24. An-Nur Page 351 اِنَّ Indeed الَّذِیْنَ those who جَآءُوْ brought بِالْاِفْكِ the lie عُصْبَةٌ (are) a group مِّنْكُمْ ؕ among you لَا (Do) not تَحْسَبُوْهُ think it شَرًّا bad لَّكُمْ ؕ for you بَلْ nay هُوَ it خَیْرٌ (is) good لَّكُمْ ؕ for you لِكُلِّ For every امْرِئٍ person مِّنْهُمْ among them مَّا (is) what اكْتَسَبَ he earned مِنَ of الْاِثْمِ ۚ the sin وَ الَّذِیْ and the one who تَوَلّٰی took upon himself كِبْرَهٗ a greater share of it مِنْهُمْ among them لَهٗ for him عَذَابٌ (is) a punishment عَظِیْمٌ great لَوْ لَاۤ Why not اِذْ when سَمِعْتُمُوْهُ you heard it ظَنَّ think الْمُؤْمِنُوْنَ the believing men وَ الْمُؤْمِنٰتُ and the believing women بِاَنْفُسِهِمْ good of themselves خَیْرًا ۙ good of themselves وَّ قَالُوْا and say هٰذَاۤ This اِفْكٌ (is) a lie مُّبِیْنٌ clear لَوْ لَا Why (did) not جَآءُوْ they bring عَلَیْهِ for it بِاَرْبَعَةِ four شُهَدَآءَ ۚ witnesses فَاِذْ Then when لَمْ not یَاْتُوْا they brought بِالشُّهَدَآءِ the witnesses فَاُولٰٓىِٕكَ then those عِنْدَ near Allah اللّٰهِ near Allah هُمُ they الْكٰذِبُوْنَ (are) the liars وَ لَوْ لَا And if not فَضْلُ (for the) Grace اللّٰهِ (of) Allah عَلَیْكُمْ upon you وَ رَحْمَتُهٗ and His Mercy فِی in الدُّنْیَا the world وَ الْاٰخِرَةِ and the Hereafter لَمَسَّكُمْ surely would have touched you فِیْ in مَاۤ what اَفَضْتُمْ you had rushed glibly فِیْهِ concerning it عَذَابٌ a punishment عَظِیْمٌۚۖ great اِذْ When تَلَقَّوْنَهٗ you received it بِاَلْسِنَتِكُمْ with your tongues وَ تَقُوْلُوْنَ and you said بِاَفْوَاهِكُمْ with your mouths مَّا what لَیْسَ not لَكُمْ for you بِهٖ of it عِلْمٌ any knowledge وَّ تَحْسَبُوْنَهٗ and you thought it هَیِّنًا ۖۗ (was) insignificant وَّ هُوَ while it عِنْدَ (was) near Allah اللّٰهِ (was) near Allah عَظِیْمٌ great وَ لَوْ لَاۤ And why not اِذْ when سَمِعْتُمُوْهُ you heard it قُلْتُمْ you said مَّا Not یَكُوْنُ it is لَنَاۤ for us اَنْ that نَّتَكَلَّمَ we speak بِهٰذَا ۖۗ of this سُبْحٰنَكَ Glory be to You! هٰذَا This بُهْتَانٌ (is) a slander عَظِیْمٌ great یَعِظُكُمُ Allah warns you اللّٰهُ Allah warns you اَنْ that تَعُوْدُوْا you return لِمِثْلِهٖۤ (to the) like of it اَبَدًا ever اِنْ if كُنْتُمْ you are مُّؤْمِنِیْنَۚ believers وَ یُبَیِّنُ And Allah makes clear اللّٰهُ And Allah makes clear لَكُمُ to you الْاٰیٰتِ ؕ the Verses وَ اللّٰهُ And Allah عَلِیْمٌ (is) All-Knower حَكِیْمٌ All-Wise اِنَّ Indeed الَّذِیْنَ those who یُحِبُّوْنَ like اَنْ that تَشِیْعَ (should) spread الْفَاحِشَةُ the immorality فِی among الَّذِیْنَ those who اٰمَنُوْا believe لَهُمْ for them عَذَابٌ (is) a punishment اَلِیْمٌ ۙ painful فِی in الدُّنْیَا the world وَ الْاٰخِرَةِ ؕ and the Hereafter وَ اللّٰهُ And Allah یَعْلَمُ knows وَ اَنْتُمْ while you لَا (do) not تَعْلَمُوْنَ know وَ لَوْ لَا And if not فَضْلُ (for the) Grace of Allah اللّٰهِ (for the) Grace of Allah عَلَیْكُمْ upon you وَ رَحْمَتُهٗ and His Mercy وَ اَنَّ And that اللّٰهَ Allah رَءُوْفٌ (is) Full of Kindness رَّحِیْمٌ۠ Most Merciful
(24:11) Surely those who invented this calumny8 are a band from among you.9 Do not deem this incident an evil for you; nay, it is good for you.10 Every one of them has accumulated sin in proportion to his share in this guilt;11 and he who has the greater part of it shall suffer a mighty chastisement.
