Why did you not say when you heard it: "It is not for us to speak of it? God preserve us, it is a great calumny!"
And why was it not that, when you heard it, you would have said, “It does not befit us to speak regarding this; Purity is to You, O Allah – this is a great accusation.”
And why, when you heard it, did you not say, 'It is not for us to speak about this; glory be to Thee! This is a mighty calumny'?
And [once again]: Why do you not say, whenever you hear such [a rumour], “It does not behove us to speak of this, O Thou who art limitless in Thy glory: this is an awesome calumny”?
And wherefore, when ye heard it, did ye not say: it is not for us to speak thereof, hallowed be Thou! that is a slander mighty!
And why did you not, when you heard it, say? "It is not right for us to speak of this. Glory be to You (O Allah) this is a great lie."
When you heard it, you should have said, “It is not for us to repeat this. By Your glory, this is a serious slander.”
Why did you not, as soon as you heard of it, say, "It is not proper for us to utter such a thing? Glory be to Allah! This is a great slander."
And why did you not, when you heard it, say: "It is not right for us to speak of this. Glory be to You (O Allah)! This is a great lie."
Wherefor, when ye heard it, said ye not: It is not for us to speak of this. Glory be to Thee (O Allah)! This is awful calumny.
And why did you not, when you heard it, say, ‘It is not for us to say such a thing. [O Allah!] You are immaculate! This is a monstrous calumny!’
When you heard it, why did you not say: 'It is not right for us to speak of this. Exaltations to You! This is a mighty slander'
And why, when you heard it, did you not say, "It is not for us to speak of this. Exalted are You, [O Allah]; this is a great slander"?
Would that on hearing this report, you had said, "We have nothing to say about it. God forbid! It is a serious accusation."
And why did you not, when you heard it, say: It does not beseem us that we should talk of it; glory be to Thee! this is a great calumny?
Walawl<u>a</u> i<u>th</u> samiAAtumoohu qultum m<u>a</u> yakoonu lan<u>a</u> an natakallama bih<u>atha</u> sub<u>ha</u>naka h<u>atha</u> buht<u>a</u>nun AAa<i><u>th</u></i>eem<b>un</b>
When you heard it, why did you not say, "It is not right for us to speak of this. God forbid! This is a monstrous slander."
And why did ye not, when ye heard it, say? - "It is not right of us to speak of this: Glory to Allah! this is a most serious slander!"
وَلَوْلَآ إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُم مَّا يَكُونُ لَنَآ أَن نَّتَكَلَّمَ بِهَٰذَا سُبْحَٰنَكَ هَٰذَا بُهْتَٰنٌ عَظِيمٌ
Why did you not say when you heard this slander: “It is not right for us to talk about this gross matter. Purity belongs to You, our Lord. This slander which they accused the Mother of the Believers of is a great lie”?
Why did you not say when you heard this slander: “It is not right for us to talk about this gross matter. Purity belongs to You, our Lord. This slander which they accused the Mother of the Believers of is a great lie”?
<p>وَلَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُم مَّا يَكُونُ لَنَا أَن نَّتَكَلَّمَ بِهَـٰذَا سُبْحَانَكَ هَـٰذَا بُهْتَانٌ عَظِيمٌ</p><p>And why, when you heard of it, did you not say, It is not for us to speak about this. Pure are You (0 Allah). This is a terrible calumny.' - 24:16.</p><p>In this verse the same advice is repeated which was imparted in an earlier verse, with further elaboration as to what should the Muslims do in such a situation when they hear a rumor. The advice is that they should say in categorical terms that they are not allowed even to mention such a thing for which there is no proof. It is a very grave accusation.</p><p>A doubt and its answer</p><p>If someone has a doubt that just as the truth of an event cannot be verified without a proof, and hence it is unlawful to mention it and spread it, likewise, the report of that event should not be believed to be a lie and a 'terrible calumny' without a proof of its being a lie. The answer to this doubt is that it is the integral spirit of Islam to consider every Muslim as free from sins, and this is based on reasoning. Anything contrary to this proven reality is a lie if put forward without a proof, and no further proof is required to prove this assertion a lie. This is enough to call it a slander if a believer Muslim is blamed for a crime without proof.</p>
وَلَوْلَا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُم مَّا يَكُونُ لَنَا أَن نَّتَكَلَّمَ بِهَـٰذَا سُبْحَانَكَ هَـٰذَا بُهْتَانٌ عَظِيمٌAnd why, when you heard of it, did you not say, It is not for us to speak about this. Pure are You (0 Allah). This is a terrible calumny.' - 24:16.In this verse the same advice is repeated which was imparted in an earlier verse, with further elaboration as to what should the Muslims do in such a situation when they hear a rumor. The advice is that they should say in categorical terms that they are not allowed even to mention such a thing for which there is no proof. It is a very grave accusation.A doubt and its answerIf someone has a doubt that just as the truth of an event cannot be verified without a proof, and hence it is unlawful to mention it and spread it, likewise, the report of that event should not be believed to be a lie and a 'terrible calumny' without a proof of its being a lie. The answer to this doubt is that it is the integral spirit of Islam to consider every Muslim as free from sins, and this is based on reasoning. Anything contrary to this proven reality is a lie if put forward without a proof, and no further proof is required to prove this assertion a lie. This is enough to call it a slander if a believer Muslim is blamed for a crime without proof.
