Surah Al-Ahzaab (33) — Ayah 1

(Ayah 1) ➊ { يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ … :} The surah begins with addressing the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) as {’’ يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ ‘‘}. In this, the purpose is to honor and dignify you (peace and blessings be upon him), because in the Noble Qur’an, other prophets are addressed by their names, as in {’’ يٰۤاٰدَمُ ، يٰنُوْحُ ، يٰۤاِبْرٰهِيْمُ ، يٰعِيْسَي ابْنَ مَرْيَمَ ‘‘} and so on, but you (peace and blessings be upon him) are addressed only with {’’ يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ ‘‘} and {’’ يٰۤاَيُّهَا الرَّسُوْلُ ‘‘}.
➋ In this surah, you (peace and blessings be upon him) are addressed five times with {’’ يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ ‘‘}, one is this verse, the second is verse (28): «{ يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِّاَزْوَاجِكَ اِنْ كُنْتُنَّ تُرِدْنَ الْحَيٰوةَ الدُّنْيَا }», the third is verse (45): «{ يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ اِنَّاۤ اَرْسَلْنٰكَ شَاهِدًا وَّ مُبَشِّرًا وَّ نَذِيْرًا }», the fourth is verse (50): « يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ اِنَّاۤ اَحْلَلْنَا لَكَ اَزْوَاجَكَ », and the fifth is verse (59): «{ يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ قُلْ لِّاَزْوَاجِكَ وَ بَنٰتِكَ }». This shows that in this surah, the personal matters of the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) are especially mentioned. Although the purpose is also to teach the ummah.
➌ { اتَّقِ اللّٰهَ وَ لَا تُطِعِ الْكٰفِرِيْنَ وَ الْمُنٰفِقِيْنَ :} This surah was revealed at the end of the fifth year of Hijrah during the Battle of Ahzab. This was a time of great difficulty and trial for the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and the Muslims, because the Quraysh, Ghatafan, Hudhayl, and the polytheists of the entire Arabia joined together and attacked Madinah Munawwarah with an army of ten thousand to make a final attempt to wipe out Islam. The Jews of Madinah and the hypocrites were also helping them, as will be mentioned ahead. During this time, you (peace and blessings be upon him) were commanded to break some of the customs of the Age of Ignorance which were considered established by all people at that time, such as if a wife is called a mother, she is considered as forbidden as a real mother, giving an adopted son the status of a real son and making him an heir, considering marriage with his wife as forbidden like a daughter-in-law, etc. The custom of making a mutabanna (adopted son) was so entrenched that unless the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) himself broke it by his own action, it would have been difficult to end it. Before prophethood, you (peace and blessings be upon him) had made your freed slave Zayd bin Harithah your adopted son. Among the customs of ignorance was also the custom that even if a slave was freed, they still considered him inferior and were not ready to give him the status of free people.
The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) first broke this custom and married his paternal aunt’s daughter Zaynab bint Jahsh (may Allah be pleased with her), who was from a very noble family, to his freed slave Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him), but there was no compatibility between them, so Zayd (may Allah be pleased with him) divorced her. Now you (peace and blessings be upon him) wished to marry Zaynab (may Allah be pleased with her), because she had made a great sacrifice by marrying Zayd and it was also intended to console her. But there was a fear that the polytheists and hypocrites of the entire Arabia would raise a storm of criticism that Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) declares marriage with a daughter-in-law forbidden and himself married a daughter-in-law. Besides, for Muslims, it was permissible to marry up to four wives, if you (peace and blessings be upon him) married Zaynab, she would be the fifth wife, because before her, Sawdah, Aishah, Hafsah, and Umm Salamah (may Allah be pleased with them) were in your marriage. This would also give the disbelievers and hypocrites an opportunity to criticize. In this matter, Allah Almighty granted the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) special permission to have more wives by saying {’’ يٰۤاَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ اِنَّاۤ اَحْلَلْنَا لَكَ اَزْوَاجَكَ …‘‘}. In short, there were several such matters to be reformed, but you (peace and blessings be upon him) felt hesitation due to the fear of the storms raised by the disbelievers and hypocrites, so Allah Almighty began the surah with this statement: “O Prophet! Fear Allah and do not obey the disbelievers and the hypocrites.” This is a beautiful example of making a long matter short, which was that fear Allah, do not fear the disbelievers, hypocrites, or anyone else, and obey Allah’s command and do not obey the disbelievers and hypocrites.
➍ {اِنَّ اللّٰهَ كَانَ عَلِيْمًا حَكِيْمًا:’’ اِنَّ ‘‘} is generally used for reasoning, that is, it states the reason for something. “Indeed, Allah Almighty has always been All-Knowing, Perfectly Wise,” meaning His commands are based on knowledge and wisdom, whereas the customs and rules of the disbelievers are based on conjecture, ignorance, and foolishness. Ahead, its details are explained that by merely saying so, no woman becomes a mother, nor does anyone become a son by merely saying so. The sanctity that exists in the relationship of a real mother, sister, daughter, and daughter-in-law can never exist in an artificial relationship; rather, these relationships can become a cause of spreading evil due to general interaction. Therefore, there is no need to fear any disbeliever or hypocrite, fear only Allah and by obeying His command, put an end to all these customs of ignorance.
➎ In this verse, by addressing the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him), the most effective way of warning the ummah has been adopted, that when this command is for the greatest person, then for others its emphasis is even greater.