Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: (O you who believe, avoid much suspicion.
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Exegesis of His saying, the Exalted: (O you who believe, avoid much suspicion)
Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said: [Al-Hujurat: 12] .
Prefacing the address with (O you who believe) indicates the importance of this matter, and for this reason it was narrated from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: [When you hear Allah say: (O you who believe), give it your full attention; for it is either good that you are commanded to do, or evil that you are forbidden from doing] or a report through which you gain a lesson and a warning,As Allah the Exalted said: [Yusuf:111] .
Allah, Mighty and Majestic, says: (O you who believe, avoid much suspicion, for some suspicion) Suspicion: it is when a person has two possibilities, one of which is more likely than the other,And here Allah the Exalted expressed: (avoid much suspicion) and it did not say: avoid all suspicion,Because suspicion is divided into two categories: ١-The first category: Suspicion of good for a person, and this is required; you should think well of your brothers as long as they are worthy of it, namely the Muslim whose outward appearance is one of justice, for one should think well of him and praise him for what has become apparent to us of his Islam and his deeds.
٢-The second category: Suspicion of evil, and this is forbidden with regard to a Muslim whose outward appearance is one of justice, for it is not permissible for anyone to think evil of him, as the scholars have explicitly stated,So they said (may Allah have mercy on them): It is forbidden to think evil of a Muslim whose outward appearance is one of justice.
And the second: Suspicion of evil toward someone for whom there is evidence that he is worthy of it, so there is no blame on a person for thinking evil of him, and for this reason, among the famous, well-known proverbs is: Beware of people with suspicion, but this is not absolute, as is known,And what is intended is: Beware of the people who are worthy of suspicion, so do not trust them.
The important point is that a person must inevitably have some suspicion in his heart about one of the people, based on indications that point to it, either because signs appear on his face showing that he is frowning and hostile toward the person he is facing, or something similar, or from his circumstances that a person knows about him, or from words that come from him, so he thinks evil of him, and if there is evidence for its existence, there is no blame on the person for thinking evil of him.
If asked: Which is more: the forbidden suspicion or the permissible suspicion?We said: The permissible suspicion is more, because it includes a complete type of the types of suspicion, which is suspicion of good, and it includes much of suspicion of evil; because if there is no indication pointing to this evil suspicion, it is not permissible for a person to be characterized by this suspicion,And for this he said: (much of suspicion) and it did not say: most of the suspicion or all of the suspicion,Rather He said: (much of suspicion) .
Then he said: (for some suspicion is a sin) and this phrase suggests that most suspicion is not a sin, which corresponds exactly to what we have explained and divided,That suspicion is of two types: Suspicion of good and suspicion of evil, then suspicion of evil is not permissible except when there is evidence for its existence,And therefore he said: (for some suspicion is a sin) so what is the suspicion that is not a sin? It is suspicion of good, and suspicion of evil for which there is evidence; this is not a sin; because suspicion of good is the original state, and suspicion of evil for which there is evidence is also specified by the evidence.
Allah, Blessed and Exalted, said:
O you who have believed, avoid much [negative] assumption. Indeed, some assumption is sin. And do not spy or backbite each other.
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا اجْتَنِبُوا كَثِيراً مِنَ الظَّنِّ إِنَّ بَعْضَ الظَّنِّ إِثْمٌ وَلا تَجَسَّسُوا وَلا يَغْتَبْ بَعْضُكُمْ بَعْضاًPrefacing the address with (O you who believe) indicates the importance of this matter, and for this reason it was narrated from Ibn Mas'ud (may Allah be pleased with him) that he said: [When you hear Allah say: (O you who believe), give it your full attention; for it is either good that you are commanded to do, or evil that you are forbidden from doing] or a report through which you gain a lesson and a warning,As Allah the Exalted said:
There was certainly in their stories a lesson for those of understanding
لَقَدْ كَانَ فِي قَصَصِهِمْ عِبْرَةٌ لِأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِAllah, Mighty and Majestic, says: (O you who believe, avoid much suspicion, for some suspicion) Suspicion: it is when a person has two possibilities, one of which is more likely than the other,And here Allah the Exalted expressed: (avoid much suspicion) and it did not say: avoid all suspicion,Because suspicion is divided into two categories: ١-The first category: Suspicion of good for a person, and this is required; you should think well of your brothers as long as they are worthy of it, namely the Muslim whose outward appearance is one of justice, for one should think well of him and praise him for what has become apparent to us of his Islam and his deeds.
٢-The second category: Suspicion of evil, and this is forbidden with regard to a Muslim whose outward appearance is one of justice, for it is not permissible for anyone to think evil of him, as the scholars have explicitly stated,So they said (may Allah have mercy on them): It is forbidden to think evil of a Muslim whose outward appearance is one of justice.
And the second: Suspicion of evil toward someone for whom there is evidence that he is worthy of it, so there is no blame on a person for thinking evil of him, and for this reason, among the famous, well-known proverbs is: Beware of people with suspicion, but this is not absolute, as is known,And what is intended is: Beware of the people who are worthy of suspicion, so do not trust them.
The important point is that a person must inevitably have some suspicion in his heart about one of the people, based on indications that point to it, either because signs appear on his face showing that he is frowning and hostile toward the person he is facing, or something similar, or from his circumstances that a person knows about him, or from words that come from him, so he thinks evil of him, and if there is evidence for its existence, there is no blame on the person for thinking evil of him.
If asked: Which is more: the forbidden suspicion or the permissible suspicion?We said: The permissible suspicion is more, because it includes a complete type of the types of suspicion, which is suspicion of good, and it includes much of suspicion of evil; because if there is no indication pointing to this evil suspicion, it is not permissible for a person to be characterized by this suspicion,And for this he said: (much of suspicion) and it did not say: most of the suspicion or all of the suspicion,Rather He said: (much of suspicion) .
Then he said: (for some suspicion is a sin) and this phrase suggests that most suspicion is not a sin, which corresponds exactly to what we have explained and divided,That suspicion is of two types: Suspicion of good and suspicion of evil, then suspicion of evil is not permissible except when there is evidence for its existence,And therefore he said: (for some suspicion is a sin) so what is the suspicion that is not a sin? It is suspicion of good, and suspicion of evil for which there is evidence; this is not a sin; because suspicion of good is the original state, and suspicion of evil for which there is evidence is also specified by the evidence.