'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (and stay in your houses) and do not go out and display gravity. (bedizen not yourselves with the bedizenment of the time of ignorance) and do not adorn yourselves with the adornment of the disbelievers in their thin, colourful clothes. (be regular in prayer) perform the five daily prayers, (and pay the poor-due) from your wealth, (and obey allah and his messenger) in that which is customary. (allah's wish) in this (is but to remove uncleanness) sin (far from you, o folk of the household) of the prophet, (and cleanse you) from sins (with a thorough cleansing.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : and stay in your houses (read qirna or qarna, derived from al-qarār, and is actually, aqrirna or aqrarna from qarirtu or qarartu: the vowelling of the rā’ is moved to the qāf and [the rā’] is omitted together with the conjunctive hamza) and do not flaunt your finery (tabarrajna, with one of the two original tā’ [of tatabarrajna] letters omitted) in the [flaunting] manner of the former time of ignorance, in other words, before islam, when they used to display their beauty to men — [the stipulation regarding] such ‘displays’ after [the coming of] islam is mentioned in the verse: and not to display their adornment except what is apparent [q. 24:31]. and maintain prayer and pay the alms, and obey god and his messenger. indeed god will but to rid you of sin, o, people of the house, in other words, [o] women of the prophet (s), and to purify you, of it, with a thorough purification.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (allah’s wish is but to remove uncleanness far from you, o folk of the household…) [33:33].
abu bakr al-harithi informed us> abu muhammad ibn hayyan> ahmad ibn ‘amr ibn abi ‘asim> abu’l-rabi‘ al-zahrani> ‘ammar ibn muhammad> al-thawri> sufyan> abu’l-jahhaf> ‘atiyyah> abu sa‘id [al-khudri] who said regarding the verse (allah’s wish is but to remove uncleanness far from you, o folk of the household…): “it was revealed about five people: the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, ‘ali, fatimah, al-hasan and al-husayn, may allah be well pleased with all of them”.
abu sa‘id al-nasruyiyy informed us> ahmad ibn ja‘far al-qati‘i> ‘abd allah ibn ahmad ibn hanbal> his father> ibn numayr> ‘abd al-malik> ‘ata’ ibn abi rabah who said: “some of those who heard umm salamah related to me that she mentioned that the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, was in her house when fatimah, may allah be well pleased with her, came with a pot containing a meat dish. the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, said to her: ‘call for me your husband and your sons!’ ‘ali, al-hasan and al-husayn came in and sat down to eat from the meat dish while the prophet was sitting on his place of sleep and he had under him a garment made in khaybar. umm salamah said: ‘i was praying in my room when allah, exalted is he, revealed this verse (allah’s wish is but to remove uncleanness far from you, o folk of the household…). he grabbed the extension of the garment and covered them with it. then, he got his hands out, raised them toward heaven and said: ‘o allah, these are the folk of my household and my closest family members, please remove uncleanness from them and cleanse them with a thorough cleansing’. i put my head inside and said: ‘and i am with you, o messenger of allah!’ and he answered: ‘you will gain good! you will gain good!’ ’ ”
abu’l-qasim ‘abd al-rahman ibn muhammad al-sarraj informed us> muhammad ibn ya‘qub> al-hasan ibn ‘ali ibn ‘affan> abu yahya al-hamani> salih ibn musa al-qurashi> khusayf> sa‘id ibn jubayr> ibn ‘abbas who said: “this verse was revealed about the wives of the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace (allah’s wish is but to remove uncleanness far from you, o folk of the household, and cleanse you with a thorough cleansing)”.
‘aqil ibn muhammad al-jurjani informed us (through a verbal authorisation)> al-mu‘afa ibn zakariyya al-qadi> muhammad ibn jarir> ibn humayd> yahya ibn wadih> al-asbagh> ‘alqamah> ‘ikrimah who said, regarding the words of allah, exalted is he (allah’s wish is but to remove uncleanness far from you, o folk of the household): “this verse was not revealed about whom you think it was revealed. rather, it is about the wives of the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace”. ‘ikrimah used to proclaim this in the marketplace.
