Tafseer of The Clans · Al-Ahzaab · 33:35
Indeed, the Muslim men and Muslim women, the believing men and believing women, the obedient men and obedient women, the truthful men and truthful women, the patient men and patient women, the humble men and humble women, the charitable men and charitable women, the fasting men and fasting women, the men who guard their private parts and the women who do so, and the men who remember Allah often and the women who do so - for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of His — exalted is His mention — word: إِنَّ الْمُسْلِمِينَ وَالْمُسْلِمَاتِ وَالْمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَالْقَانِتِينَ وَالْقَانِتَاتِ وَالصَّادِقِينَ وَالصَّادِقَاتِ وَالصَّابِرِينَ وَالصَّابِرَاتِ وَالْخَاشِعِينَ وَالْخَاشِعَاتِ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقِينَ وَالْمُتَصَدِّقَاتِ وَالصَّائِمِينَ وَالصَّائِمَاتِ وَالْحَافِظِينَ فُرُوجَهُمْ وَالْحَافِظَاتِ وَالذَّاكِرِينَ اللَّهَ كَثِيرًا وَالذَّاكِرَاتِ أَعَدَّ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا (35) ("Indeed, the Muslim men and the Muslim women, the believing men and the believing women, the obedient men and the obedient women, the truthful men and the truthful women, the patient men and the patient women, the humble men and the humble women, the men who give charity and the women who give charity, the fasting men and the fasting women, the men who guard their chastity and the women who guard (theirs), and the men who remember Allah much and the women who remember (Him) — for them Allah has prepared forgiveness and a great reward") (35).
He — exalted is His mention — says: indeed, the men who humbly submit themselves to Allah in obedience and the women who humbly submit (likewise); the men who hold the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) to be truthful in what he brought them from Allah, and the women who hold (him) to be truthful (likewise); the men who are obedient to Allah (qānitīn) and the women who are obedient (to Him likewise); the men who obey Allah and the women who obey Him in what He commanded them and forbade them; the men who are truthful toward Allah in what they have promised Him and the women who are (truthful) therein; the men who are patient for the sake of Allah in adversity and calamity, in steadfastness upon His religion and in the time of battle, and the women who are patient (likewise); the men whose hearts are humble before Allah, full of awe of Him and of His punishment, and the women who are humble (likewise); the men who give charity and the women who give charity — and they are those who discharge the rights of Allah out of their possessions, and the women who discharge (these); the men who fast the month of Ramadan, the fasting of which Allah has prescribed for them, and the women who fast that; the men who guard their chastity (furūj) except toward their wives or what their right hands possess (mā malakat aymānuhum), and the women who guard that except toward their husbands if they are free, or toward the one who owns them if they are slave-women (imāʾ); and the men who remember Allah with their hearts, their tongues, and their limbs, and the women who remember (Him likewise) — for them, thus, Allah has prepared forgiveness for their sins, and a great reward, by which is meant: a great reward in the Hereafter for those deeds of theirs, and that is the Paradise (janna).
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of those who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: some women came in to the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) and said: Allah has mentioned you in the Qurʾān, while we have been mentioned with nothing. Is there nothing among us that could be mentioned? Thereupon Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, sent down: إِنَّ المُسْلِمِينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتِ وَالمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالمُؤْمِنَاتِ وَالقَانِتِينَ وَالقَانِتَاتِ ("Indeed, the Muslim men and the Muslim women, the believing men and the believing women, the obedient men and the obedient women"), that is to say: the obedient men and the obedient women; وَالخَاشِعِينَ وَالخَاشِعَاتِ ("the humble men and the humble women"), that is to say: the fearful men and the fearful women; أَعَدَّ اللَّهُ لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةً ("for them Allah has prepared forgiveness") for their sins, وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا ("and a great reward") in Paradise.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا ("and a great reward"): that is Paradise. And concerning His word وَالقَانِتِينَ وَالقَانِتَاتِ ("the obedient men and the obedient women") he said: the obedient men and the obedient women.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of ʿĀmir, who said: al-qānitāt (the obedient women): the obedient women.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Muʾammil related to us, saying: Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: Umm Salama said: O Messenger of Allah, the men are mentioned and we are not mentioned. Thereupon was sent down: إِنَّ المُسْلِمِينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتِ وَالمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالمُؤْمِنَاتِ ("Indeed, the Muslim men and the Muslim women, the believing men and the believing women").
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr, on the authority of Abū Salama, that Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Ḥāṭib told him that Umm Salama said: I said: O Messenger of Allah, are the men mentioned in everything and we are not? Thereupon Allah sent down: إِنَّ المُسْلِمِينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتِ ..... ("Indeed, the Muslim men and the Muslim women .....") — the verse.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Sayyār ibn Muẓāhir al-ʿAnazī related to us, saying: Abū Kudayna Yaḥyā ibn al-Muhallab related to us, on the authority of Qābūs ibn Abī Ẓabyān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the wives of the Prophet (ﷺ) said: how is it that he mentions the believing men and does not mention the believing women? Thereupon Allah sent down: إِنَّ المُسْلِمِينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتِ .... ("Indeed, the Muslim men and the Muslim women ....") — the verse.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both of them — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word إِنَّ المُسْلِمِينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتِ ("Indeed, the Muslim men and the Muslim women"), he said: Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ), said: how is it that the women are not mentioned together with the men in righteousness? Thereupon Allah sent down this verse.
Muḥammad ibn al-Muʿammar related to me, saying: Abū Hishām related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn Ḥakīm related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Shayba related to us, saying: I heard Umm Salama, the wife of the Prophet (ﷺ), saying: I said to the Prophet (ﷺ): O Messenger of Allah, how is it that we are not mentioned in the Qurʾān as the men are mentioned? She said: and one day, at midday, I was startled by nothing other than his call from the pulpit while I was combing my hair. So I bound up my hair, then went out to one of their (the women's) chambers, and held my ear to the palm-stalks (of the wall). And there he was, saying from the pulpit: O people, indeed Allah says in His Book: إِنَّ المُسْلِمِينَ وَالمُسْلِمَاتِ وَالمُؤْمِنِينَ وَالمُؤْمِنَاتِ .... ("Indeed, the Muslim men and the Muslim women, the believing men and the believing women ....") up to His word أَعَدَّ الله لَهُمْ مَغْفِرَةً وَأَجْرًا عَظِيمًا ("Allah has prepared for them forgiveness and a great reward").
