Sura al-Nur: (62) "The believers are only those..."
Then, the Blessed and Exalted One made the conclusion of the seal His saying, the Sublime: "The believers are only those who have believed in Allah and His Messenger..." [up to the end of the verse]. This is an indication that the anchor of all that, and the one who benefits from those verses, is the group that has surrendered itself to the possessor of the Sharia (may the blessings and peace of Allah the Exalted be upon him) like a corpse in the hands of the washer; he does not move backward or forward without his (peace and blessings be upon him) signal. Because of this subtlety, Shihab al-Haqq wa al-Din Abu Hafs Umar al-Suhrawardi (may his secret be sanctified) cited this verse in the chapter on the conduct of the disciple (murid) with the Sheikh, alerting thereby that everything he prescribes from the affairs of religion is a matter of collective importance.
The Sheikh al-Islam said: This is a fresh beginning (isti'naf) brought at the end of the preceding rulings to confirm them, emphasize the necessity of observing them, and complete them by explaining another part of their nature. The mention of belief in Allah the Exalted and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) is the linkage (silah) for the relative noun (al-ladhina) which serves as the predicate (khabar) for the subject (mubtada'), while certainly encompassing it, as a confirmation of what preceded it and a prelude to what will follow. It serves as a signal that it is worthy to be made an adjunct to the mentioned faith and ordered in its string. Therefore, His saying, the Exalted: "And when they are with him upon a matter of collective importance..." [up to the end] is conjoined to "believed," entering with it into the sphere of the linkage (silah). By this, the predication and the exclusivity (hasr) hold true in terms of perfection—meaning: "The perfect ones in faith are only those who believed in Allah the Exalted and His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) from the depths of their hearts, and obeyed in all the rulings—among which are those detailed previously—related to their general, habitual states and those states occurring by chance, such as when they are with him (peace and blessings be upon him) for an important matter that requires their gathering, such as Friday prayers, festivals, wars, and other matters calling for an assembly for some purpose."
Ibn Zayd said the "matter of collective importance" is Jihad. Al-Dahhak and Ibn Salam said: It is every prayer that includes a sermon, such as Friday, the two Eids, and the prayer for rain (istisqa'). From Ibn Jubayr, it is Jihad, the Friday prayer, and the two Eids. It is not hidden that the first [view] is more general, even if the verse was revealed regarding the digging of the Trench; perhaps what was mentioned is by way of illustration. Describing the matter as "collective" (jami'), despite the fact that it is a cause for gathering, is for the sake of hyperbole; the apparent meaning is that it is a figurative metaphor of the intellect (majaz aqli), and it is permissible for it to be an implied metaphor (isti'ara makniyya).
Al-Yamani read it as 'ala amrin jami'in (a gathered matter), which is synonymous with jami' (gathering/collective), or majmu'in lahu (something gathered for), by way of omission and connection.
"...they do not go away" from him (peace and blessings be upon him) "until they ask his permission" (peace and blessings be upon him) to depart, and he grants them that, so they go. The goal is the permission obtained after asking for it. Limiting the mention to the asking of permission is because that is what is completed by them and is what is considered in the perfection of faith, not the permission itself nor the departure resulting from it. Its consideration in that is because it is like a dowry for its validity and the differentiator between the sincere one and the hypocrite; for the latter's habit is to sneak away to flee. To express the magnitude of the transgression in leaving without his (peace and blessings be upon him) permission, and to alert [the reader] to that, He (Glorified and Exalted is He) followed it with His saying: "Indeed, those who ask your permission—those are the ones who believe in Allah and His Messenger." He made the askers of permission the believers, reversing the first [part], as an indication that they are mirrors of one another, perfectly equal. From this, it follows that it is like a criterion for the validity of both faiths. The demonstrative pronoun "those" is used to indicate that the two faiths are eligible for that.
"So if they ask your permission" is a statement of what his (may Allah the Exalted grant him peace) function is in this regard, following the statement of what the function of the believers is. The fa (so/then) is for the sequencing of what follows it upon what precedes it—meaning: after it was established that the perfect ones in faith are the ones who ask permission, "so if they ask your permission for some of their affair," meaning for some of their important matter and urgent concern, "then grant permission to whom you wish among them." This is a delegation of the matter to his (peace and blessings be upon him) judgment. This has been used as evidence that some rulings are delegated to his (may Allah the Exalted grant him peace) judgment. This is the issue of delegation (tafwid), the permissibility of which is disputed among legal theorists: that is, when a ruling is delegated to a jurist (mujtahid) and he is told, "Judge as you wish, for it is correct." A group permitted this, but they differed; Musa ibn 'Imran said it is permissible absolutely for the Prophet and other scholars. Abu 'Ali al-Jubba'i said it is permitted specifically for the Prophet in one of his two views. It has been reported from Imam al-Shafi'i (may mercy be upon him) in al-Risala what indicates hesitation between permission and prohibition. The others forbade it. Those who permitted it differed on whether it has actually occurred. Al-Adami said: The chosen view is permission, but not occurrence. The discussion on this station is lengthy, so let it be consulted. What I incline toward is the permissibility of delegating the ruling to the mujtahid if it is known that he judges with reflection, not out of caprice. In that case, the delegation is like a command to perform ijtihad. It is more befitting of the status of Allah the Exalted and the status of His Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) that what is here be interpreted accordingly, and that the "will" (mashia) be restricted by the knowledge of the interest (maslaha). Some virtuous scholars mentioned there is no disagreement on the permissibility of saying: "Judge as you wish, through reflection," rather the disagreement is in the permissibility of saying: "Judge as you wish, out of caprice, however it may happen." You know that after the restriction, what we are discussing is not a point of contention. It is strange what has been said, that the meaning of "whom you wish among them" is 'Umar ibn al-Khattab (may Allah the Exalted be pleased with him); the defect in this is evident.
"And ask forgiveness for them of Allah." For the asking of permission, even if it is for a strong excuse, is not free from the nuance of placing the affair of the world before the affair of the Hereafter. "For them" is placed first to hasten the seeking of forgiveness for the one who asks for permission, not for the permission itself.
"Indeed, Allah is Forgiving," excessive in forgiving the lapses of the servants, "Merciful," excessive in pouring down the heavy rains of mercy upon them. The sentence is a justification for the forgiveness promised within the context of seeking forgiveness for them. His (Exalted is He) concern in honoring His Messenger (may the blessings and peace of Allah the Exalted be upon him) reached such a level that He made the act of asking permission to leave him a sin requiring forgiveness, let alone leaving without permission. He made the permission conditional upon the request for permission for some of their affairs, not upon the request for permission absolutely, nor upon requesting permission for any matter regardless of whether it is important or not. Despite all this, He attached the permission to the "will." If you consider the aspects of hyperbole in His saying (The Exalted): "The believers are only those..." up to this point, you will find they exceed ten. In Ahkam al-Qur'an by al-Jalal al-Suyuti, it is stated that in the verse there is evidence for the necessity of seeking his (may Allah the Exalted grant him peace) permission before leaving his presence in every matter upon which they are gathered. Al-Hasan said: Other than the Messenger (may Allah the Exalted grant him peace) from among the Imams, the same applies to them, because of the religious and personal etiquette contained therein. Ibn al-Faras said: There is no disagreement regarding a military expedition that one must seek the permission of his commander if he has an excuse that prompts him to leave. There is disagreement regarding the Friday prayer if one has an excuse like a nosebleed or other such things; it is said that he is obligated to ask for permission, whether his leader is the prince or someone else, derived from the verse. This was reported from Makhul and al-Zuhri.
