Sūrat al-Nūr and the Protection of Honor: The Word That Brings Down a Society

Occasion: Transcription of a Fajr khatira delivered on 8 September 2026Source: A transcription of a video khatira by Dr. Ahmed Abouseif — Watch the original video on YouTube

We seek refuge in You, our Lord, from the evil of this day, the evil of what is in it, and the evil of what comes after it. O Allah, set right for us our religion, our worldly life, and our Hereafter; prepare for us right guidance in our affair; preserve for us the well-being of hearts and bodies and the soundness of chests and minds; and ease the means of good that lie before us.

In Sūrat al-Nūr there are endless topics, and the first of them is that it was sent down in this form. Allah says: ﴿سُورَةٌ أَنزَلْنَاهَا﴾ (“A sūrah which We have sent down”). The difference between “anzala” and “nazzala” is that “nazzala” is used for what is revealed in installments, that is, what came down in pieces on different occasions and so on, section after section, whereas “anzala” means He sent it down all at once. So when Allah says ﴿سُورَةٌ أَنزَلْنَاهَا﴾, it is as though it cannot be divided, and it is not right to take a verse from it in a context different from the context of the sūrah. The whole sūrah works like a constitution in which one part hands over to the next.

And they say that in it lies the soundness of the entire society, that it contains the foundations and fixed principles for protecting honor, and that societies reach the Day of Resurrection by applying it and by safeguarding its sanctities.

Which Immorality?

However, I paused at a verse during the blessed recitation: ﴿إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحِبُّونَ أَن تَشِيعَ الْفَاحِشَةُ فِي الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَةِ﴾ (“Indeed, those who love that immorality should spread among those who believe will have a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter”). And the question is: which immorality did the Lord of the worlds, Glory be to Him, mean? What is commonly known in people's minds is that the immorality here is the matter of adultery and accusing people's honor, and this is one particular among other particulars. And we have learned that the verse came as a follow-up to the story of the attempt to defame the Mother of the Believers ʿĀʾishah, may Allah be pleased with her; that is, it came after the discussion of the incident of the slander (al-ifk) and the Lord of the worlds' upbringing of the society.

What I understand, in keeping with the Qur'anic context, is that the immorality here may mean sheer defamation of people, placing them in positions other than their rightful ones, and abusing them with words. Imagine that you tear down a person's standing with a word you say: so-and-so is a traitor, so-and-so is a thief, so-and-so tampers with people's affairs, and then you leave him and walk away. Then suddenly role models collapse before a young man who is stepping out into life and sees in these people a righteous model to be followed and emulated. And suddenly husbands lose trust in their wives, and wives sever their lives from men, because of a single word. And this word results in the corruption of society.

It is as though the Lord of Might, Glory be to Him, is teaching us that the word that leaves the tongue, whether on the tongues of those who accuse chaste women without proof or evidence, or those that distort a person's reputation, is what destroys the patterns and conditions of society.

A System That Ties Hearts to Allah

Imagine the system that the Lord of the worlds lays down in this sūrah. An example: a man who accuses his wife without evidence, or a woman who is not trusted to the degree that she could be called righteous and chaste. The report says that one of them came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: O Messenger of Allah, I saw my wife in my bed with a man, so what should I do? If I wait until I bring four witnesses, the matter will be over and done, and am I to go down into the street gathering people: Help us, we want four people to witness this scene? And if I stay silent about her, what do I do? Then the verse was revealed.^[1] And the verse tells us of four testimonies by Allah: he swears that he saw her and that he is truthful, and she swears four testimonies that she did not do it. This is a system the Lord of the worlds lays down for the cases that none knows but Him, Glory be to Him, majestic in His loftiness, and it ties people's hearts and souls to the fact that their salvation is only in His hands. And this is merely an example.

The Methodology of Silencing Rumors

And the other example is in the methodology, and it truly needs a long lecture: the methodology of silencing rumors in societies. Only one of them: ﴿مَا يَكُونُ لَنَا أَن نَّتَكَلَّمَ﴾ (“It is not for us to speak”) of it.^[2] Imagine someone comes to you and tells you about your brother, saying: such and such happened from him. I say: My brother, even if this came from so-and-so, my tongue is too pure to speak about people's honor. My faith prevents me.

And so Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī, may Allah be pleased with him, and may Allah have mercy on all the Companions of the Prophet ﷺ, was told by his wife: Have you not seen what people are saying about ʿĀʾishah? Have you not heard the news? The world is ablaze and all of Madinah is talking about the matter, so what is your view? Tell us something, add something to this auction. And so it is with us: when a person's name comes up, we set up an auction over him in our midst, each adding something of his own and putting in his “certainties.” So he said to her just one sentence: Would you have done it? That is, if you were in her place, would you do what is being said? She said: Allah forbid. He said: She is purer and more innocent in my sight. And the matter ended.

Glory be to the One who legislated this legislation for us! Sūrat al-Nūr needs a special reading and unhurried sessions. And how much we need training courses in the contents of legislation in the Noble Qur'an as the Qur'anic context presents it, away from what speech is stuffed with of the sayings of jurists and scholars; for the context alone, by Allah, shows you wonders.^[3]

I will not take more of your time, and I ask Allah to bless us and you.

--- ^[1]: Editor's documentation: The speaker did not name the man, and the incident is the occasion of revelation of the verses of liʿān (al-Nūr: 6–9) as in the well-known reports; the speaker's account is by meaning, and he did not recite the verses. ^[2]: Editor's documentation: The speaker alluded to the verse without reciting it in full; it is in Sūrat al-Nūr (24:16), and only what he uttered has been recorded from it. The story of Abū Ayyūb and his wife is narrated in the books of sīrah and tafsīr, and the dialogue form here is the speaker's. ^[3]: Editor's documentation: The speaker's final statement is unclear in the transcript, and its wording here is an effort to understand it.