Surah An Najm Tafseer

الَّذِينَ يَجْتَنِبُونَ كَبَايِرَ الاِْثْمِ وَالْفَوَاحِشَ إِلاَّ اللَّمَمَ

Those who avoid great sins and Al-Fawahish (immoral sins) except Al-Lamam,

Al-Lamam means, small faults and minor errors.

Imam Ahmad recorded that Ibn Abbas said,

"I have not seen anything that resembles Al-Lamam better than the Hadith that Abu Hurayrah narrated from the Prophet,

إِنَّ اللهَ تَعَالَى كَتَبَ عَلَى ابْنِ ادَمَ حَظَّهُ مِنَ الزِّنَا أَدْرَكَ ذلِكَ لَا مَحَالَةَ فَزِنَا الْعَيْنِ النَّظَرُ وَزِنَا اللِّسَانِ النُّطْقُ وَالنَّفْسُ تَتَمَنَّى وَتَشْتَهِي وَالْفَرْجُ يُصِدِّقُ ذلِكَ أَوْ يُكَذِّبُه

Verily, Allah the Exalted has decreed for the Son of Adam his share of Zina and he will certainly earn his share. The Zina of the eye is by looking, the Zina of the tongue is by talking and the heart wishes and lusts, but the sexual organ either substantiates all this or not."

This Hadith is recorded in the Two Sahihs.

Ibn Jarir recorded that Ibn Mas`ud said,

"The eyes commit Zina by looking, the lips by kissing, the hands by transgressing, the feet by walking, and the sexual organ either materializes all of this or not. When one commits sexual intercourse, he will be someone who committed Zina. Otherwise, it is Al-Lamam."

Masruq and Ash-Sha`bi also held the same view.

Abdur-Rahman bin Nafi`, who is also known as Ibn Lubabah At-Ta'ifi, said,

"I asked Abu Hurayrah about Allah's statement,

إِلاَّ اللَّمَمَ

(except the Lamam), and he said,

`It pertains to kissing, winking one's eye, looking and embracing. When the sexual organ meets the sexual organ in intercourse then Ghusl is obligatory, and that is Zina."

Encouraging Repentance and forbidding Claims of Purity for Oneself

Allah's statement,

إِنَّ رَبَّكَ وَاسِعُ الْمَغْفِرَةِ

verily, your Lord is of vast forgiveness.

asserts that His Mercy encompasses everything, and His forgiveness entails every type of sin, if one repents,

قُلْ يعِبَادِىَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُواْ عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُواْ مِن رَّحْمَةِ اللَّهِ إِنَّ اللَّهَ يَغْفِرُ الذُّنُوبَ جَمِيعاً إِنَّهُ هُوَ الْغَفُورُ الرَّحِيمُ

Say:

"O My servants who have transgressed against them- selves! Despair not of the mercy of Allah:verily, Allah forgives all sins. Truly, He is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful." (39:53)

Allah said,

هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِكُمْ إِذْ أَنشَأَكُم مِّنَ الاَْرْضِ

He knows you well when He created you from the earth,

Allah says,

`He was and still is the All-Knowing Whose knowledge encompasses your affairs, statements and all of the actions that will be committed by you, even when He created your father Adam from the earth and took his offspring from his loin, as small as ants. He then divided them into two groups, a group destined for Paradise and a group to Hellfire,'

وَإِذْ أَنتُمْ أَجِنَّةٌ فِي بُطُونِ أُمَّهَاتِكُمْ

and when you were fetuses in your mothers' wombs.

when He commanded the angel to record one's provisions, age, actions and if he would be among the miserable or the happy.

Allah said,

فَلَ تُزَكُّوا أَنفُسَكُمْ

So, ascribe not purity to yourselves.

forbidding one from ascribing purity and praising himself and thinking highly of his actions,

هُوَ أَعْلَمُ بِمَنِ اتَّقَى

He knows best him who has Taqwa.

Allah said in another Ayah,

أَلَمْ تَرَ إِلَى الَّذِينَ يُزَكُّونَ أَنفُسَهُمْ بَلِ اللَّهُ يُزَكِّى مَن يَشَأءُ وَلَا يُظْلَمُونَ فَتِيلً

Have you not seen those who claim sanctity for themselves. Nay, but Allah sanctifies whom He wills, and they will not be dealt with unjustly, even equal to the extent of a Fatil. (4:49)

In his Sahih, Muslim recorded that Muhammad bin `Amr bin `Ata said,

"I called my daughter, Barrah (the pious one), and Zaynab bint Abu Salamah said to me, `The Messenger of Allah forbade using this name. I was originally called Barrah and he said,

لَاا تُزَكُّوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ إِنَّ اللهَ أَعْلَمُ بِأَهْلِ الْبِرِّ مِنْكُم

Do not ascribe purity to yourselves; Allah knows best who the pious people among you are,'

They said, `What should we call her?'

He said,

سَمُّوهَا زَيْنَب

(Call her Zaynab)."

Imam Ahmad recorded a Hadith from Abdur-Rahman bin Abi Bakrah, from his father who said,

"A man praised another man before the Prophet . The Messenger of Allah said,

وَيْلَكَ قَطَعْتَ عُنُقَ صَاحِبِكَ مرارًا إِذَا كَانَ أَحَدُكُمْ مَادِحًا صَاحِبَهُ لَا مَحَالَةَ فَلْيَقُلْ أَحْسِبُ فُلَنًا وَاللهُ حَسِيبُهُ وَلَا أُزَكِّي عَلَى اللهِ أَحَدًا أَحْسِبُهُ كَذَا وَكَذَا إِنْ كَانَ يَعْلَمُ ذلِك

Woe to you, you have cut off the neck of your friend! (He repeated this), If one of you must praise a friend of his, let him say,

"I think that so-and-so is this and that; Allah knows best about him and I will never purify anyone before Allah,"

if he knows his friend to be as he is describing him."

Al-Bukhari, Muslim, Abu Dawud and Ibn Majah collected this Hadith.

Imam Ahmad recorded that Hammam bin Al-Harith said,

"A man came before Uthman bin Affan and praised him. Al-Miqdad bin Al-Aswad started throwing sand in the face of that man, saying, `The Messenger of Allah ordered us to throw sand in their faces when we see those who praise."'

Muslim and Abu Dawud also collected this Hadith