allah is a decree determined.

33:39. [This is Allah’s way] with those who convey the messages of Allah and who fear Him, and they do not fear anyone except Allah. And Allah is sufficient in taking account.

This is warding off criticism of the Messenger (ﷺ) for having numerous wives, and explains that this is criticism that is baseless. ﴾There is no blame﴿ that is, sin

﴾fon the Prophet with regard to what Allah has made lawful for him]j that is, what Allah has allowed him of wives. This is something that Allah had permitted to the Prophets before him, hence He says: ﴾Such was the way of Allah with those [Prophets] who came before. And the command of Allah is a decree determined ﴿ that is, it will inevitably come to pass.

Then Allah states who those were who came before him, and that this was their way and practice. They were ﴾those who convey the messages of Allah﴿, so they recite to people the revelations of Allah and His proofs and evidence, and they call them to Allah ﴾and who fear Him﴿ alone, with no partner or associate ﴾fand they do not fear anyone except Allah﴿.

If this was the way of the infallible Prophets who fulfilled their role in the most perfect manner, which was to call people to Allah, fearing Him alone, which requires doing everything that is enjoined and refraining from everything that is prohibited, this indicates that there is nothing to criticise the Prophet (ﷺ) about.

﴾And Allah is sufficient in taking account﴿ of His slaves, for He is watching their deeds. From this it is known that marriage is part of the way of the Messengers.

33:40. Muhammad is not the father of any man among you, but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last of the Prophets. Allah has knowledge of all things.

That is, the Messenger ﴾Muhammad﴿ (ﷺ) ﴾fis not the father of any man among you﴿, O Ummah. Annulling the connection ofZayd ibn Harithah with him is included in that.

Because this is general in meaning and applies to all situations, if we take the verse as it appears to be, it would mean that the Prophet (ﷺ) is not the father of any man, whether by blood or by adoption. However, it was previously established that the Messenger is afather to all the believers, and his wives (radiya Allahu 'anhunna - may Allah be pleased with all of them) are their mothers. Therefore, in order to avoid anyone thinking that there could be some contradiction because of the general meaning of this statement, Allah says: ﴾but he is the Messenger of Allah and the last of the Prophets﴿ that is, this is his position, which is the position of one who must be obeyed and followed, one through whose teachings people are guided, one who is believed in, and precedence must be given to love of him over love of anyone else; he is the one who is sincere towards the believers, and because of his sincerity and love towards them, it is as if he were a father to them.

c-(Allah has knowledge of all things﴿ that is, His knowledge encompasses all things and He knows with whom to place His message and who is tit to receive His favour and who is not.

33:41. O you who believe, remember Allah with much remembrance,

33:42. And glorify Him morning and afternoon.

33:43. For it is He Who sends blessings upon you, and His angels [ask Him to bless you and forgive you], so that He may bring you forth from the depths of darkness into the light. And He is Most Merciful to the believers.

33:44. Their greeting on the day they meet Him will be: Peace, and He has prepared for them a generous reward.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) instructs the believers to remember Him with much remembrance, such as tahleel, tahmeed, tasbeeh, takbeer,b and other words that bring one closer to Allah. The minimum of that is regularly reciting the dhikr for morning and afternoon, following the five obligatory prayers, and on various occasions when there are reasons to recite dhikr.

One should persist in doing that at all times and in all situations, by virtue of which the doer may advance without much effort, for that will motivate him to love and know Allah, and it will help him to do good and will restrain his tongue from evil speech.

f(And glorify Him morning and afternoon﴿ that is, at the beginning and end of the day, because these are virtuous times and it is easy to do this at those times.

﴾For it is He Who sends blessings upon you, and His angels [ask Him to bless you and forgive you], so that He may bring you forth from the depths of darkness into the light. And He is Most Merciful to the believers﴿ that is, by His mercy and kindness towards the believers, by means of His blessings and praise for them, and the prayer and supplication of His angels. He brings them forth from the dark depths of sin and ignorance to the light of faith, guidance, knowledge and good deeds. This is the greatest blessing that He bestows upon His obedient slaves, which should make them be grateful and remember Allah a great deal, for He has shown kindness and mercy to them, and He causes the bearers of His Throne, the best of the angels, and those who are around the Throne, to glorify and praise their Lord and pray for forgiveness for those who believe, so they say:

﴾.. .Our Lord, You encompass all things in Your mercy and knowledge, so forgive those who repent and follow Your path, and protect themfrom the punishment of the blazing fire. Our Lord, and admit them to gardens of perpetual abode which You have promised them, and [admit] the righteous among their forebears, their spouses and their offspring. Verily, You are the Almighty, the Most Wise. And protect them from the evil consequences [of their sins], for whomever You protect from evil consequences on that day, You will indeed have bestowed mercy upon him, and that is the supreme triumph.]﴿ (Ghafir 40: 7-9)

This is the mercy and blessing that He bestows upon them in this world.

As for His mercy towards them in the hereafter, it is the greatest of mercy and the best reward, namely attaining the pleasure and greeting of their Lord, listening to His noble words, gazing upon His beautiful Countenance, and attaining immense rewards of which no one knows the extent except those to whom He gives them. Hence He says: «[Their greeting on the day they meet Him will be: Peace, and He has prepared for them a generous reward﴿.

(tA-ta

33:45. O Prophet, verily We have sent you as a witness, a bearer of glad tidings and a warner,

33:46. as one who calls people to Allah by His leave, and as a lamp spreading light.

