Ya ayyuha allatheena amanoo la tadkhuloo buyoota alnnabiyyi illa an yuthana lakum ila taAAamin ghayra nathireena inahu walakin itha duAAeetum faodkhuloo faitha taAAimtum faintashiroo wala mustaniseena lihadeethin inna thalikum kana yuthee alnnabiyya fayastahyee minkum waAllahu la yastahyee mina alhaqqi waitha saaltumoohunna mataAAan faisaloohunna min warai hijabin thalikum atharu liquloobikum waquloobihinna wama kana lakum an tuthoo rasoola Allahi wala an tankihoo azwajahu min baAAdihi abadan inna thalikum kana AAinda Allahi AAatheeman
English
Ahmed Ali
O you who believe, do not enter the houses of the Prophet for a meal without awaiting the proper time, unless asked, and enter when you are invited, and depart when you have eaten, and do not stay on talking. This puts the Prophet to inconvenience, and he feels embarrassed before you; but God is not embarrassed in (saying) the truth. And when you ask his wife for some thing of utility, ask for it from behind the screen. This is for the purity of your hearts and theirs. It does not behove you to annoy the prophet of God, or to ever marry his wives after him. This would indeed be serious in the sight of God.
53
Tafseer
'Abdullāh Ibn 'Abbās / Muḥammad al-Fīrūzabādī
تفسير : (o ye who believe! enter not the dwellings of the prophet for a meal) this verse was revealed concerning a group of believers who used to enter the rooms of the prophet (pbuh) in the morning and evening and wait for the food to be served. they used to eat and speak with the wives of the prophet (pbuh). the prophet (pbuh) did not like this but felt shy of these believers and could not tell them to stop coming to his rooms without permission, or ask them to leave once they were inside. but allah forbade them from this, saying: o believers, do not enter the rooms of the prophet (pbuh) without permission from the prophet to come and eat (without waiting for the proper time) for the food to be ready, (unless permission be granted you) to come in. (but if ye are invited, enter, and, when, your meal is ended) when you have finished eating, (then disperse) then leave. (linger not for conversation) with the wives of the prophet (pbuh). (lo! that) coming in, sitting down and having conversation with the wives of the prophet (pbuh) (would cause annoyance to the prophet) allah bless him and give him peace, (and he would be shy of (asking) you (to go)) or not to come in the first place; (but allah is not shy of the truth) allah is not shy to command you to leave and not go in his rooms without his permission. (and when ye ask of them (the wives of the prophet) anything) and when you speak with them, (ask it of them) speak with them (from behind a curtain. that is purer for your hearts and for their hearts) i.e. from doubts. (and it is not for you to cause annoyance to the messenger of allah) by entering his rooms without his permission and conversing with his wives, (nor that ye should ever marry his wives after him) after his death. this verse was revealed about talhah ibn 'ubaydullah who had in mind to marry 'a'ishah after the death of the prophet (pbuh). (lo! that) your open declaration and intention to marry the prophet's wives after his death (in allah's sight would be an enormity) it is an enormous sin which merits severe punishment.
Jalāl al-Dīn al-Maḥallī
تفسير : o you who believe, do not enter the prophet’s houses unless permission is granted you, to enter by invitation, to [share] a meal, and so you enter, without waiting for the [right] moment, [for] when it is ready (ināhu, a verbal noun from anā, ya’nī). but when you are invited, enter, and, when you have had your meal, disperse, without, lingering for, any [leisurely] conversation, amongst yourselves. indeed that, lingering, is upsetting for the prophet, and he is [too] shy of you, to make you leave, but god is not shy of the truth, that you should leave — in other words, he would never refrain from declaring it (a variant reading [for yastahyī] has yastahī). and when you ask anything of [his] womenfolk, in other words, the wives of the prophet (s), ask them from behind a screen, a curtain. that is purer for your hearts and their hearts, than [entertaining] sinful thoughts. and you should never cause the messenger of god hurt, in any way; nor ever marry his wives after him. assuredly that in god’s sight would be very grave, as a sin.
