RENAISSANCE MAY 2021

15 Monthly Renaissance May 2021 Had ī th Studies An Occasion of Revelation in S ū rah Ḥ ujur ā t Dr Shehzad Saleem I Introduction Various narratives state that the Prophet (sws) sent Wal ī d ibn ‘Uqbah to collect zak ā h from the tribe of Ban ū Mu ṣṭ aliq; when he was close to their territory, a group from among them came out to welcome him. Wal ī d feared that they had come to kill him; so, he returned to the Prophet (sws) and informed him about what had transpired. This angered the Prophet (sws) very much and he began contemplating an attack on the Ban ū Mu ṣṭ aliq. In the meantime, a delegation from the Ban ū Mu ṣṭ aliq arrived and informed the Prophet (sws) that Wal ī d had never come to them. This diffused the situation. At this, the following Qur’ ā nic verse of S ū rah al- Ḥ ujur ā t was revealed: ﻢۡ ﻓَﺎﺳﻖٌۢ ﺑﻨَﺒَﺎٍ ﻓَﺘَﺒَﻴَﻨﻮۡۤ ‡َ ﺎَﻳﻬَﺎ ﻟَﺬﻳۡﻦَ ٰﻣَﻨﻮۡۤ نۡ ﺟَﺂء g ﻳ َنۡ ﺗﺼﻴۡﺒﻮۡ َ ﻣ BٰYَ ﻗَﻮۡﻣًۢﺎﺑﺠَﻬَﺎﻟَﺔٍ ﻓَﺘﺼۡﺒﺤﻮۡ ﻋ َۡ ﺎﻓَﻌَﻠۡﺘﻢۡ ﻧٰﺪﻣ (Believers! If a defiant person brings you a piece of news to you, investigate it thoroughly lest you assail someone unknowingly; then regret what you did). It signified that Muslims must always investigate the news brought by a defiant person, lest they take a step in ignorance and then regret it. In this article, these narratives will be critically evaluated. II Existing Criticism Am ī n A ḥ san I ṣ l āḥī has criticized this narrative. He writes: Firstly, the verse has asked Muslims not to trust a piece of news given by a f ā siq (defiant person). Before this incident there is nothing known to people from Wal ī d which could,