An-Nur

This chapter was revealed in the year 6 A.H., after the campaign of Banu al-Mustaliq. A minor incident took place during this campaign, which the hypocrites of Madinah chose to misrepresent in order to defame ‘A’ishah, the Prophet’s wife, and create trouble for the Prophet Muhammad. In this chapter, on the one hand, ‘A’ishah has been completely exonerated, and on the other hand, legal provisions to be enforced under similar social circumstances, have been laid down. In Islamic law, zina i.e. an illicit sexual relationship (which includes in its definition fornication, adultery and rape) is an extremely serious offence. Giving a hundred lashes to a man or woman indulging in adultery is the punishment prescribed for illicit relations between unmarried persons. The purpose of meting out punishment in public is to add a deterrent aspect to the penal provision. The idea is that, after seeing the fate of the guilty persons in question, anyone who has any intention of committing such a crime will desist from doing so. If men or women guilty of illicit sexual relations repent and reform after punishment, they may again resume the lives of believers. But, if they fail to do so, they can no longer be accepted in Islamic society as being fit for marital relations.

If adultery is declared a serious crime, it follows, logically, that falsely accusing a person of adultery must be considered a serious crime too. Therefore, it is laid down that one who accuses another of adultery without being able to prove it, (as prescribed by the rules of the Islamic law), should be whipped eighty times. Moreover, his evidence should be treated thereafter as entirely unacceptable, and, according to the Hanafi School of jurisprudence, the evidence of such a transgressor may never again be legally accepted, even if he repents. Levelling false allegations against anyone is, in fact, an attempt at moral assassination. Severe punishments are prescribed in Islam for such an offence. Even if a wrongdoer escapes punishment in this world, he cannot in any case escape punishment in the life Hereafter, unless he repents and seeks God’s pardon.

One of the issues, which is given special emphasis, is that of a man who, without having any witness to prove his case, accuses his wife of going astray; there is only his word for it. In such a case, the matter shall be decided by the taking of oaths, a legal procedure termed la‘an under the Islamic law. If a man takes an oath in the prescribed manner, and the woman does not protest— thus accepting the man’s contention, the aforesaid punishment shall be imposed on the woman. But, if the woman too states under oath that she is innocent, then no punishment shall be imposed on her. However, separation of the husband and wife shall be enforced.

Matters pertaining to social relations are extremely complex. If the legislation in these matters were left entirely to man, he would emphasize one aspect to the detriment of the other aspects. Divine law, however, simultaneously takes care of all aspects of these matters. Seen from this point of view, divine law is a provision of great mercy bestowed by God upon man.

If a preacher is really treading the path of Truth, then any false propaganda issued against him in fact proves useful to him, because the Truth is ultimately bound to prevail. And when the reality becomes clear, it becomes even more evident that the preacher is on the right path, so that those wavering on this score enter the realm of certainty. They come to realize that indeed the opponents of God’s envoy have nothing to offer except false allegations and baseless accusations. The main active participant in the campaign to vilify ‘A’ishah was the notorious hypocrite, ‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy. But he was not given any punishment whatsoever. He died a natural death, but severe punishment in the Hereafter was announced for him in the Quran. After the incident mentioned above, ‘Umar suggested to the Prophet Muhammad that he, (‘Abdullah ibn Ubayy), be put to death. The Prophet replied, ‘Oh, ‘Umar! What would happen if people started saying that Muhammad killed his own Companions?’ We gather from this that policy considerations sometimes warrant even major criminals being spared the punishment they deserve in this world, leaving their ultimate fate to be decided in the Hereafter.

Every right-minded believer must think well of his fellow believer. Entertaining bad opinions about others is actually exposing one’s own evil nature and, conversely, holding a good opinion about others is a proof of one’s own righteous nature. The correct procedure is that whenever anyone speaks ill of any other person, proof should immediately be demanded of him. One who hears such an allegation should not simply start repeating it to others. On the contrary, he should ask the informer to furnish evidence according to the Islamic law to prove that he is right. What he has to say may be worth considering only if he produces witnesses, otherwise he himself becomes the guilty person. Nobody has the right to hold anyone guilty without proof.

The role of the Prophet Muhammad was that of a preacher of Truth. The position of a preacher, or da‘i, is always extremely delicate. Even a slight mistake on his part can damage his entire mission. Those who lent an ear to baseless slander concerning a Muslim lady, namely ‘A’ishah, and started spreading it all around, were thus acting in a highly irresponsible manner. Had it not been for the timely refutation of the allegations—by direct intervention of God—this would have caused irreparable loss to Islam. Muslims would then have been divided into two groups and would have started fighting against each other. The community, which, according to God’s plan, was to serve as a means of eliminating the prevalence of polytheism from the world, would have destroyed itself in an internecine war.

