Tafseer of The Inner Apartments · Al-Hujuraat · 49:1
O you who have believed, do not put [yourselves] before Allah and His Messenger but fear Allah. Indeed, Allah is Hearing and Knowing.
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 discourse on the explanation of His statement, the Exalted: O jullie die geloven, loopt niet vooruit op Allah en Zijn Boodschapper, en vreest Allah; voorwaar, Allah is Alhorend, Alwetend. (49:1)
Allah, exalted is His mention, means by His statement O jullie die geloven : O you who have acknowledged the oneness of Allah and the prophethood of His Prophet Muḥammad — peace and blessings be upon him. Loopt niet vooruit op Allah en Zijn Boodschapper — He says: do not hasten to decide a matter in your wars or your religion before Allah and His Messenger have decided it for you therein, lest you should decide in opposition to the command of Allah and the command of His Messenger. It is related from the Arabs: "So-and-so runs ahead of his leader (yuqaddimu bayna yaday imāmihi)," in the sense that he hastens with command and prohibition apart from him.
And as we have said concerning this, so have the exegetes said, even though their wordings differed in expounding its meaning.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to us, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement Loopt niet vooruit op Allah en Zijn Boodschapper , he says: speak nothing that contradicts the Book and the Sunna.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His statement O jullie die geloven, loopt niet vooruit op Allah en Zijn Boodschapper ... the verse — he said: they were forbidden to speak before his speaking.
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 statement O jullie die geloven, loopt niet vooruit op Allah en Zijn Boodschapper , he said: do not act on your own initiative toward the Messenger of Allah — peace and blessings be upon him — in any matter, until Allah has decided it through his mouth.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda O jullie die geloven, loopt niet vooruit op Allah en Zijn Boodschapper : it was related to us that some people used to say: "If only such-and-such were revealed, then so-and-so would be established." He said: Allah, mighty and exalted, disapproved of that and forestalled them with a prohibition.
And al-Ḥasan said: some of the Muslims slaughtered [their sacrificial animal] before the prayer of the Messenger of Allah — peace and blessings be upon him — on the Day of Sacrifice, whereupon the Prophet of Allah — peace and blessings be upon him — commanded them to slaughter another sacrifice in its place.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His statement O jullie die geloven, loopt niet vooruit op Allah en Zijn Boodschapper , he said: some people used to say: "If only such-and-such were revealed, if only such-and-such were revealed." And al-Ḥasan said: it was a people who slaughtered before the Prophet — peace and blessings be upon him — had prayed, whereupon the Prophet — peace and blessings be upon him — commanded them to repeat the slaughtering.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His statement O jullie die geloven, loopt niet vooruit op Allah en Zijn Boodschapper : he means thereby [running ahead] in battle (qitāl); and it was among their affairs (1) that nothing thereof should be decided except by his command, insofar as it pertained to the ordinances of their religion.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His statement, exalted is His praise: O jullie die geloven, loopt niet vooruit op Allah en Zijn Boodschapper , he said: do not decide any matter apart from Allah and His Messenger.
And Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān O jullie die geloven, loopt niet vooruit op Allah en Zijn Boodschapper , he said: do not decide any matter apart from the Messenger of Allah. And with a ḍamma on the tāʾ in His statement lā tuqaddimū the reciters of the regions read; and that is the reading from which I do not permit deviation, on account of the agreement of the proof among the reciters concerning it. It is related from the Arabs: "qaddamtu fī kadhā" and "taqaddamtu fī kadhā"; according to this linguistic form, were it to be said lā taqaddamū with a fatḥa on the tāʾ (2), it would be permissible.
And His statement En vreest Allah; voorwaar, Allah is Alhorend, Alwetend — He says: and fear Allah, O you who believe, in your speech, lest you say something for which neither Allah nor His Messenger has granted you permission, and in your other affairs, and watch Him closely. Truly, Allah is All-Hearing of what you say, All-Knowing of what you intend by your speech when you speak; nothing of the hidden things of your inner selves remains concealed from Him, nor any other of your affairs and the affairs of others than you.
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Footnotes:
(1) Thus in the original; possibly the correct reading is: "and all that pertained to... etc."
(2) With the dāl doubled; this is a well-known reading of Yaʿqūb al-Ḥaḍramī.
