Madinan, by agreement
Madinah, the ninth year of the Hijrah — the Year of the Delegations
It is Madinan by agreement, as Ibn al-Jawzī and al-Qurṭubī both state. Its occasions belong to the last years of the Prophet’s ﷺ life, above all the ninth year, when delegations were arriving in Madinah from every tribe in Arabia — many of them people who had never lived among Muslims.
سُورَةُ الحُجُراتِ وَهِيَ مَدَنِيَّةٌ بِإجْماعِهِمْهَذِهِ آدَابٌ ، أَدَّبَ اللَّهُ بِهَا عِبَادَهُ الْمُؤْمِنِينَ فِيمَا يُعَامِلُونَ بِهِ الرَّسُولَ ﷺ مِنَ التَّوْقِيرِ وَالِاحْتِرَامِ وَالتَّبْجِيلِ وَالْإِعْظَامِThe same, in other works
- al-BaghawīMaʿālim al-tanzīlAhl al-Sunnah in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Madinan.
سُورَةُ الْحُجُرَاتِ مَدَنِيَّةٌ
- al-Suyūṭīal-Durr al-manthūrAshʿarī in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Ibn ʿAbbās: it came down in Madinah. Recorded by Ibn al-Ḍurays, al-Naḥḥās, Ibn Mardawayh and al-Bayhaqī.
أخْرَجَ ابْنُ الضُّرَيْسِ والنَّحّاسُ، وابْنُ مَرْدُويَهْ، والبَيْهَقِيُّ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبّاسٍ قالَتْ: نَزَلَتْ سُورَةُ الحُجُراتِ بِالمَدِينَةِ
A report he gathers; its chain is not graded here.
- al-ShawkānīFatḥ al-qadīr→
Madinan.
هي مَدَنِيَّةٌ
- al-RāzīMafātīḥ al-ghaybAshʿarī in creedShāfiʿī in fiqh→
Madinan.
ثَمانِيَ عَشْرَةَ آيَةً مَدَنِيَّةً
- Abū al-SuʿūdIrshād al-ʿaql al-salīmMāturīdī in creedḤanafī in fiqh→
Madinan.
سُورَةُ الحُجُراتِ مَدَنِيَّةٌ وآياتُها ثَمانِي عَشْرَةَ
Each line of English says what the Arabic beneath it says.
What was happening
After the conquest of Makkah the tribes of Arabia came to terms with Islam in a rush, and Madinah filled with visitors: chiefs with their retinues, proud of their lineage, used to the rough manners of the desert, and new to everything the older Muslims had spent twenty years learning.
Several of the surah’s passages are tied to particular moments in that year. When the delegation of Banū Tamīm arrived, Abū Bakr and ʿUmar each proposed a different man to be their leader, and argued until their voices rose in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ. Ibn Abī Mulaykah says: “The two best men nearly perished.” The ayah came down — do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet — and after it ʿUmar would speak to him so quietly that he had to be asked to repeat himself. Thābit ibn Qays, who had a naturally loud voice, shut himself in his house in grief, certain that his deeds were lost, until the Prophet ﷺ sent word: “You are not of the people of the Fire; you are of the people of Paradise.”
The men of Tamīm themselves stood outside the Prophet’s ﷺ rooms at midday and called out, “Muḥammad, come out to us!” — and are told that most of them do not understand. A collector sent to a tribe came back with a false report that they had refused the zakāh and meant to fight, and an expedition was nearly sent against innocent people: “if a transgressor brings you news, verify it.” Some Bedouin of Banū Asad announced, “We have believed,” as though doing him a favour; they are told to say, rather, “We have submitted,” for faith has not yet entered their hearts.
Out of these incidents the surah draws rules that have nothing local about them. Ibn Kathīr opens his commentary on it: these are manners by which Allah has trained His believing servants.
What came down about what
Raised voices
“The two best men nearly perished — Abū Bakr and ʿUmar. They raised their voices in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ when the riders of Banū Tamīm came to him: one of them pointed to al-Aqraʿ ibn Ḥābis and the other to another man… and their voices rose. So Allah sent down: ‘O you who believe, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet.’” Ibn al-Zubayr said: after this ayah ʿUmar would not make the Messenger of Allah ﷺ hear him until he asked him to repeat.
Ibn Abī Mulaykah, from ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Zubayr: al-Bukhārī (4845).
Ṣaḥīḥ
Thābit ibn Qays
The Prophet ﷺ missed Thābit ibn Qays, and a man found him sitting in his house with his head bowed. “It is bad: I used to raise my voice above the voice of the Prophet ﷺ; my deeds are void and I am of the people of the Fire.” The Prophet ﷺ sent the man back with great good news: “Go to him and say: you are not of the people of the Fire; rather, you are of the people of Paradise.”