(24:12) When you heard of it, why did the believing men and women not think well of their own folk12 and say: "This is a manifest calumny?"13
(24:13) Why did they not bring four witnesses in support of their accusation? Now that they have brought no witnesses, it is indeed they who are liars in the sight of Allah.14
(24:14) Were it not for Allah's Bounty and His Mercy unto you in the world and in the Hereafter a grievous chastisement would have seized you on account of what you indulged in.
(24:15) (Just think, how wrong you were) when one tongue received it from another and you uttered with your mouths something you knew nothing about. You deemed it to be a trifle while in the sight of Allah it was a serious matter.
(24:16) And why, no sooner than you had heard it, did you not say: "It becomes us not even to utter such a thing? Holy are You (O Allah)! This is a mighty calumny."
(24:17) Allah admonishes you: If you are true believers, never repeat the like of what you did.
(24:18) Allah clearly expounds to you His instructions. Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.15
(24:19) Verily those who love that indecency should spread among the believers deserve a painful chastisement in the world and the Hereafter.16 Allah knows, but you do not know.17
(24:20) Were it not for Allah's Bounty and His Mercy unto you, and that Allah is Most Forgiving and Wise, (the evil that had been spread among you would have led to terrible consequences).
8. This alludes to the charge levelled against ‘A'ishah. The use of the word ifk (calumny) amounts to the total negation of the charge by God Himself. For ifk literally means to revert a statement, or to alter something making it divergent from the fact. Hence, this word is a synonym for a blatant lie or slander. Employed in the context of a charge, it denotes fabricating a calumny against someone.
The present verse marks the beginning of the discourse which relates to the incident which prompted this surah’s revelation. In the introduction to the surah, we have presented a detailed account of the incident in ‘A’ishah’s own words. That account, however, related to the earlier part of the incident. What follows now is the later part of the narration, and it is again given in ‘A’ishah's own words: Reports about the slander had been in circulation in Madina for almost a month. It made the Prophet (peace be on him) suffer great anguish. I and my parents too were in great distress and felt much disturbed. Finally, the Prophet (peace be on him) came and sat beside me. During all this period he had not sat beside me. [My parents] Abu Bakr and Umm Ruman both felt that some decision was at hand. Hence, they too joined me. The Prophet (peace be on him) said: ‘O ‘A'ishah, I have received such and such report about you. If you are innocent, I hope God will proclaim your innocence. If you have committed a sin, you should turn to God and seek His pardon. When a servant of God confesses his sin and repents, God pardons him.’ On hearing this my tears dried up. I requested my father to say something on my behalf. He said that he did not know what to say. I made the same request to my mother who said that she was too perplexed to say anything. Then I said: ‘Something has reached your ears which seems to have convinced you. If I plead my innocence — and God knows that I am innocent — you will not believe me. And if I confess something which I have not done — and God knows that I did not do any such thing — you will believe me.’ [I tried to recall the name of Prophet Jacob (peace be on him) but could not do so]. Then I said that in such circumstances I have no other option but to say what had been said by the Prophet Joseph’s father: ‘So I will be graciously patient’ (Yusuf 12: 83). (this statement alludes to the false charge of stealing against Jacob's son Benjamin.] After saying this, I lay down and turned my side to the other direction. I told myself that since God knows my innocence, He will make the truth evident. It had not occurred to me though that God would proclaim my innocence by revealing a surah which would be recited till the Last Day. I did not consider myself worthy enough to be exonerated by God (in such a manner). What I thought was that the Prophet (peace be on him) would see in a dream that God had exonerated me. In the meanwhile, the Prophet was observed to be in the state in which he received the revelation. Even in extreme cold his face used to be covered with sweat. All of us became quiet. I was devoid of all fear. However, my parents were extremely anxious. They were fearful about the revelation, fearing what would come out of it. When the Prophet (peace be on him) recovered from this state he was much delighted. Smiling, he exclaimed: ‘Congratulations ‘A’ishah! God has exonerated you.’ Then the Prophet recited ten verses of this surah i'.e. verses 11—21]. My mother asked me to rise and thank the Prophet (peace be on him). To this I replied: ‘I will neither thank him nor you [my parents]; I thank God Who has proclaimed my innocence. You never even repudiated the slander against me.’ It is worth clarifying that the above account is not drawn from a single tradition; rather it is a summary of all the traditions about this incident narrated by ‘A’ ishah and recorded in various works of Hadith and Surah. (See Bukhari, K. Tafsir al-Qur’an, surah al-Nur, ‘Bab law la idh sami‘tumuh zann al- Mu’ minun wa al-Mu’ minat bi Anfusihim Khayra’ (verse 12) — Ed.) At this point attention should be drawn to a point that is somewhat subtle. The proclamation of ‘A’ ishah’s innocence was preceded by a whole section devoted to injunctions pertaining to zina, qadhf and li‘an. This seems to intend that accusations against anyone regarding their sexual misconduct should not be taken lightly. It is far too grave an allegation to be used for social entertainment. Anyone who accuses another person of adultery should be ready to produce the required number of witnesses to testify to it. If he does so, those convicted of unlawful sexual relations — be they men or women — will be severed y punished. But if the accuser is lying, then he certainly deserves to receive 80 lashes so that he and others like him are deterred from making such fat.se statements. In case such a. charge is levelled by the husband, he will have to go through the procedure of /i 'in in the courts. In other words, no one can hurl such an accusation at others and go about lightly as if nothing serious had happened.
9. Only a few people have been identifthed in the traditions as those who went about spreading rumors. These are ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy, Zayd ibn Rifa‘ah (who was probably the son of Rifa‘ah ibn Zayd, a lewish hypocrite), Mistah ibn Uthathah, Hassan ibn Thabit, and Hamnah bint Jahsh. Two of these, namely ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy and Zayd ibn Rifa‘ah were hypocrites. The rest, however, were believers who out of some weakness or error became a party to this mischief. As for any others who might have had a hand in this affair, the works of Hadith and Surah fail to identify them or the roles they might have played.
10. This is intended to comfort the Prophet (peace be on him). He is being assured that this malicious campaign of slander, which had been engineered by the hypocrites, is bound to boomerang upon them, They, themselves, thought that this would be a significant blow to the Prophet. In point of fact, however, it was destined to hurt the enemies of the Prophet and to prove useful for his cause. As we have pointed out in the introductory part of this surah, the hypocrites deliberately mounted this onslaught, seeking to damage the moral esteem of the Muslims, and it is in this very domain that the superiority of the Muslims was incontrovertible. In fact, it was precisely because of their moral superiority that the Muslims had excelled their rivals in every' field. God in His Wisdom turned the tables on the enemies of Islam and made even this incident a blessing for the Muslims. On this occasion, the conduct of the Prophet as well as Abi Bakr's and the members of his family and the Muslims at large proved beyond any shadow of a doubt how far removed the Muslims were from moral evil, how restrained, forbearing, gracious and strongly disposed they were to fairness and justice. The Muslims were so strongly devoted to the Prophet (peace be on him) that even a slight hint from him would have made them behead those who had dared to launch a malicious attack against his honor. Thereafter, after God's proclamation had been made, the Prophet had only three Muslims punished on the grounds that they were guilty of qadhf.
