Surah Hujurat - Dwellings

1. SurahHujurat- Dwellings The Surah was revealed in the 9th year of the Hijrah, after the fall of Mecca. Islam became a great political power and large masses of people entered its fold. It was the need of hour that the newly converted Muslims should be taught good manners and morals. The Surah teaches Muslims those good manners and morals. It also deals with some social evils which find their way into a materially-advanced and wealthy society

2. PRIORITY OF  ALLAH’S COMMAND AND WILL This is the foremost and basic demand of faith. If the person who regards Allah as Lord and accepts Allah’s messenger as his guide and leader, can never have the attitude of giving his own opinion and viewing precedence over the decision of Allah and His messenger. That is why it has been said, “O believers do not go „in advance‟ of Allah and His Messenger”. That is to say, do not go ahead of them or do not precede them‟ .

3. MANNERS TO INTERACT WITH PROPHET  Holy Quran teaches etiquettes to the people who sat among the audience of the Holy Prophet or came to visit him. Its intention was that the believers should treat the Holy Prophet with the highest respect and reverence when visiting him and talking to him. Nobody should raise his voice louder than his: the people should not be unmindful of the fact that they are addressing the Messenger of Allah, and not the common man, or a person of equal rank.

4. PENALITY OF DISRESPECT TO PROPHET Person committing this act deserves the same punishment in the sight of Allah, which is in fact the punishment of disbelief. In the case of ordinary people, it is at the most a rude act or an uncivilized conduct, but in respect of Holy Prophet a little lack of reverence is such a grave sin that can destroy all the services of one’s lifetime. For the reverence of Holy Prophet is indeed the reverence of God who has sent him as His Messenger.

5. REWARDS PROMISED BY ALLAH ALMIGHTY  Only those people give due reverence to the Messenger of Allah who have passed successfully through the tests and trials set by Allah and proved to possess TAQWA Those who lower their voices and speak softly in the presence of Allah’s Rasool are the ones whose hearts Allah has tested for piety; they shall have forgiveness and a great reward.[3] In this verse God says that people, who will respect my messenger, will be bestowed with three things  Firstly we will fill their hearts with piety. Secondly will forgive their past sins. Thirdly they will be greatly rewarded.

6. Verification of a certain news or report O believers, if an evildoer comes to you with some news, verify it (investigate to ascertain the truth), lest you should harm others unwittingly and then regret what you have done.[6] It is not right to believe in every news blindly and to act according to it, without due thought. If information is received about a person, a group or a community, it should be seen carefully whether the means of the information is reliable or not. If the means is not reliable, it shouldbe tested and examined to see whether the news is authentic or not before taking any action on it.

7. CHALLENGING PROPHET’S DECISION AND LEADERSHIP  This is evident from the context that Holy Prophet was hesitant to take any military action against the Bani al-Mustaliq on the report given by Walid bin Uqbah in their case, but some of the people insisted that they should be attacked at once. At this, those people were warned that they should not forget that the holy Prophet was present among them, who understood them better than they did. Therefore, their thinking that the prophet should act according to their counsel in important matters was undue boldness For if he started acting according to what they counseled, it would generally lead to blunders for which they themselves would have to suffer.

8. Peace and Equity  If two parties among the believers fall into mutual fighting, make peace between them. Then if one of them transgresses against the other, fight the one who has transgressed until he returns to the commands of Allah. Then, if he returns, make peace between them with justice and be fair; for Allah loves those who are fair and just.[9] The believers are brothers to one another, therefore, make reconciliation between your brothers and fear Allah, so that you may be shown mercy.[10] This verse tells, how we should act if a violent fight occurs between groups of Muslims. Weshould do our best to bring peace between the two groups, regardless of blame, and if there isa peace, to negotiate fairly between them, without blaming either of the two parties. If,however, one of them continues to fight, we should fight the warring party until it surrenders,and then negotiate a just peace between them.

9. The Prophet (pbuh) said: :O ye, Shall I not tell you of something that is better than fasting, prayer and charity? They said: Yes.  He said: That is Reconciling between two people, for the corruption of that which is between the hearts is the shaver (destroyer). It is the shaver, and I do not say that it shaves hair; rather that it shaves religious commitment. Unity and Brotherhood: The importance of brotherhood in Islam cannot be over stressed. There are many hadiths relating to the fact the Muslims are a single united body, each part responsible for the other. Accordingly if one of the parts is injured or hurt then the rest of the body immediately feels that pain and is certainly uncomfortable at the situation until it is rectified without delay. The brotherhood of Muslims is a very deep and wide concept that guarantees the safety and wellbeing of the Society at large.