33:47. And give glad tidings to the believers that they will have great bounty from Allah.

33:48. Do not yield to the disbelievers and hypocrites, and pay no heed to their hurtful talk. Put your trust in Allah, for sufficient is Allah as a disposer of affairs.

These descriptions that Allah gives of His Messenger Muhammad (ﷺ) reflect the purpose of his mission and its fundamental essence which was unique to that message. There are five points to note:

Firstly, he was sent as «ja witness﴿ to testify concerning his Ummah and what they did of good and evil, as Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says elsewhere: ﴾...that you might be witnesses over humankind, and the Messenger might be a witness over you... p (al-Baqarah 2: 143)

- and:

﴾)How will it be when We bring a witness from every nation and bring you [O Muhammad] as a witness against them?﴿ (an-Nisa’4: 41)

Therefore he is a just and acceptable witness.

Secondly and thirdly, he is f(a bearer of glad tidings and a warner﴿, which requires a definition of the recipients of those glad tidings and warnings, what those tidings and warnings are about, and the deeds expected of people in that context.

The recipients of the glad tidings are the pious believers who combine faith and righteous deeds with refraining from sin. Glad tidings are for them in the life of this world, of all kinds of reward, both worldly and spiritual. As a result of their faith and piety or fear of Allah, in the hereafter they will enjoy eternal bliss.

All of that requires an explanation of the deeds and piety that are needed in order to attain that reward, and different types of reward.

The recipients of the warning are the evildoers and wrongdoers, people of wickedness and ignorance. They are given the warning in this world of worldly and religious punishments that result fromignorance and wrongdoing. In the hereafter they will have a severe and lengthy punishment.

The details of all the above are to be found in what the Prophet (ﷺ) brought of the Qur’an and Sunnah.

Fourthly, he is ﴾one who calls people to Allah﴿ that is, Allah sent him to call people to their Lord, show them the way to paradise, and enjoin them to worship Him, which is the purpose for which they were created. This requires him to adhere to that to which he is calling them and to describe in detail the message to which he is calling them, by teaching them about their Lord and His divine attributes; declaring Him to be far above that which is not befitting to His majesty; describing all types of servitude to Him; calling people to Allah by the most effective means; giving each one who has a right his due; and being sincere in calling them to Allah alone, not to himself or seeking any kind of self-aggrandizement, as might be the inclination of many people. All of that was by Allah’s leave, and by His will and decree.

Fifthly, he is ﴾a lamp spreading light﴿ which implies that all people are in the depths of darkness, without any light and without any knowledge to help them in their ignorance, until Allah sent this noble Prophet (ﷺ), by means of whom He illuminated that darkness, granted knowledge to ignorant people, and guided those who were lost to the straight path.

Thus the way became clear to righteous people, and they marched behind that leader from whom they learned about good and evil, who is blessed and who is doomed, and through the light that they received from him they came to know Who is worthy of worship, learning about Him through His praiseworthy attributes, perfect deeds and wise rulings.

﴾And give glad tidings to the believers that they will have great bounty from Allah﴿ - here Allah mentions the recipients of the gladtidings, namely the believers. When faith is mentioned on its own, it also includes righteous deeds.

The subject of the glad tidings is the great bounty, namely immense abundance which is so great that no one would be able to estimate it. That includes victory in this world, guidance, forgiveness of sins, relief of distress, abundant and increasing provision, granting of blessings, and attaining the pleasure and reward of their Lord and being safe from His wrath and punishment.

This motivates people to strive, by telling them of the reward that Allah will bestow upon them for their good deeds, and it helps them to follow the straight path. This is part of the wisdom of Islam; another aspect of its wisdom is that in the context of warning, mention is made of the punishments implied by that warning; this helps one to refrain from that which Allah has forbidden.

Because there are some people who are prepared to oppose the Prophets and their followers who call people to Allah - namely the hypocrites, who make an outward pretence of being believers when inwardly they are disbelievers and evildoers, and the disbelievers who disbelieve both inwardly and outwardly - Allah forbade His Messenger (ﷺ) to obey them and warned him against doing that, as He said:

﴾Do not yield to the disbelievers and hypocrites﴿ that is, in any matter that is opposed to the way of Allah.

That does not mean actively harming them; rather what is meant is that he should not obey them or yield to them ﴾fand pay no heed to their hurtful talk﴿, for this may soften their hearts and encourage them to accept Islam, and it may put a stop to much of the harm that they do to Islam and to its followers.

﴾Put your trust in Allah﴿ to grant you the upper hand and cause your enemy to fail﴾for sufficient is Allah as a disposer of affairs﴿. Important matters are to be delegated to Him, so that He will take care of them and make it easy for His slave to achieve what he wants.

33:49. O you who believe, if you marry believing women and then divorce them before the marriage is consummated, you have no reason to ask them to observe any waiting period [‘iddah] for you. So give them a gift [as compensation], and let them go in an amicable manner.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells the believers that if they marry believing women, then divorce them before consummating the marriage, those women do not have to observe the ‘iddah, and the men have no reason to ask them to do so. Allah commands their husbands to give them a gift in this case, so as to console them for leaving them, and so that the separation may be amicable, without any dispute, trading of insults or making demands on one another, and the like.

