Surah An-Nur, Ayah 21

A Reminder of the Grace of Allah and a Warning against following the Footsteps of Shaytan

Allah says:

وَلَوْلاَ فَضْلُ اللَّهِ عَلَيْكُمْ وَرَحْمَتُهُ وَأَنَّ اللَّهَ رَءُوفٌ رَّحِيمٌ

(And had it not been for the grace of Allah and His mercy on you, and that Allah is full of kindness, Most Merciful.) meaning, if it were not for this, it would have been another matter altogether, but He, may He be exalted, is full of kindness towards His servants and Merciful towards them. He accepts the repentance of those who repent to Him from this sin, and purifies those among them who are purified by the prescribed punishment carried out on them. Then Allah says:

يأَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لاَ تَتَّبِعُواْ خُطُوَتِ الشَّيْطَـنِ

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ يُحِبُّونَ أَن تَشِيعَ الْفَاحِشَةُ فِي الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ فِي الدُّنْيَا وَالْآخِرَ‌ةِ

Surely, those who like that shamelessness spreads among the believers, for them there is a painful punishment in this world and the Hereafter - 24:19.

Those who had taken part in any way in the slander are again condemned in this verse, and are warned with the punishment in the world and in the Hereafter. An extra element in this verse is that those who propagate such rumors actually want the spread of obscenity and immorality among the Muslims.

The Qur'anic system for the prevention of obscenity

To follow in the footsteps of Satan means acting upon his secret evil promptings. When for no reason at all the mind of an individual is suddenly flooded by feelings of suspicion, when a man begins harbouring negative thoughts about his opponents, it is the insidious work of Satan. Therefore, when such thoughts and feelings take shape, man should, instead of cultivating them, immediately root them out from his heart. To cultivate such feelings amounts to following Satan.To raise a hue and cry against others is inconsistent with humility. There are certain individuals who have very high opinions of themselves, while holding unduly bad opinions about others. Neither trait is in consonance with faith. If a man cultivates faith-oriented humbleness, he becomes so engrossed in introspection that he has absolutely no time to engage himself in unfair criticism of others or in calling others to account.