Surah Hujurat ayat 6 Tafsir Quran 49:6

﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِن جَاءَكُمْ فَاسِقٌ بِنَبَإٍ فَتَبَيَّنُوا أَن تُصِيبُوا قَوْمًا بِجَهَالَةٍ فَتُصْبِحُوا عَلَىٰ مَا فَعَلْتُمْ نَادِمِينَ﴾
[ الحجرات: 6]

49:6 O you who have believed, if there comes to you a disobedient one with information, investigate, lest you harm a people out of ignorance and become, over what you have done, regretful.

The following was revealed regarding al-Walīd b. ‘Uqba whom the Prophet had sent to the Banū al-Mustaliq in order to ascertain their loyalty to Islam. He already feared them on account of an old feud between him and them from the time of pagandom before Islam and so upon seeing them come out to him he returned and claimed that they had refused to give the voluntary alms and intended to kill him. And just as the Prophet s was making plans to raid them they came to him to disavow what he al-Walīd had said about them O you who believe if a reprobate should come to you with some tiding some piece of information verify it ascertain his truthfulness from his mendacity fa-tabayyanū a variant reading has fa-tathabbatū from al-thabāt ‘to ascertain’ lest you injure a folk an tusībū qawman an object denoting reason that is to say for fear of this happening out of ignorance bi-jahālatin is a circumstantial qualifier referring to the subject of the verb that is to say while you are ignorant; and then become remorseful of what you have perpetrated erroneously against that folk. After they had returned to their homelands the Prophet s sent Khālid b. al-Walīd to them who observed only obedience and goodness in them and later informed the Prophet of this.

O you whose hearts reflect the image of religious and spiritual Virtues and their deeds wisdom and piety: If ever there comes to you someone known to be immoral or potentially harmful, pernicious, malicious or mischievous, and relates to you a message or an event, an incident or something he heard, then be objectively certain of the truth to preclude risk of error and the consequence of wrong action and of injuring the reputation of a people or defaming them in ignorance, and later be pitifully regretful for what you have done

Admonishing Those Who call the Prophet from behind Dwellings Allah the Exalted and Most Blessed admonished those, such as the uncivilized bedouins, who used to call to the Prophet from behind the dwellings which belong to his wives, أَكْثَرُهُمْ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ ( most of them have no sense. ) Allah the Exalted and Most Honored then ordains the better behavior in this regard, وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ صَبَرُواْ حَتَّى تَخْرُجَ إِلَيْهِمْ لَكَانَ خَيْراً لَّهُمْ ( And if they had patience till you could come out to them, it would have been better for them. ) it would have earned them the better benefit of this life and the Hereafter.
Allah, Worthy of all praise, then encourages them to turn to Him in repentance. وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ( And Allah is Forgiving, Most Merciful. ) It was reported that this Ayah was revealed about Al-Aqra` bin Habis At-Tamimi, may Allah be pleased with him, according to more than one source.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Al-Aqra` bin Habis said that he called the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from behind his dwellings, saying, "O Muhammad! O Muhammad!" "O Allah's Messenger!" according to another narration, but the Messenger did not answer him, Al-Aqra` said, "O Allah's Messenger. Investigating the Reliability of the News conveyed by Wicked People Allah the Exalted ordered investigating the news that sinners and the wicked bring, to make sure of its authenticity.
Otherwise, if the sinner's word is taken for granted and a decision is based on it, regardless of whether the information is true or not, the authorities will be taking the lead of the sinners.
Allah the Exalted and Most Honored forbade taking the path of the corrupted and sinners.
This is why groups of the scholars of Hadith refuse to accept narrations from narrators whose reliability is unknown, for they might be from among the wicked people, in reality. The Prophet's Decision is Better Allah said,

(49:6) Believers, when an ungodly person brings to you a piece of news, carefully ascertain its truth, lest you should hurt a people unwittingly and thereafter repent at what you did. *8

O you who have believed, if there meaning

*8) Most of the commentators have expressed the view that this verse was sent down concerning Walid bin 'Uqbah bin Abi Mu'ait.
Its background is this: When the tribe of the Bani al-Mustaliq embraced Islam, the Holy Prophet sent Walid bin `Uqbah to collect the zakat from them.
When he arrived in their territory, he became scared due to some reason and without visiting the people of the tribe returned to Madinah and complained to the Holy Prophet that they had refused to pay the zakat and had even wanted to kill him.
On hearing this the Holy Prophet became very angry and he made up his mind to dispatch a contingent to punish those people.
According to Borne traditions he had despatched the contingent, and according to others, he was about to despatch it.
In any case aII agree that in the meantime the chiefof the Bani al-Mustaliq, Harith bin Dirar ( father of Juwairiyah, wife of the Holy Prophet ), arrived at the head of a deputation, and submitted: " By God, we did not at alI see Walid; therefore, there could be no question of refusing to pay the zakat and wanting to kill him.
We arc steadfast to the Faith and have no intention to withhold the zakat.
" At this, this verse was sent down.
With a little variation in wording this incident has been related by Imam Ahmad, Abi Hatim, Tabarani, and Ibn Jarir, on the authority of Hadrat 'Abdullah bin 'Abbas, Harith bin Dirar, Mujahid, Qatadah, 'Abdur Rehman bin Abi Laila, Yazid bin Ruman, Dahhak and Muqatil bin Hayyan.
In the tradition reported by Hadrat Umm Salamah this whole story has been related likewise but there is no reference to the name of Walid.