As for the hypocrites, he took no action against them. Mistah, who was a relative of Abu Bakr and from whom he used to receive financial’ support, had taken a leading part in this slander campaign and yet Abu Bakr proved his graciousness and magnanimity by not severing his familial and social ties with him. Nor did he stop his financial aid to Mistah and his family. The other wives of the Prophet (peace be on him) neither provided any encouragement lo the slander campaign against ‘A’ishah nor did they endorse it. Even Zaynab, whose sister Hamnah bint Jahsh was a party to this campaign, if at all she uttered any words about the matter, they were words of praise and appreciation of ‘A’ishah. According to ‘A’ishah’s own account, among all the wives of the Prophet it was with Zaynab whom her relations were mutually rivalrous. Nevertheless, during this period the Prophet once asked Zaynab's opinion about ‘A’ishah, and Zaynab's reply was: ‘O Messenger of God, by God I know nothing in ‘A ishah except goodness.’ (See Bukhari, k. Tafsir al-Qur’an, Surah al-Nur, ‘Bab law la idh sami‘tumuh ...’(verse 12) — Ed.) ‘A’ishah's own graciousness is evident from the fact that she always treated Hassñn ibn Thabit with much respect and consideration. This despite that fact that he had played a prominent role in the campaign launched against her. When some people drew her attention to Hassan's role in maligning her, she silenced them by saying that Hassan's verses had effectively warded off the attacks of the enemthes against Islam and the Prophet (peace be on him). (See Bukhari, K. Tafsir al-Qur’an, Surah al-Nur, ‘Bab ... yubayyinu Allah lakum al-Ayat’ (verse 18) — Ed.) We have so far discussed the role of those people directly involved in the incident. Let us now turn to the generality of Muslims. Their excellent moral standards are brought into sharp relief in the following report about Abu Ayyub al-Ansari and his wife. When she told him about the slanderous charges that were in circulation, Abu Ayyub said: ‘O mother of Ayyub, had you been in A’ishah’s place, would you have done such a thing?’ To this she replied: ‘By God, I would have never done so.’ Abu Ayyub continued: ‘A ishah is much better than you. Had I been in place of Safwan, such an outrageous thought would not have even crossed my mind. And Safwan is a much better Muslim than I.’ Thus, the hypocrites’ hopes were dashed to the ground. Contrary to their expectations, the moral superiority of the Muslims shone even more brightly in the wake of this incident.
Another redeeming feature occasioned by the incident was the addition of several injunctions, laws and social regulations. Thanks to these, it lies within the power of the Muslim society to keep itself immune from the rise and spread of evil and to expeditiously curb such evil if and when it does raise its head.
Another good that ensued from this incident was that it made the Muslims realize that the Prophet (peace be on him), with all his spiritual loftiness and the very special mission bestowed upon him by God, did not have access to the realm that lies beyond sense-perception. All that he knew pertaining to this realm consisted of what God Himself chose to acquaint him with. Unless God revealed anything pertaining to this realm, the Prophet's knowledge was like that of any other human being. We note that for one full month the Prophet (peace be on him) remained in great anguish. Sometimes he would ask his maid servant, then his other wives, and then ‘Ali and Usamah about the matter. Likewise, he told ‘A’ishah: ‘If you have committed this act, you should repent and if you are not guilty, God will proclaim your innocence.’ If he had known the Unseen, he would not have conducted such an investigation, nor would he have asked ‘A ishah to repent. It was only God Who clarified the whole matter and the Prophet (peace be on him) came to know — thanks to His revelation — what he had been unable to know for a whole month.
This enabled the Muslims to learn by direct experience that they should abstain from that exaggerated and excessive veneration which had characterized the attitude of the followers of other religions towards their religious leaders. Presumably God had delayed revealing the truth of this matter for one full month in order to drive this point home to the Muslims. Had the whole matter been instantly revealed this lesson would probably not have been imparted so effectively.
