Surah Hud (11) — Ayah 5

(Ayah 5){ اَلَاۤ اِنَّهُمْ يَثْنُوْنَ صُدُوْرَهُمْ …: ’’ يَثْنُوْنَ ‘‘ ’’ ثَنَي يَثْنِيْ‘‘} (ض) is a present tense verb, third person masculine plural. Its meaning is to double, to bend. The second number is called "thani" for this reason, because it makes one into two. The meaning of { ’’ لِيَسْتَخْفُوْا مِنْهُ ‘‘ ’’اِخْتَفَي يَخْتَفِيْ‘‘} is to hide, and with the addition of the "seen" and "taa" of the "istifaal" form, the meaning is intensified. Similarly, in {’’ يَسْتَغْشُوْنَ ‘‘}, the addition of "seen" and "taa" has intensified the meaning. In this, the extreme ignorance and lack of knowledge of the polytheists regarding Allah Almighty is described, as Allah Almighty has described their state elsewhere: «{ وَ مَا كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُوْنَ اَنْ يَّشْهَدَ عَلَيْكُمْ سَمْعُكُمْ وَ لَاۤ اَبْصَارُكُمْ وَ لَا جُلُوْدُكُمْ وَ لٰكِنْ ظَنَنْتُمْ اَنَّ اللّٰهَ لَا يَعْلَمُ كَثِيْرًا مِّمَّا تَعْمَلُوْنَ }» [ حٰمٓ السجدۃ : ۲۲ ] "And you did not hide yourselves lest your ears, your eyes, and your skins would testify against you, but you thought that Allah does not know much of what you do." That is, in their view, it is possible to do some deeds hidden from Allah Almighty, of which He would not be aware. Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrated: [ اِجْتَمَعَ عِنْدَ الْبَيْتِ ثَقَفِيَّانِ وَ قُرَشِيٌّ، أَوْ قُرشِيَّانِ وَ ثَقِفِيٌّ، كَثِيْرَةٌ شَحْمُ بُطُوْنِهِمْ قَلِيْلَةٌ فِقْهُ قُلُوْبِهِمْ، فَقَالَ أَحَدُهُمْ: أَتَرَونَ أنَّ اللّٰهَ يَسْمَعُ مَا نَقُوْلُ ؟ قَالَ الْاَخَرُ : يَسْمَعُ إِنْ جَهَرْنَا وَلاَ يَسْمَعُ إِنْ أَخْفَيْنَا، وَ قَالَ الْآخَرُ : إِنْ كَانَ يَسْمَعُ إِذْا جَهَرْنَا فَإِنَّهٗ يَسْمَعُ إِذْا أَخْفَيْنَا، فَأَنْزَلَ اللّٰهُ تَعَالٰی: « وَ مَا كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُوْنَ اَنْ يَّشْهَدَ عَلَيْكُمْ سَمْعُكُمْ وَ لَاۤ اَبْصَارُكُمْ وَ لَا جُلُوْدُكُمْ » ] "Two Qurayshis and one Thaqafi, or two Thaqafis and one Qurayshi, gathered near the Ka'bah, whose bellies were full of fat and whose hearts had little understanding. One of them said: 'Do you think that Allah hears what we are saying?' The other said: 'If we speak loudly, He hears; if we speak softly, He does not.' Then the next one said: 'If He hears when we speak loudly, then surely He also hears when we speak softly.' Upon this, this verse was revealed: «{ وَ مَا كُنْتُمْ تَسْتَتِرُوْنَ اَنْ يَّشْهَدَ عَلَيْكُمْ سَمْعُكُمْ وَ لَاۤ اَبْصَارُكُمْ وَ لَا جُلُوْدُكُمْ }» [حٰمٓ السجدۃ : ۲۲] [ بخاری، التوحید، باب قول اللہ عزوجل : « وما کنتم تستترون …» : ۷۵۲۱ ] From this, it is known that many ignorant polytheists also thought that if they spoke softly, Allah Almighty would not know.

So it is clear that they believed in Allah Almighty, but whenever they did something that would anger Allah, they would do it in secret so that they could hide from Allah Almighty, lest He find out. Sometimes behind the curtain of clothes and walls, sometimes by bending their chests to gain concealment, for example, to mix (adulterate), to deceive, or to commit some other heinous act, they would bend their chests, thinking they were hiding themselves from Allah Almighty. Allah Almighty said: Beware! Even if you wrap yourselves well in clothes, He knows whatever you do, and even beyond that, whatever is in the hearts, protected within the confines of the chests, He knows those matters very well too. Therefore, your thoughts and these actions are futile and false; they will not benefit you at all.

