Those who love that indecency spread among the believers deserve a painful chastisement

Spread of evil and indecency has always been a major cause of unrest and destruction of the oral fiber of the societies and mankind. Many a people have been wiped out or they propagated vulgarity and loved to see that indecency spread among those who chose the way of Allah. These evil people love to see scandals published about private lives of others to spread shame for those who try to live by their morals. This also specifically include those who spread porn material either through print or electronic media to mislead the raw minds and destroy their moral fiber. Such evil people are a bane for the society and have been warned by Allah in the 19th verse of Surah 24. An Noor that a a grievous penalty awaits them in this life and in the Hereafter:

اِنَّ الَّذِيۡنَ يُحِبُّوۡنَ اَنۡ تَشِيۡعَ الۡفَاحِشَةُ فِى الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا لَهُمۡ عَذَابٌ اَلِيۡمٌۙ فِى الدُّنۡيَا وَالۡاٰخِرَةِ​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ يَعۡلَمُ وَاَنۡـتُمۡ لَا تَعۡلَمُوۡنَ‏ 

(24:19) Verily those who love that indecency should spread among the believers deserve a painful chastisement in the world and the Hereafter. Allah knows, but you do not know.

The direct interpretation of the verse, in the context in which it occurs, is this: Those who cast aspersions, propagate evil, publicize it and bring Islamic morality into disrepute deserve punishment. The words in the text, however, comprehend all the various forms that can be employed for the propagation of evil. These include actual setting up of brothels, production of erotic stories, songs, paintings, plays and dramas as well as all kinds of mixed gatherings at clubs and hotels, which induce the people to immoralities. The Quran holds all those who resort to such things as criminals, who deserve punishment not only in the Hereafter but in this world as well. Accordingly, it is the duty of an Islamic government to put an end to all such means of propagating immorality. Its penal law must hold all those acts as cognizable offenses which the Qur'an mentions as crimes against public morality and declares the offenders punishable.

“You do not know”: You do not visualize the full impact of individual acts on society as a whole: Allah knows best the number of people who are affected by these acts and their cumulative effect on the collective life of the community. You should accordingly trust in Him and do all you can to eradicate and suppress the evils pointed out by Him. These are not trivial matters to be treated lightly; these have very serious repercussions and the offenders must be dealt with severely.

Ibn Kathir mentions that Imam Ahmad recorded from Thawban that the Prophet said: "Do not annoy the servants of Allah, nor abuse them, nor seek their hidden shortcomings. Whoever seeks out the faults of his Muslim brother, Allah will expose his faults and degrade him, even if he is hiding in his house."

Muhammad Asad Translation:

The term fahishah " الۡفَاحِشَةُ " signifies anything that is morally reprehensible or abominable: hence, "immoral conduct" in the widest sense of this expression. In the above context it refers to unfounded or unproven allegations of immoral conduct, in other words, "foul slander".

This Qur'anic warning against slander and, by obvious implication, against any attempt at seeking out other people’s faults finds a clear echo in several well-authenticated sayings of the Prophet: "Beware of all guesswork [about one another], for, behold, all [such] guesswork is most deceptive (akdhab al-hadith); and do not spy upon one another, and do not try to bare [other people’s] failings" (Muwatta’; almost identical versions of this Tradition have been quoted by Bukhari, Muslim and Abu Da’ud); "Do not hurt those who have surrendered themselves to God (al-muslimin), and do not impute evil to them, and do not try to uncover their nakedness [i.e., their faults]: for, behold, if anyone tries to uncover his brother’s nakedness, God will uncover his own nakedness [on the Day of Judgment]" (Tirmidhi); and, "Never does a believer draw a veil over the nakedness of another believer without God’s drawing a veil over his own nakedness on Resurrection Day" (Bukhari). All these injunctions have received their seal, as it were, in the Qur'anic exhortation: "Avoid most guesswork [about one another] - for, behold, some of [such] guesswork is [in itself] a sin" ( 49:12 ).

Yusuf Ali Translation: 

(Those who love (to see) scandal published broadcast among the Believers will have a grievous Penalty in this life and in the Hereafter: Allah knows and ye know not.)

What mischiefs can be planned by Evil to delude simple folk who mean no harm in their own minds but who by thoughtlessness are deluded step by step to become the instruments of Evil, may not be known to the most instructed of men, but it is all known to Allah. Man should therefore always be on his guard against the traps of Evil, and it is only Allah's grace that can save him.

May Allah help us understand Qur'ān and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. Aameen.

For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an. You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.

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Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully.

An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:

• The plain translation has been taken from the Qur'ān officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 
• The exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. [1]  

In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources: 

• Towards Understanding the Quran
• Tafsir Ibn Khatir
• Muhammad Asad Translation
• Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
• Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
• Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle

In addition the references of  other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.

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Posted in: Chapter 24,Selected Verses from Quran,Surah An Noor,Verse 19