Tafseer of The Inner Apartments · Al-Hujuraat · 49:12
O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other. Would one of you like to eat the flesh of his brother when dead? You would detest it. And fear Allah; indeed, Allah is Accepting of repentance and Merciful.
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 the saying of the Exalted: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ وَلا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلا يَغْتَبْ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَحِيمٌ (49:12) (O you who believe, avoid much of suspicion, for some suspicion is sin; and do not spy on one another, and let none of you speak ill of another behind his back. Would any of you love to eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would abhor it! And fear Allah; verily, Allah is Accepting of repentance, Merciful).
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: O you who have held Allah and His Messenger to be truthful, do not approach much of suspicion against the believers, and that means that you suspect evil of them, for the one who so suspects is not in the right. The Exalted, the Praised, said: ( اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الظَّنِّ ) (Avoid much of suspicion), and He did not say: suspicion in its entirety, because He has permitted the believers to suspect good of one another, for He says: لَوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بِأَنْفُسِهِمْ خَيْرًا وَقَالُوا هَذَا إِفْكٌ مُبِينٌ (Why, when you heard it, did the believing men and the believing women not suspect good of themselves and say: this is a clear lie?). Thus Allah, whose praise is exalted, has permitted the believers to suspect good of one another and even to voice it, even though concerning what they said about one another they had no certainty.
And in accordance with what we have said about the meaning of this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to me, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الظَّنِّ ): he says: Allah has forbidden the believer to suspect evil of the believer.
And His saying ( إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ ): he says: that the believer suspects evil of the believer and not good is a sin, for Allah has forbidden it to him, and the doing of that which Allah has forbidden is a sin.
And His saying ( وَلا تَجَسَّسُوا ): he says: let none of you pry into another's weak spot (ʿawra), nor investigate his secrets with the intent of thereby exposing his faults; but be content with what has become clear to you of his affair, and on that basis you praise or you blame, not on the basis of what you do not know of his hidden matters.
And in accordance with what we have said about that, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying ( وَلا تَجَسَّسُوا ): he says: Allah has forbidden the believer to pry into the weak spots (ʿawrāt) of the believer.
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 saying ( وَلا تَجَسَّسُوا ): he said: take what has become clear to you and leave what Allah has kept hidden.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ وَلا تَجَسَّسُوا ): do you know what al-tajassus or al-tajsīs is? It is that you pry into your brother's fault or pursue it in order to learn his secret.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān ( وَلا تَجَسَّسُوا ): he said: the investigating.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying ( يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيرًا مِنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ وَلا تَجَسَّسُوا ): he said: [it is as if someone says:] until I gain insight into it and ask about it, until I know whether it is true or false. He said: Allah has called that tajassus (spying); he said: he spies as the dogs spy. And he recited the saying of Allah ( وَلا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلا يَغْتَبْ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا ). And His saying ( وَلا يَغْتَبْ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا ): he says: let none of you say about another in his absence anything that the one about whom it is said would not wish to be said to him in his face.
And in accordance with what we have said about that, the narration of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ has come, and the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that, and the narration of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ:
Yazīd ibn Makhlad al-Wāsiṭī related to me, saying: Khālid ibn ʿAbd Allāh al-Ṭaḥḥān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq, on the authority of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was asked about al-ghība (speaking ill behind one's back), and he said: it is that you say about your brother something that is present in him; if you are truthful, then you have spoken ill of him (ightabta-hu), and if you are lying, then you have slandered him (bahatta-hu)."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn Bazīʿ related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of al-ʿAlāʾ ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, with a similar import.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard al-ʿAlāʾ relate, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, who said: "Do you know what al-ghība is? He said: they said: Allah and His Messenger know best. He said: it is that you mention your brother with that which is not in him. He said: it was said: what do you think if there is present in my brother what I say about him? He said: if there is present in him what you say, then you have spoken ill of him, and if there is not present in him what you say, then you have slandered him."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn al-Rabīʿ related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-ʿAbbās, on the authority of a man who heard Ibn ʿUmar say: "When you mention a man with that which is present in him, then you have spoken ill of him, and when you mention him with that which is not present in him, then you have slandered him." And Shuʿba said another time: "And when you mention him with that which is not present in him, then it is a fabrication (firya)." Abū Mūsā said: it is ʿAbbās al-Jarīrī.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Sulaymān, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Murra, on the authority of Masrūq, who said: when you mention a man with the worst that is present in him, then you have spoken ill of him, and when you mention him with that which is not present in him, then you have slandered him.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, on the authority of Masrūq, who said: when you say about a man something that is not present in him, then you have slandered him.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUmar ibn ʿUbayd related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū al-Ḍuḥā, on the authority of Masrūq, who said: al-ghība is that you say about a man the worst that you know about him, and al-buhtān (the slander) is that you say what is not present in him.
Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ informed me, on the authority of Kathīr ibn al-Ḥārith, on the authority of al-Qāsim, the client (mawlā) of Muʿāwiya, who said: I heard Ibn Umm ʿAbd say: no one has ever taken a morsel worse than speaking ill of the believer; if he says about him something he knows, then he has spoken ill of him, and if he says about him something he does not know, then he has slandered him.