Anas ibn Mālik: al-Bukhārī (4846) and Muslim (119).
Ṣaḥīḥ
Two parties of believers
It was said to the Prophet ﷺ, “If only you would go to ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy.” He rode to him on a donkey, and Ibn Ubayy said, “Keep away from me; the stink of your donkey offends me.” A man of the Anṣār answered him, each side’s men grew angry, and there were blows with palm-stalks, hands and sandals. “And it has reached us that this was sent down about them: ‘If two parties of the believers fight, make peace between them.’”
Anas ibn Mālik: al-Bukhārī (2691) and Muslim (1799).
Ṣaḥīḥ
تقرير أخلاق المجتمع الإسلامي والتحذير من الأخلاق السيئة.
To establish the morals of the Muslim society, and to warn against evil conduct.
The surah’s aim, as al-Mukhtaṣar fī al-Tafsīr states it
- Reverence for the Prophet ﷺ
- Verifying reports
- Reconciliation
- Brotherhood
- Mockery, suspicion, spying and backbiting
- Nobility is in mindfulness of Allah
- Islam and faith
Its aims, as Ibn ʿĀshūr sets them out
تتعلق أغراضها بحوادث جدت متقاربة كانت سببا لنزول ما فيها من أحكام وآداب.
وأولها تعليم المسلمين بعض ما يجب عليهم من الأدب مع النبيء صلى الله عليه وسلم في معاملته وخطابه وندائه، دعا إلى تعليمهم إياها ما ارتكبه وفد بني تميم من جفاء الأعراب لما نادوا الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم من بيوته كما سيأتي عند قوله تعالى: إن الذين ينادونك من وراء الحجرات أكثرهم لا يعقلون [الحجرات: 4] . ووجوب صدق المسلمين فيما يخبرون به.
From its first ayah to its last
- 1–55 ayat · 22% of the surahRead from ayah 1 →
Before Allah and His Messenger ﷺ
O you who believe, do not put yourselves forward before Allah and His Messenger. Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, nor speak loudly to him as you do to one another, lest your deeds come to nothing without your knowing. Those who lower their voices before him are those whose hearts Allah has tested for mindfulness. Those who call out to you from behind the private rooms — most of them do not understand; had they been patient until you came out to them, it would have been better for them.
- 6–83 ayat · 15% of the surahRead from ayah 6 →
When a report reaches you
O you who believe, if a transgressor comes to you with news, verify it, lest you harm a people in ignorance and then regret what you did. Know that the Messenger of Allah is among you. Allah has made faith dear to you and adorned it in your hearts, and made disbelief, transgression and disobedience hateful to you.
- 9–102 ayat · 12% of the surahRead from ayah 9 →
When believers fight
If two parties of the believers fight, make peace between them. If one of them wrongs the other, fight the one that does wrong until it returns to the command of Allah; and if it returns, make peace between them with justice. The believers are but brothers, so make peace between your brothers (49:10).
- 11–122 ayat · 20% of the surahRead from ayah 11 →
Six prohibitions
Let no people mock another people — they may be better than them — nor women other women. Do not find fault with one another, nor call one another by offensive nicknames. Avoid much suspicion; some suspicion is sin. Do not spy, and do not backbite one another: would one of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would loathe it.
- 131 ayah · 6% of the surahRead from ayah 13 →
The measure of nobility
O mankind, We created you from a male and a female, and made you into peoples and tribes that you may know one another. The most noble of you in the sight of Allah is the most mindful of Him.
- 14–185 ayat · 26% of the surahRead from ayah 14 →
“We have believed”
The desert Arabs say, “We have believed.” Say: you have not believed; say rather, “We have submitted,” for faith has not yet entered your hearts. The believers are only those who believe in Allah and His Messenger and then do not doubt, and strive with their wealth and their lives. They count it as a favour to you that they have accepted Islam. Say: rather, it is Allah who has done you the favour, in guiding you to faith.
The division into passages is a reading aid, written for this page; it is not part of the muṣḥaf. Each passage is drawn as long as its words are.
The sound each ayah closes on
Read aloud, every ayah closes on a sound — its fāṣilah — and the closes answer one another for a stretch, then turn. Each sound this surah closes on is a line of the staff below, and the surah is the gold line stepping along them, an ayah at a time: where it steps to another line, the rhyme turns. The dotted lines are where its passages begin.
Its commonest close carries 94% of its ayat, and the rhyme turns 2 times. 2 of those turns come just where a new passage begins, as this page divides the surah.
Move along the staff to see what each ayah closes on.
