Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL HUJURAAT [4]

4. Verily, those who call you from behind the dwellings, most of them have no sense. 5. And if they had patience till you could come out to them, it would have been better for them. And Allah is Forgiving, Most Merciful. 6. O you who believe! If a rebellious evil person comes to you with a news, verify it, lest you harm people in ignorance, and afterwards you become regretful to what you have done. Allah the Exalted and Most Blessed admonished those, such as the uncivilized bedouins, who used to call to the Prophet from behind the dwellings which belong to his wives,

(most of them have no sense.) Allah the Exalted and Most Honored then ordains the better behavior in this regard,

(And if they had patience till you could come out to them, it would have been better for them.) it would have earned them the better benefit of this life and the Hereafter. Allah, Worthy of all praise, then encourages them to turn to Him in repentance.

(And Allah is Forgiving, Most Merciful.) It was reported that this Ayah was revealed about Al-Aqra` bin Habis At-Tamimi, may Allah be pleased with him, according to more than one source. Imam Ahmad recorded that Al-Aqra` bin Habis said that he called the Messenger of Allah from behind his dwellings, saying, ”O Muhammad! O Muhammad!'' ”O Allah's Messenger!'' according to another narration, but the Messenger did not answer him, Al-Aqra` said, ”O Allah's Messenger. Allah the Exalted ordered investigating the news that sinners and the wicked bring, to make sure of its authenticity. Otherwise, if the sinner's word is taken for granted and a decision is based on it, regardless of whether the information is true or not, the authorities will be taking the lead of the sinners. Allah the Exalted and Most Honored forbade taking the path of the corrupted and sinners. This is why groups of the scholars of Hadith refuse to accept narrations from narrators whose reliability is unknown, for they might be from among the wicked people, in reality. Allah said,