This verse is quoted as evidence to support the view that divorce can only occur after marriage. If a man divorces a woman before marrying her, or makes divorce conditional upon marrying her, it does not count, because Allah says: ﴾if you marry believing women and then divorce them﴿. So it is ordained that divorce can only come after marriage, which indicates that if it is done before marriage, it does not count.

As divorce is a complete separation, which means that the spouses become completely prohibited to one another, it cannot occur before marriage. Therefore it is more appropriate to say that divorce by means of dhiharJ eela'^{1Eela’ is an oath of abstinence, as referred to in the verse: ((For those who take an oath of abstinence from their wives, there should be a [maximum] waiting period of four months; if they then go back [to their normal relationship], Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.j>} and the like also cannot be done before marriage. This is the correct scholarly view.

This verse also indicates that divorce is permissible, because Allah speaks of when the believers do that, without blaming them or rebuking them for it, even though the verse begins by addressing the believers. It also indicates that it is permissible to issue a divorce before consummating the marriage, as Allah says elsewhere:

﴾There is no blame on you if you divorce women before the marriage is consummated...(al-Baqarah 2: 236)

And it indicates that if a woman is divorced before consummation of the marriage, she is not required to observe ‘iddah; rather as soon as she is divorced, it is permissible for her to marry someone else, because there is no impediment to doing so. But after consummation of the marriage, she is required to observe ‘iddah in the event of divorce.

But does the word translated here as “consummation” refer specifically to intercourse, as is agreed upon? Or is being alone together to be regarded in the same way, even if no intercourse takes place? The latter was stated in fatwas issued by the Rightly-Guided Caliphs, and this is the correct view. If the husband has been alonewith the wife, even if no intercourse took place, she must observe ‘iddah in the event of divorce.

Moreover, the woman who is divorced before consummation of the marriage is to be given a gift, from one who is well off according to his means, and from one who is poor according to his means, but this applies if he did not specify a mahr (dowry) for her. If he did specify her dowry, then if he divorces her before consummation of the marriage, she is to be given half of the mahr, in which case there is no need for a gift.

However, the one who divorces his wife before or after consummation of the marriage must do so amicably, and each partner should speak well of the other and not do otherwise, because that would lead to a great deal of evil, such as each of them reviling the other to a great extent.

Furthermore, the ‘iddah is the right of the husband, because Allah says: ﴾you have no reason to ask them to observe any waiting period [‘iddah] for you﴿, which indicates that if he divorces her after consummation of the marriage, he has the right to ask her to observe ‘iddah. But the woman whose marriage ends with the death of her husband must observe ‘iddah in all cases, because Allah says, f[and then divorce them...﴿. However, apart from the woman whose marriage was not consummated, those whose marriages end by death or divorce must observe ‘iddah.

33:50. O Prophet, We have made lawful for you your wives whose dowries you have paid; any slave women you may own from among the captives of war whom Allah has bestowed upon you; daughters of your paternal uncles, daughters of your paternal aunts, daughters of your maternal uncles, and daughters of your maternal aunts who migrated [to Madinah] with you; and a believing woman if she offers herself to the Prophet [for marriage, without a dowry], and the Prophet wishes to marry her - that is exclusively for you [O Muhammad], not for the rest of the believers. We know what We have stipulated for them with regard to their marriages [to free women] and with regard to any slave women they may own, so that there may be no constraint upon you. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) reminds His Messenger (ﷺ) of His favour with regard to what He has permitted to him, both of things that he has in common with the believers and things that are for him alone:

﴾fO Prophet, We have made lawful for you your wives whose dowries you have paid﴿. This is something that he has in common with the believers, because in like manner Allah has made lawful for them their wives to whom they have given their dowries.

Likewise, We have made lawful for you ﴾any slave women you may own from among the captives of war whom Allah has bestowed upon you﴿ among the booty seized from the disbelievers, such as their slaves and free individuals who were captured, whether they had husbands or did not. This is something else that was common to both him and to the believers.

Another category that was common to both him and to the believers was: ﴾daughters of your paternal uncles, daughters of yourpaternal aunts, daughters of your maternal uncles, and daughters of your maternal aunts﴿ the words translated here as ﴾paternal uncles﴿, ﴾paternal aunts﴿, ﴾maternal uncles﴿ and ﴾maternal aunts﴿ also include those that are described in English as great-uncles and great-aunts (so what is meant is that the daughters of great-uncles and great-aunts are also permissible for marriage). These are the only women who are permissible.

From this meaning it is understood that all relatives other than these are not permissible, as was explained in Soorat an-Nisa’. Therefore no female relatives are permissible in marriage except these four. All others, descendants and ascendants, and descendants of one’s mother and father, no matter how far the line of descent reaches, and descendants of one’s grandparents, are not permissible.

﴾who migrated [to Madinah] with you﴿ this limits permissibility to those women who migrated with the Messenger (ﷺ), which is the correct interpretation of this verse.

﴾and﴿ We have made permissible for you ﴾a believing woman if she offers herself to the Prophet [for marriage, without a dowry]﴿ simply by virtue of her offering herself, if ﴾the Prophet wishes to marry her﴿ that is, it is subject to his choice.

﴾that is exclusively for you [O Muhammad], not for the rest of the believers﴿ that is, it is permissible for you to marry a woman who offers herself in marriage. As for the believers, it is not permissible for them to marry a woman just because she offers herself to them in marriage.

﴾We know what We have stipulated for them with regard to their marriages [to free women] and with regard to any slave women they may own﴿ that is, We know what is required of the believers, what is permissible for them and what is not permissible for them of wives and slave women, and We have taught them that and explained the rulings concerning that.

