Tafseer of The Inner Apartments · Al-Hujuraat · 49:2
O you who have believed, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet or be loud to him in speech like the loudness of some of you to others, lest your deeds become worthless while you perceive not.
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 لا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ وَلا تَجْهَرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ كَجَهْرِ بَعْضِكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ أَنْ تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ لا تَشْعُرُونَ (O you who believe, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and do not speak loudly to him as you speak loudly to one another, lest your deeds be nullified while you perceive it not) (2).
The Exalted, whose remembrance is exalted, says: O you who have believed in Allāh and His Messenger, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Messenger of Allāh, by treating him gruffly with words and being harsh toward him in address. وَلا تَجْهَرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ كَجَهْرِ بَعْضِكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ (and do not speak loudly to him as you speak loudly to one another) — He says: and do not call out to him as you call out to one another: "O Muḥammad, O Muḥammad, O Prophet of Allāh, O Prophet of Allāh, O Messenger of Allāh."
And in accordance with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
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 تَجْهَرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ كَجَهْرِ بَعْضِكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ (and do not speak loudly to him as you speak loudly to one another): he said: do not call out to him loudly, but speak softly: "O Messenger of Allāh."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying وَلا تَجْهَرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ كَجَهْرِ بَعْضِكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ (and do not speak loudly to him as you speak loudly to one another): they used to speak loudly to him with words and raise their voices, so Allāh admonished them and forbade them that.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda: they used to raise their voices and speak loudly in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ, and they were admonished and it was forbidden to them.
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying لا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ (do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet)... the verse: it is like His saying لا تَجْعَلُوا دُعَاءَ الرَّسُولِ بَيْنَكُمْ كَدُعَاءِ بَعْضِكُمْ بَعْضًا (do not make the calling of the Messenger among you like the calling of one of you to another). Allāh forbade them to call upon him as they call upon one another, and He commanded them to honor him and hold him in high regard, and to call upon him, when they called upon him, by the name of prophethood.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Zayd ibn Ḥubāb related to us, saying: Abū Thābit ibn Thābit Qays ibn al-Shammās related to us, saying: my uncle Ismāʿīl ibn Muḥammad ibn Thābit ibn Shammās related to me, on the authority of his father, he said: When this verse was sent down لا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ وَلا تَجْهَرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ (do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and do not speak loudly to him), he said: Thābit sat down by the road weeping. He said: ʿĀṣim ibn ʿAdī of the Banū al-ʿAjlān passed by him and said: "What makes you weep, O Thābit?" He said: "This verse; I fear that it was sent down concerning me, for I am loud and have a raised voice." He said: ʿĀṣim ibn ʿAdī went to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ. He said: and weeping overcame him. He said: he went to his wife Jamīla, the daughter of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ubayy ibn Salūl, and said to her: "When I enter my stable, fasten the bolt with a nail." And she drove a nail into it, until, when he would go out, he turned away and said: "I will not go out until Allāh causes me to die, or the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ is pleased with me." He said: ʿĀṣim came to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and brought him his report, whereupon he said: "Go and call him for me." ʿĀṣim went to the place but did not find him; then he came to his family and found him in the stable and said to him: "The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ calls you." He said: "Break the bolt." He said: and the two of them went out and came to the Prophet of Allāh ﷺ, and the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said to him: "What makes you weep, O Thābit?" He said: "I am loud, and I fear that this verse was sent down concerning me لا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ وَلا تَجْهَرُوا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ (do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and do not speak loudly to him)." The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said to him: "Are you not content that you live praised, are killed as a martyr, and enter the Garden (janna)?" He said: "I am content with the glad tidings of Allāh and His Messenger; I will never raise my voice above the Messenger of Allāh." Then Allāh sent down إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يَغُضُّونَ أَصْوَاتَهُمْ عِنْدَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ أُولَئِكَ الَّذِينَ امْتَحَنَ اللَّهُ قُلُوبَهُمْ لِلتَّقْوَى (Indeed, those who lower their voices in the presence of the Messenger of Allāh — those are the ones whose hearts Allāh has tested for piety)... the verse.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaʿqūb related to us, on the authority of Ḥafṣ, on the authority of Shamir ibn ʿAṭiyya, he said: Thābit ibn Qays ibn al-Shammās came to the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ grieved, and he said: "O Thābit, what is it that I perceive in you?" He said: "A verse that I recited last night, and I fear that my deed has been nullified: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ (O you who believe, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet)" — and in his ear was deafness — "He said: O Prophet of Allāh, I fear that I have raised my voice and spoken loudly to you, and that my deed has been nullified while I perceive it not." The Prophet ﷺ said: "Walk briskly upon the earth, for you are among the people of the Garden (janna)."
