SURAH (49) HUJURAT (AYA 1 to 18)

Sura (49) HUJURAT (The Chambers) Aya 1 to 18 in 2 Sections

Revealed at Madina

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُقَدِّمُوا بَيْنَ يَدَيِ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ۖ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ سَمِيعٌ عَلِيمٌ {49:1}

[Q49:1] Yaa ayyuhal lazeena aamanoo la tuqaddimoo baina yada yiL Laahi wa Rasoolihee wattaquL Laah; innaL Laaha samee'un 'Aleem. 
[Q49:1] O you who believe! Be not forward in the presence of ALLAH (SWT) and His Messenger, and be careful of (your duty to) ALLAH (SWT); surely ALLAH (SWT) is Hearing, Knowing.

[Q49:1] Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Janganlah kamu memandai-mandai (melakukan sesuatu perkara) sebelum (mendapat hukum atau kebenaran) ALLAH (SwT) dan RasulNya dan bertakwalah kamu kepada ALLAH (SwT); sesungguhnya ALLAH (SwT) Maha Mendengar, lagi Maha Mengetahui. 

IN THE COMMANDMENT OF "do not be forward or presumptuous", ALLAH (SWT) HAS JOINED THE HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHUMA SALI ALA MUHAMMAD WA ALA ALI MUHAMMAD) WITH HIMSELF. THIS IMPLIES THAT NO IRREVERENCE SHOULD BE SHOWN TO EITHER ALLAH (SWT) OR HIS PROPHET IN ANY MATTER.

Ì  The believers must be mannerly, decorous, feeling and showing reverence in the presence of the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad). It is not allowed to give advice in any matter BEFORE the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) asks a believer to do so, if he pleases.

OBEY ALLAH (SWT) AND HIS PROPHET IN EVERY MATTER, SMALL OR GREAT; IN THE WHOLE CONDUCT OF YOUR LIFE.

**JUDGEMENT OR VERDICT IS GIVEN BY ALLAH (SWT) IN ALL MATTERS THROUGH HIS MESSENGER.** So obey and revere the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) as you should obey and revere ALLAH (SWT).

ß  Some ill-mannered companions used to show positive disrespect to the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) by their behaviour. Bad manners and rudeness destroy the value of any services which have been rendered.

THOSE WHO HAD TRUE PIETY IN THEIR HEARTS REALLY AND SINCERELY RESPECTED, HONOURED AND REVERED THEIR LEADER. THOSE WHO DID THE OPPOSITE SURELY UNDID THE WORK OF YEARS BY WEAKENING THE LEADER'S AUTHORITY.

Ë  See commentary of Nisa 4:65 and always keep in mind the person who said about the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad): "The old man is in a delirium. The book of ALLAH (SWT) is sufficient for us."

Apart from the derogatory comment on the infallible messenger of ALLAH (SWT) which had rendered all his deeds null and void, his ignorance of the book of ALLAH (SWT) had also become known to the whole world.

IT IS BECAUSE OF SUCH "wandering in the darkness of ignorance", the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) had advised his followers to refer to his Ahlul Bayt WHENEVER they desire to understand the true meanings of the verses of the Quran (see hadith al thaqalayn).

SO THINK TWICE BEFORE FOLLOWING SUCH IGNORANT AND SELF CONCEITED PERSONS AS YOUR LEADERS WHO RIDICULED AND SLANDERED THE HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHUMA SALI ALA MUHAMMAD WA ALA ALI MUHAMMAD),

WHEN EVEN [1] walking ahead of him OR beside him, or [2] talking loud before him OR interposing while he is speaking, HAS BEEN PROHIBITED.

Ü  It is reported in a tradition mentioned in Sahih Bukhari that a group of men of Qa-aqa came to the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad); and before he could give his verdict, Abu Bakr proposed Qa-aqa bin Mu-ud and Umar suggested Qara to be appointed as the leader of the group. Then they began to dispute with each other on that issue. ***So these verses were revealed to establish the supreme authority of the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad).

     UNWARRANTED INTERFERENCE in the issues of religion already decided by the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) emerged in full force after his departure from the world and continues in every age.

     THE OCCASION OF REVELATION SHOWS that the most prominent companions of the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) indulged in what has been forbidden in these verses.

ß  Bukhari says:

"The two good men were very near (a certain) perdition" (Kadal khayyiran an yahlika)

NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPRIMAND, according to Bukhari, disrespectful behaviour of the companions continued and lasted till the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad)'s departure. The well known tradition of qirtas throws sufficient light on the ignorance of the companions.

Verse 3 of this Surah mentions the men of sublime character around the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) who are referred to in order to distinguish good from evil, BECAUSE BEHAVIOUR unto the Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) has been made a test of the faith of his followers.

THIS VERSE ORDAINS PERFECT AND IMPLICIT OBEDIENCE AND REVERENCE TO THE HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad). MUSLIMS ARE ENJOINS NOT TO TAKE ANY INITIATIVE WHETHER IN WORDS OR IN ACTIONS, OF THEIR OWN ACCORD IN THE PRESENCE OF ALLAH (SWT) AND THE HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHUMA SALI ALA MUHAMMAD WA ALA ALI MUHAMMAD), I.E., BEFORE THEY ARE DEFINITELY ORDERED TO ACT IN ANY MATTER.

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(49:1) Believers, do not advance before Allah and His Messenger, *1 and fear Allah. Verily Allah is All-Hearing, All-Knowing. *2

*1 THIS IS THE FOREMOST AND BASIC DEMAND OF THE FAITH. If the person who regards Allah as his Lord and accepts Allah's Messenger as his guide and leader, **is true in his belief, he can never have the attitude that he should give his own opinion and view precedence over the decision of AIIah and His Messenger, **or -should adopt an independent opinion in the matters, and pass his own judgments without caring to find out whether Allah and His Messenger have given any guidance in those matters or not, and if they have given it, what it is. That is why it has been said "O believers, do not go `in advance' of AIIah and His Messenger. "That is, "Do not go ahead of them, but follow behind: Do not precede them, but be subordinate to them." This Command is, in its application and effect, a step further to verse 33:36 of AI-Ahzab. There it was said: `It does not behove a believing man and a believing woman that when AIIah and His Messenger have given their decision in a matter, they should exercise an Option in that matter of theirs", and here it is said that the believers should not decide their matters themselves by their own initiative, but should look for guidance in Allah's Book and His Prophet's Sunnah concerning those matters.
THIS COMMAND IT NOT CONFINED ONLY TO INDIVIDUAL MATTERS OF THE MUSLIMS BUT IT ALSO APPLIES TO THEIR COLLECTIVE AFFAIRS. This is in fact the fundamental article of the Islamic Law, which can neither be set aside nor ignored by a Muslim government, nor by a Muslim court, nor by a parliament. A tradition has been reported in Musnad~Ahmad, Abu Da'ud, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah, with authentic chains of transmitters, **saying that when the Holy Prophet was sending Hadrat Mu'adh bin Jabal to the Yaman as a judge, he asked him: "By what will you decide the matters?" He submitted: "By the Book of AIIah." The Holy Prophet said: "If you do not find the Command concerning a matter in the Book of AIIah, what will you turn to?" He replied "To the Sunnah of Allah's Messenger." The Holy Prophet asked "If this also fails you?" He replied: "Then I shall exert and find out a solution by myself." Thereupon the Holy Prophet placed his hand on Hadrat Mu'adh's chest and said: "Thank God Who has helped His Messenger's deputy to adopt the way that is approved by His Messenger." This giving of precedence to the Book of AIlah and the Sunnah of His Messenger over one's own exercise to find out a solution and to turn to them first to obtain guidance is the Thing that marks the distinction between a Muslim judge and a non-Muslim judge. Likewise, in the matter of legislation also there is absolute consensus that the first and foremost source of the law is the Divine Book and after it the Sunnah of the Messenger of AIIah. Even the consensus of the entire Ummah cannot go against or remain independent of them, not to speak of the individual Muslims reasoning and endeavor to interpret the law.
*2 That is, "If ever you adopted an attitude of independence as against Allah and His Messenger, or gave priority to your own opinion and view over their Command, you should know that you have to deal with that God Who is hearing whatever you utter and is even aware of your secret intentions. " 

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ وَلَا تَجْهَرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ كَجَهْرِ بَعْضِكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ أَنْ تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ {49:2}

[Q49:2] Yaa ayyuhal lazeena aamanoo laa tarfa'ooo aswaatakum fawqa sawtin Nabiyi wa laa tajharoo lahoo bilqawli kajahri ba'dikum liba'din an tahbata a'maalukum wa antum laa tash‘uroon. 
[Q49:2] O you who believe! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and do not speak loud to him as you speak loud to one another, lest your deeds became null while you do not perceive.

[Q49:2] Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Janganlah kamu mengangkat suara kamu melebihi suara Nabi dan janganlah kamu menyaringkan suara (dengan lantang) semasa bercakap dengannya sebagaimana setengah kamu menyaringkan suaranya semasa bercakap dengan setengahnya yang lain. (Larangan yang demikian) supaya amal-amal kamu tidak hapus pahalanya, sedang kamu tidak menyedarinya. 

People used to come and stand out of the apartment in which the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) lived and

[1] Shout, calling him by name: ‘O’ Muhammad! Come out!’

[2] When they walked along with him they used to walk ahead of him---

[3] And when addressing him they used to do it by name.

±  One Bai Amban came to his chamber and standing out shouted him by his name and in a commanding tone wanted him to come out---Bani Tameen also behave in a similar way.

±  Thabib ibn Qais bin Shamas who was deaf used to talk to the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad), in a very loud voice. WHEN THIS VERSE WAS REVEALED with the warning lest your deeds be rendered null and void and the people would not know. Thabib disappeared, and the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHUMA SALLI ALAA MUHAMMAD WA ALI MUHAMMAD) searched and got him and he shedding tears submitted that being deaf he was helpless for it had become his habit to talk aloud to men and if he did the same to the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) thereafter he would lose his deeds. The HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) consoled him saying that he was surely of the follows of the Paradise for he was helpless and his intention was good.

Abdullah ibne Zubair says that after the revelation of this verse, the believers were very cautious about their disciplined behaviour with the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) [1] while they sat before him, [2] talked to him and [3] when they walked along with him.

A MERE CURSORY READING OF THE VERSES OF THE HOLY QUR’AN WITHOUT KNOWING THEIR OUTER AND THE LATENT MEANING WILL NOT HELP ANYONE FULLY UNLESS ONE KNOWS THE PRACTICAL VALUE AND THE SIGNIFICANCE OF EACH VERSE AS GIVEN BY THE HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHUMA SALI ALA MUHAMMAD WA ALA ALI MUHAMMAD). This is essential specially against blindly adopting any of the companions of the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) as a religious leader.

FIRST OF ALL, it must be known that everyone of the early converts to Islam, BE HE CALLED EVEN AS COMPANION OF THE HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHUMA SALI ALA MUHAMMAD WA ALA ALI MUHAMMAD), CAN NEVER BE AN AUTHORITY ON THE FAITH, for among the companions were also those who were [1] opportunists, the [2] hypocrites and the [3] weakest in faith, for among the companions the bona-fide of his being the apostle of ALLAH (SWT), and repeatedly deserted him and the cowards who instead of fighting the enemy run away mortally frightened by the foe. There were those whose faith had not entered their heart--- (verse 49:14). Also read the opening verses of Surah 63:1.

To know how much the companions acted upon this one should refer to history and see how they assembled in the chamber of the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) when he was in the last moments of his life in this world and desired to get paper and ink to him so that he might record something with which the people shall never get astray. They did not allow that to be done and the assembly began disputing among themselves so aloud, making such loud noises, the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) at last commanded all of them to get away from him. They all got up and disappeared to reappear only after the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) was buried. (See Tabari, Abul Fida) to consider the position of those who acted against this ordinance of ALLAH (SWT) and those who shouted in the presence of the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad), UNDER THIS VERSE HAVE FORFEITED ALL GOOD DEEDS OR NOT AND IF THEY ARE THE CURSED ONES OF ALLAH (SWT) AND THE HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHUMA SALI ALA MUHAMMAD WA ALA ALI MUHAMMAD) OR NOT, IS TO BE DECIDED UNDER THE ORDINANCE LAID DOWN IN THIS VERSE IN THE HOLY QUR’AN.

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(49:2) Believers, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet and when speaking to him do not speak aloud as you speak aloud to one another, *3 lest all your deeds are reduced to nothing without your even realising it. *4

*3 This is the etiquette that was taught to the people who sat among the audience of the Holy Prophet or came to visit him. Its intention was that THE BELIEVERS SHOULD TREAT 'THE HOLY PROPHET WITH THE HIGHEST RESPECT AND REVERENCE when visiting him and talking to him. Nobody should raise his voice louder than his: the people should not be unmindful of the fact that they are addressing the Messenger of Allah, and not a common man, or a person of equal rank; therefore, there should be a marked difference between one's tone of conversation with the common people and one's tone of conversation with the Holy Prophet, and no one should talk to him in a voice louder than his.
Although this etiquette was taught for sitting in the Holy Prophet's assembly and its addressees were the people who were living in his time, the people of the later ages also should observe the same respect and reverence on the occasion when the Holy Prophet's name is mentioned, or a command of his is stated, or his sayings are explained. Besides, this verse also points out what attitude the people should adopt when talking to persons of a higher rank and status than themselves. A person's talking before the men of a higher rank in a way as he talks before his friends or the common men, is in fact a sign that he has no respect for them in his heart, and he does not recognize any difference between them and the common people. 
*4 THIS SHOWS WHAT HIGH POSITION THE PERSON OF THE HOLY PROPHET OCCUPIES IN ISLAM. No one beside the Holy Prophet, whatever his rank and status, has a position that unmannerly behavior towards him should deserve in the sight of AIlah the same punishment which is, in fact, the punishment for disbelief. In respect of ordinary people it is at the most a sort of rudeness, an uncivilized conduct, but in respect of the Holy Prophet a little lack of reverence is such a grave sin as can destroy all the services of one's lifetime. FOR THE REVERENCE OF THE HOLY PROPHET IS INDEED REVERENCE OF THAT GOD WHO HAS SENT HIM AS HIS MESSENGER AND LACK OF REVERENCE FOR HIM AMOUNTS TO LACK OF REVERENCE TO GOD HIMSELF. 