One interpretation is that above, where it was said: «{ وَ اِنْ تَوَلَّوْا فَاِنِّيْۤ اَخَافُ عَلَيْكُمْ عَذَابَ يَوْمٍ كَبِيْرٍ }» (And if you turn away, then surely I fear for you the punishment of a great day), there, turning away outwardly and physically was meant, and here, turning away with the heart is meant, because "chests" refers to the heart, as is also evident from {’’ عَلِيْمٌۢ بِذَاتِ الصُّدُوْرِ ‘‘}. {’’ يَثْنُوْنَ صُدُوْرَهُمْ ‘‘} Thus, "bending the chest" is an idiom, meaning to turn the heart, to turn away, to think wrongly, to comfort one's heart with baseless doubts, to turn away from true beliefs, etc., because here "chests" refers to the sciences of the chest. (Fath al-Rahman by Shah Waliullah) The meaning is that they try to hide the disbelief and enmity they harbor in their chests, so that Allah Almighty and His Messenger (peace be upon him) do not become aware of their hidden secrets. (Shawkani) Both these references have been quoted by our late teacher in Ashraf al-Hawashi. In Sahih Bukhari, another meaning is narrated from Abdullah bin Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both): A person asked him the meaning of this verse, so he said: "Some people were shy to expose their private parts before the sky when relieving themselves or having intercourse with their wives, so this verse was revealed about them." [ بخاری، التفسیر، باب : { ألا إنہم یثنون صدورھم… } : ۴۶۸۱، ۴۶۸۲ ]

From this context of revelation, it is known that this verse was revealed about those Muslims who, due to overwhelming modesty, avoided being naked while relieving themselves or during intercourse, thinking that Allah Almighty is watching them. Therefore, on such occasions, to cover their private parts, they would bend their chests. Allah Almighty said that even in the darkness of night, when they cover themselves in their beds, He sees them and knows their hidden and open matters. The meaning is that the feeling of modesty is very good in itself, but such excess and exaggeration is not correct, because for the sake of the One for whom they do this, they still cannot hide from Him, so what is the benefit of such affectation? Although this interpretation has come from Habr al-Ummah in the most authentic book of hadith, Sahih Bukhari, and is undoubtedly correct, most commentators have said that according to the context of the verses, this verse relates to the behavior of the disbelievers, because before and after, only they are being mentioned. The interpretation of Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both) means that this verse also applies to those Muslims who did so out of modesty. In the principles of exegesis, the scholars have made it clear that the Companions and Followers, wherever a verse applies and is true, would say { ’’نَزَلَتْ فِيْ كَذَا‘‘} that this verse was revealed about such and such thing, so for one verse, several contexts of revelation are narrated from the Companions and Followers, and there is no contradiction in them; rather, all can be intended. However, it is quite possible that at the time of the revelation of the verse or near it, only one incident or a few incidents occurred, and other incidents were considered contexts of revelation due to their applicability.

5. 1. There is a difference of opinion among the commentators regarding its reason for revelation, and therefore there is also a difference in its meaning. However, from the reason for revelation mentioned in Sahih Bukhari (Tafsir Surah Hud), it is known that this was revealed about those Muslims who, due to overwhelming modesty, did not like to be naked at the time of relieving themselves or having intercourse with their wives, thinking that Allah is watching them. Therefore, on such occasions, in order to cover their private parts, they would double over their chests. Allah said that even in the darkness of night, when they cover themselves with clothes in their beds, He still sees them and knows their hidden and open matters. The meaning is that the feeling of modesty is very good in its place, but such excess and exaggeration in it is not correct, because the One for whose sake they do this, they still cannot hide from Him, so what is the benefit of such formality?

5. Behold! They fold up their chests to hide from Him. Even when they cover themselves with their garments, He knows what they conceal and what they reveal. Surely, He is the Knower of what is in the hearts [7].

[7] The purpose of this verse is to describe the vastness of Allah Almighty’s all-encompassing knowledge: not only open and hidden things, but He is even aware of the intentions within hearts. However, regarding the interpretation of the opening phrase of this verse, the commentators have differed greatly. Among them, we rely only on the narration of Sayyiduna Ibn Abbas ؓ as mentioned in Bukhari, which is as follows: Muhammad bin Ubaid bin Ja‘far says that he asked Ibn Abbas ؓ about the context in which this verse was revealed, and he replied: Some people, when relieving themselves or having relations with their wives, would feel shy before their Lord to uncover themselves towards the sky and would lower themselves out of modesty; at that time, this verse was revealed. [بخاري، كتاب التفسير]
That is, if you feel shy before Allah when you need to uncover your body and thus lower yourselves, then when you take off or put on your clothes, is your outward and inward not before Allah? And when a person can never hide from Allah at any time, then it is not correct to go to such extremes regarding matters of human necessity.