On this critical occasion when on account of believing in a baseless report a grave blunder was about to be committed, AIIah gave the Muslims this guiding principle to be followed on receipt of news: 'Whenever you receive important news bearing upon a vital matter, you should not accept it immediately but should first examine the man who has brought it.
If he is an evil man whose report they not be authentic normally, you should inquire into it carefully to ascertain the truth instead of accepting it and ecting on it immediately." From this Divine Command An important legal principle is deduced, the sphere of application of which is very vast.
According to it, it is not permissible for a Muslim government to take any action against a person or a group or a nation on the basis of the reports provided by the secret agents whose character might be doubtful.
On the basis of this very principle the traditionists introduced the art of critical appraisal in the science of Hadith in order to determine the value and worth of the people through whom traditions of the Holy Prophet reached the later generations, and the jurists established this principle in the law of evidence that in a matter from which a Shari'ah value can be deduced, or a duty imposed on a person; the evidence of an evil man would be unacceptable.
However, all scholars agree that as far as the common worldly matters are concerned it is not necessary to ascertain the truth of every news and the reliability of every informer.
For the word used in the verse is naba'.
which dces not apply to every news but only to the news of consequence.
That is why the jurists say that this principle does not apply in the case of ordinary matters.
For example, if a person goes to visit somebody and seeks permission to enter the house, and a person comes out and conveys the permission, he can enter the house accordingly no matter whether the one conveying the permission from the master of the house was good or bad.
Likewise, the scholars are also agreed that the evidence, as well as the report, of the people whose evil does not relate to lying and immorality, but they are regarded as unrighteous only on account of false beliefs, will also be acceptable.
Only the falsehood of heir creed cannot be a hindrance to accepting their evidence or reports.

 

Admonishing Those Who call the Prophet from behind Dwellings Allah the Exalted and Most Blessed admonished those, such as the uncivilized bedouins, who used to call to the Prophet from behind the dwellings which belong to his wives, أَكْثَرُهُمْ لاَ يَعْقِلُونَ ( most of them have no sense. ) Allah the Exalted and Most Honored then ordains the better behavior in this regard, وَلَوْ أَنَّهُمْ صَبَرُواْ حَتَّى تَخْرُجَ إِلَيْهِمْ لَكَانَ خَيْراً لَّهُمْ ( And if they had patience till you could come out to them, it would have been better for them. ) it would have earned them the better benefit of this life and the Hereafter.
Allah, Worthy of all praise, then encourages them to turn to Him in repentance. وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ ( And Allah is Forgiving, Most Merciful. ) It was reported that this Ayah was revealed about Al-Aqra` bin Habis At-Tamimi, may Allah be pleased with him, according to more than one source.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Al-Aqra` bin Habis said that he called the Messenger of Allah ﷺ from behind his dwellings, saying, "O Muhammad! O Muhammad!" "O Allah's Messenger!" according to another narration, but the Messenger did not answer him, Al-Aqra` said, "O Allah's Messenger. Investigating the Reliability of the News conveyed by Wicked People Allah the Exalted ordered investigating the news that sinners and the wicked bring, to make sure of its authenticity.
Otherwise, if the sinner's word is taken for granted and a decision is based on it, regardless of whether the information is true or not, the authorities will be taking the lead of the sinners.
Allah the Exalted and Most Honored forbade taking the path of the corrupted and sinners.
This is why groups of the scholars of Hadith refuse to accept narrations from narrators whose reliability is unknown, for they might be from among the wicked people, in reality. The Prophet's Decision is Better Allah said,

( O ye who believe! If an evil-liver ) this was revealed about al-Walid Ibn ’Uqbah Ibn Ma’it who was sent by the Prophet ( pbuh ) to Banu’l-Mustaliq to collect their alms; instead he came back claiming that they wanted to kill him. The Prophet ( pbuh ) and his Companions were about to set forth to conquer them but Allah forbade them from doing so, saying: O you who believe in Muhammad ( pbuh ) and the Qur’an if a hypocrite, al-Walid Ibn ’Uqbah, ( bring you tidings ) brings you news about Banu’l-Mustaliq, ( verify it ) check whether the news are true or false, ( lest ye smite some folk in ignorance and afterward repent of what ye did ) regret killing them.

O you who believe! If a rebellious evil person comes to you with a news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful to what you have done.

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