Al-Hujurat (, The Chambers) is the 49th chapter (''

surah A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into ayah, verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' (al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while ...

'') of the

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

with 18 verses ('' āyāt''). The chapter contains etiquette and norms to be observed in the Muslim community, including the proper conduct towards the Islamic prophet,

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

, an injunction against acting on news without verification, a call for peace and reconciliation, as well as injunctions against defamation, suspicion, and backbiting. The chapter also declares a universal brotherhood among Muslims. The thirteenth verse, one of the most famous in the Quran, is understood by Muslim scholars to establish equality with regards to race and origin; only God can determine one's nobility based on his piety. The chapter is a

Medinan sura A Medinan surah () of the Quran is one that was revealed at Medina after Muhammad's Hijra (Islam), hijrah from Mecca. They are the latest 28 Suwar. The community was larger and more developed, in contrast to its minority position in Mecca. The Med ...

, revealed in the year 9 AH (630 CE) when the nascent Islamic state under the leadership of

had extended to most of Arabia. Muslim historians linked some of the verses (either verses 2–5 or just 4–5) to the conduct of a

Banu Tamim The Banū Tamīm () are an Arab tribe that originated in Najd and Hejaz in the Arabian Peninsula. It is mainly present in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Iraq, Oman, Jordan and Lebanon, and has a strong presence in Algeria, and Morocco, Palestine, ...

delegation to Muhammad in Medina. The chapter reprimands the delegates' behavior and then lays down protocol when interacting with Muhammad.

Summary

* 1-5 The Prophet of God to be treated with honour and respect * 6-8 Believers warned against misrepresenting any matter to the Prophet * 9 10 11 The duty of peacemaking enjoined * 11-13 Sundry faults of the Muslims exposed * 14-18 Bedouin Arabs rebuked and warned on account of

hypocrisy Hypocrisy is the practice of feigning to be what one is not or to believe what one does not. The word "hypocrisy" entered the English language ''c.'' 1200 with the meaning "the sin of pretending to virtue or goodness". Today, "hypocrisy" ofte ...

In general, the chapter addresses the growing Muslim community and establishes norms to be observed within it.

Proper conduct towards Muhammad

Verses 1 to 5 focus on the etiquette towards

, including lowering one's tone in his presence and respecting the privacy of his chambers.

Unity and brotherhood within the Muslim community

The following verses (6—12) emphasise the ties of brotherhood within the Muslim community (''

ummah ' (; ) is an Arabic word meaning Muslim identity, nation, religious community, or the concept of a Commonwealth of the Muslim Believers ( '). It is a synonym for ' (, lit. 'the Islamic nation'); it is commonly used to mean the collective com ...

'') and establish social principles to maintain its unity. Verses 6 to 8 call on Muslims to not act on news before verifying its authenticity. The following two verses encourage promoting peace and reconciling quarreling parties within the community. The tenth verse is known as the

Verse of Brotherhood The Verse of Brotherhood () is the tenth verse of the Quranic chapter "Al-Hujurat" ( Q49:10). The verse is about the brotherhood of believers with each other; which says: "the believers are but brothers, so make settlement between your brothers. A ...

and instructs Muslims to unite in a universal brotherhood. The next verse, verse 11, warns the members of the community against

defamation Defamation is a communication that injures a third party's reputation and causes a legally redressable injury. The precise legal definition of defamation varies from country to country. It is not necessarily restricted to making assertions ...

, mocking and

name-calling Name-calling is a form of argument in which insulting or demeaning labels are directed at an individual or group. This phenomenon is studied by a variety of academic disciplines such as anthropology, child psychology, and political science. It is a ...

. Verse 12 calls for Muslims to avoid suspicion (''zann'', also translated "conjecture"), spying on others to find faults (''tajassus''), and backbiting (''

ghibah Ghibah ( ) is backbiting as understood in Islam. It is generally regarded as a major sin in Islam and compared in the Qur'an to 'the abomination of eating the flesh of a dead brother'. Quran There are two verses in the Quran about backbiting. V ...

''). The Quran considers backbiting (slandering someone in their absence) so sinful and abhorrent that it is compared to "eating the flesh of ne'sbrother".

Equality of mankind

Verse 13 is one of the most famous verses of the Quran:

O mankind, surely We have created you from a male and a female, and made you tribes and families that you may know each other. Surely the noblest of you with Allah is the most dutiful of you. Surely Allah is Knowing, Aware.The Quran 49:13, Maulana Muhammad Ali translation

Commentators on the Quran, including

Abul A'la Maududi Abul A'la al-Maududi (; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist, and scholar active in British India and later, following the partition, in Pakistan. Described by Wilfred C ...

and

Sayyid Qutb Sayyid Ibrahim Husayn Shadhili Qutb (9 October 190629 August 1966) was an Egyptian political theorist and revolutionary who was a leading member of the Muslim Brotherhood. As the author of 24 books, with around 30 books unpublished for differe ...

, argued that this verse declares the equality of mankind. Mankind is spread around the world and has different nations and tribes to know each other, and no one is superior based on color, race, or origin. According to the verse, only ''

taqwa ''Taqwa'' ( '' / '') is an Islamic term for being conscious and cognizant of God, of truth, "piety, fear of God." It is often found in the Quran. Those who practice ''taqwa'' — in the words of Ibn Abbas, "believers who avoid shirk with All ...

