(O Ye who believe! Enter not the dwellings of the Prophet…) [33:53]. Most of the commentators of the Qur’an said: “When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, married Zaynab bint Jahsh, he organised a wedding feast in which was offered dates and a mush of wheat and he slaughtered a sheep. Anas said: ‘My mother Umm Sulaym sent him a container made of stone. The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, then commanded me to invite his Companions to eat and so I did. Groups of people came, ate and then left. I said: ‘O Prophet of Allah, I have invited everybody and there is no one else to invite’. He said: ‘Take away your food’. They took away the food and people left, except for three people who stayed in the room talking among themselves. They stayed so long that they annoyed the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, who was extremely bashful [such that he could not ask them to leave]. And so this verse was revealed, and the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, drew a veil between him and me’ ”. Muhammad ibn ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Faqih informed us> Abu Umar Muhammad ibn Ahmad al-Hiri> ‘Imran ibn Musa ibn Mujashi‘> ‘Abd al-A‘la ibn Hammad al-Nursi> al-Mu‘tamir ibn Sulayman> his father> Abu Majlaz> Anas ibn Malik who said: “When the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, married Zaynab ibn Jahsh, he invited people to a wedding ceremony. People ate and then remained in their seats talking to each other. The Prophet made as if he was preparing himself to leave but people did not get the hint. He then left the room and people left with him, except for three people who remained sitting. When the Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, returned and found them still sitting, he went out again. When they saw this, the three men left. I went and informed the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, that they had left. He returned and entered his room. I wanted to enter with him but he drew the curtain between him and me. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (O Ye who believe! Enter not the dwellings of the Prophet for a meal without waiting for the proper time…) up to His words (Lo! that in Allah’s sight would be an enormity)”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