Computed from the text, each ayah as it is said when the reciter stops on it: the last vowel falls away, tanwīn on alif is said as a long ā, and tāʾ marbūṭah as h. Closes the ear hears as one rhyme share a line — -ūn, -īn and -īm; -ān and -ām — and an ayah that is only the opening letters closes on the name of its last letter.
From the Prophet ﷺ and his Companions
ذِكْرُكَ أَخَاكَ بِمَا يَكْرَهُ
“Do you know what backbiting is?” They said: “Allah and His Messenger know best.” He said: “To mention your brother in a way he dislikes.” It was asked: “What if what I say is true of my brother?” He said: “If what you say is true of him, you have backbitten him; and if it is not, you have slandered him.”It was said: “Messenger of Allah, who is the most noble of people?” He said: “The most mindful of Allah among them.”“Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the most untruthful of speech. Do not seek out faults, do not spy, do not envy one another, do not turn your backs on one another, and do not hate one another. Be servants of Allah, brothers.”The name it is known by
From its fourth ayah: the small apartments of the Prophet’s ﷺ wives along the wall of his mosque, from behind which a delegation of Bedouin shouted for him to come out.
Its place in the muṣḥaf
Ayat you will hear named
Where this comes from
The figures at the head of the page are counted from the text. The Arabic quotations are taken letter for letter from the copies of the classical works held on this site, and each links to the passage it stands in. The rest was written for Mishkāt from the works below. It is an introduction, not a tafsir: where it matters, read the scholars themselves.
Works quoted on this page
- تفسير البغويMaʿālim al-tanzīlal-Ḥusayn al-Baghawī (d. 516 AH)
- تفسير ابن الجوزيZād al-masīrAbū al-Faraj ibn al-Jawzī (d. 597 AH)
- تفسير القرطبيal-Jāmiʿ li-aḥkām al-QurʾānShams al-Dīn al-Qurṭubī (d. 671 AH)
- تفسير ابن كثيرTafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿaẓīmIsmāʿīl ibn Kathīr (d. 774 AH)
- الدر المنثورal-Durr al-manthūrJalāl al-Dīn al-Suyūṭī (d. 911 AH)
- فتح القدير للشوكانيFatḥ al-qadīrMuḥammad al-Shawkānī (d. 1250 AH)
- تفسير الرازيMafātīḥ al-ghaybFakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī (d. 606 AH)
- تفسير أبي السعودIrshād al-ʿaql al-salīmAbū al-Suʿūd al-ʿImādī (d. 982 AH)
- التحرير والتنويرal-Taḥrīr wa-l-tanwīrMuḥammad al-Ṭāhir ibn ʿĀshūr (d. 1393 AH)
- المختصر في التفسيرal-Mukhtaṣar fī al-tafsīrMarkaz Tafsīr, a committee of scholars
Beside each scholar quoted stand his creed and his school of fiqh, so that he can be read with discernment. The site’s library holds other commentaries as well; the introductions do not draw on them.
al-Qurṭubī is quoted on these pages only for what he transmits: who said a surah is Makkan or Madinan, and what it has been called. On the attributes of Allah his commentary interprets, in places, in the way of the Ashʿarīs rather than the way of the Salaf, and nothing of that is taken from him here.
al-Rāzī and Abū al-Suʿūd are quoted on these pages only for where a surah came down, and Ibn ʿĀshūr only for the aims of the surah. Nothing on the attributes of Allah is taken from them, and no report comes by way of them. Ibn ʿĀshūr’s statement of the aims is not in the site’s copy of his book: it is read from the Shamela typing as OpenITI holds it, with reports and al-Zamakhsharī’s words left out, and it links to its page there.
Every hadith here says where it is recorded and how it is graded. What is in al-Bukhārī or Muslim is marked ṣaḥīḥ. Outside the two, the grading followed is al-Albānī’s; where none of his was found, the scholar who graded it is named. A report known to be weak or fabricated is not given here at all. A report that is ḥasan, or a Companion’s own saying, or related by the commentators without a graded chain, says so beside it. In the account of what was happening, a small sign after a sentence says the same of the report that sentence tells, and a question mark stands where a date or a figure is not certain, or beside a grading — underlined — that has something to say about its own source: rest on it, or touch it, and it gives the reason. What is drawn from the sīrah — the campaigns, the dates, who was present — is history as its scholars transmit it, and is not graded here.
Also drawn on
- Ṣaḥīḥ al-Bukhārī and Ṣaḥīḥ Muslim
The order of revelation is the one printed at the head of each surah in the Egyptian muṣḥaf, which rests on lists transmitted from Ibn ʿAbbās and Jābir ibn Zayd. It places a surah by where it began. Many surahs came down in parts, over years, and the scholars treat the list as a guide, not a certainty.