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَغُضُّونَ أَصْوَاتَهُمْ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُولَٰئِكَ الَّذِينَ امْتَحَنَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ لِلتَّقْوَىٰ ۚ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةٌ وَأَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ {49:3}

[Q49:3] Innal lazeena yaghud doona aswaatahum 'inda Rasoolil laahi ulaaa'ikal lazeenam tah anaL Laahu quloobahum littaqwaa; lahum maghfiratunw waajrun 'azeem. 
[Q49:3] Surely those who lower their voices before ALLAH (SWT)'s Messenger are they whose hearts ALLAH (SWT) has proved for guarding (against evil); they shall have forgiveness and a great reward.

[Q49:3] Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang merendahkan suaranya semasa mereka berada di sisi Rasulullah s.a.w, merekalah orang-orang yang telah dibersihkan ALLAH (SwT) hati mereka untuk bertakwa; mereka beroleh keampunan dan pahala yang besar.  

See commentary for VERSE 1

The ordinance about the behaviour in the movement of the people with the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad)

[1] is more a test of the fidelity or [2] the sincerity of a believer in his personal regard to the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad).

FAITHFULNESS OR THE REGARD FOR THE LEADER, SUGGESTS THE REGARD FOR THE CAUSE. This shows that there were also the men of the character of this excellence who opposed those referred to in the previous verse.

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(49:3) The ones who lower their voices in the presence of the Messenger of Allah are those whose hearts Allah has tested for God-fearing. *5 Theirs shall be forgiveness and a great reward.

*5 That is, "Only those people give due reverence to the Messenger of Allah, who have passed successfully through the tests and trials set by Allah and proved by their steadfastness that their hearts indeed possess tagva (piety). " From this it follows automatically that the heart which is devoid of reverence for the Holy Prophet is, in fact, devoid of tagva, and a person's raising his voice louder than the Holy Prophet's is not only an uncivilized act outwardly but also a sign of the absence of tagva in his heart. 

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُنَادُونَكَ مِنْ وَرَاءِ الْحُجُرَاتِ أَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ {49:4}

[Q49:4] Innal lazeena yunaadoo naka minw waraaa'il hujuraati aksaruhum laa ya'qiloon. 
[Q49:4] (As for) those who call out to you from behind the private chambers, surely most of them do not understand.

[Q49:4] Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang memanggilmu dari luar bilik-bilik (tempat ahlimu, wahai Muhammad), kebanyakan mereka tidak mengerti (adab dan tata tertib).  

(see commentary for verse 1)

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(49:4) Surely most of those who call out to you, (O Prophet), from behind the apartments, are devoid of understanding.

وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ صَبَرُوا حَتَّىٰ تَخْرُجَ إِلَيْهِمْ لَكَانَ خَيْرًا لَهُمْ ۚ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ {49:5}

[Q49:5] Wa law annahum sabaroo hatta takhruja ilaihim lakaana khairal lahum; waLLaahu Ghafoorur Raheem.  
[Q49:5] And if they wait patiently until you come out to them, it would certainly be better for them, and ALLAH (SWT) is Forgiving, Merciful.

[Q49:5] Dan kalaulah mereka bersabar menunggu sehingga engkau keluar menemui mereka, tentulah cara yang demikian lebih baik bagi mereka dan (ingatlah), ALLAH (SwT) Maha Pengampun, lagi Maha Mengasihani.  

THE PEOPLE HAVE BEEN ORDERED BY ALLAH (SWT) NOT TO SHOUT TO THE HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) OR TO CALL HIM OUT UNTIL HE HIMSELF COMES OUT TO GIVE AUDIENCE TO THEM.

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(49:5) If they were patient until you went out to them, that would have been better for them. *6 Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Merciful. *7

*6 The people who in the blessed time of the Holy Prophet had received training in Islamic etiquette and manners under the Holy Prophet himself had a full regard for his person. They fully realized how busy he remained in performing the mission entrusted to him by Allah; they also understood full well that during those tiresome activities he must necessarily have some time for rest, time for his important occupations and also time for attending to his domestic affairs. Therefore, they would come to visit him only at the time when he was available outside his house, and if ever they did not find him outside his living quarters among his Companions, they would sit and await his emergence and would avoid giving him the trouble of coming out of his house unless there was a special need for it. But many a time it so happened that the people from far flung areas, who had had no opportunity to receive training in good manners, would come to visit the Holy Prophet with the idea that the one who invited others to AIIah and was working for the reformation of the people had no right to have rest at any time, and they had the right to visit and see him any time they pleased in the day or night and it was his duty that whenever they happened to arrive he should be ready to receive them. Some of these people who carne to see the Holy Prophet from different parts of Arabia were so uncouth and impolite that they would not take the trouble to inform him of their arrival through some attendant, but would start shouting from outside the apartments of his wives to call him out. Several such incidents have been reported by the Companions in the Hadith. This sort of behavior troubled him much, but he was tolerant on account of his natural clemency. At last, AIIah had to intervene, Who reproved the people for their uncivilized behaviour and gave this instruction: whenever they came to see the Holy Prophet and did not find him, they should wait for him patiently until he came out to them himself, instead of shouting to call him out, from the house.
*7 This is, "Whatever had happened until then will be over-looked and forgiven by Allah and He will not hold those people accountable for the trouble they had been causing to His Messenger on account of His mercy and kindness, but they should not repeat such behaviour in the future. 

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِنْ جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَنْ تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ {49:6}

[Q49:6] Yaaa ayyuhal lazeena aamanoo in jaaa'akum faasqum binaba in fatabaiyanooo an tuseeboo qawmam bijahalatin fatusbihoo 'alaa maa fa'altum naadimeen.
[Q49:6] O you who believe! If an evil-doer comes to you with a report, look carefully into it, lest you harm a people in ignorance, then be sorry for what you have done.

[Q49:6] Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Jika datang kepada kamu seorang fasik membawa sesuatu berita, maka selidikilah (untuk menentukan) kebenarannya, supaya kamu tidak menimpakan sesuatu kaum dengan perkara yang tidak diingini dengan sebab kejahilan kamu (mengenainya) sehingga menjadikan kamu menyesali apa yang kamu telah lakukan. 

The HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) sent Walid bin Aqbah to Bani Mustalaq to collect zakat. Before becoming Muslims the tribe of Mustalaq did not like Walid, so to show their change of heart, as they were all now brothers in faith, they came out in a large gathering to receive him outside the town, BUT Walid, a man of easy morals, jumped at the conclusion that they wanted to kill him; so turned at once on his heels and came back to the Holy Prophet with a false conjecture that the tribe of Mustalaq had turned apostate.

The truth was found out and this verse was revealed to condemn Walid, a companion of the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad)), and men like him who are ready to shed innocent blood on mere guesswork.

IN THE REIGN OF UTHMAN, Walid was appointed as the governor of Kufa. Living up to his reputation, one morning, fully drunk, he came into the masjid and prayed four rak-ats in Fajr salat, and wanted to pray more if the people praying behind allowed him to do so. YES, HE WAS A SAHABI, APPROPRIATELY DESCRIBED AS FASIQ (WICKED) BY THE QURAN.

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(49:6) Believers, when an ungodly person brings to you a piece of news, carefully ascertain its truth, lest you should hurt a people unwittingly and thereafter repent at what you did. *8

*8 Most of the commentators have expressed the view that this verse was sent down concerning Walid bin 'Uqbah bin Abi Mu'ait. Its background is this: When the tribe of the Bani al-Mustaliq embraced Islam, the Holy Prophet sent Walid bin `Uqbah to collect the zakat from them. When he arrived in their territory, he became scared due to some reason and without visiting the people of the tribe returned to Madinah and complained to the Holy Prophet that they had refused to pay the zakat and had even wanted to kill him. On hearing this the Holy Prophet became very angry and he made up his mind to dispatch a contingent to punish those people. According to sorne traditions he had despatched the contingent, and according to others, he was about to despatch it. In any case aII agree that in the meantime the chief of the Bani al-Mustaliq, Harith bin Dirar (father of Juwairiyah, wife of the Holy Prophet), arrived at the head of a deputation, and submitted: "By God, we did not at all see Walid; therefore, there could be no question of refusing to pay the zakat and wanting to kill him. We are steadfast to the Faith and have no intention to withhold the zakat. "At this, this verse was sent down. With a little variation in wording this incident has been related by Imam Ahmad, Abi Hatim, Tabarani, and Ibn Jarir, on the authority of Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas, Harith bin Dirar, Mujahid, Qatadah, 'Abdur Rehman bin Abi Laila, Yazid bin Ruman, Dahhak and Muqatil bin Hayyan. In the tradition reported by Hadrat Umm Salamah this whole story has been related likewise but there is no reference to the name of Walid.
On this critical occasion when on account of believing in a baseless report a grave blunder was about to be committed, AIIah gave the Muslims this guiding principle to be followed on receipt of news: 'Whenever you receive important news bearing upon a vital matter, you should not accept it immediately but should first examine the man who has brought it. If he is an evil man whose report they not be authentic normally, you should inquire into it carefully to ascertain the truth instead of accepting it and ecting on it immediately." From this Divine Command an important legal principle is deduced, the sphere of application of which is very vast. According to it, it is not permissible for a Muslim government to take any action against a person or a group or a nation on the basis of the reports provided by the secret agents whose character might be doubtful. On the basis of this very principle the traditionists introduced the art of critical appraisal in the science of Hadith in order to determine the value and worth of the people through whom traditions of the Holy Prophet reached the later generations, and the jurists established this principle in the law of evidence that in a matter from which a Shari'ah value can be deduced, or a duty imposed on a person; the evidence of an evil man would be unacceptable. However, all scholars agree that as far as the common worldly matters are concerned it is not necessary to ascertain the truth of every news and the reliability of every informer. For the word used in the verse is naba' which dces not apply to every news but only to the news of consequence. That is why the jurists say that this principle does not apply in the case of ordinary matters. For example, if a person goes to visit somebody and seeks permission to enter the house, and a person comes out and conveys the permission, he can enter the house accordingly no matter whether the one conveying the permission from the master of the house was good or bad. Likewise, the scholars are also agreed that the evidence, as well as the report, of the people whose evil does not relate to lying and immorality, but they are regarded as unrighteous only on account of false beliefs, will also be acceptable. Only the falsehood of heir creed cannot be a hindrance to accepting their evidence or reports. 

وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ فِيكُمْ رَسُولَ اللَّهِ ۚ لَوْ يُطِيعُكُمْ فِي كَثِيرٍ مِنَ الْأَمْرِ لَعَنِتُّمْ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ حَبَّبَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْإِيمَانَ وَزَيَّنَهُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ وَكَرَّهَ إِلَيْكُمُ الْكُفْرَ وَالْفُسُوقَ وَالْعِصْيَانَ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الرَّاشِدُونَ {49:7}

[Q49:7] Wa'lamooo anna feekum Rasoolal laah; law yutee'ukum fee kaseerim minal amrila'anittum wa laakinnal laaha habbaba ilaikumul eemaana wa zaiyanahoo fee quloobikum wa karraha ilaikumul kufra walfusooqa wal'isyaan; ulaaaika humur raashidoon;- 
[Q49:7] And know that among you is ALLAH (SWT)'s Messenger; should he obey you in many a matter, you would surely fall into distress, but ALLAH (SWT) has endeared the faith to you and has made it seemly in your hearts, and He has made hateful to you unbelief and transgression and disobedience; these it is that are the followers of a right way.

[Q49:7] Dan ketahuilah! Bahawasanya dalam kalangan kamu ada Rasulullah (maka janganlah kemahuan atau pendapat kamu mendahului pentadbirannya); kalaulah ia menurut kehendak kamu dalam kebanyakan perkara, tentulah kamu akan mengalami kesukaran; akan tetapi (Rasulullah tidak menurut melainkan perkara yang diwahyukan kepadanya, dan kamu wahai orang-orang yang beriman hendaklah bersyukur kerana) ALLAH (SwT) menjadikan iman suatu perkara yang kamu cintai serta di perhiaskannya dalam hati kamu dan menjadikan kekufuran dan perbuatan fasik serta perbuatan derhaka itu: Perkara-perkara yang kamu benci; mereka yang bersifat demikian ialah orang-orang yang tetap menurut jalan yang lurus; - 

The Holy Prophet (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad), if he consults his friends and companions, should not be expected to follow their advice, BECAUSE ALLAH (SWT) SPEAKS, COMMANDS AND ACTS THROUGH HIM (Najm 53:2 to 5); and in case their advice coincides with the divine will, well and good, else it has to be bypassed.

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(49:7) Know that Allah’s Messenger is among you. Were he to follow you in many an affair, you yourselves would suffer. *9 But Allah has endeared faith to you and has embellished it in your hearts, and has made unbelief and evil-doing and disobedience abhorrent to you. Such are those who are rightly guided,

*9 This is evident from the context as well as understood by several commentators from this verse that the Holy Prophet was hesitant to take any military action against the Bani al-Mustaliq on the report given by Walid bin 'Uqbah in their case, but some of the people insisted that they should be attacked at once. At this those people were warned that they should not forget that the Holy Prophet was present among them, who understood them better than they did. Therefore, their thinking that the Holy prophet should act according to their counsel in important matters was undue boldness. For if he started acting according to what they counseled it would generally lead to blunders for which they themselves would have to suffer. 

فَضْلًا مِنَ اللَّهِ وَنِعْمَةً ۚ وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ {49:8}

[Q49:8] Fadlam minaL Laahi wa ni'mah; waLLaahu 'Aleemun Hakeem. 
[Q49:8] By grace from ALLAH (SWT) and as a favor; and ALLAH (SWT) is Knowing, Wise.

[Q49:8] (Mereka dijadikan berkeadaan demikian) sebagai limpah kurnia dan nikmat pemberian dari ALLAH (SwT) dan (ingatlah), ALLAH (SwT) Maha Mengetahui, lagi Maha Bijaksana. 