Criticism may therefore be legitimate or illegitimate. While the former is supported by strong arguments, the latter lacks any factual basis and must be refrained from. In practice, when it is an opponent against whom allegations are made, no great need is felt for any further investigation. The allegations are unquestioningly accepted and the story is spread far and wide. This is not only irresponsible, but is also a serious offence, which is punishable both in this world and the world Hereafter.

To follow in the footsteps of Satan means acting upon his secret evil promptings. When for no reason at all the mind of an individual is suddenly flooded by feelings of suspicion, when a man begins harbouring negative thoughts about his opponents, it is the insidious work of Satan. Therefore, when such thoughts and feelings take shape, man should, instead of cultivating them, immediately root them out from his heart. To cultivate such feelings amounts to following Satan.To raise a hue and cry against others is inconsistent with humility. There are certain individuals who have very high opinions of themselves, while holding unduly bad opinions about others. Neither trait is in consonance with faith. If a man cultivates faith-oriented humbleness, he becomes so engrossed in introspection that he has absolutely no time to engage himself in unfair criticism of others or in calling others to account.

‘A’ishah’s father, Abu Bakr, had been giving financial help to Mistah ibn Uthatha, a poor migrant from Makkah, who was a distant relative of his. But when the latter actively spread slander against ‘A’ishah, Abu Bakr was naturally hurt by this and vowed that he would never again help Mistah in any way. In Islam, help is to be given to needy persons on account of their being needy and not on any other grounds. Therefore, the aforementioned Quranic verses were revealed ordering that those who could should not stop giving monetary help to those in need on account of personal grudges. They were asked whether they did not want to be pardoned by God and told that if they expected God’s forgiveness, they too should adopt a forgiving attitude towards others. On hearing this verse, Abu Bakr said: ‘Yes ! By God! We want You to forgive us; O! Lord of ours!’ and he started helping Mistah once again. In the eyes of a believer, God’s commands are of the utmost importance. As soon as a believer becomes aware of God’s injunction, he submits to it, even though it may be entirely against his wishes.

Man often denigrates others. But he does not know that the words uttered by him reach God before reaching others. Man uses his hands and legs to harm and oppress others. But, he remains unaware of the fact that when the Day of Judgement arrives, his own hands and legs, being his no longer, will turn against him and act as God’s witnesses. This unawareness is the real root of all evils. If a man were to come to grips with the reality that he lives in a world where the eyes of God do not lose sight of him even for a single moment, and where every single action of his is being recorded by a divinely established system, his whole life would change. He would weigh every word before uttering it, and he would use the powers of his hands and legs with extreme caution.

A man is not bad simply because evil is spoken of him. Conversely, no one becomes good simply by popular acclaim. Critical comments genuinely apply to an individual only if they are in accordance with his nature. If evil people pass evil comments about good people, then such comments turn back upon the speakers themselves and good people are completely absolved of any blame. Nevertheless, those who are personally good may become objects of calumny. It is certain, however, that in the Hereafter they will be considered innocent and no blame will attach to them. Rather, they will be showered with rewards, because they had to face false allegations on account of their breaking off with untruth and their complete attachment to the Truth.

The demands of social life require people to meet each other frequently. One way for such a meeting to take place is for a visitor to go to the home of an acquaintance and, without giving any prior notice, walk straight into his house. This is troublesome for both the intruding guest and the householder. Therefore, taking advance permission has been included in the rules of social conduct. If possible, the better course would be for the visitor to take a prior appointment with the person he intends to visit and then when he arrives, seek the host’s permission before entering. Depending upon the cultural environment, there could be different ways of seeking permission, but in every case, observance of Islamic decency is most essential. Islam wants all the dealings of the social life of a community to be based on consideration for others. The same sensibility should be observed with regard to meetings. If you go to meet someone, and that person, for some reason, wants to be excused from meeting you at that time, then you should return without any ill-feeling. However, this rule does not apply to those public places where, in principle, there is general permission for entry.

By way of guidance as to how men and women should behave at home and in society, two basic injunctions have been given here—one defines that portion of the body which must be covered (satr), while the other advises that the eyes should be cast down. That portion of a male’s body, which is required to be kept covered at all times, is from the navel down to the knees, including the knees. This is satr, which is obligatory before all except one’s wife, or where some need arises by which prohibitions are relaxed, for instance, in the case of medical examinations. The second important thing is that when a man and a woman happen to confront each other, the man should keep his eyes cast down. A casual meeting between a man and a woman who are not married or who are not very close relatives, should never be as informal as that between any two men. During any casual meeting between a man and a woman, the man should keep his eyes down and if a man happens to accidentally cast a glance at an unknown woman, he should immediately direct his gaze elsewhere and should not deliberately look at her again. The instructions about looking down and concealing the private parts of the body are also applicable to women, as is made clear in the next verse (Verse 31).