Abū al-Sāʾib related to us, saying: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Muslim, on the authority of Masrūq, who said: when you mention a man with that which is present in him, then you have spoken ill of him, and when you mention him with that which is not present in him, then it is the slander (al-buhtān).
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, saying: I heard Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, that he said concerning al-ghība: it is that you mention about your brother what you know of his evil deeds; and when you mention him with that which is not present in him, then it is the slander (al-buhtān).
Ibn Abī al-Shawārib related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād related to us, saying: Sulaymān al-Shaybānī related to us, saying: Ḥassān ibn al-Mukhāriq related to us "that a woman entered upon ʿĀʾisha; and when she rose to leave, ʿĀʾisha gestured with her hand toward the Prophet ﷺ, meaning: that she was short of stature. Then the Prophet ﷺ said: you have spoken ill of her."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Abū Dāwūd related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, who said: if a man without a hand were to pass by you and you were to say: that is that man without a hand, then that would be backbiting on your part. He said: and I heard Muʿāwiya ibn Qurra say that.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, saying: I heard Muʿāwiya ibn Qurra say: if a man without a hand were to pass by you and you were to say to him: he has no hand, then you would have spoken ill of him. He said: I mentioned that to Abū Isḥāq al-Hamdānī, and he said: he is right.
Jābir ibn al-Kurdī related to me, saying: Ibn Abī Uways related to us, saying: my brother Abū Bakr related to me, on the authority of Ḥammād ibn Abī Ḥumayd, on the authority of Mūsā ibn Wardān, on the authority of Abū Hurayra "that a man stood up before the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and they saw in his bearing a weakness, and they said: O Messenger of Allah, how weak so-and-so is! Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: you have eaten your brother and spoken ill of him."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿUthmān ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: Ḥabbān ibn ʿAlī al-ʿAnazī related to us, on the authority of Muthannā ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Shuʿayb, on the authority of Muʿādh ibn Jabal, who said: "We were with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and the people mentioned a man and said: he eats only what he is given to eat, and he travels only if [a mount] is prepared for him; how weak he is! Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: you have spoken ill of your brother. They said: O Messenger of Allah, is speaking ill of him then that we tell about him what is present in him? He said: it is sufficient for you [to be guilty] that you tell about your brother what is present in him."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Khālid ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar, on the authority of al-ʿAlāʾ, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When you mention your brother with that which he detests: if there is present in him what you say, then you have spoken ill of him, and if there is not present in him what you say, then you have slandered him."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, who said: "We used to relate that al-ghība is that you mention your brother with that which disgraces him, and you blame him for that which is present in him; and if you lie about him, then it is the slander (al-buhtān)."
And His saying ( أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ ): the Exalted says to the believers: would any of you, O community, love to eat the flesh of his brother after his death, as a corpse? If you do not love that and abhor it, because Allah has forbidden that to you, then likewise you must not love to speak ill of him during his life; so abhor speaking ill of him while he lives, just as you abhor his flesh while he is dead, for Allah has forbidden speaking ill of him during his life, just as He has forbidden eating his flesh after his death.
And in accordance with what we have said about that, the people of interpretation have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying ( وَلا يَغْتَبْ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضًا أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا ): he said: Allah has forbidden the believer to speak ill of the believer with even the slightest thing, just as He has forbidden the carrion (dead flesh, al-mayta).
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: ( أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا ): they said: we abhor that. He said: then likewise fear Allah.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda ( أَيُحِبُّ أَحَدُكُمْ أَنْ يَأْكُلَ لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا فَكَرِهْتُمُوهُ ): he says: just as you would abhor, when you came upon a maggot-infested carcass, to eat from it, so must you abhor speaking ill of him while he lives.
And His saying ( وَاتَّقُوا اللَّهَ إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَحِيمٌ ): the Exalted says: so fear Allah, O people, and be wary of His punishment, by ceasing from that which He has forbidden you — namely that any of you harbors an evil suspicion against his believing brother, and pries into his weak spots, and spies on what of his affair has been kept hidden from him, and speaks ill of him with that which he detests, while you thereby intend his disgrace and his fault — and other matters that your Lord has forbidden you. ( إِنَّ اللَّهَ تَوَّابٌ رَحِيمٌ ): he says: verily, Allah returns to His servant toward that which He loves, when the servant returns to his Lord toward that which He loves from him; Merciful toward him, in that He does not punish him for a sin he committed after he has repented of it.
The reciters differed concerning the recitation of His saying ( لَحْمَ أَخِيهِ مَيْتًا ). Most of the reciters of Medina recited it with doubling ( مَيِّتًا ), while most of the reciters of Kūfa and Baṣra recited it with lightening ( مَيْتًا ). And these, in our view, are two well-known recitations that are close to one another in meaning; with whichever of the two the reciter recites, he has hit upon what is correct.
