Tafsir of Surah An-Nur - Verse 63

The Etiquette of addressing the Prophet

Ad-Dahhak said, reporting from Ibn `Abbas: "They used to say, `O Muhammad,' or `O Abu Al-Qasim,' but Allah forbade them to do that, as a sign of respect towards His Prophet , and told them to say, `O Prophet of Allah,' `O Messenger of Allah."' This was also the view of Mujahid and Sa`id bin Jubayr. Qatadah said: "Allah commanded that His Prophet should be treated with respect and honor, and that he should be a leader." Muqatil said concerning the Ayah:

لاَّ تَجْعَلُواْ دُعَآءَ الرَّسُولِ بَيْنَكُمْ كَدُعَآءِ بَعْضِكُمْ بَعْضاً

(Make not the calling of the Messenger among you as your calling one of another.) "When you address him, do not say, `O Muhammad,' or `O son of `Abdullah'; rather honor him and say, `O Prophet of Allah,' or, `O Messenger of Allah.'

لاَّ تَجْعَلُواْ دُعَآءَ الرَّسُولِ بَيْنَكُمْ كَدُعَآءِ بَعْضِكُمْ بَعْضاً

(Make not the calling of the Messenger among you as your calling one of another.) A second view concerning the meaning of the Ayah is that it means `do not think that if he prays against you it is like when anyone else prays against you, because his prayers will be answered; so beware lest he prays against you and you will be doomed.' Ibn Abi Hatim recorded this from Ibn `Abbas, Al-Hasan Al-Basri and `Atiyyah Al-`Awfi. And Allah knows best.

قَدْ يَعْلَمُ اللَّهُ الَّذِينَ يَتَسَلَّلُونَ مِنكُمْ لِوَاذاً

(Allah knows those of you who slip away under shelter.) Muqatil bin Hayyan said, "This refers to the hypocrites who used to find it too difficult to listen to the Khutbah on Fridays, so they would hide behind some of the Companions of Muhammad ﷺ and sneak out of the Masjid. It was not proper for a man to leave on Fridays once the Khutbah began, unless he had permission from the Prophet . If one of them wanted to leave, he would make a gesture to the Prophet with his finger, and the Prophet would give permission without the man speaking. This is because if the Prophet was giving the Khutbah and a man spoke, it would invalidate his Friday prayer." As-Suddi said, "If they were with him for a congregational prayer, they would hide behind one another so that he could not see them."

The Prohibition of going against the Messenger's Commandment

فَلْيَحْذَرِ الَّذِينَ يُخَـلِفُونَ عَنْ أَمْرِهِ

(And let those beware who oppose the Messenger's commandment) This means going against the commandment of the Prophet , which is his way, methodology and Sunnah. All words and deeds will be measured against his words and deeds; those that are in accordance with his words and deeds will be accepted, and whatever does not match up will be rejected, no matter who the person is who said and did them. It was recorded in the Two Sahihs and elsewhere that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«مَنْ عَمِلَ عَمَلًا لَيْسَ عَلَيْهِ أَمْرُنَا فَهُوَ رَدٌّ»

(Whoever does a deed that is not in accordance with this matter of ours will have it rejected.) meaning, let those beware who go against the Shari`ah of the Messenger , in secret and in the open,

أَن تُصِيبَهُمْ فِتْنَةٌ

(lest some Fitnah should befall them), i.e., lest some disbelief or hypocrisy or innovation enter their hearts.