Whatever is mentioned in this verse that appears to be contrary to that is only for you (O Prophet [J^g]), because Allah has made it addressed to the Messenger (ﷺ) only, as He said: ﴾O Prophet, We have made lawful for you...﴿

The phrase ﴾that is exclusively for you [O Muhammad], not for the rest of the believers﴿ means: We have permitted to you, O Prophet (ﷺ), what we have not permitted to them, and We have given you more leeway than We have given to others, ﴾so that there may be no constraint upon you﴿. This is part of the great care that Allah showed to His Messenger (ﷺ).

﴾And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful﴿ that is. He has always been forgiving and merciful, bestowing upon His slaves His forgiveness, mercy, generosity and kindness as dictated by His wisdom, when they take the appropriate measures that lead to forgiveness.

33:51. You [O Muhammad] may defer [the turn of] any of them that you wish, and you may share your time with any of them that you wish, and there is no blame on you if you share your time with one of those whose [turn] you had set aside. That will make it more likely that they will be content and not distressed, and that they will all be satisfied with what you give them.^{1In this verse Allah tells His Prophet (i^g) that he is not obliged to share his time equally among his wives; the fact that he continued to share his time equally among them, even though he was not obliged to do so, =} Allahknows best what is in your hearts, and Allah is All-Knowing, Most Forbearing.

This is one way in which Allah made things easy for His Messenger (ﷺ) and bestowed His mercy upon him, as He permitted him not to divide his time equally among his wives, in the sense that doing so was no longer obligatory for him, and if he did do that, it would be a voluntary act of kindness on his part. Despite that, the Prophet (ﷺ) still tried to treat them equally in all ways, and he said:

«0 Allah, this is how I am sharing out that which is under my control (time and spending on their maintenance), so do not blame me for that which is not under my control (love and inclination towards some more than others).» (An acceptable hadith recorded by Abu Dawood)^{2All hadiths in this text have been checked and verified by lIPH’s researchers. It is rare, but it does happen that a hadith is not verifiable within the timeframe of researching and editing the book. In that case, a decision is made by the editorial board as to whether or not to include the hadith. It is lIPH's policy not to include weak hadiths or fabricated (fake) hadiths in our publications. If a weak hadith is included in any text, it is only because the author of the book discusses it as a weak hadith. (Editor)} Here Allah says: ﴾You [O Muhammad] may defer [the turn of] any of them that you wish﴿ that is, you may postpone the turn of any of your wives that you wish, and not spend time with her or stay overnight with her,

﴾and you may share your time with any of them that you wish﴿ that is, you may spend the night with her.

﴾and there is no blame on you if you share your time with one of those whose [turn] you had set aside﴿ - what is meant is: the choice is up to you in all cases.

= would be appreciated by his wives and they would therefore feel content. (ar-Razi)

Many of the commentators said that this applies only to those who offered themselves to him in marriage: he had the option to defer the turn of any of them that he wished, and to share his time with any of them that he wished. In other words, he could accept any woman who offered herself in marriage to him, or he could reject any of them if he wished. And Allah knows best

Then Allah explains the wisdom behind that, as He said:

﴾That﴿ namely giving you leeway in this matter, leaving it for you to decide, and counting whatever you do with regard to sharing your time among them as voluntary kindness, ﴾will make it more likely that they will be content and not distressed, and that they will all be satisfied with what you give them﴿, because they will know that you have not omitted something obligatory and you have not neglected the binding dues of others.

﴾Allah knows best what is in your hearts﴿ that is, He knows what feelings go through people’s minds when giving other people their dues, both obligatory and recommended, and when there is a conflict between dues; therefore He has prescribed this leeway for you, O Messenger of Allah so that you may reassure your wives.

﴾and Allah is All-Knowing, Most Forbearing﴿ that is, His knowledge is abundant and His forbearing is immense. By His knowledge He has prescribed for you what is in your best interests and brings the greatest reward, and by His forbearance He does not punish you for what you do and what your hearts persist in of evil.

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33:52. It is not lawful for you to take any [more] wives henceforth, or to replace [your current wives] with others,^{1This is by way of honouring the wives of the Prophet (*§§), who had been given the choice between the life of this world, and Allah and His Messenger (^), and the final abode (in 33. 28-29), and had chosen Allah and His Messenger (^).} even though their beauty pleases you, except any slave women you may own. And Allah is always watching over all things.

Here Allah shows His appreciation to the wives of His Messenger (رضي الله عنهم), as they had chosen Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) and the final abode. Therefore He had mercy on them and restricted His Messenger (ﷺ) to them (in the sense that he was not permitted to take any more wives). Hence He said:

﴾It is not lawful for you to take any [more] wives henceforth﴿ in addition to your current wives

﴾or to replace [your current wives] with others﴿ that is, by divorcing some of them and taking other wives in their stead.

By means of this verse, they became safe from having more co-wives and from divorce, because Allah decreed that they would be his wives in this world and the hereafter, and there would be no separation between him and them.

﴾even though their beauty pleases you﴿ that is, the beauty of other women, for they are not permissible for you

﴾except any slave women you may own﴿ that is, captives seized in war. That is permissible for you, for the resentment that wives may feel towards concubines is less than that which they may feel towards co-wives.

﴾And Allah is always watching over all things﴿ that is, He is watching all things and knows how things will develop, and He is controlling matters in the best and most precise way.

