49al-ḤujurātPrivate Chambersسُورَةُ الحجرات

O you who are securely committed [to Allah and His Apostle] do not supersede Allah and His Apostle [in your decisions or assessments], but be on guard [concerning Allah’s immediate power presence]: for, indeed, Allah is all-hearing, very aware [of all that you say and do].

O you who are steadily committed [to Allah’s direct power presence]! Do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet, and neither shout words [at him] as some of you would do with each other lest your efforts become futile without you feeling [the consequences of your behavior with the Prophet].

Behold, those who express themselves with soft voices in the presence of the Apostle of Allah, it is they whose hearts Allah has tested [as an exercise] in taqwā: [and] theirs shall be forgiveness and a tremendous reward [from Allah].

Verily, [O Prophet], as for those who yell from outside the private chambers [belonging to you and your family] to speak to you — most of them have not disciplined their thoughts:

For, had they been patient [enough] to wait for you until you come forth to them, it would have been worthier of them. Even so, Allah is very forgiving, very merciful.

O you who are firmly committed [to Allah’s here-and-now power presence]! If any depraved person comes to you with [slanderous and propagandistic] information, you are ordered [by Us] to verify it lest you [falsely] accuse people because of erroneous information and then afterward feel regretful for what you have done.

And know that staying among you is Allah’s Apostle: if he were to defer to you in many issues [of life] you would wear yourselves out [by doing all the wrong things]. Rather, Allah endeared you to divine commitment and He favorably disposed your hearts toward it; and He made denial [of Him], depravity, and disobedience [of Him and His Prophet] abhorrent to you. Such are [the characteristics of] those who are mature:

[This is] Allah’s abundance and blessings; and Allah is all-knowing, all-wise.

And if two factions of committed muslims come to fighting against each other, reconcile [the decision-makers of] both of them; but then, if one [of the two factions] declines reconciliation and continues its belligerence against the other [faction], then you [the rest of the committed muslims] are instructed [from on high] to fight against the [warmongering] belligerent faction until it reconsiders and comes back to Allah’s directives; and if it does reconsider and comes back [to Allah], then reconcile between both [factions’ leaders] with the standards of fairness and social justice: for, indeed, Allah loves those who establish social justice.

All committed muslims are but brothers [of each other]. Hence, [whenever such conflict occurs] reconcile your two brothers and avoid Allah [His corrective power presence] so that you may be blessed.

O you who are committed [and ever conscious of Allah’s power attendance]! No people shall ridicule other people for it may be that they who are being ridiculed are better [than those deriding them]; and no women shall ridicule other women as they [the ones being ridiculed] may be better than those [who are deriding them]. And do not insult yourselves, and do not exchange slanders among yourselves by name-calling: [for] defamatory name-calling is a degenerative form of speech [and besides, how can you do such a thing] after affirming your commitment [to Allah]? And they who do not express [regret and thus do not] repent — it is they who are indeed wrongdoers!

O you who are faithfully committed [to Allah’s might and sanction]! Avoid many a conjecture [about one another] — for, behold, some of [such] conjecture [not supported by concrete information] is [in and of itself] a sin; and do not spy [surveillance, wiretapping, and the like], and neither make spiteful or slanderous comments about one another. Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? No, you would abhor it! And be on guard concerning Allah [and His overwhelming power presence]. Verily, Allah is ever accepting of repentance, ever merciful.

O people! We have created you out of a male and a female and rendered you into [ethnic] derivatives [of each other] and corresponding communities [to each other] for the purpose that you might come to mutually understand each other. Verily, the noblest of you in the sight of Allah is the one who is most conscious of Allah’s power presence [on earth]. Indeed, Allah is all-knowing, ever proficient.

The Arabian nomads say, “We have [wholeheartedly] committed ourselves [to Allah].” Say [to them, O Muhammad], “You have not [wholeheartedly] committed yourselves [to Him]; rather, you should say, ‘We have [only in a civic sense] acquiesced [to Him]’ until the [sense of responsibility associated with] commitment genuinely penetrates into your hearts. And if you [truly] obey Allah and His Apostle, He will not pare down [the rewards of] any of your efforts: for, indeed, Allah is forever forgiving, always merciful.

[This is the fact of the matter]: the committed muslims are those who [eagerly] commit to Allah and His Apostle, and from there on have no second thoughts, and [who] strive and struggle with their wealth and selves in Allah’s [outlined] course [in life]: those are the ones who are true [to their divine commitment].

Say [O Muhammad], “Do you [the unsophisticated Arabians] want to educate Allah about your [God-revealed] faith [responsibilities], while Allah knows what is in the heavens and what is on earth? Indeed, Allah has full knowledge of everything!”

They [the crude Arabians] want to make you [Muhammad] feel like they are doing you a favor [by saying they are muslims]. Say [to them], “Do not think you are doing me a favor by declaring your self-surrender [to Allah]; rather, it is Allah who shows you His favor by guiding you to [a divine] commitment — if you are true to yourselves!”

Verily, Allah knows the unknown reality of the heavens and the earth; and Allah is watchful over what you do.