(see commentary for verse 7)

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(49:8) by Allah’s favour and bounty. *10 Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise. *11

*10 It means this: The whole community of the believers has not committed the error that was committed by those few people who wanted the Holy Prophet to act as they counseled, and the believing community s remaining steadfast on the right path was due to the reason that Allah by His bounty and grace had endeared to them the path of the Faith and made unbelief, wrongdoing and disobedience abhorrent to them. The addressees in the two parts of this verse are two separate groups. The sentence beginning with lau yuti'ukum is not addressed to the entire class of the Companions but only to those particular Companions who were insisting that the Bani al-Mustaliq should be attacked at once, and the sentence beginning with wa lakin-naIlaha, is addressed to the general class of the Companions who would never dare insist on their own opinion and view before the Holy Messenger of Allah, but had full faith in his leadership and remained steadfast on the path of obedience, which is, and should he, the demand of true Faith. From this it cannot be concluded that those who had insisted on their own opinion were devoid of the love of the Faith, but what becomes obvious from this is that they had become forgetful of this demand of the Faith because of which they made the error of insisting on their own opinion in the presence of the Holy Prophet. Therefore, Allah first warned them of their error, then of its evil consequences, and finally stated that the right attitude for a believer was the one that had been adopted by the generality of the Companions.
*11 That is, "Allah does not bestow His bounty and favour blindly, but He grants this great blessing to whomever He grants on the basis of wisdom and His knowledge that he is worthy of it. " 

وَإِنْ طَائِفَتَانِ مِنَ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ اقْتَتَلُوا فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَهُمَا ۖ فَإِنْ بَغَتْ إِحْدَاهُمَا عَلَى الْأُخْرَىٰ فَقَاتِلُوا الَّتِي تَبْغِي حَتَّىٰ تَفِيءَ إِلَىٰ أَمْرِ اللَّهِ ۚ فَإِنْ فَاءَتْ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَهُمَا بِالْعَدْلِ وَأَقْسِطُوا ۖ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُقْسِطِينَ {49:9}

[Q49:9] Wa in taaa'ifataani minal mu'mineenaq tataloo faaslihoo bainahumaa fa-im baghat ih daahumaa 'alal ukhraa faqaatilul latee tabhee hattaa tafeee'a ilaaa amriL Laah; fa-in faaa't fa aslihoo bainahumaa bil'adli wa aqsitoo innaL Laaha yuhibbul Muqsiteen. 
[Q49:9] And if two parties of the believers quarrel, make peace between them; but if one of them acts wrongfully towards the other, fight that which acts wrongfully until it returns to ALLAH (SWT)'s command; then if it returns, make peace between them with justice and act equitably; surely ALLAH (SWT) loves those who act equitably.

[Q49:9] Dan jika dua puak dari orang-orang yang beriman berperang, maka damaikanlah di antara keduanya; jika salah satunya berlaku zalim terhadap yang lain, maka lawanlah puak yang zalim itu sehingga dia kembali mematuhi perintah ALLAH (SwT); jika dia kembali patuh maka damaikanlah di antara keduanya dengan adil (menurut hukum ALLAH (SwT)), serta berlaku adillah kamu (dalam segala perkara); sesungguhnya ALLAH (SwT) mengasihi orang-orang yang berlaku adil.

In order to maintain collective and overall peace and order in the community of the Muslims, group quarrels should be eliminated as soon as they crop up; BUT if one party is determined to be unjustly aggressive, the whole force of the community must be brought to bear against them with the just and fair principles laid down by Islam.

This verse was revealed when the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) established peace and harmony among the tribes of Aws and Khazraj who were at sword's point with each other.

†  The HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) said:

"The reward for making peace between two quarrelling groups is equal to the reward of taking part in a jihad."

†  Imam Jafar bin Muhammad as Sadiq said:

"ALLAH (SwT) loves those most who make peace among two quarrelling groups, because with ALLAH (SWT) it is the best zakat man can give in the way of ALLAH (SWT). He accepts it at once."

As for how the insurgent should be dealt with all the schools of Islamic jurisprudence refer to the treatment Ali employed in Siffin, Jamal and Naharwan.

d  It is written in Bukhari, Muslim and other Sahihs that the party (Mu-awiyah) against whom Ammar bin Yasir fought and the group who killed him were referred to as baghi (insurgent) by the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) as he had said long before the event that Ammar would be killed by an insurgent party.

d  While dealing with the above noted insurgents who, by fighting against the Imam of their time, became apostates, Imam Hasan tried to show them the right path and make peace, BUT the treacherous insurgents killed him, so Imam Husayn fought against them.

The brotherhood in faith which Islam established is nothing short of a miracle and a great miracle too. There is no parallel to the wonderful social equality or brotherhood of Islam, in any other faith or any religious order in the world. There is no caste system, colur bar, distinction of any financial status or communal restrictions. ONCE AN INDIVIDUAL EMBRACES ISLAM, ALL SOCIAL DISTINCTIONS HE SUFFERED IN HIS FORMER FAITH, ARE ONCE FOR ALL ANNIHILATED. HE BECOMES A MEMBER OF THE ALL-WORLD INTERNATIONAL HUMAN BROTHERHOOD OF THE BELIVERS IN ONE ALLAH (SWT).

A MUSLIM IS ORDAINED TO HELP HIS MUSLIM BROTHER AS MUCH AS HE COULD DO TO HIS BROTHER. IF THERE BE A QUARREL BETWEEN ANY TWO MUSLIMS THE RECONCILIATION BECOMES A DUTY TO BE EXECUTED AT ANY COST.

©  The Sixth Holy Imam Jafar ibne Muhammad As-Sadiq said:

“The charity which ALLAH (SWT) loves the most, i.e., which is more readily accepted by ALLAH (SWT) is the peace re-established between two quarrelling men or group.”

©  The HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) said:

“The reward for effective reconciliation and re-establishing peace and harmony between two quarrelling parties or individual would be equal to that of ‘Jihad’, i.e., fighting for ALLAH (SWT) against the disbelievers”.

The HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) said to Ali:

1.        Go a mile to enquire about the sick

2.        Go two miles along with a funeral of a believer

3.        Go three miles accepting an invitation to please thy believer-brother

4.        Go four miles to meet the one whom thou hast called thy brother in faith

5.        Go five miles to relieve one in distress 

6.        Go six miles to help an oppressed or aggressed

AND BE THOU ALWAYS SEEKING THE PROTECTION AND THE FORGIVENESS OF ALLAH (SWT).

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(49:9) If two parties of the believers happen to fight, *12 make peace between them. *13 But then, if one of them transgresses against the other, fight the one that transgresses *14 until it reverts to Allah’s command. *15 And if it does revert, make peace between them with justice, *16 and be equitable for Allah loves the equitable. *17

*12 Instead of saying: "When two parties of the believers fight mutually", it has been said: °If two parties of the believers fall to mutual fighting." From these words it by itself follows that mutual fighting is not the character of the Muslims, nor should it be. It is not expected that being the believers they would fight mutually. However, if such a thing ever happens, the procedure that follows should be adopted. Moreover, the word ta 'ifah has been used for a group instead of firqah: the words ta'ifah and firqah in Arabic are used for a large group and a small group respectively. This also shows that it is indeed a highly offensive state in the sight of Allah in which large groups of the Muslims cannot be expected to be involved. 
*13 The recipients of this Command are all those Muslims who may not be a party to either of the groups and for whom it may be possible to try to make peace between them. In other words, Allah does not approve that the other Muslims should just sit and watch the clash when two groups of their own community have fallen to mutual fighting. But whenever such a sad situation arises alI the believers should become concerned and should do whatever they can to bring about peace and reconciliation between the parties. They should urge the parties to desist from fighting; they should exhort them to fear God; their influential people should go and talk to the responsible men of the two sides, should find out the causes of the dispute and do whatever they can to effect reconciliation between them.
*14 That is, "The MUSLIMS ALSO SHOULD NOT ALLOW THE AGGRESSOR TO CONTINUE HIS AGGRESSION and leave the victim alone, or, STILL WORSE, JOIN HANDS WITH THE AGGRESSOR. BUT THEIR DUTY is that if all their efforts at reconciliation between the parties fail, THEY SHOULD FIND OUT AS TO WHO IS IN THE RIGHT AND WHO IS THE AGGRESSOR. THEN THEY SHOULD JOIN HANDS WITH THE ONE WHO IS IN THE RIGHT AND FIGHT THE AGGRESSOR. AS THIS FIGHTING HAS BEEN ENJOINED BY ALLAH, IT IS OBLIGATORY AND COMES UNDER JIHAD,' it is not the fitnah (mischief) about which the Holy Prophet has said: "It is a situation in which the one standing is better than the one moving, and the one sitting is better than the one standing" For that fitnah implies the mutual fighting of the Muslims in which the parties might be fighting out of bigotry, or for a false sense of honour and worldly possessions and neither may be having the truth on its side. As for the fight that is undertaken in support of the group who is in the right against the aggressor, it is not taking part in the fitnah but carrying out Allah's Command. All the jurists agreed on it’s bring an obligation, and there was no difference of opinion among the Holy Prophet's Companions about its being obligatory. (AI-Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur'an). Some jurists even regard it as superior to Jihad itself and their REASONING IS THAT HADRAT 'ALI SPENT THE ENTIRE PERIOD OF HIS CALIPHATE IN FIGHTING AGAINST THE REBELS INSTEAD OF PERFORMING JIHAD AGAINST THE DISBELIEVERS. (RUH AL-MA ANI). If a person argues that it was not obligatory because Hadrat `Abdullah bin `Umar and some other Companions had not participated in the wars fought by Hadrat `Ali, he would be in the wrong. Ibn 'Umar himself says: "I have never been so much grieved at heart on anything as on account of this verse as to why I did not fight the rebels as enjoined by Allah. " (Hakim, al-Mustadrik).
The Command to "fight" the aggressor does not necessarily mean that he should be fought with the weapons and killed, but it implies the use of force against him, the real object being the removal of his aggression. For this object whatever force is necessary should be used, and no more and no less force should be used than what is absolutely necessary. THE ADDRESSEES OF THIS COMMAND ARE THE PEOPLE WHO HAVE THE POWER TO REPEL THE AGGRESSION BY THE USE OF FORCE. 
*15 This shows that the fighting is not meant to punish the rebel (the aggressing pang) for his rebellion (aggression), but to force him to return to the Command of AIIah. Allah's Command unplies that the rebel group should submit to what is right according to the Book of Allah and the Sunnah of the Messenger of AIIah, and should give up the attitude and conduct that amounts to aggression according to this criterion of the truth. As soon as a rebel group becomes ready and willing to follow this Command, use of force against it should be stopped, for this is the actual object of the fighting and its target. The one who commits an excess after this would himself become the aggressor. As for this as to what is the truth and what is the aggression in a dispute according to the Book of AIIah and the Sunnah of His Messenger, its determination is inevitably the job of those people of the Ummah, who have the ability to carry out research by virtue of their knowledge and insight
*16 The Command is not only to make peace but to make peace with justice and equity. This shows that in the sight of AIIah the peace (and reconciliation) which is brought about only to stop fighting, overlooking the distinction between the truth and falsehood, and in which pressure is used against the party that is in the right to come to terms with the aggressor, is not commendable. True peace is that which is based on justice. This alone can avert disaster and mischief; otherwise the inevitable result of pressing those in the right and encouraging the aggressors would be that the real causes of the evil would remain as they were, rather would go on adding up, and cause the mischief to appear and re-appear over and over again. 
*17 This verse forms the actual basis of the Islamic law about the mutual fighting between the Muslims. No explanation of this law is found in the Holy Prophet except one Hadith which we shall take up below. For in the time of the Holy Prophet no war took place between the Muslims; hence nothing is found in his practice and sayings that could throw light on the commandments concerning it. AFTERWARDS WHEN DURING THE CALIPHATE OF HADRAT 'ALI WARS TOOK PLACE BETWEEN THE MUSLIMS THEMSELVES authentic explanation of this law became possible. At that time since a large number of the Companions were still living, a detailed code of this aspect of the Islamic law was compiled in the light of their practice and statements. Hadrat 'Ali's personal example in particular has been the real source in this matter for aII the jurists. Below we give a brief resume of this code:
(1) There are several forms of mutual fighting between Muslims and each has its own separate injunctions: 

(a) When both the fighting groups may be the subjects of a Muslim government: In this case it is the duty of the government to make peace between them, or to decide as to who is the aggressor between them, and to compel him by use of force to revert to the truth.
(b) When the parties may be two powerful groups, or two Muslim governments, and both may be fighting for the sake of the world: In this case, the believers should absolutely refrain from taking part in the fitnah and should exhort the parties concerned to fear God and desist from fighting. 
(c) When one of the belligerent parties as mentioned under (b) above may be in the right and the other the aggressor, who may not be listening to counsel nor be inclined to make peace: In this case believers should side with and support the party that is in the right against the aggressor.
(d) When one of the parties may be the subjects, who may have revolted against the government, i.e. the Muslim government: The jurists use the term "baghi"(rebel) for this very party which is guilty of rebelling.??? 

(2) The rebels against the government may also be of several kinds: 

(a) Those who may have risen only to create chaos and confusion, and may have no legal ground for their revolt. There is consensus that against such people it is lawful for the government to wage war, and it is obligatory for the believers to side with it, no matter whether it is a just government or not.
(b) Those who may revolt against a government in order to depose it from power, and may have no legal ground for this, and may also appear to be unjust and evil. In this case, if the government is just, it is obligatory to side with it without any question, but even if it is unjust, it is obligatory to fight in order to sustain it,???? for there is peace and order in the country because of it.
(c) Those who may revolt against a government on the basis of a legal ground, but their ground may be false and their belief vicious and perverse, e.g. the Khwarij. In this case also a Muslim government whether it is just or unjust, has a lawful right to fight them and it is obligatory to side with it.
(d) Those who may revolt against a just government when its head might have assumed power lawfully. In this case whether they have a legal ground or do not have any, the government in any case is justified to wage war against them and it is obligatory to side with it.??? 
(e) Those who may revolt against an unjust government, which might have come to power by coercion and whose leaders might be wicked and the rebels might have risen to establish justice and enforce articles of the Divine Law, and they might appear to be righteous. In this case, acute difference of opinion has appeared among the jurists as to whether they should be declared the "rebels"(i.e. transgressors) and whether it is obligatory to fight them or not.