10. Islam is against mockery and calling out of offensive names. O believers! Let no men laugh at other men who may perhaps be better than themselves; and let no woman laugh at another woman, who may perhaps be better than herself. Do not defame through sarcastic remarksabout one another, nor call one another by offensive nicknames. It is an evil thing to be called by a bad name after being a believer, and those who do not repent are the ones who are the wrongdoers.[11] Allah mentioned in the Qur’an that mockery is an indecent morality and a sin and thus, believers should avoid such depravity. It is forbidden to accuse someone who is innocent; to utter lies; to slander and backbite; to call people by offensive nicknames; to spread gossip and malicious slander; to make fun of the Muslims; to boast about one’s status; to shed doubts on a person’s lineage; to utter slander, insults and obscenities; to speak in an indecent or rude manner; or to utter evil in public, except by one who has been wronged.

11. Mocking does not only imply mocking with the tongue but it also includes mimicking somebody, making pointed references to him, laughing at his words, or his works, or his appearance, or his dress, or calling the people's attention to some defect or blemish in him sothat others also may laugh at him. There are different reasons why a person would want to insult, make fun of and ridicule other community members:  Firstly= they have weak Iman(faith) and their fear of Allah is poor. This is one of the major reasons. Secondly- they spend a lot of their time in gatherings that bring no benefit. Thirdly= they themselves may want others to praise them.  Fourthly= they forget the punishment for those who make fun of others.

12. SPYING AND BACKBITING TERMED AS A GREAT SIN IN ISLAM O believers! Avoid immoderate suspicion, for in some cases suspicion is a sin. Do not spy on one another, nor backbite one another (to say something about another behind ones back that if one hears it, dislikes it). Would any of you like to eat the flesh of his dead brother? Surely you would abhor it. Fear Allah; for Allah is the Accepter of repentance, Merciful.[12] We need to distance ourselves from spying other people‟s faults and exposing them to others.  Rasulullah (saw) said: ‚Beware of suspicion, for suspicion is the worst of false tails; don’t spy on one another; do not look for others faults; don’t be jealous of one another; don’t envy one another; don’t hate one another; and do not shun one another. And O Allah’s servants! Be brothers!‛ 

13. Abu musa al ashari(R.A)reported:  I asked the messenger of Allah: “who is most excellent Among the Muslims?” he said, “one from whose tongue and hands the other Muslims are secure.” Backbiting Reported by abu dawud , Abu Hurayra said: “it was asked‟ O Allah‟s messenger!What is backbiting? He said “Mentioning your brother in a manner that he dislikes.”  He said, “what if my brother was as I mentioned? He said “If he was as you mentioned, you will have committed back biting. But if he was not asyou say about him, you will have falsely accused him-Slander. Backbiting has been defined thus: "It is saying on the back of a person something which would hurt him if he came to know of it.”

14. Repentance from backbiting As for the backbiter, as soon as he realizes that he is committing this sin, or has committed it, his first duty is to offer repentance before Allah and restrain himself from this forbidden act. His second duty is that he should compensate for it as far as possible. If he has backbitten a dead person, he should ask Allah's forgiveness for the person as often as he can. If he has backbitten a living person, and what he said was also false, he should refute it before the people before whom he had made the calumny. And if what he said was true, he should never speak ill of him in future, and should ask pardon of the person whom he had backbitten.

15. Show off faith This does not apply on all the deserts Arab but to only a few groups who had become Muslims, seeing the increasing power of Muslims that in this way they will be protected and also gain materially from the Muslims. These people had not embraced Islam heartily but had embraced Islam for only to be counted in Muslims. Their inner state became exposed when they come to Prophet (PBUH) with different source of demands and mention their rights as if they had done Him (PBUH) a great favor.

16. True believers The true believers are those who believe in Allah and His Rasool, then never doubt; and make Jihãd (exert their efforts) with their wealth and their persons in the cause of Allah. Such are the ones who are truthful in their claim to be the believers.[15] In this verse definition of believers is interpreted. According to Allah only those are Momin who are true in their faith. Believers are those who believe in God in His messenger, and have not doubted. They are not uncertain of their faith. They strive with their wealth and their souls for the cause of Allah and they are true Muslims

17. Moral InstructionsSurah A- Hujurat • Allah commanded lowering ones voice in the presence of the Prophet. • Do not spread rumors with out confirming • Make peace between the believers if they fight among themselves. • Fight the transgressors untill they comply with Allah’s Commands • True believer is he who believes in Allah, His Rasool and makes Jihãd with his wealth and person in the Way of Allah.

18. * Islamic etiquettes of moral behavior: -Do not laugh at another to down degrade him. - Do not defame another through sarcastic remarks. -Do not call another by offensive nicknames. - Avoid immoderate suspicions, for in some cases it is a sin. - Do not spy on one another. • -Do not backbite one another. • - All mankind is created from one man and one woman, therefore, no one has superiority over another and noblest is he who is the most righteous.