Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “O wives of the Prophet, you are not like any other women. If you fear Allah, then do not be soft in speech, lest he in whose heart is a disease be tempted. And speak a moderate speech.”

Allah the Mighty and Majestic said: Here, Allah the Exalted directed the address to the wives of the Prophet after He had directed it to His Messenger, saying: This is after the choice was given, which indicates that the marriage was established for the wives of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him). Therefore, He addressed them with His saying: The word is originally *laysa*, but when the *sin* became quiescent, the *ya* was deleted because it is a letter of lenition, and a letter of lenition is deleted when two quiescent letters meet, as Ibn Malik (may Allah have mercy on him) said in *al-Kafiyyah*:
“If two quiescent letters meet, break what precedes; and if it is a letter of lenition, its deletion is due”
This means that the wives of the Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) are not like anyone. The author says: “like a group of women”. His saying “like a group of women” is questionable, because *ahad* is used for the singular, meaning there is no one among the women like you. That is, do not resemble any one woman or more among the women. And his saying: means “fearing” Allah. For you are the greatest, meaning you are not like any other women if you fear Allah. The intent of this condition is to encourage and incite to the fear of Allah. That is, if you truly fear Allah, do not compare yourselves to others, for you are not like any other women. Why? Because of the distinction they have in their connection to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him). Therefore, protecting his bed is more obligatory for them than protecting the beds of their other husbands. Why? Because of the greatness of the right of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the elevation of his rank. And his saying: The intent of the condition here is to encourage and incite to the fear of Allah the Exalted, so that they do not compare themselves to others. The difference is great between the bed of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) and the bed of anyone else. Therefore, whoever falsely accuses one of the wives of the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) of zina is a disbeliever, whereas whoever falsely accuses the wife of someone else is not a disbeliever. This is because falsely accusing one of the wives of the Messenger (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) of zina means slandering the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) and that he is, may Allah protect us from that, impure. For Allah says: [Al-Nur: 26]. Thus, protecting the bed of the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) is more obligatory than protecting the bed of anyone else. Therefore, He said: For men. *Khudh'* means lowering oneself, humility, and submission. So the meaning is: do not lower yourselves, do not be humble, and do not submit to any of the men in speech. That is, your speech when addressing men should not be soft, weak, or easy. Why? Because a woman is a trial. If she is soft in speech, Satan will creep in between her and the man she is addressing, no matter how noble or pure the person is. If a woman addresses him with a soft voice, she may mislead him. Therefore, the Prophet (may Allah’s prayers and peace be upon him) said: The decisive, intelligent, and wise man is one whose mind is not taken away as a woman takes it away. Therefore, He said: Rather, it is obligatory for a woman, when addressing men, to be as far as possible from softness in speech, gentleness, and charm that leads to this great matter, which is His saying: In what? He will be tempted by you, either by committing a lewd act or by enjoying and taking pleasure in talking to you. For the person in whose heart is a disease, if a woman is soft in speech to him, he will continue talking to her until Satan misleads him. Perhaps after that, there will be an appointment, a meeting, and a lewd act. As is often found among the foolish nowadays, may Allah protect us from that, especially after the existence of these telephones. You find that he opens, for example, any number, and if a woman addresses him, she starts with soft, submissive speech until Satan misleads him, misleading him with her and her with him. Therefore, He said: The author says: “hypocrisy”. The correct view is that the intent of *disease* here is the disease of desire and enjoyment, not the disease of hypocrisy. This is because some hypocrites may not have this in their hearts, just as some believers may have this in their hearts. So the intent of *disease* here is the disease of enjoyment and taking pleasure in a woman’s voice. It is a past verb built on quiescence due to its connection to the moving subject pronoun, and also due to its connection to the *nun* of the women. The *nun* of the women is the moving subject pronoun. Yes, what do you say, O Ibrahim?
The student: An imperative verb

The Shaykh : It is a command verb. What is it? It is a past verb, but if you said “the women said so and so,” it would be a past verb. However, when you direct the command to them and say “say a moderate speech,” since He forbade them from being soft in speech, He commanded them to say a moderate speech so that no one would think that a woman does not address a man at all. That is not the case; rather, a woman’s addressing men is permissible, but with a moderate speech. Without softness. And what is the intent of *ma'ruf* (moderate)? Is the intent of *ma'ruf* what is customary among people in the address between men and women, or is the intent of *ma'ruf* what is not *munkar* (wrong)? The intent is the latter. Because if we said it is what people customarily use in address between a man and a woman, this would be subject to the difference in customs. For example, there are people whose custom is for a woman to address a man, laugh at him, and joke with him. As is found now, unfortunately, in many of the lands of the Muslims, a woman with a foreign man she does not know is found standing with him, joking with him, and laughing as if she is addressing her husband, may Allah protect us from that. This is undoubtedly forbidden and is an invitation to lewdness. Therefore, the intent of *ma'ruf* is what is not *munkar*, meaning what the Shari'ah has recognized and approved of, from speech that is far from softness in speech and from enjoyment and taking pleasure in it. And his saying: This is a verbal noun, and is its attribute, so it specifies the type of this speech, which is that it is the moderate speech, not the wrong speech.