(Revealed after Hijrah)
The consensus of scholarly opinion assigns this Chapter to the Medinite period. The regrettable incident relating to ‘A’ishah, the Holy Prophet’s noble wife, to which special reference has been made in it, took place in 5 A.H. after the Holy Prophet’s return from the expedition against Bani Mustaliq in the month of Ramadan of that year. Its connection with the preceding Chapter, Surah Al-Mu’minun, consists in the fact that in that Surah it was stated that Islam would continue to produce men who would, by their righteousness and godly conduct, win God’s pleasure and succour. The present Surah deals with the means and methods which help to draw Divine grace and succour and lays down as a principle that the adoption of the ways of virtue and righteousness and the protection and preservation of national morals, and the maintenance of discipline of a high order in the family and the community, are very essential for this purpose. This is why the Surah at the very outset lays great stress on the preservation of national morals with an added emphasis on the regulation and reformation of relations between the sexes. The preceding Surah had stated that one of the essential characteristics of believers who were decreed to meet with Divine succour was that they guarded their chastity. This Surah is an extension and amplification of the subject-matter of the preceding one. The achievement and maintenance of success, it says, demands that the intellect, ideals and morals of a people should be chaste and that there should exist perfect harmony and appreciative understanding between the relations of the individual and those of the community, and that great emphasis ought to be laid on national discipline and organisation, and precedence should be accorded to national requirements over the needs of the individual.
The Surah deals with certain special subjects and has laid particular stress on the problems which constitute the foundation on which the whole social and moral structure of society stands and which cannot be defied without doing mortal injury to the moral well-being of a people. As sexual immorality is calculated to break the discipline and organization of a community and as the evils associated with it are likely to affect severely its morals, great emphasis has been laid in the Surah on the avoidance of suspicion in matters of sex; and believers are told not to become panicky on account of a few individuals having strayed away from the path of moral rectitude, as such cases of moral lapse may cause the whole community to become alert and careful; and thus eventually may prove conducive to good results. The subject is further developed and slander-mongering receives a severe reprimand. Because, if, on the basis of mere suspicion or the testimony of witnesses of doubtful integrity, haphazard aspersions are permitted to be cast on one another’s chastity, sexual immorality is likely to become widespread in the community and young people become prone to run away with the notion that there is no harm in indulging freely in sex. Next, believers are strongly enjoined to guard and preserve national morals and it is considered very essential for Muslims to develop watchfulness and extreme awareness about their protection and preservation. If vigilance is allowed to relax, deterioration in national morals is sure to ensue. But whereas it is true that sexual immorality, if permitted to spread unchecked, brings about the degradation and disintegration of a whole community, individuals suspected of stray acts of immorality should not be hunted down and crushed. As in every community there are to be found some persons of lax morals, such individuals may be treated with a certain indulgence. But at the same time a warning is held out to those who seek, by their continued pernicious activities, to create discord among Muslims and to indulge in abusive language and calumny that they will be punished in this world and in the next. God will expose their iniquities and sins and will bring upon them disgrace and humiliation. The Surah then proceeds to observe that it is his careless acts that subject a man to suspicion and calumny and that most careless of all such acts is promiscuous intermingling between the sexes. In order to put a stop to such occasions as cause suspicion and lead to slander-mongering, the Surah directs Muslims not to enter a house without having obtained prior permission. Further, it enjoins on Muslim men and women that if they happen to confront each other, they should restrain their looks and guard all avenues of sin and vice. As an additional safeguard, Muslim women are further enjoined not to display their beauty, natural as well as artificial, to those males as are outside the prohibited degrees of marriage (v. 32), except such parts of the body as it is not possible for them to cover, for instance, the build of the body or their stature. For this purpose, they should wear their head-coverings in such a manner as to cover their breasts. (For a detailed note on "Pardah" see v. 32). Another safeguard enjoined for the improvement and preservation of national morals is that widows should not be allowed to remain unmarried. It is further stated that steps should be taken to set free prisoners of war at the earliest occasion and a captive, who does not find it possible to earn his or her freedom immediately, may be allowed to pay the indemnity money in easy instalments.
Towards its close the Surah strongly urges Muslims to set right their family and national affairs and to be on their guard against promiscuous intermingling of the sexes. A special direction to be observed in this respect is that even prisoners of war serving as house servants and also minor children should not enter the private apartments of their masters or parents before dawn, at noon and after nightfall. At other times all members of the household are at liberty to move about the house freely. When, however, children reach their puberty, they should observe the regulations in regard to "pardah." Older women, however, who have no desire or need for marriage can, if they so choose, relax the rules about "pardah," but even they are not allowed to display their adornments to strangers. The organisational structure of society transcends the organisational structure of the family, and the Surah has not neglected to lay down requisite rules for the smooth and successful conduct of national affairs. The Surah then holds out a promise to Muslims that if they carry out the programme of life which God has laid down for them, they will become the leaders of the world both in spiritual and temporal spheres and their religion will become firmly established in the world. But when their rule is established and their cause triumphs and prevails, they should worship God, help the poor and the needy and obey the commandments of their Prophet.