<h2 class="title">Further Discipline</h2><p>This is further discipline, in addition to the command to think well of people, i.e., if something unbefitting is mentioned about good people, then one should think well of them, and not feel towards them anything but good. Then if a person has any unsuitable thoughts about them, insinuated into his mind and imagination by Shaytan, he should not speak about that, for the Prophet said:</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">«إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى تَجَاوَزَ لِأُمَّتِي عَمَّا حَدَّثَتْ بِهِ أَنْفُسُهَا مَا لَمْ تَقُلْ أَوْ تَعْمَلْ»</div><p>(Allah will excuse my Ummah for anything that occurs to their minds, so long as they do not speak about it or act upon it.) This was reported in the Two Sahihs. Allah's saying:</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَلَوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُمْ مَّا يَكُونُ لَنَآ أَن نَّتَكَلَّمَ بِهَـذَا</div><p>(And why did you not, when you heard it, say: "It is not right for us to speak of this".) meaning, we should not talk about it or mention it to anyone.</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">سُبْحَـنَكَ هَـذَا بُهْتَـنٌ عَظِيمٌ</div><p>(Glory be to You (O Allah)! This is a great lie.) means, glory be to Allah that such a thing should be said about the wife of His Prophet and close Friend . Then Allah says,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">يَعِظُكُمُ اللَّهُ أَن تَعُودُواْ لِمِثْلِهِ أَبَداً</div><p>(Allah forbids you from it and warns you not to repeat the like of it forever, ) meaning, Allah is forbidding you and warning you from doing anything like this again in the future. Allah says,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ</div><p>(if you are believers.) meaning, if you believe in Allah and His Laws, and you respect His Messenger . As for those who are described as disbelievers, a different ruling applies in their case. Then Allah says,</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَيُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الاٌّيَـتِ</div><p>(And Allah makes the Ayat plain to you,) meaning, He makes clear to you the rulings of Shari`ah and His divine decrees.</p><div class="text_uthmani arabic">وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ</div><p>(and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.) means, He knows what is right for His servants and He is Wise in His Laws and decrees.</p>
Further DisciplineThis is further discipline, in addition to the command to think well of people, i.e., if something unbefitting is mentioned about good people, then one should think well of them, and not feel towards them anything but good. Then if a person has any unsuitable thoughts about them, insinuated into his mind and imagination by Shaytan, he should not speak about that, for the Prophet said:«إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى تَجَاوَزَ لِأُمَّتِي عَمَّا حَدَّثَتْ بِهِ أَنْفُسُهَا مَا لَمْ تَقُلْ أَوْ تَعْمَلْ»(Allah will excuse my Ummah for anything that occurs to their minds, so long as they do not speak about it or act upon it.) This was reported in the Two Sahihs. Allah's saying:وَلَوْلا إِذْ سَمِعْتُمُوهُ قُلْتُمْ مَّا يَكُونُ لَنَآ أَن نَّتَكَلَّمَ بِهَـذَا(And why did you not, when you heard it, say: "It is not right for us to speak of this".) meaning, we should not talk about it or mention it to anyone.سُبْحَـنَكَ هَـذَا بُهْتَـنٌ عَظِيمٌ(Glory be to You (O Allah)! This is a great lie.) means, glory be to Allah that such a thing should be said about the wife of His Prophet and close Friend . Then Allah says,يَعِظُكُمُ اللَّهُ أَن تَعُودُواْ لِمِثْلِهِ أَبَداً(Allah forbids you from it and warns you not to repeat the like of it forever, ) meaning, Allah is forbidding you and warning you from doing anything like this again in the future. Allah says,إِن كُنتُم مُّؤْمِنِينَ(if you are believers.) meaning, if you believe in Allah and His Laws, and you respect His Messenger . As for those who are described as disbelievers, a different ruling applies in their case. Then Allah says,وَيُبَيِّنُ اللَّهُ لَكُمُ الاٌّيَـتِ(And Allah makes the Ayat plain to you,) meaning, He makes clear to you the rulings of Shari`ah and His divine decrees.وَاللَّهُ عَلِيمٌ حَكِيمٌ(and Allah is All-Knowing, All-Wise.) means, He knows what is right for His servants and He is Wise in His Laws and decrees.