This we state below briefly:
The generality of the jurists and the Ahl al-Hadith hold the view that it is unlawful to rise in revolt against a ruler whose government has once been established and there is complete peace and order in the land under him, no matter whether he is just or unjust,??? and he has come to power in any way whatever,??? except in case he commits disbelief openly. **Imam Sarakhsi writes: "In a case when the Muslims are agreed on a ruler and they enjoy peace under him and the roads are safe, if a group of the Muslims rises in revolt against him, everyone who has power is under obligation to side with the ruler of the Muslims and wage war against the rebels." (Al-Mabsut, Bab al-Khwarij) **Imam Nawawi writes in his commentary of Sahih Muslim:"It is forbidden to rise in revolt and fight against the Imams (i.e. the Muslim rulers) even if they are wicked and unjust." Imam Nawawi claims that there is consensus on this. But this claim of the consensus is not correct. A large group of the jurists of Islam which includes some major scholars, declares those rising in revolt as "rebels only in case they rise in revolt against a just ruler. They do not regard as rebellion" in the Qur'anic terminology the rising in revolt of the righteous against the unjust and wicked rulers, nor declare the waging of war against them as obligatory. The view of Imam Abu Hanifah about fighting against unjust rulers is well known among the scholars. **Abu Bakr al Jassas clearly writes in his Ahkam al-Qur an that the Imam regarded this fighting not only as permissible but as obligatory in favourable conditions. (Vol. I, p. 81; Vol. II, p. 39). In Zaid bin 'Ali's revolt against the Umayyads he not only provided financial help but urged others also to do the same. (AI-Jassas, Vol I, p. 81). In Nafs al-Zakiyah's revolt against Mansur he went on earnestly supporting Nafs al-Zakiyah, and he declared this war as superior to a war against the disbelievers. (AI-jassas, Vol. I, p. 81; AI-Kardari, Manaqib Abi Hanifah, Vol. II, pp. 71-72). Then the view as stated by Imam Sarakhsi is the just ruler." Ibn 'Aqil and Ibn al-Jawzi from among the Hanbalis not unanimous even among the Hanafi jurists. Ibn Humam writes in Fath al-Qadir (commentary of Hedaya): "In the parlance of the jurists the rebel is he who gives up obedience of regard rising in revolt against an unjust ruler as lawful and present Hadrat Husain's revolt as an argument. (Al-Infaf, Vol. -X, Bab Qital Ahl al-Baghyi). Imam Shafe`i in his Kitab al-Um regards as rebel the one who fights against a just ruler (Vol. IV, p. 135). Imam Malik's view as cited in Al-Mudawwanah is: "If the rebels come out to fight against a just ruler, they should be forcibly opposed." (Vol. I, p. 407). Qadi Abu Bakr Ibn al-`Arabi has cited his this view in Ahkam al-Qur 'an: "When a person rises in rcvolt against a just ruler like 'Umar bin Abdul 'Aziz, it is obligatory to resist and repel him; as for some other kind of the ruler, he should be left alone. AIlah will punish him through some other unjust person and then both of them through some third unjust person." Another saying of Imam Malik that has been cited is: "When the pledge has been sworn to a ruler, and then his brothers rise in revolt against him, they will be fought against, if he is a just ruler. As for the rulers of our tune, there is no pledge for them, for pledge to them has been taken by coercion. " Then the view of the Maliki scholars that the Qadi has cited with reference to Sahnun is: 'Fighting will be undertaken only under the just ruler, whether the just ruler is the former one or the one who has risen in revolt against him later, but if neither is just, one should keep away from both. However, if one's own self is attacked, or the Muslims are being subjected to tyranny, one should put up resistance." After citing these different views, Qadi Abu Bakr says: "We will not fight except on the side of the just ruler, whom the truth-loving people have made their head of their own free will."
(3) If the ones rising in revolt are small in number, and may have no large party on their back, nor be possessing any substantial war equipment, the law of rebellion will not be applied against them, but they will be proceeded against under the common penal law, i.e. if they kill, they will be subjected to the law of retaliation, and if they damage property, they will be required to pay the penalties. The law of sedition is applied only against those rebels who might be powerful, and rise in revolt in large numbers and with substantial military equipment. 
(4) As long as the ones rising in revolt only express their false and perverse beliefs or hostile and seditious ideas against the government or its head, they cannot be killed or imprisoned. War will be waged against them only when they actually rise in armed revolt and start shedding blood. (Al-Mabsut, Bab al-Khwarij; Fath al-Qadir, Bab al-Bighat, al-Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur an). 
(5) Before starting war against the rebels they will first be invited, according to the Qur'anic instructions, to give up the way of rebellion and adopt the way of justice; if they have some doubts and objections, effort will be made to remove them; even then if they do not listen, and fighting begins from their side, force will be used to deal with them. (Fath al-Qadir,' al Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur 'an).
(6) The code of regulations that has to be observed in the war against the rebels is based on the Holy Prophet's following Command that has been related by Hakim, Bazzar and al-Jassas on the authority of Hadrat `Abdullah bin `Umar:
"The Holy Prophet asked Hadrat `Abdullah bin Mas`ud: O Ibn Umm 'Abd: Do you know what is Allah's Command concerning the rebels of this Ummah? He replied: Allah and His Messenger have the best knowledge. The Holy Prophet said: Their wounded ones will not be laid hands on and their captives will not be killed, and the one who flees, will not be pursued, and their properties will not be distributed as spoils." The second source of this code which has been held as trust-worthy by aII the jurists is the word and deed of Hadrat 'AIi. After attaining victory in the Battle of the Camel, he announced; "Do not pursue him who flees; do not attack the wounded; do not kill the captives; give shelter to him who surrenders; do not make forcible entry into the people's houses; and do not raise your hands at the women even if they are abusing and cursing you." Some of his soldiers made the demand that the opponents and their. family members be taken prisoners and distributed. At this he became furious and said: 'Who among you will take 'A'ishah, mother of the Faithful, as his share"
(7) The injunction concerning the properties of the rebels as derived from the good example of Hadrat 'AIi is that no part of it, whether it is found on the battlefield or behind them in their houses, and whether they are living or have been killed, will be declared as the spoils nor distributed among the army. However no compensation will be necessary for the properties that have been damaged or destroyed. As soon as the war comes to an end and rebellion has been put down, their properties and belongings will be returned to them. Their weapons and conveyances, if seized during the war, will be used- against them, but will not be made the possession of the victors and distributed as the spoils; and if there is no more fear of a rebellion from them, their these things also will be returned to them. Only Imam Abu Yusuf has expressed the opinion that the government will declare them to be the spoils, (AI-Mabsut; Fath al-Qadir,' al-Jassas). 
(8) Their prisoners of war, after they have pledged not to rise in rebellion again, w i l l be set free. (Al-Mabsut). 
(9) To cut off the heads of the slain rebels and to take theta about the streets is a highly undesirable thing, for this is mutilation which the Holy Prophet has strictly forbidden. When the head of a Roman patriarch was brought before Hadrat Abu Bakr, he expressed great displeasure at it, and said: "We are not here to imitate the Romans and Iranians." When it is not allowed to meet out such a treatment to the unbelievers, how much more so should it be with regard to the Muslims. (AI-Mabsut). 
(10) Whatever damage might have been caused to life and property by the rebels during the war, no retaliation and recompense for it will be imposed on them after the war has come to an end and peace has been restored. Neither will there be any retaliation for a slain person nor any recompense for the lost property, so as to avoid any chance of the recurrence of the sedition. This same law was observed in the mutual fighting between the Companions. (Al-Mabsut: al.Jassas; Ibn al-'Arabi, Ahkam al-Qur 'an).

(11) After the government has recaptured the territories which had gone under the rebels and where they had established their rule and order and collected the zakat and other taxes, it will not demand the zakat and the taxes from the people once again. If the rebels have spent the money thus collected lawfully, the payers will be deemed to have paid them off lawfully in the sight of AIIah as well but if the rebels have spent the money unlawfully, it will be a matter between the payers and their God; if they so like they may pay their zakat dues once again. (Fat-h al-Qadir, al-Jassas; Ibn al-'Arabi).
(12) The decisions of the judges, who may be just and may have given the decisions according to the Shari'ah in the courts established by the rebels in the territories under them, will be up-held although the ones who appointed them might be guilty of sedition. However, if their decisions are against the Shari'ah and they are brought before the courts of the government after the rebellion has been put down, they will not be enforced. Moreover, no warrant or summons issued by the courts established by the rebels will be acceptable in the courts of the government. (AI-Mabsut; al-Jassas).
(13) The evidence of the rebels will not be acceptable in the Islamic courts, for it is iniquitous to fight against the just. Imam Muhammad says: "As long as they do not fight and actually rise in revolt against the people of justice, their evidence will be acceptable, but when they have already fought, I will not accept their evidence" (AI-Jassas).
From these ruings it becomes plain as to what is the difference between the law of fighting against the disbelievers and of fighting against the Muslim rebels 

إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ إِخْوَةٌ فَأَصْلِحُوا بَيْنَ أَخَوَيْكُمْ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُرْحَمُونَ {49:10}

[Q49:10] Innamal mu'minoona ikhwatun fa aslihoo baina akhawaykum wattaquL Laaha la'allakum tuhamoon. 
[Q49:10] The believers are but brethren, therefore make peace between your brethren and be careful of (your duty to) ALLAH (SWT) that mercy may be had on you.

[Q49:10] Sebenarnya orang-orang yang beriman itu adalah bersaudara, maka damaikanlah di antara dua saudara kamu (yang bertelingkah) itu dan bertakwalah kepada ALLAH (SwT) supaya kamu beroleh rahmat.

HOWEVER DIFFERENT THE MUSLIMS MAY BE IN RACE, COLOUR AND WORLDLY POSSESSIONS, THEY ARE BROTHERS IN FAITH. This is humanisation in the best sense of the word. Muslim brotherhood is the greatest social ideal known to human society. All the forms of worship (of ALLAH (SWT)) prescribed by Islam---salat, hajj etcetera---bring them together in one brotherhood. Whatever be his race, colour or antecedents, every Muslim is received into the brotherhood of believers, and takes his place as an equal among equals.

©  The Holy Prophet said:

"None of you have faith until he desires for his brother what he desires for himself. Attend to the sick among your brothers; go at least two miles with the funeral of a believer; accept invitation of your brother in faith; keep your regular contact with the believers wherever they are; remove their distress; deliver them from oppression."

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(49:10) Surely the believers are none but brothers unto one another, so set things right between your brothers, *18 and have fear of Allah that you may be shown mercy.

*18 THIS VERSE ESTABLISHES A UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD OF AII THE MUSLIMS OF THE WORLD, and it is by virtue of this that the sort of fraternity that exists among the Muslims exists among the followers of no other religion and creed. The importance of this Command and its demands have been explained by the Holy Prophet in many of his Traditions from which one can understand its full significance and spirit - Hadrat Jarir bin 'Abdullah says: The Holy Prophet took a pledge from Me on three things: That I will establish the Prayer; that I will continue to pay the zakat: and that I will remain a well-wisher of every Muslim." (Bukhari: Kitab-al-Iman. According to Hadrat 'Abdullah bin Mas'ud, the Holy Prophet said: "To abuse a Muslim is sinful and to fight him disbelief." In Musnad Ahmad a tradition bearing on the same subject has also been related by Hadrat Said bin Malik on the authority of his father. Hadrat-Abu Hurairah relates that the Holy Prophet said: "The life, property and honour of every Muslim is forbidden to every other Muslim." (Muslim: Kitab-al-Birr was Silah; Tirmidhi: Abwab-al-Birr was-Silah). Hadrat Abu Said Khudri and Hadrat Abu Hurairah say that the Holy Prophet said: "A Muslim is a brother to the other Muslim: he does not treat him unjustly; he dces not leave him alone; and he does not dishonour him. There is no greater evil than that one should hold a Muslim in contempt." (Musnad Ahmad). Hadrat Sahl bin Sa'd as-Sa`idi has related this saying of the Holy Prophet: "A believer's relation with the community of the believers is just like the head's relation with the body. He feels their afflictions as the head feels the pain of every part of the body." (Musnad Ahmad). In another Hadith bearing on the same subject the Holy Prophet said: "The believers' example in the matter of their mutual love, relationship and compassion with one another is of the state of the body that when a part of it is afflicted the whole of it is afflicted with fever and restlessness." (Bukhari, Muslim). In another Hadith he is reported to have said: The believers are with one another like the bricks of a wall so that each is strengthened by the other." (Bukhari: Kitab al-Adab; Tirmidhi;: Abwab al-Birr was-Silah). 

SECTION 2

Muslims to avoid ala causes of disrespect to each other

Muslims to avoid all causes of disrespect to each other---The most honourable with ALLAH (SWT) is the most pious---Mere verbal declaration does not qualify one to be a real believer---Acceptance of Islam by any one lays no obligation upon the Prophet.

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِنْ قَوْمٍ عَسَىٰ أَنْ يَكُونُوا خَيْرًا مِنْهُمْ وَلَا نِسَاءٌ مِنْ نِسَاءٍ عَسَىٰ أَنْ يَكُنَّ خَيْرًا مِنْهُنَّ ۖ وَلَا تَلْمِزُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَلَا تَنَابَزُوا بِالْأَلْقَابِ ۖ بِئْسَ الِاسْمُ الْفُسُوقُ بَعْدَ الْإِيمَانِ ۚ وَمَنْ لَمْ يَتُبْ فَأُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الظَّالِمُونَ {49:11}

[Q49:11] Yaaa ayyuhal lazeena aamanoo laa yaskhar qawmum min qawmin 'asaaa anyyakoonoo khairam minhum wa laa nisaaa'um min nisaaa'in 'Asaaa ay yakunna khairam minhunna wa laa talmizooo bil alqaab; bi'sal ismul fusooqu ba'dal eemaan; wa mal-lam yatub fa-ulaaa'ika humuz zaalimoon. 
[Q49:11] O you who believe! let not (one) people laugh at (another) people perchance they may be better than they, nor let women (laugh) at (other) women, perchance they may be better than they; and do not find fault with your own people nor call one another by nicknames; evil is a bad name after faith, and whoever does not turn, these it is that are the unjust.

