Tafseer of The Prohibition · At-Tahrim · 66:11
And Allah presents an example of those who believed: the wife of Pharaoh, when she said, "My Lord, build for me near You a house in Paradise and save me from Pharaoh and his deeds and save me from the wrongdoing people."
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 Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: And Allah has set forth an example for those who have believed in Allah and acknowledged Him as One: the wife of Pharaoh, who believed in Allah and acknowledged Him as One, and who held His messenger Mūsā to be truthful, while she was under the care of an enemy from among the enemies of Allah, an unbeliever. Her husband's unbelief did not harm her, because she believed in Allah, and it was part of Allah's disposition over His creatures that no bearer of burdens bears the burden of another, and that to every soul belongs what it has earned. Thus she said: رَبِّ ابْنِ لِي عِندَكَ بَيْتًا فِي الْجَنَّةِ (My Lord, build for me with You a house in the Garden), and Allah answered her, and built for her a house in the Garden (janna).
As Ismāʿīl ibn Ḥafṣ al-Ublī related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Taymī, on the authority of Abū ʿUthmān, on the authority of Salmān, who said: The wife of Pharaoh was tormented in the sun, and when one left her, the angels would shade her with their wings, and she would see her house in the Garden.
Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Muḥāribī related to us, saying: Asbāṭ ibn Muḥammad related to us, on the authority of Sulaymān al-Taymī, on the authority of Abū ʿUthmān, who said: Sulaymān said: The wife of Pharaoh was... — and he mentioned something similar.
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Hishām al-Dastawāʾī, who said: al-Qāsim ibn Abī Bazza related to us, saying: The wife of Pharaoh used to ask: who has won? Then it was said: Mūsā and Hārūn have won. Then she said: I believe in the Lord of Mūsā and Hārūn. Then Pharaoh sent to her and said: seek out the greatest rock you can find; if she persists in her statement, then throw it upon her, and if she retracts her statement, then she is my wife. When they came to her, she raised her gaze to the heaven and saw her house in the heaven, and she persisted in her statement. Then Allah took away her soul, and the rock was thrown upon a body in which there was no longer any soul.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His word: وَضَرَبَ اللَّهُ مَثَلًا لِّلَّذِينَ آمَنُوا امْرَأَتَ فِرْعَوْنَ (And Allah has set forth an example for those who believe: the wife of Pharaoh). He was among the most rebellious of people on earth against Allah, and the most distant from Allah; and by Allah, her husband's unbelief did not harm his wife, when she obeyed her Lord — so that you may know that Allah is a just Judge, who calls His servant to account only for his own sin.
And His word: وَنَجِّنِي مِن فِرْعَوْنَ وَعَمَلِهِ (And save me from Pharaoh and his conduct), she says: and deliver me from the punishment of Pharaoh, and from acting as he acts — and that is his unbelief in Allah.
And His word: وَنَجِّنِي مِنَ الْقَوْمِ الظَّالِمِينَ (And save me from the wrongdoing people), she says: and deliver me and save me from the conduct of the people who are unbelievers in You, and from their punishment.