Ali ibn Ahmad al-Wahidi
تفسير : (o ye who believe! enter not the dwellings of the prophet…) [33:53].
most of the commentators of the qur’an said: “when the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, married zaynab bint jahsh, he organised a wedding feast in which was offered dates and a mush of wheat and he slaughtered a sheep. anas said: ‘my mother umm sulaym sent him a container made of stone. the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, then commanded me to invite his companions to eat and so i did. groups of people came, ate and then left. i said: ‘o prophet of allah, i have invited everybody and there is no one else to invite’. he said: ‘take away your food’. they took away the food and people left, except for three people who stayed in the room talking among themselves. they stayed so long that they annoyed the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, who was extremely bashful [such that he could not ask them to leave]. and so this verse was revealed, and the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, drew a veil between him and me’ ”.
muhammad ibn ‘abd al-rahman al-faqih informed us> abu umar muhammad ibn ahmad al-hiri> ‘imran ibn musa ibn mujashi‘> ‘abd al-a‘la ibn hammad al-nursi> al-mu‘tamir ibn sulayman> his father> abu majlaz> anas ibn malik who said: “when the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, married zaynab ibn jahsh, he invited people to a wedding ceremony. people ate and then remained in their seats talking to each other. the prophet made as if he was preparing himself to leave but people did not get the hint. he then left the room and people left with him, except for three people who remained sitting. when the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, returned and found them still sitting, he went out again. when they saw this, the three men left. i went and informed the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, that they had left. he returned and entered his room. i wanted to enter with him but he drew the curtain between him and me. allah, exalted is he, then revealed (o ye who believe! enter not the dwellings of the prophet for a meal without waiting for the proper time…) up to his words (lo! that in allah’s sight would be an enormity)”. this was narrated by bukhari from muhammad ibn ‘abd allah al-riqashi and also by muslim from yahya ibn habib al-harithi; both al-riqashi and al-harithi related it from al-mu‘tamir.
isma‘il ibn ibrahim al-wa‘iz informed us> abu ‘amr ibn nujayd> muhammad ibn al-hasan ibn al-khalil> hisham ibn ‘ammar> al-khalil ibn musa> ‘abd allah ibn ‘awn> ‘amr ibn shu‘ayb> anas ibn malik who said: “i was with the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, when he passed by one of his rooms and saw people there sitting and talking. he then returned and entered the room and drew the curtain in my face. i went to abu talhah and related to him what had happened. he said: ‘if what you say is true, allah, exalted is he, will reveal some qur’an about it’. allah, exalted is he, then revealed (o ye who believe! enter not the dwellings of the prophet for a meal without waiting for the proper time)”.
ahmad ibn al-hasan al-hiri informed us> hajib ibn ahmad> ‘abd al-rahim ibn munib> yazid ibn harun> humayd> anas who said: “‘umar ibn al-khattab, may allah be well pleased with him, said: ‘i said: ‘o messenger of allah, the righteous and the corrupt enter in on you, why do you not command the mothers of the believers to be out of the sight of men’, and so allah, exalted is he, revealed the verse of segregation (ayat al-hijab)’ ”. this was narrated by bukhari> musaddid> yahya ibn abi za’idah> humayd.
abu hakim al-jurjani informed us through verbal authorisation> abu’l-faraj al-qadi> muhammad ibn jarir> ya‘qub ibn ibrahim> hushaym> layth> mujahid who related that the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, was once eating with his companions when the hand of one of them touched the hand of ‘a’ishah who was with them. the prophet, allah bless him and give him peace, was upset because of this, and the verse of segregation was revealed.
(… nor that ye should marry his wives after him…) [33:53].
‘ata’ related that ibn ‘abbas said: “one of the nobles of quraysh said: ‘i would marry ‘a’ishah if the messenger of allah, allah bless him and give him peace, were to die’, and so allah, exalted is he, revealed this verse”.