33:53. 0 you who believe, do not enter the houses of the Prophet, unless you are given permission [and are invited] to come for a meal; and do not enter in hopes of getting a meal and waiting for it to be prepared.^{1There were some people who would enter the Prophet’s houses at mealtimes, hoping for a meal without being invited.} But if you are invited, then enter, and when you have eaten, then disperse, without lingering for conversation. Such [behaviour] causes annoyance to the Prophet; he is too shy to ask you to leave, but Allah is not too shy [to tell you] the truth. And when you ask them [his wives] for anything, ask them from behind a screen; that is more pure for your hearts and for theirs. It is not proper for you to cause annoyance to the Messenger of Allah or to ever marry his wives after he is gone, for that would be a grievous offence before Allah.

33:54. Whether you disclose something or conceal it, verily Allah has knowledge of all things.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) instructs His believing slaves to observe proper etiquette with the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) when entering his houses:

t﴾0 you who believe, do not enter the houses of the Prophet, unless you are given permission [and are invited] to come for a meal﴿ that is, do not enter his houses without permission, or enter for the purpose of finding food. Moreover do not enter his houses f[in hopes of getting a meal﴿ that is, expecting a meal and waiting until it is cooked.

What is meant is: you should not enter the houses of the Prophet (ﷺ) except under two conditions: that permission is given to you to enter, and that you should stay only as long as is necessary. Hence Allah says:

﴾But if you are invited, then enter, and when you have eaten, then disperse, without lingering for conversation﴿ that is, before and after the meal.

Then Allah explains the wisdom and benefit behind this prohibition: ﴾Such [behaviour]﴿ that is, your lingering for longer than is necessary ﴾causes annoyance to the Prophet﴿ that is, it is imposing on him and making things hard for him when you detain him from going to check on his family and look after them, and it distracts him from doing so. ﴾fhe is too shy to ask you to leave﴿ as is the usual practice, because people - especially people of dignity - feel too shy to tell people to leave their homes.

﴾but Allah is not too shy [to tell you] the truth﴿.

When there is a clear instruction in Islamic teaching, even though one may think it better to refrain from complying with it out of shyness or to follow prevailing social etiquette, the right thing to do is to have the resolve to comply with the teachings and be certain that whatever is contrary to it is not in fact part of proper etiquette at all. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) is not too shy to enjoin what is good for you and what is kindest to His Messenger (ﷺ), no matter what it is.

Thus He taught them the proper manner of entering the Prophet’s houses. With regard to the proper etiquette when addressing his wives, then either there is a need to talk to them or there is not. If there is noneed to talk to them, they should not do that and the proper etiquette is to refrain from doing it. If there is a need to do that, such as if they need to ask them for something like household vessels and so on, then they should ask them ﴾from behind a screen﴿, that is, there should be something to screen them from view, because there is no need to see them.

So looking at them was prohibited in all situations, and the ruling on speaking to them depended on whether there was a need to do so or not, as explained above.

Then Allah mentions the wisdom behind that:

﴾that is more pure for your hearts and for theirs﴿ because it is more appropriate, so as to avoid anything that could give rise to suspicion. The more one keeps away from things that could lead to evil, the safer it is and the purer it is for one’s heart.

Therefore, among the Islamic guidelines that Allah often explains in detail is the principle that all means that may cause evil or lead to it are prohibited, and it is prescribed to keep away from them by all possible means.

Then comes a comprehensive phrase which reflects a general principle:

﴾It is not proper for you﴿ O believers; it is not befitting and is not appropriate for you, and in fact it is most abhorrent ﴾for you to cause annoyance to the Messenger of Allah﴿ that is, in word or deed, with regard to anything that is connected to him ﴾or to ever marry his wives after he is gone﴿. This is one of the things that would cause annoyance to him, because he is in a great and honourable position, and marrying his wives after he is gone would undermine that position.

Moreover, they are his wives in this world and the hereafter, and the bond of marriage between them continues after his death. Therefore it is not permissible for anyone of his Ummah to marry his wives after he is gone.﴾for that would be a grievous offence before Allah﴿. This Ummah complied with this command and avoided that which Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) had forbidden. Praise and thanks be to Allah.

Then Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says: ﴾Whether you disclose something﴿ and show it openly

﴾or conceal it, verily Allah has knowledge of all things﴿. He knows what is in your hearts and what you disclose, and He will requite you accordingly.

33:55. There is no blame [on the Prophet’s wives, if they are seen unveiled] by their fathers, their sons, their brothers, their brothers’ sons, their sisters’ sons, their [fellow Muslim] women, or slaves whom they own. And [O wives of the Prophet] fear Allah, for verily Allah is witness to all things.

Because his wives are not to be asked for anything except from behind a screen, and because the wording is general in meaning and includes everyone, there was a need to state who is exempted from the ruling, namely the mahrams who are mentioned here, and that ﴾There is no blame [on the Prophet’s wives]﴿ if they do not observe hijab in front of these relatives.

No mention is made here of paternal uncles and maternal uncles, because there is no need for them to observe hijab in front of those of whom they are aunts, namely the sons of their brothers and sisters, even though they are senior to them. Therefore it is more appropriatethat they should not have to observe hijab in front of their paternal uncles and maternal uncles. The wording of the other verse clearly mentions the paternal uncle and maternal uncle, and it is in the light of that that we may understand this verse.

