لَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ ظَنَّ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ وَالْمُؤْمِنَاتُ بِأَنفُسِهِمْ خَيْرًا وَقَالُوا هَذَا إِفْكٌ مُّبِينٌ

When you [first] heard about it, why did not the faithful, men and women, think well of their folks, and say: ‘This is an obvious calumny’?

EXEGESIS

Anfusihim (themselves); here, it means their fellow believers, like in the later verse, greet yourselves (anfusikum) (verse 61), meaning greet each other, or, And do not defame one another (anfusakum) (49:11).[1]

EXPOSITION

The beginning of this verse echoes verse 10 (both begin with law lā). While there it was used as an exhortation, it is here used as a deploring criticism, like in many other verses of the Quran.[2] God deplores as to why the believers should not treat each other with the same kindness and mercy as God treats them.

While this verse is formulated as a lamentation, it is in fact a command from God, that if the believers hear slander, they should not only refrain from repeating it, but they should think better of each other and not even entertain in their imagination such rumours. It is formulated as a lamentation though, to bemoan the fact that they did not act in the required manner. As we said in the Introduction, some (if not most) of the commands of God are not something unknown and new, but rather a reminder so that the believers may take admonition (verse 1). The moral guidelines laid out in this verse and many of the following relating to the event of ifk, are things which every decent person understands through common sense. Failure to do so is then not only failure to obey God’s command, but a failure to follow the basics of what decency necessitates. Therefore, even though this verse was revealed after the event, it does not free the believers from the moral responsibility that they had. This is why the verse is formulated as a deploration, as they should have known better, no matter what.

When you [first] heard about it: the address is in the plural which technically could include all the believers. This firstly indicates that the event was widely known and pretty much everyone had heard the slanderous rumours. Importantly though, not all the believers engaged in the rumours and certainly many of them were wise enough to refrain and speak out, but because so many failed the test, the verse is addressed in the general.

Why did not the faithful, men and women: the address shifts from second person to third person,[3] to emphasise the disapproval of God by turning away from them, since a believer should not believe vile talk regarding their Muslim brothers and sisters.[4] In other words, the shift creates a distance between the addressee (the plural you) and the faithful, men and women; as if to say that because they did not act in the manner required of the faithful, they had distanced themselves from that lofty position.

Think well of their folks: this statement echoes the beginning of the previous verse, where we read Indeed those who initiated the calumny are a band from among yourselves. While the rumours were started by a smaller group from amongst the Muslims, the rest of the community went along with it. One of the very important qualities a believer should have towards other believers is ḥusn al-ẓann, to assume good of other people. By using the expression anfusihim (lit. themselves) to refer to their folks, God reminds them that harm to one member or section of the Muslim community is harm to them all. Actually, one of the best ways to combat vile rumours and to prevent their spread is to assume good of others and not to participate in spreading such rumours.[5] Such rumours live and die by the attention that we pay to them.

Recalling the main theme of the ‘clear command’ and that the purpose of the surah is to instruct the believers on how to create a harmonious and successful society, this advice is very important indeed. The believers are like one body, if one of them suffers from something it is as if they themselves have suffered from that.[6] In other words, they should have thought better of their fellow believers, who are in fact like their own selves.[7] Furthermore, the wives of the Prophet are described as the mothers of the believers (33:6). When hearing the wife of the Prophet being slandered, the believers should have reacted in the same way that they would react if their own mother had been slandered.[8]

And say: ‘This is an obvious calumny’: while the Muslim community was well aware of the enmity of certain hypocrites towards the Prophet, and they knew the purity of his wives, they regardless chose to either engage in the slander, or remain silent.[9] Whereas God exhorts them that remaining silent about it is also wrong and rather they should speak out and call out the lie for what it is, and say it is an obvious calumny. Silence in the face of evil and injustice can amount to a type of approval and support for it. This is why the Muslims are commanded to speak out against evil whenever possible.

When one hears an accusation that is not accompanied with evidence and they have no knowledge about the event themselves, they should consider it to be a lie.[10] This is a general rule which is discussed here in the context of slander. The legal implications of this slander were discussed in verses 4-9; whereas the theological implications are further explained in the next verse.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Some exegetes have used this verse as corroborative evidence for certain legal principles, such as the principle that other Muslims are considered just (ʿādil) as long as we know no evil of them, or the principle that the actions of other Muslims should be considered correct and valid unless we have evidence to the contrary[11] (known as the principle of validity (aṣālat al-ṣiḥḥah)).

[1] Tibyan, 7/416; Thalabi, 7/79; Alusi, 9/314; Nemuneh, 14/397.
[2] See for example 5:63, 27:46, 6:43, 56:57, and 56:70. See also Qaraati, 6/154.
[3] God does not say ‘why did you not think well of your folks, and why did you not say …’
[4] Zamakhshari, 3/218; Muhit, 8/21; Mizan, 15/91.
[5] Tantawi, 10/106.
[6] Tibyan, 7/416; Tabari, 18/77.
[7] See also Mizan, 15/91; Nemuneh, 14/397.
[8] Tabrisi, 7/207; Tabari, 18/77.
[9] Nemuneh, 14/397.
[10] Mizan, 15/91.
[11] Razi, 23/341.