Surah Al-Hujuraat (49) — Ayah 11

(Ayah 11) ➊ { يٰۤاَيُّهَا الَّذِيْنَ اٰمَنُوْا … :} In the previous verses, the command was given to reconcile between Muslims in case of fighting among themselves, and before that, acting upon unverified news was prohibited, because it can lead to fighting and can cause harm out of ignorance. From here, further prohibitions are mentioned regarding things that harm Islamic brotherhood and become causes of mutual enmity and fighting. In this verse, three such things are mentioned: (1) Mocking someone. (2) Finding fault with someone. (3) Calling someone by a bad nickname.

➋ { لَا يَسْخَرْ قَوْمٌ مِّنْ قَوْمٍ: ’’سَخِرَ يَسْخَرُ سَخَرًا وَسَخْرًا وَ سُخْرًا وَ سِخْرًا وَ سُخْرَةً و مَسْخَرًا بِهٖ وَ مِنْهُ ‘‘} (ع) Istihza, mocking, ridiculing, that laughter which humiliates and hurts another. The laughter which makes another happy is called humor, which is permissible and even Sunnah. It is stated in Kashaf: "The word 'qawm' is specific to men, because men are the 'qawwam' (maintainers) of women, as the poet said:
{وَلَا أَدْرِيْ وَ سَوْفَ إِخَالُ أَدْرِيْ ¤ أَقَوْمٌ آلُ حِصْنٍ أَمْ نِسَاءُ}
'And I do not know, and I think I will soon know, whether the family of Hisn are a qawm (i.e., men) or women.'
This verse is also evidence of this, because after forbidding the qawm from mocking, women are also forbidden from it. As for the fact that in the Qur'an, the mentioned 'qawm of Pharaoh' and 'qawm of Thamud', etc., include both men and women, the principle is that there, mention of men suffices, because women are subordinate to them.

➌ The first thing prohibited is mocking or ridiculing someone, because it creates intense hatred in hearts. The one who is mocked considers it his humiliation and is always looking for an opportunity for revenge, and it is obvious how far things can go in revenge. A person mocks another only when he considers himself better and the other inferior and lowly, and this is arrogance, for which there is a severe warning. Abdullah bin Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates that the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: [ لَا يَدْخُلُ الْجَنَّةَ مَنْ كَانَ فِيْ قَلْبِهِ مِثْقَالُ ذَرَّةٍ مِنْ كِبْرٍ، قَالَ رَجُلٌ إِنَّ الرَّجُلَ يُحِبُّ أَنْ يَكُوْنَ ثَوْبُهُ حَسَنًا وَنَعْلُهُ حَسَنَةً، قَالَ إِنَّ اللّٰهَ جَمِيْلٌ يُحِبُّ الْجَمَالَ، الْكِبْرُ بَطَرُ الْحَقِّ وَغَمْطُ النَّاسِ ] [ مسلم، الإیمان، باب تحریم الکبر و بیانہ : ۹۱ ] "He will not enter Paradise who has even an atom's weight of arrogance in his heart." A man said: "A person likes that his clothes are good and his shoes are good (is this also arrogance)?" The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "Indeed, Allah is beautiful and loves beauty. Arrogance is rejecting the truth and looking down on people." Here, the qawm is forbidden from mocking another qawm, because usually, mocking happens in a gathering, otherwise mocking someone alone is also prohibited.

➍ { عَسٰۤى اَنْ يَّكُوْنُوْا خَيْرًا مِّنْهُمْ:} The reason for prohibiting mockery is explained: the one whom you consider lowly and humiliate, it may be that he is better than you in the sight of Allah, because being good or bad does not depend on outward appearance, but on the piety of the heart, and only Allah knows that. Moreover, the outcome does not depend on the present state but on the end; you do not know that the end of the one you consider lowly and humiliate may be better than yours.

➎ { وَ لَا نِسَآءٌ مِّنْ نِّسَآءٍ عَسٰۤى اَنْ يَّكُنَّ خَيْرًا مِّنْهُنَّ:} In the Qur'an, generally, men are addressed for commands, and women are not mentioned separately because they are subordinate. Here, women are addressed separately, which shows that there is a special need to prevent women from this sin. Here is a question: in this verse, men are forbidden from mocking men and women from mocking women, so can men mock women or women mock men? The answer is that in a Muslim society, there is no room for a mixed society where men and women can casually mock each other. Here, the gatherings of men and women are separate, so both are forbidden separately.