﴾their [fellow Muslim] women﴿ that is, there is no blame on them if they do not observe hijab in front of their fellow Muslim women. This excludes non-Muslim women. It may be that what is meant is women in general, so a woman does not have to observe hijab in front of another woman.

﴾or slaves whom they own﴿ so long as the slave is entirely her property (and ownership is not shared with anyone else).

Having stated that there is no blame on them for not observing hijab in these cases, Allah stipulates that in this situation and others it is necessary to fear Allah, and that there should be no reservations on the basis of Islamic teaching with regard to that matter. Hence Allah says:

﴾And [O wives of the Prophet], fear Allah﴿ in all circumstances ﴾for verily Allah is witness to all things﴿ that is, He witnesses all deeds that people do, both visible and hidden; He hears what they say and sees what they do, then He will requite them for that in full.

33:56. Verily Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet. O you who believe, send blessings upon him and salute him with the salutation of peace.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) highlights the perfection and high status of the Messenger of Allah and his lofty renown, before Allah andbefore His creation, and tells us that ﴾Verily Allah and His angels send blessings upon the Prophet﴿ that is, Allah praises him before the angels and those on high, because He loves him, and the angels who are close to Allah praise him and pray for him, beseeching Allah.

﴾0 you who believe, send blessings upon him and salute him with the salutation of peace﴿, following the example of Allah and His angels, as a reward to him for some of the rights that he has over them, so as to perfect their faith and show respect, love and honour for him, and as a means of increasing their good deeds and expiating their bad deeds.

The best wording for sending blessings upon the Prophet (ﷺ) is that which he taught to his Companions:

«0 Allah, send prayers upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad, as You sent prayers upon the family of Ibraheem; You are indeed Worthy of Praise, Full of Glory. And send blessings upon Muhammad and upon the family of Muhammad as You sent blessings upon the family of Ibraheem; You are indeed Worthy of Praise, Full of Glory.» (Bukhari)

This command to send blessings and salutations upon the Prophet (ﷺ) is prescribed at all times, and many of the scholars regarded it as obligatory in the prayer.

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33:57. Those who offend Allah and His Messenger, Allah has cursed them in this world and in the hereafter, and He has prepared for them a humiliating punishment.

33:58. Those who malign believing men and believing women without them having done anything wrong will bear the guilt of slander and manifest sin.

Having commanded people to venerate His Messenger and send blessings and salutations upon him, Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) now forbids them to offend him, and warns against doing that: ﴾Those who offend Allah and His Messenger﴿ - this includes all kinds of offence, in word or in deed, such as reviling, insulting, criticising him or his religion, or doing anything that will cause offence to him. ﴾Allah has cursed them in this world﴿ that is, He has cast them far away from His mercy, and part of the curse on them in this world is capital punishment for the one who reviles the Messenger (ﷺ) or says something offensive about him.

﴾and in the hereafter, and He has prepared for them a humiliating punishment﴿ namely requital for their offence, by being subjected to the painful punishment. Offending the Messenger (ﷺ) is not like offending anyone else, because no one can truly believe in Allah unless he believes in His Messenger (ﷺ), who is entitled to veneration, which is one of the requirements of faith, and the level of veneration to which he is entitled is unlike any other, although offending the believers is also a grave sin. Hence Allah says concerning that:

﴾Those who malign believing men and believing women without them having done anything wrong﴿ that is, without any offence on their part that would dictate that they be maligned,

﴾will bear the guilt of slander﴿ because they have maligned them with no cause

﴾and manifest sin﴿ because they have transgressed against them and violated the sanctity that Allah commanded should be respected. Hence reviling individual believers is deserving of a disciplinary punishment, according to the situation and the virtue of the believer in question. The disciplinary punishment for one who reviles theṢahabah is more severe, and the disciplinary punishment for one who reviles the scholars and people of religious commitment is more severe than that of one who reviles others.

33:59. O Prophet, tell your wives and daughters, and the believing women, to put on their jalabeeb^{1Jalabeeb (sing.y7/6d6): the jilbab is an outer garment that covers the entire body from the top of the head. According to the commentators, that includes covering the face, leaving the eyes - or one eye - uncovered so the woman can see where she is going.} [when they go out]; this will make it more likely that they will be recognised [as chaste women] and will not be harassed. And Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

33:60. If the hypocrites, those in whose hearts is a disease and the rumour-mongers in Madinah do not desist. We will surely instruct you to take action against them. Then they will not remain with you in the city for much longer.

33:61. They are cursed; wherever they are found, they should be captured and killed outright.^{2This refers to the hypocrites mentioned in the previous verse, and applies so long as they persist in their hypocrisy and in spreading rumours in order to cause turmoil and harm to the Muslims.}

33:62. Such was the way of Allah with those who came before. And you will find no change in the way of Allah.

tjO Prophet, tell your wives and daughters, and the believing women...]?This verse is the one that is known as the verse of hijab, in which Allah instructs His Prophet to instruct women in general to observe hijab, starting with his wives and daughters, because the instruction is more emphatic in their case than that of other women, and because the one who instructs others to do something should start with his family before anyone else, as in the verse in which Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

﴾0 you who believe, guard yourselves and your families against a fire whose fuel is men and stones...﴿ (at-Tahreem 66. 6)

﴾to put on their jalabeeb [when they go out]﴿ the jilbab (singular of jalabeeb) is an outer garment that is worn over the head cover, upper garment and so on; women should cover their faces and chests.

