And the denial of al-maqām (with a fatḥa) is even more forceful than the denial of al-muqām, although it (1) is also recited with a ḍammah (2). For someone who (3) cannot so much as stand in a place, how could he possibly settle in it (4)?

Allah says: “A faction of them asked the Prophet for leave, saying, ‘Our houses are awrah (exposed),’ while they were not exposed—they only wished to flee” (al-Aḥzāb 33:13).

Some of those censured would say—while the people were with the Prophet ﷺ by Mount Salʿ inside the trench and the women and children were in Medina’s fortified towers—“O Messenger of Allah, our houses are awrah,” meaning exposed, with (5) no barrier between them and the enemy.

The root sense of awrah is an unshielded spot that needs protection and covering. They say, “ʿawirra your sitting-place” when its curtain is lost or its wall collapses; from this comes the phrase “the enemy’s awrah.”

Mujāhid and al-Ḥasan said it means “abandoned; we (6) fear thieves for it.” Qatādah explained that they claimed, “Our houses face the enemy and we do not feel secure for our families; so grant us permission (7) to return to them (8) to protect the women and children.”