أَوْ يُصِيبَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ

(or a painful torment be inflicted on them.) means in this world afflicting them with capital punishment, or by law of prescribed punishment, or by confinement in prison, or so on. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Hurayrah said, "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said:

«مَثَلِي وَمَثَلُكُمْ كَمَثَلِ رَجُلٍ اسْتَوْقَدَ نَارًا فَلَمَّا أَضَاءَتْ مَا حَوْلَهَا جَعَلَ الْفَرَاشُ وَهَذِهِ الدَّوَابُّ اللَّائِي يَقَعْنَ فِي النَّارِ يَقَعْنَ فِيهَا، وَجَعَلَ يَحْجُزُهُنَّ وَيَغْلِبْنَهُ فَيَقْتَحِمْنَ فِيهَا قَالَ: فَذَلِكَ مَثَلِي وَمَثَلُكُمْ، أَنَا آخِذٌ بِحُجَزِكُمْ عَنِ النَّارِ هَلُمَّ عَنِ النَّارِ، فَتَغْلِبُونِي وَتَقْتَحِمُونَ فِيهَا»

(The parable of me and you is as the example of a man who kindled a fire and when it illuminated all around him, moths and other creatures started falling into the fire, and he was trying to stop them but they overwhelmed him and still kept falling in. This is the parable of me and you. I am trying to restrain you and keep you away from the fire, but you overwhelm me and fall in.) This was also narrated by Al-Bukhari and Muslim.

لَّا تَجْعَلُوا دُعَاءَ الرَّ‌سُولِ بَيْنَكُمْ

Do not take the call of the messenger among you as a call of one of you to another - 24:63.

One explanation of this verse is that "call of the messenger" means calling of the people by the Holy Prophet ﷺ (which implies that "call" is the act of the messenger). Thus the meaning of the verse is, when the Holy Prophet ﷺ call people, it should not be taken as a common call of an

ordinary person, in which one has the choice to go or not to go. In the case of a call by the Holy Prophet ﷺ it becomes obligatory to go to him and leaving the meeting without his permission is unlawful. In the context of the verse the above explanation appears more appropriate. That is why Mazhari and Bayan ul-Qur'an have adopted this explanation. The other explanation of "call of the messenger" is related by Ibn Kathir and Qurtubi on authority of Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn ` Abbas ؓ . According to this explanation it means calling of the Holy Prophet ﷺ by the people for some need which implies that 'the messenger' is the object of the 'call'.

On the basis of this explanation the meaning of the verse would be that when you Call the Holy Prophet ﷺ for some need, do not call him by his name saying ` Ya Muhammad یا محمد ، as you call others. This is disrespect to him. Therefore, call him by an honorific form of address such as ` Ya Rasul Allah i.e. یا رسول اللہ or ` Ya Nabiyy Allah' یا نبی اللہ . In the final analysis it is obligatory on all Muslims to have respect and veneration for the Holy Prophet ﷺ and to avoid all such things which are in conflict with respect and etiquette, or which may cause inconvenience to the Holy Prophet ﷺ . This injunction is similar in nature to many of those enjoined in Surah al-Hujurat, for instance لَا تَجْهَرُ‌وا لَهُ بِالْقَوْلِ كَجَهْرِ‌ بَعْضِكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ (49:2) It means that when you talk to the Holy Prophet ﷺ keep in mind his respect, and do not talk in a loud voice, as people do while talking to each other. A similar example is إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُنَادُونَكَ مِن وَرَ‌اءِ الْحُجُرَ‌اتِ (49:4) which means that when he is inside the house, one must not call him out, rather wait for him outside until he comes out on his own.

A Warning

It has also been inferred from the second explanation that as a common etiquette it is incumbent upon Muslims to pay respect to the elders, and to call them by their names is disrespect. Elders should always be called with titles of respect.

Alhamdulillah

The Commentary on

Surah An-Nur

Ends here.

The commandment to obey the Prophet of God was directly applicable to his contemporaries and subsequently became applicable to all believing men and women. Those who avoid devoting any efforts to collective affairs may think that they are strengthening their individual interests by not wasting their time on matters which are the concern of the entire community. But any group, which loses its collectivism, makes itself vulnerable to its enemies. The destruction that follows is of a general nature and the harm so caused affects everybody. It does not spare even those who were under the impression that they had made themselves safe by giving full attention to their own matters.