➏ Whether mockery is done verbally or by pointing to someone's defect or by mimicking, every kind of mockery is haram. Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) narrates that she said to the Prophet (peace be upon him): [ حَسْبُكَ مِنْ صَفِيَّةَ كَذَا وَكَذَا، قَالَ غَيْرُ مُسَدَّدٍ تَعْنِيْ قَصِيْرَةً، فَقَالَ لَقَدْ قُلْتِ كَلِمَةً لَوْ مُزِجَتْ بِمَاءِ الْبَحْرِ لَمَزَجَتْهُ قَالَتْ وَحَكَيْتُ لَهُ إِنْسَانًا فَقَالَ مَا أُحِبُّ أَنِّيْ حَكَيْتُ إِنْسَانًا وَ إِنَّ لِيْ كَذَا وَكَذَا] [ أبوداوٗد، الأدب، باب في الغیبۃ : ۴۸۷۵، وقال الألباني صحیح ] "It is enough for you regarding Safiyyah that she is such and such." Other narrators besides Musaddad clarified that she meant her short stature. The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "You have said a word which, if mixed with the water of the sea, would pollute it all." Aisha (may Allah be pleased with her) said: "And I mimicked a person in your presence " The Prophet (peace be upon him) said: "I do not like to mimic anyone, even if I were to get such and such."

➐ { وَ لَا تَلْمِزُوْۤا اَنْفُسَكُمْ: ’’لَمَزَ يَلْمِزُ لَمْزًا‘‘} (ض،ن) To find fault with someone, to make a gesture with the eyes in secret speech, to push, to hit. See also the commentary of Surah Humazah, verse (1): « وَيْلٌ لِّكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُّمَزَةٍ». Allah Almighty did not say, "Do not find fault with others," but said, "Do not find fault with yourselves," as He said: « وَ لَا تَقْتُلُوْۤا اَنْفُسَكُمْ» [النساء: ۲۹] "Do not kill yourselves." One reason is that all Muslims are {’’كَالْجَسَدِ الْوَاحِدِ‘‘} (like one body); the one who finds fault with another Muslim brother should remember that when he is finding fault with his Muslim brother, in reality, he is finding fault with himself, so he should not do so. The second reason is that when he finds fault with others, he himself is not free from faults, and others also have eyes and tongues, so his faults will also be exposed; therefore, Allah Almighty said: "Do not find fault with yourselves." In this verse, exposing someone's faults in front of people and taunting them is prohibited; in the next verse, mentioning someone's faults in his absence, i.e., backbiting, is also prohibited. Only one thing is allowed, and that is advice: to take his brother aside and tell him his mistake and advise him to correct it, just as a mirror shows a mistake but does not make noise. Instead of exposing a Muslim's faults in front of people or in his absence, it is commanded to cover them. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: [ اَلْمُسْلِمُ أَخُو الْمُسْلِمِ، لاَ يَظْلِمُهُ وَلاَ يُسْلِمُهُ، وَمَنْ كَانَ فِيْ حَاجَةِ أَخِيْهِ كَانَ اللّٰهُ فِيْ حَاجَتِهِ، وَمَنْ فَرَّجَ عَنْ مُّسْلِمٍ كُرْبَةً فَرَّجَ اللّٰهُ عَنْهُ كُرْبَةً مِّنْ كُرُبَاتِ يَوْمِ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَ مَنْ سَتَرَ مُسْلِمًا سَتَرَهُ اللّٰهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ] [ بخاري، المظالم، باب لا یظلم المسلم المسلم ولایسلمہ : ۲۴۴۲، عن ابن عمر رضی اللہ عنھما ] "A Muslim is the brother of a Muslim; he does not oppress him nor forsake him, and whoever is engaged in his brother's need, Allah is engaged in his need, and whoever removes a hardship from a Muslim, Allah will remove a hardship from him on the Day of Resurrection, and whoever covers a Muslim, Allah will cover him."