Then Allah mentions the wisdom behind that: ﴾this will make it more likely that they will be recognised [as chaste women] and will not be harassed﴿ - this indicates that they could be harassed if they did not observe hijab, because if they did not observe hijab, it may be thought that they were not chaste, so men in whose hearts is a disease could harass them. Moreover, people might look down on them and assume that they were slave women, and anyone with evil intent might think little of them. Hijab deters those who have evil intentions towards them.

SfAnd Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful﴿ as He has forgiven you for what you did in the past, and He has bestowed mercy upon you by explaining the rulings to you, clarifying what is lawful and what is prohibited. So these rulings block the means of evil on the part of women.

As for the evildoers (who spread false rumours), Allah threatens them by saying:

﴾If the hypocrites, those in whose hearts is a disease﴿ namely the disease of doubt and desire

﴾and the rumour-mongers in Madinah﴿ that is, those who spread rumours in order to make the Muslims afraid of the enemy, and who speak of the large numbers and strength of the enemy and the weakness of the Muslims

﴾do not desist﴿ - no mention is made of the evil deed from which they should desist; therefore this includes whatever thoughts they had in their minds that were calling to evil, whether that was slandering Islam and its followers, scaring the Muslims, undermining their resolve, speaking ill of the believing women and accusing them of immorality, or other sins that are committed by such people. ﴾We will surely instruct you to take action against them﴿ that is, We will instruct you to punish them and fight them, and We will give you power over them. Then if We do that, they will not have the power to stand up to you, and they will have no strength and no protection. Hence Allah says:

﴾Then they will not remain with you in the city for much longer﴿ that is, they will not remain with you in Madinah for much longer, for you will kill them or banish them.

This indicates that banishing evildoers, who may cause harm by staying among the Muslims, is more effective in putting an end to their evil and protecting the Muslims from it. Moreover, ﴾They are cursed; wherever they are found, they should be captured and killed outright﴿ that is, they should be banished wherever they are found, and they should not feel secure or settled; they should fear that they may be killed, detained or punished.

﴾Such was the way of Allah with those who came before﴿ those who persist in sin and have the audacity to cause offence, and do not desist, are to be punished severely﴾And you will find no change in the way of Allah﴿; rather this is the usual way of Allah (سبحانه وتعالى), which is connected to cause and effect.

33:63. The people ask you about the Hour. Say: The knowledge thereof is with Allah [alone]. How could you know? The Hour may well be near at hand.

33:64. Verily Allah has cursed the disbelievers and has prepared for them a raging fire.

33:65. They will abide therein forever, and they will not find any protector or helper.

33:66. On the day when their faces are turned over in the fire, they will say: Would that we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger!

33:67. They will say: Our Lord, we obeyed our leaders and elders, and they led us astray from the [right] path.

33:68. Our Lord, give them a double punishment and curse them with a mighty curse.

That is, people ask you about the Hour because they want to hasten it, and some of them do that because they do not believe that it will occur and they are trying to frustrate the one who is telling them about it.

tfSayb to them: ﴾The knowledge thereof is with Allah [alone]﴿; no one knows it except Allah, and neither 1 nor anyone else has anyknowledge of it, yet despite that you should not think that it is slow in coming.

﴾How could you know? The Hour may well be near at hand﴿. There is no benefit in knowing whether its coming will be sooner or later; what matters is loss and gain, doom or bliss, and whether a person deserves punishment or reward. This is what I can tell you about the Hour, and what I can say about who deserves what.

Then Allah describes the one who deserves punishment and the punishment itself, because the description given is applicable to these people who disbelieve in the Hour:

﴾Verily Allah has cursed the disbelievers﴿ that is, those for whom disbelief has become second nature and they persist in disbelieving in Allah and His Messengers, and what they brought from Allah. So He has cast them far away from His mercy in this world and the hereafter, and that is sufficient punishment.

﴾and has prepared for them a raging fire﴿ that is, a fire that will bum their bodies, and the torment will reach their insides. They will abide in that severe punishment forever; they will never emerge from it and it will never be reduced for them even for a short while.

﴾and they will not find any protector﴿ to ward off the punishment from them

﴾or helper﴿ to give them what they seek.

Rather the protector and helper will have abandoned them, and they will be encompassed by the punishment of the fire which will be most severe indeed. Hence Allah says:

﴾On the day when their faces are turned over in the fire﴿ so that they may taste its heat, which will be extremely difficult for them, and they will express regret for what they did in the past,

﴾they will say: Would that we had obeyed Allah and obeyed the Messenger!﴿ Then we would have been safe from this punishment and - like those who obeyed Allah - we would have deserved a generousreward. But it will be too late for such wishes and that will not avail them anything except loss, regret, grief, distress and pain.

﴾They will say: Our Lord, we obeyed our leaders and elders﴿ and we imitated them in their misguidance, ﴾and they led us astray from the [right] path﴿. This is like the verse in which Allah says:

﴾On that day, the wrongdoer will bite on his hands and say: Would that I had taken a path with the Messenger. Alas for me! Would that I had not taken So-and-so as a friend! He led me astray from the Reminder [the Qur’an] after it had come to me...﴿ (al-Furqan 25:27-29)

When they realise that they and their leaders all deserve the punishment, they will want to wreak vengeance on those who misled them, so they will say: ﴾Our Lord, give them a double punishment and curse them with a mighty curse﴿. But Allah will say: Each will have a double punishment, for you all shared in disbelief and sin, so you will share in the punishment. However, the punishment will vary from one to another, according to their degree of sin.