[Q49:11] Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Janganlah sesuatu puak (dari kaum lelaki) mencemuh dan merendah-rendahkan puak lelaki yang lain, (kerana) harus puak yang dicemuhkan itu lebih baik daripada mereka dan janganlah pula sesuatu puak dari kaum perempuan mencemuh dan merendah-rendahkan puak perempuan yang lain, (kerana) harus puak yang dicemuhkan itu lebih baik daripada mereka dan janganlah setengah kamu menyatakan keaiban setengahnya yang lain dan janganlah pula kamu panggil-memanggil antara satu dengan yang lain dengan gelaran yang buruk. (Larangan-larangan yang tersebut menyebabkan orang yang melakukannya menjadi fasik, maka) amatlah buruknya sebutan nama fasik (kepada seseorang) sesudah dia beriman dan (ingatlah), sesiapa yang tidak bertaubat (daripada perbuatan fasiknya) maka merekalah orang-orang yang zalim.

MUTUAL RIDICULE CEASES TO BE FUN when there is [1] arrogance or [2] selfishness or [3] malice or [4] contempt behind it. WE MAY LAUGH WITH PEOPLE, BUT WE MUST NEVER LAUGH AT PEOPLE TO DISGRACE OR DISHONOUR THEM.

DEFAMATION may consist in speaking ill of others by the [*] spoken or [*] written word, or [*] in acting in such a way as to suggest a charge. A [*] biting remark or [*] taunt or [*] sarcasm is included in the word lamaza. An [*] offensive nickname may amount to defamation.

±  Ammar, Bilal, Suhayl, Salman and Habib were used to be ridiculed by the people of Bani Tamim for their not having sufficient means of livelihood.

±  A-isha used to hold Ummi Salimah in contempt because she had no adornments.

Once A-isha and Hafsa laughed at Safiyah in contempt to remind her that she was the daughter of a Jew. The HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) asked Safiyah to say: "Why dost not thou say ‘Yes!!’ My father Harun was the apostle of ALLAH (SWT), and my uncle was Musa was the messengers of ALLAH (SWT) who spoke to ALLAH (SWT), and my husband the last Prophet of ALLAH (SWT)." The same incident has been reported by Ibne Abbas but without the names of A-isha and Hafsa---THIS VERSE WAS REVEALED.

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(49:11) Believers, *19 let not a group (of men) scoff at another group, it may well be that the latter (at whom they scoff) are better than they; *20 nor let a group of women scoff at another group, it may well be that the latter are better than they. And do not taunt one another, *21 nor revile one another by nicknames. *22 It is an evil thing to gain notoriety for ungodliness after belief. *23 Those who do not repent are indeed the wrong-doers.

*19 In the preceding two verses after giving necessary instructions about the Muslim people's mutual fighting, the believers were made to realize that by virtue of the most sacred relationship of the faith they were brothers one to another, and they should fear God and try to keep their mutual relations right. Now, in the following two verses, they are being enjoined to avoid and shun those major evils which generally spoil the mutual relationships of the people in a society. Slandering and taunting the people and harboring suspicions and spying on others are, in fact, the evils that cause mutual enmities and then lead to grave mischief. In this connection, from the commandments that are being given in the following verses and the explanations of these found in the Hadith a detailed law of libel can be compiled. The western law pertaining to libel in this regard is so defective that a person who sues another under this law may well cause some loss to his own honor. The Islamic law, on the contrary,, recognizes a basic honour for every person and gives nobody the right to attack it, no matter whether the attack is based on reality or not, and whether the person who has been attacked has a `reputation" of his own or not. Only the fact that a person has debased and humiliated the other person is enough to declare him a criminal unless, of course, it is proved that the humiliation caused had a legal ground for it.
*20 Mocking does not only imply mocking with the tongue but it also includes mimicking somebody, making pointed references to him, laughing at his words, or his works, or his appearance, or his dress, or calling the people's attention to some defect or blemish in him so that others also may laugh at him. All this is included in mocking. What is actually forbidden is that one should make fun of and ridicule another, for under such ridiculing there always lie feelings of one's own superiority and the other's abasement and contempt, which are morally unworthy of a gentleman. Moreover, it hurts the other person, which causes mischief to spread in society. That is why it has been forbidden, To make mention of the men and the women separately dces not mean that it is lawful for the men to mock the women or the women to mock the men. The actual reason for making a separate mention of the two sexes is that Islam does not at all believe in mixedsociety. Ridiculing each other generally takes place in mixed gatherings and Islam dces not permit that non-mahram males and females should meet in such gatherings and make fun of each other. Therefore, in a Muslim society it is inconceivable that the men would mock a woman, or the women would mock a man in an assembly.
*21 The word lamz as used in the original is very comprehensive and applies to ridiculing, reviling, deriding, jeering, charging somebody or finding fault with him, and making him the target of reproach and blame by open or tacit references. As aII such things also spoil mutual relationships and create bad blood in society, they have been forbidden. Instead of saying, °Do not taunt one another", it has been said "Do not taunt yourselves", which by itself shows that the one who uses taunting words for others, in fact, taunts his own self. Obviously, a person dces not use invectives against others unless he himself is filled with evil feelings and is almost in a state of bursting like a volcano. Thus, tire one who nourishes such feelings has made his own self a nest of evils before he makes others a target, Then, when he taunts others, it means that he is inviting others to taunt him. It is a different matter that the other person may evade his attacks because of a gentle nature, but he himself has opened the door to mischief so that the other may treat him likewise. 
*22 This Command requires that a person should not be called by a name or a title which may cause him humiliation, e.g. calling somebody a sinner or a hypocrite, or calling someone a lame or blind one, or one-eyed, or giving him a nickname containing a reference to some defect or blemish in him, or in his parents, or in his family, or calling a person a Jew or a Christian even after his conversion to Islam, or giving such a nickname to a person, or a family, or a community, or a group, which may bring condemnation or disgrace on it. Only those nicknames have been made an exception from this Command, which though apparently offensive, are not intended to condemn the persons concerned, but they rather serve as a mark of recognition for them. That is why the traditionists have allowed as permissible names like Suleman al-A`mash (the weak-eyed Suleman) and Wasil' al-Ahdab (the hunch-backed Wasil) among the reporters of the Hadith. If there are several men of the same name and a particular man among them may be recognized only by a particular title or nickname of his, the title or nickname can be used, even though the title by itself may be offensive. For instance, if there are several men called `Abdullah, and one of them is blind, he may be called Abdullah the blind, for his recognition. Likewise, those titles also are excluded from this Command, which though apparently offensive, are in fact, given out of love and the people who are called by those titles themselves approve them, like Abu Hurairah (father of the kitten) and Abu Turab (father of the dust).
*23 That is, "It is very shameful for a believer that in spite of being a believer he should earn a name for using abusive language and for immodest behaviour. If a disbeliever earns reputation for himself for mocking the people, or taunting them, or for proposing evil and offensive titles for others, it may not be a good reputation from the point of view of humanity, but it at least goes well with his disbelief. But if a person after affirming the Faith in Allah and His Messenger and the Hereafter earns reputation on account of these base qualities, it is simply regrettable. 

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ ۖ وَلَا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلَا يَغْتَبْ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا ۚ أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ ۚ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَحِيمٌ {49:12}

[Q49:12] Yaaa ayyuhal lazeena aamanuj taniboo kaseeram minaz zanni inna ba'daz zanniismunw wa laa tajassasoo wa la yaghtab ba'dukum ba'daa; a yuhibbu ahadukum any yaakula lahma akheehi maitan fakarih tumooh; wattaquL Laah; innaL Laaha tawwaabur Raheem. 
[Q49:12] O you who believe! Avoid most of suspicion, for surely suspicion in some cases is a sin, and do not spy nor let some of you backbite others. Does one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? But you abhor it; and be careful of (your duty to) ALLAH (SWT), surely ALLAH (SWT) is Oft-returning (to mercy), Merciful.

[Q49:12] Wahai orang-orang yang beriman! Jauhilah kebanyakan dari sangkaan (supaya kamu tidak menyangka sangkaan yang dilarang) kerana sesungguhnya sebahagian dari sangkaan itu adalah dosa dan janganlah kamu mengintip atau mencari-cari kesalahan dan keaiban orang dan janganlah setengah kamu mengumpat setengahnya yang lain. Adakah seseorang dari kamu suka memakan daging saudaranya yang telah mati? (Jika demikian keadaan mengumpat) maka sudah tentu kamu jijik kepadanya. (Oleh itu, patuhilah larangan-larangan yang tersebut) dan bertakwalah kamu kepada ALLAH (SwT); sesungguhnya ALLAH (SwT) Penerima taubat, lagi Maha mengasihani.

MOST KINDS OF SUSPICION ARE BASELESS, AND SOME ARE CRIMES IN THEMSELVES, THEREFORE CONJECTURE (QIYAS) HAS BEEN "OUTLAWED" IN ISLAM.

–  Spying into other people's affairs means either idle curiosity or suspicion carried a stage further.

–  Backbiting, being futile, is mischievous, AND if poisoned with malice, it is a sin added to sin. It is like eating flesh of a dead brother, abomination plus abomination.

The Holy Prophet said:

"Backbiting is worse than adultery, because ALLAH (SwT) may forgive an adulterer or adulteress if he or she turns repentant to Him, BUT pardon for backbiting is not available until the aggrieved person agrees to forgive."

Imam Ali said:

"Have a good opinion about your brother in faith unless proved otherwise."

Once a few companions sent Salman to bring food from the kitchen of the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad). After obtaining the HOLY PROPHET's (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad)) permission he went to Usama bin Zayd who was in charge of the HOLY PROPHET's (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) kitchen, but as there was nothing in the kitchen, he returned to the companions with empty hands. They laughed at Salman and Usama and branded them closefisted misers. Then they came to the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad). He told them: "I see particles of flesh in your teeth. It is the flesh of Salman and Usama." THEN THIS VERSE WAS REVEALED.

Imam Musa bin Jafar al Kazim said: "Anything evil said about anyone, when he is not present, to the people who do not know it, is backbiting."

±  It is mentioned in Tafsir Thalabi that some people reported to Umar that Abu Mahjan was drinking wine in his house. Umar at once raided his house but found no wine. Mahjan said: "O Umar, you have spied on me, although ALLAH (SwT) says: 'Spy not on each other.'" Zayd bin Thabit and Abdullah bin Arqam were the witnesses to this event.

±  Abdur Rahman bin Awf, a very close friend of Umar, is reported to have said: "While crossing a street in the night, we saw light in the house of Umayya bin Rabi-ah. We jumped over the outer wall and entered into his chamber. Along with his friends he was drinking wine. Umar admonished him for breaking the law of ALLAH (SWT).” Umayya said: "O Umar, I have broken only one law, but you have done four forbidden acts i.e., **spying, **not entering through the front door, **not obtaining my permission to come into my house, and **not greeting me with assalamu alaykum."

NOTE THE STRICT CONTROL ON PERSONAL MORALS OF MAN, [a] Islam effects to make the individual the most peaceful and the desirable unit of the human family to discipline him AND THUS [b] qualify him for the higher and the ever higher regions of the life both physical as well as spiritual, taking him nearer and nearer to the sphere of divinity.

See the subsequent verse which goes further in this regard.

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(49:12) Believers, avoid being excessively suspicious, for some suspicion is a sin. *24 Do not spy, *25 nor backbite one another. *26 Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? *27 You would surely detest it. Have fear of Allah. Surely Allah is much prone to accept repentance, is Most Compassionate.