➑ { وَ لَا تَنَابَزُوْا بِالْاَلْقَابِ: ’’اَلنَّبَزُ‘‘} (With fathah on noon and baa) means a bad nickname, such as lame, cripple, blind, black, short, hunchback, donkey, fox, or any name that causes someone pain, such as if someone has committed a sin, after repenting, to shame him by calling him a thief, adulterer, or drunkard. A laqab is a name that expresses a quality or defect, whether a person has chosen it for himself or someone else has given it. Here, from the context of {’’ وَ لَا تَنَابَزُوْا ‘‘}, laqab means a bad name, because calling with good titles is praiseworthy, such as Abu Bakr al-Siddiq, Umar al-Farooq, Hamza Asadullah, Khalid Saifullah, Abu Ubaidah Amin al-Ummah, Hudhayfah Sahib Sir Rasulullah, Abdullah bin Mas'ud Sahib al-Mutahharah wal-Wisadah wal-Na'layn (may Allah be pleased with them). Besides this, the Arab custom was to call with a kunyah as a form of respect, which Islam maintained. The right of a believer is that he should be called by the name he likes most for himself, because this creates and maintains love. {’’ وَ لَا تَنَابَزُوْا بِالْاَلْقَابِ ‘‘} That is, no person should give another a bad name that angers him or humiliates and degrades him, nor should he call him by such a name. In the time of ignorance, it was common that if one person gave another a bad nickname, the other would give him one in return. Allah Almighty has forbidden this.

Abu Jubayrah bin Dihhak (may Allah be pleased with him) narrates: "The verse: « وَ لَا تَنَابَزُوْا بِالْاَلْقَابِ بِئْسَ الِاسْمُ الْفُسُوْقُ بَعْدَ الْاِيْمَانِ » was revealed about us, the Banu Salamah. When the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) came to Madinah, every man among us had two or three names. When the Prophet (peace be upon him) called someone by a name, people would say: 'O Messenger of Allah! Do not call him by that name, because he is displeased with it.' So this verse: « وَ لَا تَنَابَزُوْا بِالْاَلْقَابِ » was revealed." [ أبوداوٗد، الأدب، باب في الألقاب :۴۹۶۲ ]

➒ The exception to this ruling is for those nicknames which have become a means of identification, and the person with that name does not consider it bad, nor is the intention to humiliate or degrade, but only to identify, such as Sulaiman al-A'mash (the bleary-eyed), Wasil al-Ahdab (the hunchback), Humaid al-Tawil (the tall), Abu Hurairah, and Dhu al-Yadayn, etc.

➓ { بِئْسَ الِاسْمُ الْفُسُوْقُ بَعْدَ الْاِيْمَانِ:} From this, it is understood that the things prohibited above are all fisq (sinful acts). The purpose is that whoever commits these acts, despite being a believer, is a fasiq (sinner), and it is a very bad thing that a person is called a fasiq after being called a believer. {’’ بَعْدَ الْاِيْمَانِ ‘‘} (After faith) That is why it is said that if you had not attained the honor of faith, there would be nothing particularly shameful in being called a fasiq or a wicked person, but now after having brought faith, it is very bad for you to be called by this name. You should keep in mind that now you are those about whom Allah Almighty has said: « وَ لٰكِنَّ اللّٰهَ حَبَّبَ اِلَيْكُمُ الْاِيْمَانَ وَ زَيَّنَهٗ فِيْ قُلُوْبِكُمْ وَ كَرَّهَ اِلَيْكُمُ الْكُفْرَ وَ الْفُسُوْقَ وَ الْعِصْيَانَ » [ الحجرات : ۷ ] "But Allah has made faith beloved to you and has beautified it in your hearts, and He has made disbelief, sin, and disobedience hateful to you." So you should avoid every act that brings upon you the name of fisq.

⓫ {وَ مَنْ لَّمْ يَتُبْ فَاُولٰٓىِٕكَ هُمُ الظّٰلِمُوْنَ:} "Alif Lam" is for perfection, i.e., although whoever commits a sin is a wrongdoer, but repentance makes up for this wrongdoing. The real wrongdoers are those who persist in sins and die without repenting.