“Call them by the names of their fathers; that is more just in the sight of Allah. But if you do not know who their fathers are, then they are your brothers (1) in faith and those under your care.” If they are emancipated persons and are not your sons, then call them by the names of your brothers in faith. It has also been said that “those under your care” means your allies in faith. “There is no blame on you for what you do by mistake”—that is, before the prohibition, when you attributed them to someone other than their fathers—“but only for what your hearts deliberately intend”: namely, calling them by other than their fathers after the prohibition.

Qatadah said: “What you do by mistake” means calling a person by other than his father while believing that this is in fact his father. The word “what” in His saying, “what your hearts deliberately intend,” is in the genitive case in coordination with the “what” in His saying, “what you do by mistake.” Its intended meaning is: but rather concerning that which your hearts deliberately intend.

“And Allah is All-Forgiving, Most Merciful.” ‘Abd al-Wahid al-Mulayhi informed us; Ahmad ibn ‘Abdullah al-Nu‘aymi informed us; Muhammad ibn Yusuf informed us; Muhammad ibn Isma‘il informed us; Muhammad ibn Bashshar informed us; Gundar informed us; Shu‘bah informed us from ‘Asim, who said: I heard Abu ‘Uthman say: I heard Sa‘d—who was the first to shoot an arrow in the way of Allah—and Abu Bakrah—who had climbed over the fortress of al-Ta’if with a group of men—say: They came to the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, and said, “We heard the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, say: ‘Whoever knowingly claims affiliation to someone other than his father, Paradise is forbidden to him.’” (2)

“The Prophet is more entitled to the believers than they are to themselves, and his wives are their mothers. Those related by blood are more entitled to one another in the Book of Allah than the believers and the Emigrants, except that you may show kindness to your close associates. That is inscribed in the Book. (6)”

His saying, exalted is He, “The Prophet is more entitled to the believers than they are to themselves,” means that, in the enforcement of his judgement over them and the obligation upon them to obey him, he has greater right over them than they have over one another. Ibn ‘Abbas and ‘Ata’ said: This means that if the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, calls them to something while their own selves call them to something else, obeying the Prophet, peace and blessings be upon him, takes precedence for them over obeying themselves. (3) Ibn Zayd said: The Prophet is more entitled to the believers than they are to themselves with regard to whatever he decrees concerning them, just as you have greater authority over your servant regarding whatever you decree for him. It has also been said that he has greater right over them in requiring them to undertake jihad and to sacrifice their lives in his defense.