33:69. O you who believe, do not be like those who maligned Moosa, but Allah showed him to be free of what they said. Indeed he was highly honoured before Allah.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) warns His believing slaves against maligning their Messenger Muhammad (ﷺ), the noble, kind and compassionate Prophet (ﷺ), thus responding with the opposite of what they should do, which is to honour and respect him. That is so that they will not resemble those who maligned Moosa ibn ‘Imran, the one to whomthe Most Gracious spoke directly, and Allah declared him innocent of the offensive things they said about him and showed them that he was free of that.

Moosa (عليه السلام) was of such high status that there was no reason to accuse him or malign him, for he was honourable before Allah and close to Him, one of the elite among the Messengers and one of His chosen slaves. But they (the evildoers) were not deterred by what he possessed of virtue from maligning him and saying hurtful things about him. So beware, O believers, lest you resemble them in that.

The maligning referred to here is what the Children of Israel said about Moosa when they saw that he was very modest and was always careful to keep himself covered. They said that nothing was preventing him from uncovering himself except that he had a scrotal hernia; this was something that was commonly said among them, and Allah wanted to demonstrate that he was free of that. One day Moosa went to bathe; he took off his garment and put it on a rock, and the rock fled with his garment. Moosa (عليه السلام) chased after it, and it took him past a gathering of the Israelites, so they saw that he was the best and healthiest of Allah’s creation, and that he was free of what they had accused him of.

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33:70. O you who believe, fear Allah and say what is appropriate,

33:71. for then He will guide you to do righteous deeds and forgive you your sins. Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will surely achieve a great triumph.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) instructs the believers to fear Him in all situations, in private and in public, and He specifically mentions and encourages saying what is appropriate. That means saying the right thing and that which is as close as possible to that which is right and proper when one is not certain, such as reciting Qur’an or dhikr, or enjoining what is right and forbidding what is wrong, learning and teaching knowledge, and being very keen to find the correct understanding of various issues, following every path and taking all measures that will help one to achieve that.

Part of saying what is appropriate is speaking in a kind and gentle manner when addressing people, being sincere and advising people to do that which is more appropriate and correct.

Then Allah tells us what will result from fearing Him and saying what is appropriate:

﴾for then He will guide you to do righteous deeds﴿ that is, that will be the reason for your deeds becoming righteous and the way for them to be accepted, because by means of fearing Allah, deeds become acceptable. This is like the verse in which Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) says:

^...Verily, Allah only accepts from those who fear Him.﴿ (al-Ma'idah 5: 27)

Therefore a person will be guided thereby to do righteous deeds, and Allah will also make his deeds good, by protecting them from that which could spoil them, and by granting and multiplying the reward for them. By the same token, not fearing Him properly and not saying what is appropriate is a cause of deeds becoming corrupted and not accepted, and it will not lead to the same results.

﴾fand﴿ moreover, He will ﴾forgive you your sins﴿ that are the cause of doom. So fearing Allah will cause all of one’s affairs to be rectified and become sound, and will ward off all kinds of harm. Hence Allah says: ﴾Whoever obeys Allah and His Messenger will surely achieve a great triumph﴿.

33:72. Verily We offered the Trust^{1The Trust (amdnah): the commitment to obey Allah, carry out obligatory religious duties, and obey all His other commands.} to the heavens, the earth, and the mountains, yet they refused to undertake it and were afraid of it. But man undertook it; verily he has proven to be a wrongdoer and ignorant.

33:73. [As a result of that] Allah will punish the hypocrite men and the hypocrite women, and the polytheist men and the polytheist women, and He will turn in mercy to the believing men and the believing women, for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) emphasises the great importance of the Trust which He has entrusted to those who are accountable. What that means is complying with the commands and heeding the prohibitions, in private and in public. Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) offered it to mighty creations, namely the heavens and the earth and the mountains, by way of choice, not imposition, saying: If you undertake it and do it properly, you will have the reward, but if you do not do it properly, you will be punished.

﴾yet they refused to undertake it and were afraid of it﴿ that is, they feared that they would not be able to bear it; that was not out of disobedience towards their Lord or out of a lack of desire for His reward.

Allah offered it to man, according to these conditions, and he accepted it; he took it on despite his wrongdoing and ignorance; hetook on this heavy burden. According to the extent to which they fulfil this trust, people are divided into three categories: hypocrites, who pretend to fulfil it and adhere to it outwardly, but do not do so inwardly; polytheists who ignore it both outwardly and inwardly; and believers who fulfil it and adhere to it both outwardly and inwardly.

Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) tells us about the deeds of these three types of people, and what they will have of reward or punishment, as He says:

﴾[As a result of that] Allah will punish the hypocrite men and the hypocrite women, and the polytheist men and the polytheist women, and He will turn in mercy to the believing men and the believing women, for Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful﴿. To Him be all praise, for He ended this verse with these two divine names which are indicative of the perfect nature of Allah’s forgiveness and the abundance of His mercy and grace, even though the verdict for many of them is that they do not deserve forgiveness and mercy, because of their hypocrisy and ascription of partners to Him.

Th i s is the end of the commentary on Soorat al-Ahzab.

All praise and thanks are for Allah, and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad (tgg). his family, and his Companions abundantly until the Day of Judgement.

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