Tafseer of The Pleading Woman · Al-Mujaadila · 58:11
O you who have believed, when you are told, "Space yourselves" in assemblies, then make space; Allah will make space for you. And when you are told, "Arise," then arise; Allah will raise those who have believed among you and those who were given knowledge, by degrees. And Allah is Acquainted with what you do.
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 statement concerning the interpretation of His word, the Exalted: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجَالِسِ فَافْسَحُوا يَفْسَحِ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَإِذَا قِيلَ انْشُزُوا فَانْشُزُوا يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ ("O you who believe, when it is said to you: 'Make room in the assemblies', then make room; Allah will make room for you. And when it is said: 'Rise up', then rise up; Allah will raise in ranks those among you who believe and those who have been given knowledge; and Allah is well-informed of what you do") (11)
The Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: O you who have held Allah and His Messenger to be true, إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجَالِسِ ; by His word "tafassaḥū" He means: make it spacious, derived from their expression "a spacious place" when it is wide.
The exegetes differed concerning the assembly in which Allah commanded the believers to make room. Some of them said: that was specifically the assembly of the Prophet ﷺ.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجَالِسِ , he said: it was the assembly of the Prophet ﷺ; it was said that this referred specifically to it.
Al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the like of it.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجَالِسِ ... the verse — when they saw someone coming toward them, they were stingy with their seat near the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, so He commanded them that one should make room for another.
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 word: إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجَالِسِ , he said: this applied specifically to the Prophet ﷺ and those around him; He says: make it spacious until every man of you obtains a seat near the Prophet ﷺ; and they are also the positions for the battle (al-qitāl).
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 word: تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجَالِسِ , he said: the people would compete for the assembly of the Prophet ﷺ, so it was said to them: إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجَالِسِ فَافْسَحُوا .
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning the word of Allah: إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجَالِسِ فَافْسَحُوا يَفْسَحِ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ , he said: this is the assembly of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; the man would come and say: "Make room for me, may Allah have mercy upon you", and then each of them was stingy with his nearness to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; so Allah commanded them that, and He saw that it was better for them.
And others said: rather, what was meant by it were the assemblies of battle, when they arrayed themselves for war.
* Mention of who said that:
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 word: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا قِيلَ لَكُمْ تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجَالِسِ فَافْسَحُوا يَفْسَحِ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ , he said: that is in the assembly of battle.
And the correct view concerning that is that one says: Allah the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, commanded the believers to make room in the assembly, and He did not restrict that to the assembly of the Prophet ﷺ to the exclusion of the assembly of battle; both places are called "assembly" (majlis), so that applies to all assemblies: the assemblies of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ and the assemblies of battle.
The reciters differed concerning its reading. Most of the reciters of the cities read it تَفَسَّحُوا فِي الْمَجْلِسِ in the singular, except al-Ḥasan al-Baṣrī and ʿĀṣim, for the two of them read that فِي الْمَجَالِسِ in the plural. And reading it in the singular is, in our view, the reading, because of the agreement of the authoritative proof of the reciters upon it.
And His word: فَافْسَحُوا — He says: make it spacious; يَفْسَحِ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ — He says: Allah will make spacious for you your dwellings in Paradise (al-janna). وَإِذَا قِيلَ انْشُزُوا فَانْشُزُوا — the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: and when it is said: "Raise yourselves up", and by it only this is meant: and when it is said to you: "Rise up for battle against an enemy, or for prayer, or for a good deed, or: disperse away from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ", then rise up.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
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: وَإِذَا قِيلَ انْشُزُوا فَانْشُزُوا up to وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ , he said: when it is said "Rise up", then rise up toward the good and the prayer (al-ṣalāh).
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 — on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His word: فَانْشُزُوا , he said: toward every good deed: battle against an enemy, or the enjoining of what is proper, or any truth whatsoever.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: وَإِذَا قِيلَ انْشُزُوا فَانْشُزُوا — he says: when you are called to the good, then respond. And al-Ḥasan said: all of this concerns the military campaign (al-ghazw).
It was related to me, on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, saying: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say, concerning His word: وَإِذَا قِيلَ انْشُزُوا فَانْشُزُوا : when the call to prayer was made, some men would tarry, so Allah commanded them that, when the call to prayer was made, they should raise themselves up to it and rise for it.
And Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: وَإِذَا قِيلَ انْشُزُوا فَانْشُزُوا , he said: raise yourselves up away from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; he said: this is in his house, when it is said "Rise up", then raise yourselves up away from the Prophet ﷺ, for he has needs; and each of them wished that it would be his last meeting with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, so He said: وَإِذَا قِيلَ انْشُزُوا فَانْشُزُوا .
And I have indeed chosen the interpretation that I have given concerning that, because Allah, mighty and exalted is He, commanded the believers that, when it is said to them "Rise up", they should rise up; and He made that command general for all the meanings of rising up for the good; so that applies in its generality until there comes something to which one must submit and which restricts it.
The reciters differed concerning its reading. Most of the reciters of Medina read it فَانْشُزُوا with a ḍamma on the shīn, and most of the reciters of Kufa and Basra read that with a kasra upon it.
And the correct view concerning that is that they are two well-known readings, and two famous dialectal forms, equivalent to "yaʿkufūn" and "yaʿkifūn", and "yaʿrushūn" and "yaʿrishūn"; with whichever of the two readings the reciter reads, he is correct.
His word: يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ — the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: Allah raises the believers among you, O people, because of their obedience to their Lord, in that which He commanded them concerning making room in the assembly when it is said to them "make room", or because of their rising up to good deeds when it is said to them "rise up to that". And Allah raises those among the believers who have been given knowledge above the believers who have not been given knowledge, because of the excellence of their knowledge, in ranks, when they act according to what they are commanded.
As Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ — indeed, knowledge confers excellence upon its possessor, and indeed, it has a right over its possessor; and by my life, for the truth there rests upon you, O scholar, an obligation of excellence; and Allah gives to every possessor of excellence his excellence.
And Muṭarrif ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn al-Shikhkhīr used to say: the excellence of knowledge is dearer to me than the excellence of devotional worship (al-ʿibāda); and the best of your religion is scrupulous piety (al-waraʿ).
And ʿAbdullāh ibn Muṭarrif used to say: indeed, you encounter two men, one of them performs more fasting, prayer and almsgiving, and the other is more excellent than him by a great difference. It was said to him: "And how is that?" Whereupon he said: he is the more God-fearing of the two toward Allah, with regard to avoiding His forbidden things.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: يَرْفَعِ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مِنْكُمْ وَالَّذِينَ أُوتُوا الْعِلْمَ دَرَجَاتٍ : in their religion, when they do what they are commanded.
And His word: وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ — the Exalted, whose mention is exalted, says: and Allah is well-informed of your deeds, O people; there does not escape Him who among you obeys his Lord and who is disobedient; and He recompenses all of you according to his deed: the doer of good according to his good-doing, and the doer of evil according to what is due to him, or He forgives.
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The footnotes:
(1) What is meant by this expression is that the absence of the prohibition of the dream-vision in sleep, and the preceding prohibition of the secret consultation in the sense of whispering, both clarify what he has chosen, namely that "al-najwā" has the meaning of speaking secretly — consider this.
