⦗11⦘ “O you who believe, let no people ridicule another people, for they may be better than them; nor let women ridicule other women, for they may be better than them. Do not disparage one another, and do not call one another by offensive nicknames. How wretched is the name of disobedience after faith! Those who do not repent are indeed the wrongdoers.”
Among the rights believers owe one another is that “no people ridicule another people” through any speech, remark, or action that expresses contempt for a Muslim brother. This is unlawful and impermissible, and it reveals the mocker’s self-admiration. The one mocked may well be better than the mocker, as is (1) usually the case in reality. Mockery arises only from a heart filled with bad character and possessed of every reprehensible trait. The Prophet—may Allah bless him and grant him peace—therefore said: “It is sufficient evil for a person to hold his Muslim brother in contempt.”
He then said: “Do not disparage one another,” meaning: do not find fault with one another. Disparagement is committed through speech, while derision is committed through actions. Both are forbidden and unlawful, and both incur the threat of the Fire.
Allah Most High likewise said: “Woe to every derider and defamer,” and so forth. A believing brother (2) is described as his brother’s own self because believers should be like a single body. Moreover, if someone derides another, he causes the other person to deride him in turn and thus becomes the cause of it.
“Do not call one another by offensive nicknames.” That is, none of you should shame his brother or give him a disparaging nickname that he dislikes being applied to him (3). This is what it means to call one another by offensive nicknames. Nicknames that are not disparaging do not fall under this prohibition.
“How wretched is the name of disobedience after faith!” That is, how wretched is what you have taken in exchange for faith, acting according to its teachings, and fulfilling its requirements: by turning away from its commands and prohibitions, you have taken on the name of wickedness and disobedience, namely, calling others by offensive nicknames.
“Those who do not repent are indeed the wrongdoers.” This [is] what the servant must do: repent to Allah Most High and free himself of his Muslim brother’s claim against him by seeking his pardon, seeking Allah’s forgiveness, and praising him in return [for] having disparaged him.
“Those who do not repent are indeed the wrongdoers.” People therefore fall into two categories: one who wrongs himself and remains unrepentant, and one who repents and prospers. There is no third category besides these two.