*24 What is forbidden is not conjecture as such but excessive conjecture and following every kind of conjecture, and the reason given is that some conjectures are sins. In order to understand this Command we should analyse and see what the kinds of conjecture are and what is the moral position of each.
One kind of conjecture is that which is morally approved and laudable, and desirable and praiseworthy from religious point of view, e.g. a good conjecture in respect of Allah and His Messenger and the believers and those people with whom one comes in common contact daily and concerning whom there may be no rational ground for having an evil conjecture.
The second kind of conjecture is that which one cannot do without in practical life, e.g. in a law court a judge has to consider the evidence placed before him and give his decision on the basis of the most probable conjecture, for he cannot have direct knowledge of the facts of the matter, and the opinion that is based on evidence is mostly based on the most probable conjecture and not on certainty. Likewise, in most cases when one or the other decision has to be taken, and the knowledge of the reality cannot possibly be attained, there is no way oat for men but to form an opinion on the basis of a conjecture. The third kind of conjecture, which is although a suspicion, is permissible in nature, and it cannot be regarded as a sin. For instance, if there are clear signs and pointers in the character of a person (or persons), or in his dealings and conduct, on the basis of which he may not deserve to enjoy one's good conjecture, and there are rational grounds for having suspicions against him, the Shari `ah does not demand that one should behave like a simpleton and continue to have a good conjecture about him. The last limit of this lawful conjecture, however, is that one should conduct oneself cautiously in order to ward off any possible mischief from him; it is not right to take an action against him only on the basis of a conjecture. The fourth kind of conjecture which is, in fact, a sin is that one should entertain a suspicion in respect of a person without any ground, or should start with suspicion in forming an opinion about others, or should entertain a suspicion about the people whose apparent conditions show that they are good and noble. Likewise, this also is a sin that when there is an equal chance of the evil and goodness in the word or dead of a person, one should regard it as only evil out of suspicion. For instance, if a gentleman while leaving a place of assembly picks up another one's shoes, instead of his own, and we form the opinion that he has done so with the intention of stealing the shoes, whereas this could be possible because of oversight as well, there is no reason for adopting the evil opinion instead of the good opinion except the suspicion.
THIS ANALYSIS makes it plain that conjecture by itself is not anything forbidden; rather in some cases and situations it is commendable, in some situations inevitable, in some permissible up to a certain extent and un-permissible beyond it, and in some cases absolutely unlawful. That is why it has not been enjoined that one should refrain from conjecture or suspicion altogether but what is enjoined is that one should refrain from much suspicion. Then, to make the intention of the Command explicit, it has been said that some conjectures are sinful. From this warning it follows automatically that whenever a person is forming an opinion on the basis of conjecture, or is about to take an action, he should examine the case and see whether the conjecture he is entertaining is not a sin, whether the conjecture is really necessary, whether there are sound reasons for the conjecture, and whether the conduct one is adopting on the basis of the conjecture is permissible. Everyone who fears God will certainly take these precautions. To make one's conjecture free and independent of every such care and consideration is the pastime of only those people who are fearless of God and thoughtless of the accountability -of the Hereafter. 
*25 "Do not spy': **Do not grope after the secrets of the people: **do not search for their defects and weaknesses: **do not pry into their conditions and affairs. Whether this is done because of suspicion, or for causing harm to somebody with an evil intention, or for satisfying one's own curiosity, it is forbidden by the Shari 'ah in every case. It does not behove a believer that he should spy on the hidden affairs of other people, and should try to peep at them from behind curtains to find out their defects and their weaknesses. This also includes reading other people's private letters, listening secretly to private conversation, peeping into the neighbour's house, and trying to get information in different ways about the domestic life or private affairs of others. This is grave immorality which causes serious mischief in society. That is why the Holy Prophet once said in an address about those who pry into other people's affairs: "O people, who have professed belief verbally, but faith has not yet entered your hearts: Do not pry into the affairs of the Muslims, for he who will pry into the affairs of the Muslims, Allah will pry into his affairs, and he whom AIlah follows inquisitively, is disgraced by Him in his own house." (Abu Da'ud).
Hadrat Mu'awiyah says that he himself heard the Holy Prophet say `If you start prying into the secret affairs of the people, you will corrupt them, or at least drive them very near corruption. " (Abu Da'ud). In another Hadith he said: "When you happen to form an evil opinion about somebody, do not pry about it." (AI-Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur'an).
According to still another Hadith, the Holy Prophet said: "The one who saw a secret affair of somebody and then concealed it is as though he saved a girl who had been buried alive." (AI-Jassas).
This prohibition of spying is not only applicable to the individuals but also to the Islamic government. The duty of forbidding the people to do evil that the Shari`ah has entrusted to the government does not require that it should establish a system of spying to enquire too curiously into the people's secret evils and then punish them, but it should use force only against those evils which are manifested openly. As for the hidden evils spying is not the way to reform them but it is education, preaching and counselling, collective training of the people and trying to create a pure social environment. In this connection, an incident concerning Hadrat `Umar is very instructive. Once at night he heard the voice of a person who was singing in his house. He became curious and climbed the wall. There he saw wine as well as a woman present. He shouted at the man, saying: "O enemy of God, do you think you will disobey Allah, and Allah will not expose your secret?" The man replied: °Do not make haste, O Commander of the Faithful: if I have committed one sin, you have committed three sins: Allah has forbidden spying, and you have spied; AIlah has commanded that one should enter the houses by the doors, and you have entered it by climbing over the wall; Allah has commanded that one should avoid entering the other people's houses without permission, and you have entered my house without my permission. "Hearing this reply Hadrat `Umar confessed his error, and did not take any action against the man, but made him to promise that he would follow the right way in future. (Abi Bakr Muhammad bin Ja`far al-Khara'iti, Makarim al-Akhlaq). This shows that it is not only forbidden for the individuals but also for the Islamic government itself to pry into the secrets of the people and discover their sins and errors and then seize them for punishment. The same thing has been said in a Hadith in which the Holy Prophet has said: `When the ruler starts searching for the causes of suspicions among the people he corrupts them" (Abu Da'ud).
THE ONLY EXCEPTION FROM THIS COMMAND are the special cases and situations in which spying is actually needed. For instance, if in the conduct of a person (or persons) some signs of corruption are visible and there is the apprehension that he is about to commit a crime, the government can enquire into his affairs; or, for instance, if somebody sends a proposal of marriage in the house of a person, or wants to enter into business with him, the other person can, enquire and investigate into his affairs for his own satisfaction. 
*26 Ghidat (back-biting) has been defined thus: "It is saying on the back of a person something which would hurt him if he came to know of it." This definition has been reported from the Holy Prophet himself. According to a tradition which Muslim, Abu Da'ud, Tirmidhi, Nasa'i and others have related on the authority of Hadrat Abu Hurairah, the Holy Prophet defined ghibat as follows: "It is talking of your brother in a way irksome to him." It was asked: "What, if the defect being talked of is present in my brother?" The Holy Prophet replied: "If it is present in him, it would be ghibat; if it is not there, it would be slandering him."
In another tradition which Imam Malik has related in Mu'watta, on the authority of Hadrat Muttalib bin `Abdullah, "A person asked the Holy Prophet: What is ghibat? The Holy Prophet replied: It is talking of your brother in a way irksome to him. He asked: Even if it is true, O Messenger of Allah? He replied: If what you said was false, it would then be a calumny."
These traditions make it plain that uttering a false accusation against a person in his absence is calumny and describing a real defect in him ghibat; whether this is done in express words or by reference and allusion, in every case it is forbidden. Likewise, whether this is done in the lifetime of a person, or after his death, it is forbidden in both cases. According to Abu Da'ud, when Ma`iz bin Malik Aslami had been stoned to death for committing adultery, the Holy Prophet on his way back heard a man saying to his companion: "Look at this man: Allah had concealed his secret, but he did not leave himself alone till he was killed like a dog!" A little further on the way there was the dead body of an ass Iying rotting. The Holy Prophet stopped, called the two men and said: "Come down and cat this dead ass." They submitted: "Who will eat it, O Messenger of Allah?" The Holy Prophet said: "A little before this you were attacking the honor of your brother: that was much worse than eating this dead ass."
THE ONLY EXCEPTIONS TO THIS PROHIBITION are the cases in which there may be a genuine need of speaking in of a person on his back, or after his death, and This may not be fulfilled without resort to backbiting, and if it was not resorted to, a greater evil might result than backbiting itself. The Holy Prophet has described this exception as a principle, thus: "The worst excess is to attack the honour of a Muslim unjustly." (Abu Da'ud).
In this saying the condition of `unjustly" points out that doing so "with justice" is permissible. Then, in the practice of the Holy Prophet himself we find some precedents which show what is implied by "justice" and in what conditions and cases backbiting may be lawful to the extent as necessary.
Once a desert Arab came and offered his Prayer under the leadership of the Holy Prophet, and as soon as the Prayer was concluded, walked away saying: "O God, have mercy on me and on Muhammad, and make no one else a partner in this mercy beside the two of us." The Holy Prophet said to the Companions: `What do you say:  who is more ignorant: this person or his camel? Didn't you hear what he said?" (Abu Da`ud). The Holy Prophet had to say this in his absence, for he had left soon after the Prayer was over. Since he had uttered a wrong thing in the presence of the Holy Prophet, his remaining quiet at it could cause the misunderstanding that saying such a thing might in some degree be lawful; therefore, it was necessary that he should contradict it.
Two of the Companions, Hadrat Mu`awiyah and Hadrat Abu Jahm, sent the proposal of marriage to a lady, Fatimah bint Qais. She came to the Holy Prophet and asked for his advice. He said: "Mu`awiyah is a poor man and Abu Jahm beats his wives much." (Bukhari, Muslim). In this case, as there was the question of the lady's future and she had consulted the Holy Prophet for his advice, he deemed it necessary to inform her of the two men's weaknesses.
One day when the Holy Prophet was present in the apartment of Hadrat 'A'ishah, a man came and sought permission to see him. The Holy Prophet remarked that he was a very bad man of his tribe. Then he went out and talked to him politely. When he came back into the house, Hadrat `A'ishah asked: "You have talked to him politely, whereas when you went out you said something different about him." The Holy Prophet said, "On the day of Resurrection the worst abode in the sight of Allah will be of the person whom the people start avoiding because of his abusive language." (Bukhari, Muslim). A study of this incident will show that the Holy Prophet in spite of having a bad opinion about the person talked to him politely because that was the demand of his morals; but he had the apprehension lest the people of his house should consider the person to be his friend when they would see him treating him kindly, and then the person might use this impression to his own advantage later. Therefore, the Holy Prophet warned Hadrat `A'ishah telling her that he was a had man of his tribe. Once Hind bint 'Utbah, wife of Hadrat Abu Sufyan, came to the Holy Prophet and said: "Abu Sufyan is a miserly person: he does not provide enough for me and my children's needs." (Bukhari, Muslim). Although this complaint from the wife in the absence of the husband was backbiting, the Holy Prophet permitted it, for the oppressed one' has a right that he or she may take the complaint of injustice to a person who has the power to get it removed.
From these precedents of the Sunnah of the Holy Prophet, the jurists and traditionists have deduced this principle: 'Ghibat (backbiting) is permissible only in case it is needed for a real and genuine (genuine from the Shari'ah point of view) necessity and the necessity may not be satisfied without having resort to it".

THEN ON THE BASIS OF THE SAME PRINCIPLE THE SCHOLARS HAVE DECLARED THAT GHIBAT IS PERMISSIBLE IN THE FOLLOWING CASES:
(1) Complaining by an oppressed person against the oppressor before every such person who he thinks can do something to save him from the injustice.
(2) To make mention of the evils of a person (or persons) with the intention of reform before those who can do expected to help remove the evils.
(3) To state the facts of a case before a legal expert for the purpose of seeking a religious or legal ruling regarding an unlawful act committed by a person.
(4) To warn the people of the mischiefs of a person (or persons) so that they may ward off the evil, e g. it is not only permissible but obligatory to mention the weaknesses of the reporters, witnesses and writers, for without it, it is not possible to safeguard the Shari ah against the propagation of false reports, the courts against injustices and the common people or the students against errors and misunderstandings. Or, for instance, if a person wants to have the relationship of marriage with somebody, or wishes to rent a house in the neighborhood of somebody, of wants to give something into the custody of somebody, and consults another person, it is obligatory for him to apprise him of aII aspects so that he is not deceived because of ignorance. 
(5) To raise ' voice against and criticise the evils of the people who may be spreading sin and immorality and error, or corrupting the people's faith and persecuting them. 
(6) To use nicknames for the people who may have become well known by those names, but this should be done for the purpose of their recognition and not with a view to condemn them. (For details, see Fat-h al-Bani, vol. X, p. 362; Sharh Muslim by An-Nawawi; Riyad us-Salihin; al-Jassas, Ahkam al-Qur an; Ruh al-Ma ani commentary on verse wa %a yaghtab ba 'dukum ba 'dan).
Apart from these exceptions it is absolutely forbidden to speak ill of a person behind his back. IF WHAT IS SPOKEN IS TRUE, IT IS GHIBAT; IF IT IS FALSE, IT IS CALUMNY; AND IF IT IS MEANT TO MAKE TWO PERSONS QUARREL, IT IS SLANDER. The Shari 'ah has declared all these as forbidden. In the Islamic society it is incumbent on every Muslim to refute a false charge made against a person in his presence and not to listen to it quietly, and to tell those who are speaking ill of somebody, without a genuine religious need, to fear God and desist from the sin. The Holy Prophet has said: If a person does not support and help a Muslim when he is being disgraced and his honour being attacked, Allah also does not support and help him when he stands in need of His help; and if a person helps and supports a Muslim when his honour is being attacked and he is being disgraced, AIIah Almighty also helps him when he wants that AIlah should help him. (Abu Da'ud).
As for the backbiter, as soon as he realizes that he is committing this sin, or has committed it, his first duty is to offer repentance before Allah and restrain himself from this forbidden act. His second duty is that he should compensate for it as far as possible. If he has backbitten a dead person, he should ask Allah's forgiveness for the person as often as he can. If he has backbitten a living person, and what he said was also false, he should refute it before the people before whom he had made the calumny. And if what he said was true, he should never speak ill of him in future, and should ask pardon of the person whom he had backbitten. A section of the scholars has expressed the opinion that pardon should be asked only in case the other person has come to know of it; otherwise one should only offer repentance, for if the person concerned is unaware and the backbiter in order to ask pardon goes and tells him that he had backbitten him, he would certainly feel hurt.
*27 In this sentence Allah by likening backbiting to eating the dead brother's flesh has given the idea of its being an abomination. Eating the dead flesh is by itself abhorrent; and when the flesh is not of an animal, but of a man, and that too of one's own dead brother, abomination would be added to abomination. Then, by presenting the simile in the interrogative tone it has been made all the more impressive, so that every person may ask his own conscience and decide whether he would like to eat the flesh of his dead brother. If he would not, and he abhors it by nature, how he would like that he should attack the honour of his brother-in-faith in his absence, when he cannot defend himself and when he is wholly unaware that he is being disgraced. This shows that the basic reason of forbidding backbiting is not that the person being backbitten is being hurt but speaking ill of a person in his absence is by itself unlawful and forbidden whether he is aware of it, or not, and whether he feels hurt by it or not. Obviously, eating the flesh of a dead man is not forbidden because it hurts the dead man; the dead person is wholly unaware that somebody is eating of his body, but because this act by itself is an abomination. Likewise, if the person who is ` backbitten also does not come to know of it through any means, he will retrain unaware throughout his life that somebody had attacked his honour at a particular time before some particular people and on that account he had stood disgraced in the eyes of those people. Because of this unawareness he will not feel at all hurt by this backbiting, but his honour would in any case be sullied. Therefore, this act in its nature is not any different from eating the flesh of a dead brother. 

