Tafseer of The Prohibition · At-Tahrim · 66:6
O you who have believed, protect yourselves and your families from a Fire whose fuel is people and stones, over which are [appointed] angels, harsh and severe; they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them but do what they are commanded.
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 remembrance is exalted, says: O you who hold Allah and His Messenger to be true, قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ (guard yourselves) — He says: teach one another that by which you guard yourselves, that by which you teach one another to guard against the Fire and to avert it from him when he acts upon it, namely obedience to Allah; and act according to obedience to Allah.
And His word: وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا (and your families, against a Fire) — He says: and teach your families to act according to obedience to Allah, by which they guard themselves against the Fire.
And concerning the meaning of what we have said about this, the exegetes have also spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of a man, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah be pleased with him, concerning His word: قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ (Guard yourselves and your families against a Fire whose fuel is people and stones) he said: instruct them and bring them up.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of a man, on the authority of ʿAlī: قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا (Guard yourselves and your families against a Fire) — he says: bring them up, instruct them.
Al-Ḥusayn ibn Yazīd al-Ṭaḥḥān related to me, saying: Saʿīd ibn Khuthaym related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Khālid al-Ḍabbī, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of ʿAlī, the like of it.
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 word: قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا (Guard yourselves and your families against a Fire) he says: act according to obedience to Allah, and guard yourselves against disobedience to Allah, and command your families with the remembrance (of Allah), then Allah will save you from the Fire.
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 the word of Allah: قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا (Guard yourselves and your families against a Fire) he said: fear Allah, and charge your families with godfearingness toward Allah.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ وَالْحِجَارَةُ (Guard yourselves and your families against a Fire whose fuel is people and stones) he said: he guards them by commanding them obedience to Allah and forbidding them disobedience to Him, and by watching over them with the command of Allah that he imposes upon them and in which he assists them. So when you see a disobedience toward Allah, you restrain them from it and hold them back from it.
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: قُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ وَأَهْلِيكُمْ نَارًا (Guard yourselves and your families against a Fire) he said: command them obedience to Allah, and forbid them disobedience to Him.
And His word: وَقُودُهَا النَّاسُ (whose fuel is people) — He says: the kindling with which this Fire is stoked is the children of Adam and the brimstone (sulphur stones).
And His word: عَلَيْهَا مَلائِكَةٌ غِلاظٌ شِدَادٌ (over which are appointed angels, stern and harsh) — He says: over this Fire are appointed angels from the angels of Allah, stern toward the inhabitants of the Fire, harsh toward them. لا يَعْصُونَ اللَّهَ مَا أَمَرَهُمْ (they do not disobey Allah in what He commands them) — He says: they do not go against Allah in His command which He imposes upon them. وَيَفْعَلُونَ مَا يُؤْمَرُونَ (and they do what they are commanded) — He says: and they carry out that which their Lord commands them.
