24:16 An-Noor (The Light)

{ ولَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ } أي: وهلا إذ سمعتم -أيها المؤمنون- كلام أهل الإفك { قُلْتُمْ } منكرين لذلك، معظمين لأمره: { مَا يَكُونُ لَنَا أَنْ نَتَكَلَّمَ بِهَذَا } أي: ما ينبغي لنا، وما يليق بنا الكلام، بهذا الإفك المبين، لأن المؤمن يمنعه إيمانه من ارتكاب القبائح { هَذَا بُهْتَانٌ } أي: كذب عظيم.

هذا تأديب آخر بعد الأول الآمر بظن الخير أي إذا ذكر ما لا يليق من القول في شأن الخيرة فأولى ينبغي الظن بهم خيرا. وأن لا يشعر نفسه سوى ذلك ثم إن علق بنفسه شيء من ذلك وسوسة أو خيالا فلا ينبغي أن يتكلم به فإن رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم قال "إن الله تعالى تجاوز لأمتي عما حدثت به أنفسها ما لم تقل أو تعمل" أخرجاه في الصحيحين وقال الله تعالي "ولولا إذ سمعتموه قلتم ما يكون لنا أن نتكلم بهذا" أي ما ينبغي لنا أن نتفوه بهذا الكلام ولا نذكره لأحد "سبحانك هذا بهتان عظيم" أى سبحان الله أن يقال هذا الكلام على زوجة رسوله وحليلة خليله.

Further Discipline

This is further discipline, in addition to the command to think well of people, i.e., if something unbefitting is mentioned about good people, then one should think well of them, and not feel towards them anything but good. Then if a person has any unsuitable thoughts about them, insinuated into his mind and imagination by Shaytan, he should not speak about that, for the Prophet said:

«إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى تَجَاوَزَ لِأُمَّتِي عَمَّا حَدَّثَتْ بِهِ أَنْفُسُهَا مَا لَمْ تَقُلْ أَوْ تَعْمَلْ»

(Allah will excuse my Ummah for anything that occurs to their minds, so long as they do not speak about it or act upon it.) This was reported in the Two Sahihs. Allah's saying:

وَلَوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُمْ مَّا يَكُونُ لَنَآ أَن نَّتَكَلَّمَ بِهَـذَا

(And why did you not, when you heard it, say: "It is not right for us to speak of this".) meaning, we should not talk about it or mention it to anyone.

سُبْحَـنَكَ هَـذَا بُهْتَـنٌ عَظِيمٌ

(Glory be to You (O Allah)! This is a great lie.) means, glory be to Allah that such a thing should be said about the wife of His Prophet and close Friend . Then Allah says,

يَعِظُكُمُ اللَّهُ أَن تَعُودُواْ لِمِثْلِهِ أَبَداً

(Allah forbids you from it and warns you not to repeat the like of it forever, ) meaning, Allah is forbidding you and warning you from doing anything like this again in the future. Allah says,

إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ

(if you are believers.) meaning, if you believe in Allah and His Laws, and you respect His Messenger . As for those who are described as disbelievers, a different ruling applies in their case. Then Allah says,

وَيُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الاٌّيَـتِ

(And Allah makes the Ayat plain to you,) meaning, He makes clear to you the rulings of Shari`ah and His divine decrees.

وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ

(and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.) means, He knows what is right for His servants and He is Wise in His Laws and decrees.

And why when you heard it did you not say ‘It is not for us to speak about this. Glory be to You! — this exclamation here is meant to indicate amazement — This is an awful calumny?’ an awful lie?

وَلَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُم مَّا يَكُونُ لَنَا أَن نَّتَكَلَّمَ بِهَـٰذَا سُبْحَانَكَ هَـٰذَا بُهْتَانٌ عَظِيمٌ

And why, when you heard of it, did you not say, It is not for us to speak about this. Pure are You (0 Allah). This is a terrible calumny.' - 24:16.

In this verse the same advice is repeated which was imparted in an earlier verse, with further elaboration as to what should the Muslims do in such a situation when they hear a rumor. The advice is that they should say in categorical terms that they are not allowed even to mention such a thing for which there is no proof. It is a very grave accusation.

A doubt and its answer

If someone has a doubt that just as the truth of an event cannot be verified without a proof, and hence it is unlawful to mention it and spread it, likewise, the report of that event should not be believed to be a lie and a 'terrible calumny' without a proof of its being a lie. The answer to this doubt is that it is the integral spirit of Islam to consider every Muslim as free from sins, and this is based on reasoning. Anything contrary to this proven reality is a lie if put forward without a proof, and no further proof is required to prove this assertion a lie. This is enough to call it a slander if a believer Muslim is blamed for a crime without proof.

(Wherefor, when ye heard it, said ye not: It is not for us to speak of this�) [24:16]. Abu �Abd al-Rahman ibn Abi Humayd al-�Adl informed us> Abu Bakr ibn Zakariyya> Muhammad ibn �Abd al-Rahman al-Daghuli> Abu Bakr ibn Abi Khaythamah> al-Haytham ibn Kharijah> �Abd Allah ibn �Abd al-Rahman ibn Yazid ibn Jabir> �Ata� al-Khurasani> al-Zuhri> �Urwah who reported that �A�ishah related to him the incident of the slander in which she said: �Abu Ayyub al-Ansari was asked by his wife: �Did you not hear about what people are saying?� �And what are they saying�, he exclaimed. She informed him about the slander perpetuated by a group of people regarding �A�ishah, upon which he said: �It is not for us to speak about this. Glory be to You (O Allah)! This is awful calumny�. Allah, glorious and majestic is He, then revealed (Wherefor, when ye heard it, said ye not: It is not for us to speak of this. Glory be to Thee (O Allah)! This is awful calumny)�. Abu Sa�id �Abd al-Rahman ibn Hamdan informed us> Abu Bakr ibn Ahmad ibn Ja�far ibn Malik> �Abd Allah ibn Ahmad ibn Hanbal> his father> �Abd al-Razzaq> Ma�mar> �Abd Allah ibn �Uthman ibn Khuthaym> Ibn Abi Mulaykah> Dhakwan, the client of �A�ishah who reported that he asked permission for Ibn �Abbas to enter in on �A�ishah when she was dying while she had at her side her nephew �Abd Allah ibn �Abd al-Rahman, saying: �Ibn �Abbas is here and he asks permission to visit you; he is one of your best sons!� She said: �Spare me from Ibn �Abbas and his praise�. �Abd Allah ibn �Abd al-Rahman said: �He is a reader of the Book of Allah, glorified and exalted is He, and a man of knowledge regarding the religion of Allah, glorified is He. Give him permission so that he greets you and bids you farewell�. She said: �Give him permission, if you wish!� He gave him permission to enter. He entered, gave the greeting of peace, sat down and then said: �Good news for you, O mother of the believers. By Allah, in a short while all harm and toil will disappear from you. You will meet the loved ones, Muhammad, Allah bless him and give him peace, and his party (or he said Companions).