English text and translations from the book. Arabic quotations are omitted in this edition. Original numbered references are retained.
We have taken a brief glimpse from ‘Behind the Apartments’ into the University of Ethics, Manners and Realities contained in this spectacular Sūrah of the Qur’ān. We have attempted to show the interdependence between ethics and Īmān. Īmān is beyond a claim, dress code, or a superficial narrative. It requires earnest effort. It begins with putting Allāh and His Messenger first in truth. It involves truthfully scrutinising one’s own desires and inclinations and determining whether they are contrary to the preferences of the Creator, as He and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) know best. Such a preference then permeates every level of a nation’s political and social structure. The leader is also a subject of Allāh and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), commissioned to dispense the Creator’s Will on earth.
A leader must establish firm social justice by systematically maintaining the honour and integrity of the Mu’min. Hearsay and gossip are feeble grounds for drawing judgement against a social order established on Īmān, especially if coming from one with a frail heart and conscience, namely a Fāsiq. Were man to impulsively and unjustifiably react to hearsay, assailing his siblings in Īmān, the rest of that community should impulsively reconcile, restoring harmony and mercy in the Prophetic community.
Even if our fellow Mu’min is mistaken, he or she is your own sibling in Īmān, a divinely inspired link that surpasses all other associations. It is a link based on both external and internal convictions and values. Physical conflict cannot be pre-emptively averted, nor can true brotherhood be realised without regulating our external and internal interactions with our siblings. Thus, do not upset your siblings by belittling, offending, or labelling them in their presence. If done in their absence, it is backbiting, akin to eating their dead flesh. Weed out negative sentiments from the secret depths of your hearts.
Do not suspect evil nor carry out what would develop such sentiments by scrounging for their faults. If one’s malice is as a result of suspecting your siblings’ inferiority by whatever material judgement one has forged, then know that one’s absolute value in the Sight of the King of Kings is by a criterion you cannot perceive. It is by the supreme distinction of Taqwā – a covert, classified, and perhaps surprising secret known only to the Knower of the Unseen.
Īmān is both inner and outer and involves a substantiation process through effort and sacrifice. Look at the oldest companions, the Muhājirūn and Anṣār, who surrendered all that they possessed for Allāh and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) whilst still acknowledging the favour as being from Allāh, not themselves. They gave up a reviled circumstance of loss and restriction; fatiguing disconnection from their Creator, and a derisory social order in return for the sweetest and most satisfying state of Īmān. It connected them with their Creator and the noblest social order. They are the beneficiaries, but are nonetheless promised Paradise. The favour is thus entirely from Allāh and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him).
We ask Allāh to accept this small and wholly deficient journey through al-Ḥujurāt and to forgive us for our infinite shortfalls. We wrote this work by His favour and Tawfīq. He inspires His servants to say what He has already clarified and we introduce mistakes of our own. When remembering that we are entirely at the mercy of His strength and utterly in need of His Way, we can only ask for reward humbly and abjectly. He is al-Raḥmān and al-Raḥīm, worthy of praise and thanks for being so, and thus we say forever, with its true meaning in mind:
Walḥamdu lillāhi rabb al-ʿālamīn.