Welcome to another episode of our weekly series titled “Path towards Enlightenment” which is an endeavour to make you and us familiar with an easy and fluent explanation of God’s Final Scripture to all mankind, the holy Qur’an, which was revealed to the Last and Greatest of all Messengers, Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny).

As you know, we are in the process of explanation of Surah Hujuraat, which is 49^th in the serial order of compilation of the holy Qur’an. We continue from where we left you last week and here is Ayah 10.

“The faithful are indeed brothers; therefore make peace between your brothers and be wary of Allah, so that you may receive (His) mercy.”

If you might recall, Last Friday in our explanation of the previous Ayah of this Surah we pointed out that sometimes clashes occur among individuals or groups of society, and in such cases it is but natural for each party to seek help from its friends. The Qur’an stresses that fellow Muslims ought not to be mere onlookers in such cases, but should mediate peace between the conflicting groups. We also said that everyone is responsible toward the peace, stability, and security of society; hence they cannot be indifferent and should strive to remove friction.

The Ayah which recited to you now establishes the bond of brotherhood among the true believers as among the honours of Islam. It treats the relationship amongst believers like that between brothers, since friendship between two brothers is deeply rooted and firm. It is bilateral rather than unilateral, and is based on innate nature and disposition rather than on worldly and mundane appeals.

Islam advises Muslims to stand above all superficial differences such as ethnic, racial, lingual, geographical, or colour of skin, so that nobody would consider themself superior to others. Prophet Mohammad (blessings of God upon him and his progeny) established the bond of brotherhood among his companions. He used to emphasize: “There is no superiority for Arabs over non-Arabs or for the white over the black; and all are brothers and creatures of God.”

Thus, according to this Ayah, all believers are like brethren, and all contentions and conflicts amongst brethren ought to be replaced by peace and sincerity. This is humanism in the best sense of the word, since Muslim brotherhood is the greatest social ideal known to society.

This Ayah teaches us the following:

1. In Islam, all believers are equal without any superiority over others.
2. It is incumbent to make peace between brothers by removing differences.
3. Peace leads to harmony and results in Divine Mercy.

Now let’s listen to Ayah 11 of this Surah:

“O you who have faith! Let not any people ridicule another people: it may be that they are better than they are; nor let women ridicule women: it may be that they are better than they are. And do not defame one another, nor insult one another by calling nicknames. How evil are profane names subsequent to faith! And whoever is not penitent- such are the wrongdoers.”

This Ayah is continuation of the previous one and stresses that no man or woman is allowed to mock at others. Moreover, no one should call others by improper names or nicknames. It is a sin for such a person not to repent, and whoever is not a penitent is a wrongdoer. It is important to note that mutual ridicule ceases to be fun when there is arrogance or selfishness or malice or contempt behind it. We may laugh with people, but we must never laugh at people to disgrace or dishonour them. Defamation may consist in speaking ill of others by the spoken or written word, or in acting in such a way as to hurl a negative charge. A biting remark or taunt or sarcasm is included in the Arabic word “lamaza” as used by the holy Qur’an. An offensive nickname may amount to defamation.

This Ayah teaches us the following points:

1. Faith in God does not comply with ridiculing others.
2. Ridiculing other persons or ethnicities is a sign of superciliousness. The holy Qur’an has strongly opposed this habit, saying the ones who are ridiculed may be better those who ridicule.
3. Among the strategic goals of Islam is to build a sound and healthy society devoid of evil behaviours.

Now we listen to Ayah 12 of the Surah as the concluding Ayah of this week’s episode:

“O you who have faith! Avoid much suspicion. Indeed some suspicions are sins. And do not spy or backbite one another. Will any of you eat the flesh of his dead brother? You would hate it. And be wary of Allah; indeed Allah is All-Clement, All-Merciful.”

This Ayah mentions three causes of undermining brotherhood in society. Unfortunately, some people are suspicious of others. This makes them spy on others, and may also make them backbite. Backbiting means saying something about somebody that will upset him if he/she hears of it. This Ayah likens backbiting to eating the flesh of one’s dead brother.

Thus, most kinds of suspicion are baseless, and some are crimes in themselves, therefore conjecture (or qiyas) has been "outlawed" in Islam. Spying into other people's affairs means either idle curiosity or suspicion carried a stage further. Backbiting is mischievous, and if poisoned with malice, it is a sin added to sin. It is like eating the flesh of a dead brother, which is abomination plus abomination.

The Prophet has remarked: “Backbiting is worse than adultery, because Allah may forgive an adulterer or adulteress if he or she turns repentant to Him, but pardon for backbiting is not available until the aggrieved person agrees to forgive."

From this Ayah we learn that:

1. In an Islamic society people live on the basis of goodwill and trust one another.
2. Suspicion sets the ground for spying and eventually backbiting.
3. Some of the sins are so grave that the holy Qur’an points to their inward reality. Backbiting is one of these sins. It is like eating the flesh of one’s dead brother; because a dead person cannot defend against defaming and losing face.
4. There is no dead-end in Islam. Penitence can remove all sins as God is All Merciful and accepts repentance.

RM/AS/SS