يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَرْفَعُوٓا۟ أَصْوَٰتَكُمْ فَوْقَ صَوْتِ ٱلنَّبِىِّ وَلَا تَجْهَرُوا۟ لَهُۥ بِٱلْقَوْلِ كَجَهْرِ بَعْضِكُمْ لِبَعْضٍ أَن تَحْبَطَ أَعْمَٰلُكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ
O you who have believed, do not raise your voices above the voice of the Prophet or be loud to him in speech like the loudness of some of you to others, lest your deeds become worthless while you perceive not.
Introduction
This is āyah 2 of Sūrat Al-Hujuraat (The Rooms), the 106th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 26. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.
This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.
Revelation & occasion
- Period
- Medinan
- Order revealed
- 106 of 114
- Surah
- Al-Hujuraat (49)
(O ye who believe! Lift not up your voices above the voice of the Prophet�) [49:2]. This verse was revealed about Thabit ibn Qays ibn Shimas who was hard of hearing and loud. When he spoke with a person he always raised his voice. He might have annoyed the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, with his loud voice when he spoke to him. And so Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Muzakki informed us> �Ubayd Allah ibn Muhammad al-Zahid> Abu�l-Qasim al-Baghawi> Qatan ibn Nusayr> Ja�far ibn Sulayman al-Dab�i> Thabit> Anas who said: �When this verse (O ye who believe! Lift not up your voices above the voice of the Prophet) was revealed, Thabit ibn Qays said: �I am the one who used to raise his voice above the voice of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace; I am therefore of the inhabitants of hellfire�. This was mentioned to the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, and he said: �He is rather of the people of the Garden� �. This was narrated by Muslim from Qatan ibn Nusayr. Ibn Abi Mulaykah said: �The best ones, Abu Bakr and �Umar, did almost perish. They raised their voices in the presence of the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, when some horsemen from the Banu Tamim came to see him. One of them suggested al-Aqra� ibn Habis [for the leadership of Banu Tamim] while the other suggested another man. Abu Bakr said to �Umar: �You only wanted to oppose me!� �Umar responded: �I did not want to oppose you�, and they raised their voices while arguing with each other. Allah, exalted is He, revealed about this (O ye who believe! Lift not up your voices above the voice of the Prophet�)�. Ibn al-Zubayr said: �After this verse was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, could hardly hear what �Umar ibn al-Khattab said to him; he had to ask again about what he said�.
Tafsir
Hafiz Ibn Kathir
Chains of transmission
Oral — isnād
- ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation
Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.
- 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation
Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.
- TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation
Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.
Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.
Written — the manuscript record
- ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation
The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).
- 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation
Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.
- Modern printModern printawaiting curation
The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.
A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.
And now — what do you think?
The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.
Community resources
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