يَا أَيُّهَا النَّاسُ إِنَّا خَلَقْنَاكُمْ مِنْ ذَكَرٍ وَأُنْثَىٰ وَجَعَلْنَاكُمْ شُعُوبًا وَقَبَائِلَ لِتَعَارَفُوا ۚ إِنَّ أَكْرَمَكُمْ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ أَتْقَاكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ عَلِيمٌ خَبِيرٌ {49:13}

[Q49:13] Yaaa ayyuhan naasu innaa khalaqnaakum min zakarinw wa unsaa wa ja'alnaakum shu'oobanw wa qabaaa'ila lita'aarafoo inna akramakum 'indaL Laahi atqaakum innaL Laaha 'Aleemun Khabeer. 
[Q49:13] O you men! surely We have created you of a male and a female, and made you tribes and families that you may know each other; surely the most honorable of you with ALLAH (SWT) is the one among you most careful (of his duty); surely ALLAH (SWT) is Knowing, Aware.

[Q49:13] Wahai umat manusia! Sesungguhnya Kami telah menciptakan kamu dari lelaki dan perempuan dan Kami telah menjadikan kamu berbagai bangsa dan bersuku puak, supaya kamu berkenal-kenalan (dan beramah mesra antara satu dengan yang lain). Sesungguhnya semulia-mulia kamu di sisi ALLAH (SwT) ialah orang yang lebih takwanya di antara kamu, (bukan yang lebih keturunan atau bangsanya). Sesungguhnya ALLAH (SwT) Maha Mengetahui, lagi Maha Mendalam PengetahuanNya (akan keadaan dan amalan kamu). 

THIS IS ADDRESSED TO ALL MANKIND AND NOT TO THE MUSLIMS ONLY, though it is understood that in a perfect world the two would be synonymous. All races of men, white, brown and black are His creation. ALLAH (SWT) has made them to vary in colour, language and mode of life, and has placed them in different lands, BUT BEFORE Him they are all one and cherished by Him alike, AND HE IS MOST HONOURED WHO IS MOST RIGHTEOUS.

The Holy Prophet said:

"Do not take pride in superior birth, tribe or nation."

±  Even the descendants of the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad), known as sharif or sayyid, have been forbidden to give themselves on account of their relationship with him BECAUSE it will not save them from punishment on the Day of Judgment if they have transgressed the boundaries laid down by ALLAH (SWT).

Imam Ali bin Husayn Zaynal Abidin said:

"The hell has been made ready for those who disobey ALLAH (SWT), be he a most important person in the society; and only those who obey ALLAH (SWT) will go into paradise, be he a slave."

Ë  It is reported that a Muslim bought a slave who appealed to the people gathered in the auction square that he who was ready to allow him to pray behind the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) should buy him, and the slave was always in the rows formed behind the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad). After a few days the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) noticed his absence. He went to his place. He was sick. After three days he died. The HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) personally attended to his funeral rites, bathed him, gave him a shroud and buried him. WHEN MAHAJIRS AND ANSAR SHOWED SIGNS OF ASTONISHMENT THIS VERSE WAS REVEALED.

Ë  It is said that once the disciples of Isa asked him as to who was to be considered as superior among men. Isa took a handful of dust in his hand and said: "All man are from the dust and they shall return to dust. In the eyes of ALLAH (SWT) he is most honoured who is most righteous."

THIS VERSE RENDERS NULL AND VOID ALL DISTINCTIONS BASED ON RACE, COLOUR, CASTE AND SOCIAL POSITION. TAQWA (obedience to ALLAH (SwT) and his laws) IS THE ONLY CRITERION FOR SUPERIORITY OR HONOUR.

±  The Holy Prophet said:

"No man is superior to another on account of race or colour, taqwa (wisdom and piety) alone is the distinction."

IN THIS WAY MAN FINDS HIS INDIVIDUAL AS WELL AS **COLLECTIVE FREEDOM, **MATERIAL PROGRESS AND **SPIRITUAL HAPPINESS, **PEACE AND **ORDER IN ISLAM.

µ  To have an idea of taqwa refer to the commentary of Baqarah 2:2 to 5 and 177. MAXIMUM DEGREE OF TAQWA IS FOUND IN THE HOLY PROPHET AND HIS AHLUL BAYT.

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(49:13) Human beings, We created you all from a male and a female, and made you into nations and tribes so that you may know one another. Verily the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the most God-fearing of you. *28 Surely Allah is All-Knowing, All-Aware. *29

*28 In the preceding verses the Muslims were addressed and given necessary instructions to safeguard the Muslim community against social"evils. In this verse the whole of mankind bas been addressed to reform it of the great evil that has always been causing universal disruption in the world, that is, the prejudices due to race, colour, language, country, and nationality. On account of these prejudices man in every age has generally been discarding humanity and drawing around himself some small circles and regarding those born within those circles as his own people and those outside them as others. These circles have been drawn on the basis of accidental birth and not on rational and moral grounds. In some cases their basis is the accident of being born in a particular family, tribe, or race, and in some particular geographical region, or in a nation having a particular colour or speaking a particular language. Then the discrimination between one's own people and others is not only confide to this that those who are looked upon as one's own people are shown greater love and cooperation than others, but this discrimination has assumed the worst forms of hatred, enmity, contempt and tyranny. New philosophies have been propounded for it, new religions invented, new codes of law made and new moral principles framed; so much so that nations and empires have made this distinction a permanent way of life with them and practiced it for centuries. The Jews on this very basis regarded the children of Israel as the chosen people of God and even in the practice of their religious rites looked upon the non-Jews as inferior to the Jews in rights and rank. This very discrimination gave birth to class distinctions (varnashrama) among the Hindus according to which superiority of the Brahmins was established, all other human beings came to be regarded as inferior and unclean and the shudras cast into the depths of disgrace and degradation. Every person can see for himself even in this 20th century what atrocities have been committed against the colored people in Africa and America on account of the distinction between the white and the black. The treatment that the Europeans meted out to the Red Indian race in America and to the weak nations of Asia and Africa had the same concept underlying it. They thought that the lift and property and honor of all those who had been born outside the frontiers of their own land and nation were lawful for them and they had the right to plunder and take them as their slaves and exterminate them if need be. The worst examples of how the nationalism of the western nations has turned one nation against the others and made it their bloodthirsty enemy have been seen in the wars of the recent past and are being seen even in the present time. In particular, if what was manifested by the racism of the Nazi Germany and the concept of the superiority of the Nordic race m the last World War is kept in view. One can easily judge how stupendous and devastating is the error for whose reform this verse of the Qur'an was revealed.
In this brief verse, AIlah has drawn the attention of all mankind to three cardinal truths:
(1) "The origin of alI of you is one and the same: your whole species has sprung up from one man and one woman: aII your races that are found in the world today are, in fact, the branches of one initial race that started with one mother and one father. In this process of creation there is no basis whatever for the divisions and distinctions in which you have involved yourselves because of your false notions. One God alone is your Creator. Different men have not been created by different Gods. You have been made from one and the same substance; it is not so that some men have been made from some pure and superior substance and some other men from some impure and inferior substance. You have been created in one and the same way; it is not also so that different men have been created in different ways. And you are the offspring of the same parents; it is not so that in the beginning there were many human couples which gave birth to different populations in the different regions of the world.' 
(2) "In spite of being one in origin it was natural that you should be divided into nations and tribes. Obviously, alI the man on the earth could not belong to one and the same family. With the spread of the race it was inevitable that countless families should arise, and then tribes and nations should emerge from the families. Similarly, it was inevitable that after settling in different regions of the earth, there should be differences of colors, features, languages and ways of living among the people, and it was also natural that those living in the same region should be closer in affinity and those living in remote regions not so close; but this natural difference never demanded that distinctions of inequality, of high and low, of noble and mean, should be established on its basis, that one race should claim superiority over the other, the people of one color should look down upon the people of other colors, and that one nation should take preference over the ocher without any reason. The Creator had divided the human communities into nations and tribes for that was a natural way of cooperation and distinction between them. In this way alone could a fatuity, a brotherhood, a tribe and a nation combine to give birth to a common way of life and to cooperate with each other in the affairs of the world. But it was all due to satanic ignorance that the differences among mankind created by Allah to be a means of recognition, were trade a means of mutual boasting and hatred, which led mankind to every kind of injustice and tyranny.
(3) The only basis of superiority and excellence that there is, or can be, between man and man is that of moral excellence. As regards birth, aII men are equal, for their Creator is One, their substance of creation is one, and their way of creation is one, and they are descended from the same parents. Moreover, a person's being born in a particular country, nation, or clan is just accidental. Therefore, there is no rational ground on account of which one person may be regarded as superior to the other. THE REAL THING THAT MAKES ONE PERSON SUPERIOR TO OTHERS IS THAT ONE SHOULD BE MORE GOD-CONSCIOUS, A GREATER AVOIDER OF EVILS, AND A FOLLOWER OF THE WAY OF PIETY AND RIGHTEOUSNESS. Such a man whether he belongs to any race, any nation and any country, is valuable and worthy on account of his personal merit. And the one who is reverse of him in character is in any case an inferior person whether he is black or white, born in the east or the west.
These same truths that have been stated in this brief verse of the Qur'an, have been explained in greater detail by the Holy Prophet in his addresses and traditions. In the speech that he made on the conquest of Makkah, after going round the Ka'bah, he said: 'Thank God Who has removed from you the blemish of ignorance and its arrogance. O people, men are divided into classes: the pious and righteous, who are honorable in the sight of Allah, and the sinful and vicious, who are contemptible in the sight of AIlah, whereas aII men are the children of Adam and Adam had been created by Allah from clay." (Baihaqi, Tirmidhi).
On the occasion of the Farewell Pilgrimage, in the midst of the Tashriq days, he addressed the people, and said: 'O people, be aware: your God is One. No Arab has any superiority over a non-Arab, and no non-Arab any superiority over an Arab, and no white one has any superiority over a black one, and no black one any superiority over a white one, except on the basis of taqwa (piety). The most honorable among you in the sight, of Allah is he who is the most pious and righteous of you. Say if I have conveyed the Message to you?" And the great congregation of the people responded, saying: Yes, you have, O Messenger of Allah." Thereupon the Holy Prophet said: "Then Iet the one who is present convey it to those who are absent," (Baihaqi)
In a Hadith he has said: "You are all the children of Adam, and Adam was created from the dust. Let the people give'up boasting of their ancestors, otherwise they will stand more degraded than a mean insect in the sight of Allah." (Bazzar)
In another Hadith the Holy Prophet said: "Allah will not enquire about your lineage on the Day of Resurrection. The most honourable in the sight of AIIah is he who is most pious. "(Ibn Jarir)
In still another Hadith he said: "Allah does not see your outward appearances and your possessions but He sees your hearts and your deeds." (Muslim, lbn Majah).
These teachings have not remained confined to words only but ISLAM HAS PRACTICALLY ESTABLISHED A UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD OF THE BELIEVERS ON THE BASIS, WHICH DOES NOT ALLOW ANY DISTINCTION ON ACCOUNT OF COLOR, RACE, LANGUAGE, COUNTRY AND NATIONALITY WHICH IS FREE FROM EVERY CONCEPT OF HIGH AND LOW, CLEAN AND UNCLEAN, MEAN AND RESPECTABLE, WHICH ADMITS ALL HUMAN BEINGS WITH EQUAL RIGHTS, WHETHER THEY BELONG TO ANY RACE AND NATION, ANY LAND OR REGION. Even the opponents of Islam have had to admit that no precedent is found in any religion and any system of the success with which the principle of human equality and unity has been given practical shape in the Muslim society, nor has it ever been found. Islam is the only religion which has welded and combined innumerable races and communities scattered in all corners of the earth into one universal Ummah.
In this connection, a misunderstanding also needs to be removed. In the case of marriage, the importance that Islamic law gives to kufv (likeness of status) has been taken by some people in the sense that some brotherhoods are noble and some mean, and matrimonial relations between them are objectionable. But this, in fact, is a wrong idea. According to the Islamic law, every Muslim man can marry every Muslim woman, but the success of the matrimonial life depends on maximum harmony and conformity between the spouses as regards habits, characteristics and ways of life, family traditions and economic and social status, so that they may get on well with each other. This is the real object of being equal and alike. Where there is unusual difference and disparity between the man and the woman in this regard, lifelong companionship will be difficult. That is why the Islamic law disapproves of such intermarriages, and not for the reason that one of the spouses is noble and the other mean, but for the reason that in case there is a clear and apparent difference and distention in status, there would be a greater possibility of the failure of the matrimonial life if the marriage relationship was established.
*29 That is, "This is only known to Allah as to who is really a man of high rank and who is inferior in respect of qualities and characteristics. The standards of high and low that the people have set up of their own accord, are not acceptable to and approved by AIIah. Maybe that the one who has been regarded as a man of high rank in the world is declared as the lowest of the low in the final judgment of AIIah, and maybe that the one who has been looked upon as a very low person here, attains to a very high rank there. The real importance is not of the honor and dishonor of the world but of the honor and dishonor that one will receive from Allah. Therefore, what man should be most concerned about is that he should create in himself those real qualities and characteristics which make him worthy of honour in the sight of AIlah. 

قَالَتِ الْأَعْرَابُ آمَنَّا ۖ قُلْ لَمْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَلَٰكِنْ قُولُوا أَسْلَمْنَا وَلَمَّا يَدْخُلِ الْإِيمَانُ فِي قُلُوبِكُمْ ۖ وَإِنْ تُطِيعُوا اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ لَا يَلِتْكُمْ مِنْ أَعْمَالِكُمْ شَيْئًا ۚ إِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَحِيمٌ {49:14}

[Q49:14] Qaalatil-A'raabu aamannaa qul lam tu'minoo wa laakin qoolooo aslamnaa wa lamma yadkhulil eemaanu fee quloobikum wa in tutee'uL Laaha wa Rasoolahoo laa yalitkum min a'maalikum shai'aa; innaL Laaha Ghafoorur Raheem. 
[Q49:14] The dwellers of the desert say: We believe. Say: You do not believe but say, We submit; and faith has not yet entered into your hearts; and if you obey ALLAH (SWT) and His Messenger, He will not diminish aught of your deeds; surely ALLAH (SWT) is Forgiving, Merciful.