11. This is an allusion to ‘Abd Allah ibn Ubayy who had concocted the calumnious allegation and who was the master-mind behind the slander campaign. Some traditions mistakenly identify Hassan ibn Thabit as the one to whom this verse alludes. However, such a view stems from a misunderstanding on the part of the narrators of those traditions. As for Hassan ibn Thabit, at the very most his lapse constituted no more than his being carried away by the propaganda campaign launched by the hypocrites. Ibn Kathir is quite right in saying that had there not been a tradition in Bukhari on this matter implicating Hassan ibn Thabit it would not even have been worth considering.
The greatest lie, rather the greatest calumny in this connection is the statement by Hisham ibn ‘Abd al-Malik, the Umayyad Caliph, that the present verse refers to ‘Ali. It is reported in Bukhari, Tabarani and Bayhaqi that Hisham ibn ‘Abd at-Malik considered the words al-ladhi tawallâ kibrahu to refer to ‘Ali ibn Abi Talib. However, ‘Ali was not at all involved in the incident. All that happened was that ‘Ali found the Prophet (peace be on him) highly agitated about the matter and that he asked ‘Ali for advice. On this occasion ‘Ali said that God had placed no restriction on the Prophet (peace be on him) in this matter. There were many women and if he so wished, he might divorce ‘A’ishah and marry some other woman. This did not mean at all that ‘Ali endorsed the slanderous charge that had been made against ‘A'ishah. ‘Ali's only concern was that the distress of the Prophet (peace be on him) should come to an end.
12. Alternatively, this may be translated as ‘why did believing men and women not think well of their own folk’. Both translations seem equally sound. Moreover, there seems a subtlety in the phrasing of the verse which we should attempt to grasp. The bare facts of the incident relating to ‘A’ishah and Safwan ibn al-Mu'attal are as follows: A lady,’ who was a member of a caravan, was left behind and so was a male member of the caravan, who later saw her and asked her to mount his camel. Now, for someone to believe that the two necessarily l. Let us disregard for a moment that she belonged to the Prophet's house.
engaged in a sinful relationship assumes other things. First, that if he (or she) had been placed in the same position he/she would necessarily have committed that sin, because if he/she did not commit that sinful act it was because no member of the other sex was available to him/her in a similar circumstance. Had that been available, he/she would certainly have availed himself/herself of the opportunity to engage in sinful conduct. Second, that his/her impression about the society to which he/she belongs is that all its members, male or female, are so degenerate that they would not shrink from making use of any opportunity to act sinfully.
This would be the presupposition if the man and woman were strangers to one another. But the matter becomes far more grave if they happened to come from the same place. For in such a case the woman who was accidentally left behind by the caravan would either be the wife, sister or daughter of one of the man's friends, relatives, neighbors or acquaintances. In that case, it would mean that the accuser holds a very poor opinion of his own society — a society that is absolutely devoid of moral values. For it is unthinkable for a decent person to come across a woman belonging to the family of a friend, relative or acquaintance, and that the first thing he does is violate her honor.
In this particular case, such an assumption is in fact far more outrageous. For the woman in question was none other than a wife of the Prophet (peace be on him) and every Muslim regards the wives of the Prophet as even more honorable than his own mother. In fact, all the wives of the Prophet had been made absolutely forbidden to the Muslims, forbidden in the same way as their own mothers. Moreover, such an assumption was being entertained about a person who was in the same caravan, who was a soldier of the same army, und who was an inhabitant of the same town. Above all, he was a Muslim who believed that the husband of the woman in question was none other than the Messenger of God, one upon whom he looked as his guide and leader, one at whose command he had put his own life at stake in a battle as dangerous as that of Badr.
Viewed against this background, the utter outrageousness of the mental disposition which prompted this accusation can be seen in its full starkness. Hardly anything could have been more degrading and despicable. It is for this reason that God characterizes those who levelled this accusation as those who form a very poor estimate of themselves as well as a very poor estimate of the character and conduct of other members of their society.
