Surah Hujurat- Dwellings
The Surah was revealed in the 9th year of
the Hijrah, after the fall of Mecca. Islam
became a great political power and large
masses of people entered its fold. It was the
need of hour that the newly converted
Muslims should be taught good manners and
morals.
The Surah teaches Muslims those good
manners and morals. It also deals with some
social evils which find their way into a
materially-advanced and wealthy society
PRIORITY OF ALLAH’S COMMAND AND WILL
This is the foremost and basic demand of faith.
If the person who regards Allah as Lord and accepts
Allah’s messenger as his guide and leader, can never
have the attitude of giving his own opinion and
viewing precedence over the decision of Allah and His
messenger.
That is why it has been said, “O believers do not
go „in advance‟ of Allah and His Messenger”.
That is to say, do not go ahead of them or do not
precede them‟
.
MANNERS TO INTERACT WITH PROPHET
Holy Quran teaches etiquettes 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 the
common man, or a person of equal rank.
PENALITY OF DISRESPECT TO PROPHET
Person committing this act deserves the same
punishment in the sight of Allah, which is in fact the
punishment of disbelief.
In the case of ordinary people, it is at the most a rude
act or an uncivilized conduct, but in respect of Holy
Prophet a little lack of reverence is such a grave sin
that can destroy all the services of one’s lifetime.
For the reverence of Holy Prophet is indeed the
reverence of God who has sent him as His Messenger.
REWARDS PROMISED BY ALLAH ALMIGHTY
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 to possess TAQWA
Those who lower their voices and speak softly in the
presence of Allah’s Rasool are the ones whose hearts
Allah has tested for piety; they shall have forgiveness
and a great reward.[3]
In this verse God says that people, who will respect my
messenger, will be bestowed with three things
Firstly we will fill their hearts with piety.
Secondly will forgive their past sins.
Thirdly they will be greatly rewarded.
Verification of a certain news or report
O believers, if an evildoer comes to you with some news, verify
it (investigate to ascertain the truth), lest you should harm others
unwittingly and then regret what you have done.[6]
It is not right to believe in every news blindly and to act according
to it, without due thought. If information is received about a
person, a group or a community, it should be seen carefully
whether the means of the information is reliable or not. If the
means is not reliable, it shouldbe tested and examined to see
whether the news is authentic or not before taking any action on
it.
CHALLENGING PROPHET’S DECISION AND LEADERSHIP
This is evident from the context that Holy Prophet was
hesitant to take any military action against the Bani alMustaliq 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
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.
Peace and Equity
If two parties among the believers fall into mutual fighting,
make peace between them. Then if one of them transgresses
against the other, fight the one who has transgressed until he
returns to the commands of Allah. Then, if he returns, make
peace between them with justice and be fair; for Allah loves
those who are fair and just.[9] The believers are brothers to one
another, therefore, make reconciliation between your brothers
and fear Allah, so that you may be shown mercy.[10]
This verse tells, how we should act if a violent fight occurs
between groups of Muslims. Weshould do our best to bring peace
between the two groups, regardless of blame, and if there isa
peace, to negotiate fairly between them, without blaming either
of the two parties. If,however, one of them continues to fight, we
should fight the warring party until it surrenders,and then
negotiate a just peace between them.
The Prophet (pbuh) said:
:O ye, Shall I not tell you of something that is better than fasting,
prayer and charity?
They said: Yes.
He said: That is Reconciling between two people, for the corruption
of that which is between the hearts is the shaver (destroyer). It is the
shaver, and I do not say that it shaves hair; rather that it shaves
religious commitment.
Unity and Brotherhood:
The importance of brotherhood in Islam cannot be over stressed.
There are many hadiths relating to the fact the Muslims are a single
united body, each part responsible for the other. Accordingly if one of
the parts is injured or hurt then the rest of the body immediately feels
that pain and is certainly uncomfortable at the situation until it is
rectified without delay. The brotherhood of Muslims is a very deep
and wide concept that guarantees the safety and wellbeing of the
Society at large.
Islam is against mockery and calling out of offensive names.
O believers! Let no men laugh at other men who may perhaps be
