Surah Al-Hujuraat (49) — Ayah 4

(Ayah 4) ➊ {اِنَّ الَّذِيْنَ يُنَادُوْنَكَ مِنْ وَّرَآءِ الْحُجُرٰتِ: ’’حُجْرَةٌ ‘‘} The piece of land around which a wall has been built, the four walls of a house’s courtyard. Tabari said: The plural of {’’حُجْرَةٌ ‘‘} is {’’حُجَرٌ‘‘}, and its plural is {’’حُجُرَاتٌ‘‘}. In Ruh al-Ma‘ani, the condition of these chambers is described: “These were nine chambers, each wife had a chamber, and as Ibn Sa‘d narrated from ‘Ata’ Khurasani, these were made from palm branches, and at their doors were curtains of black hair-cloth. Bukhari in ‘al-Adab al-Mufrad’, and Ibn Abi al-Dunya and Bayhaqi narrated from Dawud bin Qays, he said: ‘I have seen those chambers, made from palm branches, covered on the outside with hair-cloth, and I think the distance from the courtyard door to the room’s door was six or seven cubits (nine or ten and a half feet), and the inner part of the room was ten cubits (fifteen feet), and I think the width of the house was between seven and eight cubits (ten and a half to twelve feet).’ And it is narrated from Hasan that he said: ‘During the caliphate of ‘Uthman bin ‘Affan (may Allah be pleased with him), I used to go into the rooms of the Prophet’s wives, and I could touch their ceilings with my hand.’ During the era of Walid bin ‘Abd al-Malik (may Allah have mercy on him), by his order, these houses were included in the Prophet’s Mosque, at which people wept greatly.” And Sa‘id bin al-Musayyib said: “By Allah! I would have liked that these chambers had been left as they were, so that the children of Madinah would grow up and people coming from all over the world would see what kind of houses the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was content with in his life. This would create in their hearts, instead of competing for the world and boasting over it, asceticism and indifference to the world.” And Abu Umamah bin Sahl bin Hunayf also said something similar.” (Ruh al-Ma‘ani)

In the previous verses, the etiquette in the presence of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) was mentioned; in these verses, the etiquette to be observed when he is at home is mentioned. The words of the verse indicate that some Bedouins stood outside the four walls of the houses of the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and called out to him, so Allah declared such people as {’’ لَا يَعْقِلُوْنَ ‘‘}. The purpose of declaring them {’’ لَا يَعْقِلُوْنَ ‘‘} is to rebuke them and to teach all Muslims the etiquette towards the Prophet.

➋ { اَكْثَرُهُمْ لَا يَعْقِلُوْنَ:} Ibn Juzayy (author of al-Tashil) said: “There are two aspects in this: one is that among them were some who had understanding, so most of them were called {’’ لَا يَعْقِلُوْنَ ‘‘}, not all. The second is that the intention is to declare all of them as {’’ لَا يَعْقِلُوْنَ ‘‘}, and by calling those with understanding few, it means to negate them. According to the words, the first aspect is more apparent; in the second, the condemnation of all is expressed in a more eloquent manner.”