Surah An-Noor: Verse 12 - لولا إذ سمعتموه ظن المؤمنون... - English

Why did not the believers - men and women - when ye heard of the affair,- put the best construction on it in their own minds and say, "This (charge) is an obvious lie"? (12)

لَّوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بِأَنفُسِهِمْ خَيْرً‌ا وَقَالُوا هَـٰذَا إِفْكٌ مُّبِينٌ

Why - when you (0 believers) heard of it - did the believing men and the believing women not think well on their own selves and (why did they not) say, ` This is a manifest lie'. - 24:12.

It means that when the Muslim men women heard about this slander they should have a good assumption about their own-self - that is about their Muslim brother and sister - and declared that it was but an open lie. In this verse quite a few things need attention. In the first place the Holy Qur'an has hinted by the word بِأَنفُسِهِمْ (on their own selves) that if a Muslim defames and disgraces another Muslim, he in fact disgraces himself, because the relationship of Islam has brought them all together as one body. A similar expression is used by the Holy Qur'an wherever the close tie between a Muslim and the whole Ummah is to be emphasized, for instance, a verse says وَلَا تَلْمِزُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ (49:11) which means ` Do not cast aspersion on your own-self, which actually means do not cast aspersion on any of your Muslim brethren - man or woman. At another place the Qur'an says لَا تَقْتُلُوا أَنفُسَكُمْ (4:29) which means ` Do not kill yourselves'. Here again the sense is the same, that is, do not kill any of your Muslim brethren. Yet at a third place it says وَلَا تُخْرِ‌جُونَ أَنفُسَكُم مِّن دِيَارِ‌كُمْ (2:84) which means ` You shall not drive out yourselves from your homes'. Here also it means not to expel any Muslim from his house. At a fourth place it says فَسَلِّمُوا عَلَىٰ أَنفُسِكُمْ which means ` Salute your own-self, which in fact means, salute your Muslim brethren. All these verses point toward one theme, that a Muslim who casts aspersion on another Muslim or causes oppression and harm to another Muslim, he in fact casts aspersion and causes harm to himself, because it leads to defamation of the whole Muslim Ummah, as the poet Saadi has said:

چو از قومے یکے بےدانشی کرد نہ کِہ را منزلت ماند نہ مِہ را

"When a single person from a nation does an unwise act, no one

from that nation, big or small, can achieve a respectful place (in the eyes of others).

It was this teaching of the Qur'an which brought up the Muslims into prominence, and when they gained prominence, it was the whole nation which was uplifted, both collectively and individually. One can see the result of giving up of the Qur'anic teachings, that the Muslims have slumped into oblivion, again both collectively and individually.

The other point, which needs attention in this verse, is that after having said لَّوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ (Why, when you (0 believers) heard of it) it was in the fitness of things that the address form should have been used by saying, "why did you not think well of your own-selves". But the verse has opted for "the believers" instead of "you". The Holy Qur'an at this point has changed its form and said ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ instead ظَنَنتُم . In this form there is a subtle allusion that those who had committed this act were not fit to be called Mu'mins (believers) to the extent of this act, because it was the demand of faith that a Muslim should have stuck to the favourable view for another Muslim.

The third point which needs attention is that in the last sentence of this verse وَقَالُوا هَـٰذَا إِفْكٌ مُّبِينٌ (24:12) it has been instilled that it was the demand of faith that the Muslims on hearing this rumor should have immediately rejected it as a total lie. This proves that to think good about any other Muslim is an obligatory demand of faith, unless an act of sin or evil is proved against him under Islamic law. Likewise, it is also the demand of faith to call an attribute of a sin or evil against a Muslim a lie, if there is no proof under Islamic law against him.

Ruling

This has proved that to think good about all Muslims men and women is obligatory, unless proved otherwise by Islamic law. And if someone accuses a Muslim without the proof under Islamic law, then the rejection of that accusation and to declare it as a lie is also obligatory, because it is nothing but backbiting and defaming an innocent Muslim. (Mazhari)

(12)

Disciplining the Believers for spreading the Slander

Here Allah disciplines the believers with regard to the matter of `A'ishah, because some of them spread this evil talk and the slander that had been mentioned. So Allah says:

(Why then, when you heard it,) meaning, the talk which accused the Mother of the believers, may Allah be pleased with her,

(the believers, men and women, think good of their own people) means, why did they not compare what was said to themselves -- if it was not befitting for them then it was even less appropriate for the Mother of the believers, and she was more likely to be innocent. Or it was said that this was revealed about Abu Ayyub Khalid bin Zayd Al-Ansari and his wife, may Allah be pleased with them. Imam Muhammad bin Ishaq bin Yasar narrated, "The wife of Abu Ayyub Khalid bin Zayd Al-Ansari, Umm Ayyub, said to him, `O Abu Ayyub, have you heard what the people are saying about `A'ishah' He said, `Yes, and it is all lies. Would you do that, O Umm Ayyub' She said, `No, by Allah, I would not do that.' He said, `And by Allah, `A'ishah is better than you.' When the Qur'an was revealed, Allah mentioned those who spoke about the evil deed among the people of the slander,

(Verily, those who brought forth the slander are a group among you.) 24:1 This refers to Hassan and his companions who said what they said. Then Allah said,

(Why then, did not the believers, men, when you heard it, think...) means, as Abu Ayyub and his wife did." Allah's saying:

(the believers, men think...) meaning, `why did they not think good, because the Mother of the believers is his wife and is closer to him.' This is concerned with innermost feelings;

(and say:) means, with their tongues, verbally,

("This (charge) is an obvious lie") means, a clear untruth told about the Mother of the believers, may Allah be pleased with her. What happened should not have been the cause of suspicion. The fact that the Mother of the believers came openly, riding on the camel of Safwan bin Al-Mu`attal at midday, with the entire army watching and the Messenger of Allah among them, should have made it clear that there was no cause for suspicion. If there had been anything suspicious about the matter, they would not have come openly in this manner in front of so many witnesses; they would have come secretly. On this basis, what the people of the slander said accusing the Mother of the believers was an utter lie, false speech and evil foolish talk, by which people who indulged in it lost out. Allah said:

(Why did they not produce four witnesses against him) meaning, to prove that what they were saying was true.

(Since they have not produced witnesses! Then with Allah they are the liars.)Allah has ruled that they are indeed wicked liars.

(12)