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Ayyūb related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: When يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ (O you who believe, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet)... the verse was sent down, Thābit ibn Qays said: "I used to raise my voice above the voice of the Prophet ﷺ and speak loudly to him, so I am among the people of the Fire." Then he sat in his house. The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ missed him and asked about him. A man said: "He is my neighbor; if you wish, I will find out his state for you." He said: "Yes." He went to him and said: "The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ has missed you and asked about you." He said: "This verse was sent down يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ (O you who believe, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet)... the verse, and I used to raise my voice above the voice of the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ and speak loudly to him, so I am among the people of the Fire." He returned to the Messenger of Allāh and brought him the report, whereupon he said: "Rather, he is among the people of the Garden (janna)." Then, on the Day of al-Yamāma, when the people took to flight, he said: "Shame on these and what they worship, and shame on these and what they do! O company of the Anṣār, make way for me with something, that I may expose myself to its heat for an hour." He said: and a man stood at a breach, and he killed and was killed.
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of al-Zuhrī, that Thābit ibn Qays ibn Shammās said: When لا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ (do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet) was sent down, he said: "O Prophet of Allāh, I have feared that I am ruined: Allāh has forbidden us to raise our voices above your voice, and I am a man with a loud voice. Allāh has forbidden man to love being praised for what he has not done, and I find that I love being praised. And Allāh has forbidden arrogance, and I find that I love beauty." He said: The Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said to him: "O Thābit, are you not content that you live praised, are killed as a martyr, and enter the Garden (janna)?" So he lived praised and was killed as a martyr on the day of Musaylima.
ʿAlī ibn Sahl related to me, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Nāfiʿ ibn ʿUmar ibn Jamīl al-Jumaḥī related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Mulayka related to me, on the authority of al-Zubayr, he said: "A delegation came — I think he said: from Tamīm — to the Prophet ﷺ; among them was al-Aqraʿ ibn Ḥābis. Abū Bakr spoke to the Prophet ﷺ that he should appoint him over his people. He said: ʿUmar said: 'Do not do it, O Messenger of Allāh.' He said: the two of them spoke until their voices were raised in the presence of the Prophet ﷺ. He said: Abū Bakr said to ʿUmar: 'You only wanted to oppose me.' He said: 'I did not want to oppose you.' He said: and the Qurʾān was sent down يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لا تَرْفَعُوا أَصْوَاتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ النَّبِيِّ (O you who believe, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet)... up to His saying وَأَجْرٌ عَظِيمٌ (and a great reward). He said: and after that ʿUmar never spoke to the Prophet ﷺ in a manner that he made the Prophet ﷺ hear him." He said: and Ibn al-Zubayr did not name his grandfather, that is, Abū Bakr.
And His saying أَنْ تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ (lest your deeds be nullified) — He says: lest your deeds be nullified, so that they perish lost and void, with no reward or recompense for them on your part, on account of your raising your voices above the voice of your Prophet and your speaking loudly to him as you speak loudly to one another.
The linguists differed over the meaning of that. Some of the grammarians of Kufa said: its meaning is: lest your deeds be nullified. He said: and in it both the jussive (jazm) and the nominative (rafʿ) are admissible when one puts "lā" in place of "an." He said: and in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh it is فَتَحْبَطْ أَعْمَالُكُمْ (so that your deeds be nullified), which is an indication of the permissibility of the jussive. Some of the grammarians of Basra said: أَنْ تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَالُكُمْ means: out of fear that your deeds be nullified. And one may say: "he propped up the wall lest it fall."
And His saying وَأَنْتُمْ لا تَشْعُرُونَ (while you perceive it not) — He says: while you do not know and do not notice.