'' (piety, fear of God) makes one nobler before God. According to the commentary of ''

The Study Quran ''The Study Quran: A New Translation and Commentary'' (TSQ) is a 2015 English-language edition of the Quran edited by Seyyed Hossein Nasr and published by HarperOne. Fellow Muslims Joseph Lumbard, Caner Dagli and Maria Massi Dakake, prepared t ...

'', this verse marked a reform of the moral order in Arabia, where previously one's worth had been determined by "lineage and grandiose displays of valor and generosity" and where fear of God had been seen as the opposite of nobility, to one which focused on "the depth of faith and piety".

Nature of faith

The remaining verses (14 to 18) contain clarifications on the Quranic view of faith. Verse 14 indicates degrees of faith: ''Islam'' (submission) and the higher ''iman'' (belief). According to verse 15, a true believer believes in God and Muhammad without doubt, and proves it through devotion and the spending of one's wealth in the way of God. The chapter closes by saying that only God knows the real extent of one's faith.

History

According to most scholars of the

Islamic tradition The term Islamic tradition may refer to: * Islamic Traditionalist theology, Islamic scholarly movement, originating in the late 8th century CE *''Ahl al-Hadith'', "The adherents of the tradition" * Traditional Islamic schools and branches * Islami ...

, the chapter was revealed in late Medinan period, therefore, it is a

. It is most likely revealed in 630 CE (or 9 AH), after the

Conquest of Mecca The conquest of Mecca ( , alternatively, "liberation of Mecca") was a military campaign undertaken by Muhammad and Companions of the Prophet, his companions during the Muslim–Quraysh War. They led the early Muslims in an advance on the Quray ...

and when

already ruled most of Arabia. A minority opinion, including that of the exegete

Mahmud al-Alusi Abū al-Thanā’ Shihāb ad-Dīn Sayyid Maḥmūd ibn ‘Abd Allāh al-Ḥusaynī al-Ālūsī al-Baghdādī (‎; 10 December 1802 – 29 July 1854 CE) was an Iraqi Islamic scholar best known for writing ''Ruh al-Ma'ani'', an exeges ...

, says that the thirteenth verse was revealed in the

Meccan period A Meccan surah is, according to the timing and contextual background of their revelation (''asbāb al-nuzūl'') within Islamic tradition, a chronologically earlier chapter (''suwar'', singular ''sūrah'') of the Qur'an. The traditional chronologic ...

. The traditional

Egyptian chronology The Conventional Egyptian chronology reflects the broad scholarly consensus about the outline and many details of the chronology of Ancient Egypt. It places the beginning of the Old Kingdom in the 27th century BC, the beginning of the Middle Kin ...

puts the chapter as the 106th chapter by the order of revelation (after

Al-Mujadila Al-Mujādilah (, She who disputed or "She Who Disputes, The Pleading Woman") is the 58th chapter (sūrah) of the Qur'an with 22 verses ('' ayat''). Revealed in Medina, the chapter first addresses the legality of pre-Islamic method of divorce cal ...

), while the Nöldeke Chronology (by the orientalist

Theodor Nöldeke Theodor Nöldeke (; born 2 March 1836 – 25 December 1930) was a German orientalist and scholar, originally a student of Heinrich Ewald. He is one of the founders of the field of Quranic studies, especially through his foundational work titled ...

) puts it as the 112th. Muslim historians, such as

Al-Waqidi Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Umar ibn Waqid al-Aslami () ( – 207 AH; commonly referred to as al-Waqidi (Arabic: ; c. 747 – 823 AD) was an early Arab Muslim historian and biographer of the Islamic prophet Muhammad, specializing in his military ...

and

Ibn Ishaq Abu Abd Allah Muhammad ibn Ishaq ibn Yasar al-Muttalibi (; – , known simply as Ibn Ishaq, was an 8th-century Muslim historian and hagiographer who collected oral traditions that formed the basis of an important biography of the Islamic proph ...

, linked the revelation of several verses to the conduct of a delegation from the

when they were in Medina to meet with Muhammad. According to Al-Waqidi, the Tamimites were negotiating the release of Tamimite prisoners in Muhammad's custody, while according to Ibn Ishaq they were challenging Muhammad to a '' mufakhara'' (a boasting contest, a pre-Islamic Arabian practice). As Muhammad was sleeping, they went through the private apartments of Muhammad and his wives to seek him out. Verses 2–4 (according to Al-Waqidi) or verse 4 (Ibn Ishaq) of this chapter describe the Tamimites' behavior, while verse 5 reprimands it and instructs Muslims to be patient when seeking audience with Muhammad. Al-Waqidi dated this event as month of Muharram 9 AH, while Ibn Ishaq's account implied that it had happened in Ramadan 9 AH or later.

Name

The chapter is named after the word ''Al-Hujurat'' (The Private Apartments) which appeared in the fourth verse. Verses 4 and 5 instructed the Muslims to not enter the private apartments of Muhammad—at this point the ruler of most of Arabia—or his wives to search for or petition him. The word ''al-hujurat'' is the

plural In many languages, a plural (sometimes list of glossing abbreviations, abbreviated as pl., pl, , or ), is one of the values of the grammatical number, grammatical category of number. The plural of a noun typically denotes a quantity greater than ...

and

definite In linguistics, definiteness is a semantic feature of noun phrases that distinguishes between referents or senses that are identifiable in a given context (definite noun phrases) and those that are not (indefinite noun phrases). The prototypical ...

form of ''hujrah'' which translates as room, compartment of chamber. Verse 4 of this chapter is the only use of this word in the Quran, and due to this uniqueness, the chapter is named after it.