better than themselves; and let no woman laugh at another woman,
who may perhaps be better than herself. Do not defame through
sarcastic remarks about one another, nor call one another by
offensive nicknames. It is an evil thing to be called by a bad name
after being a believer, and those who do not repent are the ones
who are the wrongdoers.[11]
Allah mentioned in the Qur’an that mockery is an indecent
morality and a sin and thus, believers should avoid such depravity.
It is forbidden to accuse someone who is innocent; to utter lies; to
slander and backbite; to call people by offensive nicknames; to
spread gossip and malicious slander; to make fun of the Muslims;
to boast about one’s status; to shed doubts on a person’s lineage; to
utter slander, insults and obscenities; to speak in an indecent or
rude manner; or to utter evil in public, except by one who has been
wronged.
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 sothat others also may laugh at him.
There are different reasons why a person would want to insult,
make fun of and ridicule other community members:
Firstly= they have weak Iman(faith) and their fear of Allah is
poor. This is one of the major reasons.
Secondly- they spend a lot of their time in gatherings that bring
no benefit.
Thirdly= they themselves may want others to praise them.
Fourthly= they forget the punishment for those who make fun
of others.
SPYING AND BACKBITING TERMED AS A GREAT SIN IN ISLAM
O believers! Avoid immoderate suspicion, for in some cases
suspicion is a sin. Do not spy on one another, nor backbite one
another (to say something about another behind ones back that if
one hears it, dislikes it). Would any of you like to eat the flesh of
his dead brother? Surely you would abhor it. Fear Allah; for
Allah is the Accepter of repentance, Merciful.[12]
We need to distance ourselves from spying other people‟s faults
and exposing them to others.
Rasulullah (saw) said:
‚Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tails;
don’t spy on one another; do not look for others faults; don’t be
jealous of one another; don’t envy one another; don’t hate one
another; and do not shun one another. And O Allah’s servants!
Be brothers!‛
Abu musa al ashari(R.A)reported:
I asked the messenger of Allah: “who is most excellent
Among the Muslims?”
he said, “one from whose tongue and hands the other Muslims
are secure.”
Backbiting
Reported by abu dawud , Abu Hurayra said:
“it was asked‟ O Allah‟s messenger!What is backbiting? He
said “Mentioning your brother in a manner that he dislikes.”
He said, “what if my brother was as I mentioned?
He said “If he was as you mentioned, you will have committed
back biting. But if he was not asyou say about him, you will
have falsely accused him-Slander.
Backbiting 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.”
Repentance from backbiting
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.
Show off faith
This does not apply on all the deserts Arab but to only a few
groups who had become Muslims, seeing the increasing power
of Muslims that in this way they will be protected and also
gain materially from the Muslims. These people had not
embraced Islam heartily but had embraced Islam for only to
be counted in Muslims. Their inner state became exposed
when they come to Prophet (PBUH) with different source of
demands and mention their rights as if they had done Him
(PBUH) a great favor.
True believers
The true believers are those who believe in Allah and His
Rasool, then never doubt; and make Jihãd (exert their efforts)
with their wealth and their persons in the cause of Allah. Such
are the ones who are truthful in their claim to be the
believers.[15]
In this verse definition of believers is interpreted. According to
Allah only those are Momin who are true in their faith.
Believers are those who believe in God in His messenger, and
have not doubted. They are not uncertain of their faith. They
strive with their wealth and their souls for the cause of Allah
and they are true Muslims
Moral Instructions
Surah A- Hujurat

Allah commanded lowering ones voice in the presence of
the Prophet.

Do not spread rumors with out confirming

Make peace between the believers if they fight among
themselves.

Fight the transgressors untill they comply with Allah’s
Commands

True believer is he who believes in Allah, His Rasool and
makes Jihãd with his wealth and person in the Way of Allah.
*
Islamic etiquettes of moral behavior:
-Do not laugh at another to down degrade him.
- Do not defame another through sarcastic remarks.
-Do not call another by offensive nicknames.
- Avoid immoderate suspicions, for in some cases it is a sin.
- Do not spy on one another.
-
-Do not backbite one another.
-
- All mankind is created from one man and one woman,
therefore, no one has superiority over another and noblest is
he who is the most righteous.