Sūrat al-Nūr: A Sūra Built Like a House

Occasion: Transcription of a khatira delivered after Fajr at the American Imams Academy on 4 December 2025 Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

The beginning of the khatira included a supplication that Allah set right for us our religion, our worldly life and our Hereafter, and turn away from us the causes of punishment; that He prepare right guidance for our people in Palestine, protect them, guard their honor and save them from every deceiver, wrongdoer and aggressor, and likewise for the oppressed of the whole earth; that He mend our hearts, accept our deeds, and make us among those who strive for His good pleasure, at His command, refraining from what He forbids, following His Messenger ﷺ.

What Is Sūrat al-Nūr About?

We are near the end of Sūrat al-Nūr, so let us ask: what does the sūrah revolve around in general? It opens with the words of Allah, Blessed and Exalted: ﴿سُورَةٌ أَنزَلْنَاهَا وَفَرَضْنَاهَا وَأَنزَلْنَا فِيهَا آيَاتٍ بَيِّنَاتٍ لَّعَلَّكُمْ تَذَكَّرُونَ﴾ (A sūrah that We have sent down and made obligatory, and We have sent down in it clear verses, that you may remember.) [Al-Nūr: 1].

This is a unique opening among the sūrahs of the Noble Qur'an, that Allah, the Exalted, sends down with the word "sūrah." You know when you read ﴿بَرَاءَةٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِ﴾ (A declaration of disassociation from Allah and His Messenger) [Al-Tawbah: 1] that you are reading a sūrah, and when you begin ﴿قَدْ أَفْلَحَ الْمُؤْمِنُونَ﴾ (Certainly the believers have succeeded) [Al-Mu'minūn: 1] you are opening a sūrah, and likewise ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا النَّبِيُّ لِمَ تُحَرِّمُ مَا أَحَلَّ اللَّهُ لَكَ﴾ (O Prophet, why do you prohibit what Allah has made lawful for you?) [Al-Taḥrīm: 1]. So why does the Lord of the worlds, glory be to Him, name it and say "a sūrah"? And why does He define the features of an entire sūrah?

To indicate that this is a house: if a wall is removed from it, it is not fit to be a house, and if a roof is removed from it, the name "house" no longer applies to it. So it is as though the sūrah, with these features, is what the condition of society cannot be sound without in this form, and nothing of it can be dispensed with. Indeed, it is impossible to neglect a single letter of Sūrat al-Nūr; the matter is binding.

"We Sent It Down" and Not "We Sent It Down in Stages"

Then the Lord of the worlds says: ﴿أَنزَلْنَاهَا﴾ (We have sent it down). We generally distinguish between "anzalnā" and "nazzalnā." The scholars say: when Allah, glory be to Him, says "nazzalnā," He is expressing gradual revelation, or "munajjam" in the language of the scholars of Qur'anic sciences, that is, a part came down here and then a part there, addressing one matter here and then another, so it is a complete picture but with scattered events. But when He says "anzalnā," it is as though He sent it down all at once.

And Sūrat al-Nūr did not come down all at once, so why did He say of it "We have sent it down"? Because, although the times of its revelation differed, the need for it is integral, and it must be taken as if it had come down in one go. Imagine that we prepared a table and placed on it this dish and that dish and that one, and the dishes were not all placed at the same time but one after another, but once they have been placed, none of the dishes can be dispensed with, and they must come to the table complete.

Safeguarding Honor

The summary is that the noble sūrah speaks about cases of fornication, may Allah grant safety to us, to you and to the Muslims, and speaks about cases of insult and slanderous accusation, and about the case of the Mother of the Believers 'Ā'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, which is also connected to this context. So you see that the sūrah speaks, taken as a whole, about safeguarding the honor of Muslims.

﴿فِي بُيُوتٍ أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَن تُرْفَعَ﴾ (In houses which Allah has permitted to be raised)

Speaking about the sūrah is a long matter, but I want to pause at one part with which I will conclude, which is the word of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, in this sūrah: ﴿فِي بُيُوتٍ أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَن تُرْفَعَ…﴾ (In houses which Allah has permitted to be raised…) [Al-Nūr: 36].

What is the relationship between speaking about mosques and speaking about honor, protecting one's reputation, and safeguarding society from betrayals? (And I was reviewing mentally with our Shaykh as he recited in the prayer: how do we live? And to what level have we neglected what is in our hands of the morals whose pillars the Noble Qur'an established?)

Take His words, Exalted is He: ﴿لِيَسْتَأْذِنكُمُ الَّذِينَ…﴾ (Let those … ask your permission) [Al-Nūr: 58].^[1] What is the significance of this sentence? Its significance is that the boy or the girl in the house must knock on the door before barging in, before entering. It is as though I am raising my children in my home on virtue from the tenderness of their years, so none of them should take lightly or be lax about barging into rooms, looking at private parts, and intruding on privacy. These are matters we raise our children on until they become like an innate nature and disposition.

But all of this will only happen in the house of Allah, Blessed and Exalted: ﴿أَذِنَ اللَّهُ أَن تُرْفَعَ وَيُذْكَرَ فِيهَا اسْمُهُ﴾ (Allah has permitted to be raised and in which His name is remembered). Imagine that one of us comes from the road, from his home or from his work, and enters the mosque laden with a quantity of dust and dirt, and not physical dust, for there is no dust with us here, but a glance here, a word there, a backbiting here, a phone call that left him agitated, and circumstances he was exposed to that affected his state of mind. He enters the mosque, being like someone soiled from all that he was exposed to outside, and then he enters the house of Allah, Blessed and Exalted, to leave it again clean, pure, purified, calm in disposition, upright in conduct, at ease in soul and reassured, with nothing that disturbs his rest.

Conclusion

I ask Allah, glory be to Him, the Exalted, to keep us in His houses, to keep our attachment to His Book, and to preserve our steps on His path, and that we not be afflicted with neglect or laxity regarding the Book of the Lord of the worlds and its due right. May Allah grant you a safe day and bless you, and I ask Allah, the Most High, the Almighty, to provide us and you on this noble day with lawful, good provision in which there is blessing, by His mercy and good pleasure.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: From verse 58 the speaker cited only His words "let those … ask your permission"; we have given it as far as he mentioned and did not complete it.