13. That is, the idea was too ignoble even to be considered for a moment. Every Muslim should have dismissed it outright as a blatant lie, as a piece of mischievous fabrication, as an outrageous calumny. It might well be asked then, that if it was such an outrageous lie, why did the Prophet (peace be on him) and Abu Bakr not deny it on the very first day and why did they attach such importance to it? A husband and a father in such a situation have a position that is different from that of others. No one knows a woman better than her husband, and a sane husband cannot be misled by a slander campaign against his righteous and pious wife. However, if his wife is made the target of such a campaign, he is not in the best position to dismiss it out of hand, branding it a baseless calumny. Such an attitude is likely to provide grounds for the false notion that the husband is too hen-pecked to be able to dispassionately consider the relevant facts about his wife. In like manner, parents are also exposed to the same difficulty. Their out-of- hand dismissal of an accusation against their daughter helps little to clarify their daughter's position. For their rejection of the charge is likely to be taken as a mere expression of parental love and affection. This then is what consumed the Prophet (peace be on him) as also Abu Bakr and his wife Umm Ruman. Obviously, they did not have the slightest doubt about ‘A’ishah's character and conduct. As for the Prophet (peace be on him), he publicly declared, in his address, that he had seen nothing bad either in ’A ishah's character or in Safwan's. (See Bukhari, K. al-Maghâzi, ‘Bab Hadith al-Ifk’ — Ed.) 14. ‘In the sight of Allah here means ‘according to the Law of Allah’. For God obviously knew full well that the accusation was absolutely false. The falsity of the accusation did not rest on the fact that the accusers failed to produce witnesses. There should be no misunderstanding at this stage that the charge was rejected just on the grounds that it was not substantiated by the evidence of witnesses. Nor are Muslims being asked to regard that charge as a calumnious slander merely on the grounds that it was not borne out by the testimony of four witnesses.
Such a misunderstanding could arise if one fails to grasp the nature of the incident. The accusers had not levelled the allegation because they themselves, or any others, had observed the monstrosity which they claimed had taken place. They built up such a large charge merely on the grounds that ‘A'ishah, who had been left behind, was subsequently brought back by Safwan on his camel.
No sensible person can even consider that ‘A’ishah's being left behind was part of some pre-arranged scheme. Anyone who contrived such a scheme would not have committed the obvious mistake of appearing with ‘A'ishah in broad daylight to rejoin the caravan which had by then pitched camp. The actual chain of events itself points to the innocence of both ‘A'ishah and Safwan. In such circumstances if any charge could have been so ‘levelled it would have been only on the grounds of first-hand observation of the incident. For there was absolutely no prima facie ground, no circumstantial evidence, to support such a serious charge.
15. These verses, and especially God's reproach embodied in these words: why did the believing men and women not think well of themselves ...?’ are very significant. In fact, they provide an important general principle: that all affairs of the Muslim society be based on the reciprocity of good faith. What this means is that unless proved otherwise, a Muslim should hold a good opinion about other Muslims. The basic principle is that a person should be deemed innocent unless there are reasonable grounds to believe that he is guilty, or at least that there are grounds to suspect him of being guilty. Likewise, every person is true in whatever he says unless there exist grounds to believe otherwise.
16. In this context the meaning of the verse is that those who engage in fabricating and publicizing shameful allegations so that Muslim society succumbs to immoral ways and its moral stature is undermined, deserve to be punished. The words used in the verse embrace all the various forms that might be used to spread moral corruption and lewd behavior including those means employed to awaken sexual passion, be they poetry, song, fiction, pictures, plays and drama. These also include clubs and hotels which provide dancing and other forms of obscene entertainment involving the mixed participation of men and women. The Qur’an declares such people to be criminals, those who deserve punishment not only in the Hereafter but also in this world. It is, therefore, the responsibility of an Islamic State to extirpate all the means which promote obscenity. The penal law of an Islamic State should declare these as cognizable offences since the Qur’an characterizes them as crimes against public order. In the same vein, the Qur'an prescribes punishments for all those who are guilty of such offences.
17. Man might not know, but God certainly does, the adverse effects such acts have on society and Muslims should, therefore, trust God and devote all their energy and resources to putting an end to the evils which have been identified by Him. These are not minor offences which might be overlooked. Rather, they are grave and those guilty of them should be severely punished.
18. Satan is determined to bog man down in the filth of evil. Had God, out of His sheer Grace and Benevolence, not made what is good distinct from what is evil and had He not shown man the Right Way and enabled him to reform himself accordingly, no one would have been able to purify his own life merely on the basis of his native endowments.