[Q49:14] Orang-orang "A'raab" berkata: Kami telah beriman. Katakanlah (wahai Muhammad): Kamu belum beriman, (janganlah berkata demikian), tetapi sementara iman belum lagi meresap masuk ke dalam hati kamu berkatalah sahaja: Kami telah Islam dan (ingatlah), jika kamu taat kepada ALLAH (SwT) RasulNya (zahir dan batin), ALLAH (SwT) tidak akan mengurangkan sedikitpun dari pahala amal-amal kamu, kerana sesungguhnya ALLAH (SwT) Maha Pengampun, lagi Maha Mengasihani.

The desert Arabs, in general, were uncertain in their faith. Their hearts and minds were petty, and they thought of petty things, WHILE ISLAM DEMANDS COMPLETE SUBMISSION TO THE WILL OF ALLAH (SWT). The reference here is to the Bani Asad who came to profess Islam in order to get charity during a famine.

Ì  THIS VERSE REFERS TO THE ACTUAL POSSIBILITY OF PROFESSING FAITH AS LIP-PROFESSION, WITHOUT A DEEP, INWARD AND LIVING ASSURANCE OF THE HEART WHICH IN FACT IS THE BASIS OF REWARD GIVEN BY ALLAH (SWT) TO HIS SINCERE SERVANTS.

The lip-profession was resorted to because of many advantages available to the Muslims. Real submission to the will of ALLAH (SWT) creates iman (conviction which enters and abides in the heart).

v  SO THOSE WHO SAY: "WE SUBMIT," CAN BE CALLED MUSLIMS BUT THEY ARE NOT MUMINS, WHEREAS MUMIN IS NECESSARILY A MUSLIM.

ISLAM IS THE OUTER CIRCLE AND IMAN IS THE INNER CORE. ISLAM IS SUBMISSION AND IMAN IS THE FULL REALISATION OF THE FAITH WITH COMPLETE CONVICTION. BOTH CAN BE VERBAL DECLARATION WITHOUT CONVICTION, AND BOTH CAN BE FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE HEART, REAL AND SINCERE.

£  For a full description of a true mumin for whom verse 15 of this Surah

£  Assigns superiority and honour see commentary of Baqarah 2:177 and Bara-at 9:119.

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(49:14) The Bedouins say: “We believe.”(O Prophet), *30 say to them: “You do not believe; you should rather say: ‘We have submitted’”; *31 for belief has not yet entered your hearts. If you obey Allah and His Messenger, He will not diminish anything from the reward of any of your deeds. Surely Allah is Most Forgiving, Most Compassionate.

*30 This does not imply alI the desert Arabs but only a few particular groups of the Bedouins who had become Muslims, seeing the increasing power of Islam, thinking that they would not only remain safe from any attack by the Muslims but would also gain materially from the Islamic conquests. These people had not embraced Islam sincerely but had professed faith only verbally in order to be counted among the Muslims, and their this inner state became exposed whenever they would come before the Holy Prophet with different sorts of demands and would enumerate and mention their rights as if they had done him a great favor by accepting Islam. Traditions mention several of such tribal groups, e.g. Muzainah, Juhainah, Aslam, Ashja', Ghifar, etc. About the Bani Asad bin Khuzaimah in particular, Ibn 'Abbas and Said bin Jubair have stated that once during a drought they came to Madinah and making a demand for financial help they said to the Holy Prophet again and again: "We became Muslims without any conflict: we did not fight against you as have such and such other tribes fought." By this they clearly meant to point out that their refraining from fighting against the Messenger of Allah and their accepting Islam was a favour for which they must be rewarded by the Messenger and the Muslims. It was this same attitude and conduct of the Bedouin group living around Madinah, which has been commented upon in these verses. One can understand this appraisal better if one reads it together with vv. 90-110 of At-Taubah and vv. 11-17 of AI-Fat-h.
*31 Another translation of the words qulu aslamna can be; "Say: we have become Muslims " From these words some people have concluded that in the language of the Qur'an, "Mu'min" and "Muslim" are two opposite terms. A "MU'MIN" IS HE WHO HAS BELIEVED SINCERELY AND A "MUSLIM" HE WHO MIGHT HAVE ACCEPTED ISLAM ONLY VERBALLY WITHOUT TRUE FAITH. But, in fact, this is an absolutely wrong idea. No doubt the word iman here has been used for sincere affirmation by the heart and the word Islam for only outward and external submission but to understand them as two independent and mutually contradictory terms of the Qur'an is not correct. A study of the Qur'anic verses in which the words Islam and Muslim have been used, shows that in the Qur'anic terminology "Islam " is the name of the the Faith, which Allah has sent down for mankind; it comprehends the faith and obedience both, and a °MuslIm " is he who believes with a sincere heart and obeys the Commands practically. This is borne out by the following verses:
"Indeed, Islam is the only right way of life in the sight of Allah." (AI'Imran: 19)
"And whoever adopts any other than this way of submission (Islam), that way shall not be accepted from him," (Al-'Imran: 85)
And I have approved Islam as the way of life for you." (Al-Ma'idah: 3)
`Whomever Allah wills to guide aright, He makes his breast wide open to Islam." (Al-An'am: 125)
Obviously, in these verses Islam" does not imply obedience without the Faith. Here are some other verses:
'Say (O Prophet): I have been enjoined to be the first one to affirm (faith in) Islam. "(AI-An'am: 14) '
"If they have surrendered (to Islam), they are rightly guided." (AI-'Imran: 20)
All the Prophets, who were Muslims, judged the cases according to the Torah." (AI-Ma'idah: 44)
Here, and at scores of other places, acceptance of Islam cannot mean adopting obedience without the the faith. Likewise, here are a few verses in which the word "Muslim" has occurred signifying the meaning in which it has been used repeatedly in the Qur'an:
"O you who have believed, fear Allah as He should truly be feared and see that you do not die save as true Muslim." (AI-`Imran: 102)
`Allah had called you "Muslims" before this and has called you (by the same name) in this Qur'an, too." (AI-Hajj: 78)
"Abraham was neither a Jew nor a Christian, but he was a Muslim, sound in the faith." (AI-i-'Imran: 67)
`And remember that when Abraham and Ishmael were raising the walls of this House, they prayed: ... Lord, make us Thy Muslims and also raise from our offspring a community which should be Muslim." (AI-Baqarah: 128)
(The Prophet Jacob's will for his children:) "O my children, AIIah has chosen the same way of life for you Hence remain Muslims up to your last breath. (AI-Baqarah: 132)
After a study of these verses who can say that in these the word "Muslim" implies a person who does not believe sincerely but has accepted Islam only outwardly? Therefore, to make the claim that in the Qur'anic terminology "Islam" implies obedience without the faith and the "Muslim" in the language of the Qur'an is he who accepts Islam only outwardly is absolutely wrong. Likewise, this claim also is wrong that the words iman and mu'min have been used in the Qur'an necessarily in the sense of believing sincerely. No doubt, at most places these words have occurred to express the same meaning, but there are many places where these words have also been used for outward affirmation of the faith, and aII those who might have entered the Muslim Community with verbal profession have been addressed with. "O you who have believed", no matter whether they arc the true believers, or people with a weak faith, or mere hypocrites. For a few instances of this, sec Al-i-`Imran: 156, An-Nisa' :13t5, AI-Ma'idah: 54, Al-Anfal: 20-27, At-Taubah: 38, Al-Hadid: 28, As-Saff: 2.

إِنَّمَا الْمُؤْمِنُونَ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا بِاللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ ثُمَّ لَمْ يَرْتَابُوا وَجَاهَدُوا بِأَمْوَالِهِمْ وَأَنْفُسِهِمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ ۚ أُولَٰئِكَ هُمُ الصَّادِقُونَ {49:15}

[Q49:15] Innamal muu'minoonal lazeena aamanoo biLLaahi wa Rasoolihee summa lam yartaaboo wa jaahadoo biamwaalihim wa anfusihim fee sabeeliL Laah; ulaaaika humus Saadiqoon. 
[Q49:15] The believers are only those who believe in ALLAH (SWT) and His Messenger then they doubt not and struggle hard with their wealth and their lives in the way of ALLAH (SWT); they are the truthful ones.

[Q49:15] Sesungguhnya orang-orang yang sebenar-benarnya beriman hanyalah orang-orang yang percaya kepada ALLAH (SwT) dan RasulNya, kemudian mereka (terus percaya dengan) tidak ragu-ragu lagi, serta mereka berjuang dengan harta benda dan jiwa mereka pada jalan ALLAH (SwT); mereka itulah orang-orang yang benar (pengakuan imannya). 

THIS VERSE GIVES OUT CLEARLY THAT THOSE WHO AT HUDAIBIYYA AND THOSE WHO AT ‘JIHAD’ THE FIGHT FOR ALLAH (SWT) VIZ., AT OHUD, KHAIBER, AHZAB, HUNAIN, ETC., escape the occasions demanding the surrender of their lives and deserted the Islamic ranks and the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad), ran away from the battlefields disappeared even for days together, could never in fact be the faithful or the truthful ones.

THE TRUTHFUL ONE have been fully described identifying with all the qualities they posses in verses 2:177 and in verse 9:119 man has been called upon to be always attached to them.

One can find all the qualities together in none else but the Holy Ahlul Bayt to begin with the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) immediately followed by Ali succeeded consecutively by the other Eleven Holy Imams, all in the seed of the HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad) through Ali and Fatema.

IT IS NOW LEFT TO THE PEOPLE TO ADOPT THESE HOLY ONES AS THEIR LEADERS AND GUIDES OR TO FOLLOW THEIR OWN FANCY OR ANY CROWD.

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(49:15) Indeed the ones possessed of true faith are those who believed in Allah and His Messenger and then they did not entertain any doubt and strove hard in the Way of Allah with their lives and their possessions. These are the truthful ones.

قُلْ أَتُعَلِّمُونَ اللَّهَ بِدِينِكُمْ وَاللَّهُ يَعْلَمُ مَا فِي السَّمَاوَاتِ وَمَا فِي الْأَرْضِ ۚ وَاللَّهُ بِكُلِّ شَيْءٍ عَلِيمٌ {49:16}

[Q49:16] Qul atu'allimoonaL Laaha bideenikum waLLaahu ya'lamu maa fis samaawaati wa maa fil ard; waLLaahu bikulli shai'in 'Aleem. 
[Q49:16] Say: Do you apprise ALLAH (SWT) of your religion, and ALLAH (SWT) knows what is in the heavens and what is in the earth; and ALLAH (SWT) is Cognizant of all things.

[Q49:16] Katakanlah (kepada orang-orang "A'raab" itu wahai Muhammad): Patutkah kamu hendak memberitahu kepada ALLAH (SwT) tentang agama kamu (dengan berkata: Kami telah beriman)? Padahal ALLAH (SwT) mengetahui segala yang ada di langit dan yang ada di bumi dan ALLAH (SwT) Maha Mengetahui akan tiap-tiap sesuatu.  

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(49:16) Say, (O Prophet), (to these pretenders to faith): “Are you apprising Allah of your faith? Allah knows all that is in the heavens and the earth. Allah has full knowledge of everything.”

يَمُنُّونَ عَلَيْكَ أَنْ أَسْلَمُوا ۖ قُلْ لَا تَمُنُّوا عَلَيَّ إِسْلَامَكُمْ ۖ بَلِ اللَّهُ يَمُنُّ عَلَيْكُمْ أَنْ هَدَاكُمْ لِلْإِيمَانِ إِنْ كُنْتُمْ صَادِقِينَ {49:17}

[Q49:17] Yamunnoona 'alaika an aslamoo qul laa tamunnoo 'alaiya Islaamakum baliLLaahu yamunnu 'alaikum an hadaakum lil eemaani in kuntum saadiqeen. 
[Q49:17] They think that they lay you under an obligation by becoming Muslims. Say: Lay me not under obligation by your Islam: rather ALLAH (SWT) lays you under an obligation by guiding you to the faith if you are truthful.

[Q49:17] Mereka mengira dirinya berbudi kepadamu (wahai Muhammad) dengan sebab mereka telah Islam (tidak melawan dan tidak menentang). Katakanlah (kepada mereka): Janganlah kamu mengira keislaman kamu itu sebagai budi kepadaku, bahkan (kalaulah sah dakwaan kamu itu sekalipun maka) ALLAH (SwT) jualah yang berhak membangkit-bangkitkan budiNya kepada kamu, kerana Dialah yang memimpin kamu kepada iman (yang kamu dakwakan itu), kalau betul kamu orang-orang yang benar (pengakuan imannya).

LET NONE THINK THAT BY EMBRACING ISLAM, HE HAS IN ANY WAY OBLIGED ALLAH (SWT) OR EVEN THE HOLY PROPHET (ALLAHuma sali ala Muhammad wa ala ali Muhammad).

ON THE OTHER HAND, IT IS ALLAH (SWT)’S obligation on him FOR IF ALLAH (SWT) BY HIS INFINITE MERCY HAD NOT ARRANGED FOR THE GUIDANCE OF MAN THROUGH THE SERIES OF HIS CHOSEN MEN WHO SUFFERED HEARTLESS TYRANNIES AND TERRIBLE MISERIES IN FULFILLING THEIR MISSION, MANKIND WOULD NEVER HAVE FOUND THE RIGHT WAY AND WOULD HAVE BEEN LOST TO SATAN, --- see verses 3:163 and also 2:129 and 2:151.

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(49:17) They count it as a favour to you that they accepted Islam. Say: “Do not regard your (accepting) Islam as a favour to me; rather, Allah has bestowed a favour on you by guiding you to faith, if you are truthful (in your claim to be believers).

إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُ غَيْبَ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۚ وَاللَّهُ بَصِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ {49:18}

[Q49:18] InnaL Laaha ya'lamu ghaibas samaawaati wal ard; waLLaahu baseerum bimaa ta'maloon. 
[Q49:18] Surely ALLAH (SWT) knows the unseen things of the heavens and the earth; and ALLAH (SWT) sees what you do.

[Q49:18] Sesungguhnya ALLAH (SwT) mengetahui segala rahsia langit dan bumi dan ALLAH (SwT) Maha Melihat akan segala yang kamu kerjakan. 

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(49:18) ,

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