أُولٰئِكَ الَّذينَ كَفَروا بِآياتِ رَبِّهِم وَلِقائِهِ فَحَبِطَت أَعمالُهُم فَلا نُقيمُ لَهُم يَومَ القِيامَةِ وَزنًا
They are the ones who deny the signs of their Lord and the encounter with Him. So their works have failed. On the Day of Resurrection We will not set for them any weight.
EXEGESIS
Kafarū (they deny) comes from kufr, literally meaning to hide something, but generally in the Quran is used to refer to hiding the truth that has come from God by denying it and belying it.
Liqāʾ (encounter) means to come face to face with someone and establishing some sort of contact. Earlier in the surah it was used about Khiḍr (a) and Moses (a) When they encountered (laqiyā) a boy (verse 74). The encounter with the Lord has been mentioned in several verses of the Quran, and has been interpreted as encountering His judgement and His reward and punishment, although there is deeper meaning to that.
Ḥabiṭat (failed) comes from ḥubūṭ, which means to fall down and be wiped out. Here it means their actions are without value and do not achieve the intended outcome. Those actions are wiped out and lost, not benefitting them in any way, Then We shall attend to the works they have done and then turn them into scattered dust (25:23). The reader should recall how the surah began by the exhortation that all worldly things will be lost (verses 7-8). Actions find permanence and reward when they are attached to the eternal glory of God through servitude to Him. Otherwise they are fleeting like all worldly things.
Wazn (weight) if used as a noun means weight, and if used as a verbal noun it means weighing and measuring, either physically, such as in the verse, When you measure, observe fully the measure, [and] weigh with an even balance (17:35), or spiritually, He raised the sky and set up the balance (mīzān), declaring: ‘Do not infringe the balance! Maintain the weights (wazn) with justice, and do not shorten the balance!’ (55:7-9).
It goes without saying that weighing and measuring of every entity is according to its nature and calls for its particular scale. Different entities like heat, weight, length, pressure, temperature, or prosody, all have their own means of measuring. In the same way, weighing of actions has its own scales, which is the truth included in the action. The weighing [of deeds] on that day is [based on] truth. As for those whose deeds weigh heavy in the scales, it is they who are the felicitous. As for those whose deeds weigh light in the scales, it is they who have ruined their souls, because they used to wrong Our signs (7:8-9).
EXPOSITION
This verse explains the reason for the loss of actions spoken of in verse 103. In that sense, it can be considered the opposite of the verse, As for those who have faith and do righteous deeds – indeed We do not waste the reward of those who are good in deeds (verse 30), wherein God describes the good actions of the faithful not going astray or being lost.
They: They are the ones described in the previous two verses, the biggest losers in their actions and whose efforts have been in vain and gone awry.
Are the ones who deny the signs of their Lord: signs here has a vast meaning, encompassing the revelation given to prophets, miracles, creation itself, our own God-given intellect, and so on. Or it can mean to deny His existence or oneness, or to deny that all means and causes are subject to Him. Perhaps it is best to understand it to mean the knowledge that has come from God, as per the surah’s main theme.
These signs are the ones that bring a person out of the state of myopia and can illuminate the path that lays ahead, giving man knowledge of things about which he would otherwise be ignorant. The most important reality that man should know about the path ahead of him is that he must and will encounter his Lord.
And the encounter with Him: naturally, God is not physical or limited to physical space, therefore it would not be possible to encounter Him physically or see Him. Encountering Him should then be understood in some other way. One possibility is that it means to encounter His judgement. It has also been said to mean encountering the reward or punishment of God. Or, more generally, to be a reference to all the various stages following resurrection. Or it means to reach such certain knowledge of His existence that no one may deny Him after that, as if they had come face to face with Him and witnessed His reality, and they shall know that Allah is the manifest reality (24:25).
Another suggestion is that encounter means to face something in a way that one cannot turn away from it. That is, the encounter with God is an event that cannot be avoided or turned away from.
Importantly, the fact that the encounter is not a physical one, it should not be understood as indication that resurrection will not be bodily. Human beings will be resurrected in their physical bodies, however, their encounter with God will not be a physical one.
So their works have failed: because they did not perform them as God commanded. The article So is indicative that their works have failed as a result of what was said before, that is, their denying the signs of God and the encounter with Him. Keep in mind what we said in the previous verse about kufr (denial) being different to jahl (ignorance). Their works have not failed because they unwittingly did not act as God commanded, but rather they knowingly opposed His command.
For more on the concept of iḥbāṭ (annihilation) of actions see the commentary on verse 2:217.
On the Day of Resurrection We will not set for them any weight: wazn, as was said before, could be a noun or a verbal noun. If it is a verbal noun then the verse means their actions will not be weighed as they have not stored any good actions, since due to the annihilation of their actions nothing of value is left for them to be weighed. If we take it as a noun then it means: We do not give any weight to their actions.
This verse informs us of an important point about the nature of the scales that are set up on the Day of Judgement and how actions are weighed. The scales on that day will weigh the good actions as those are what have weight and value. The weighing [of deeds] on that day is [based on] truth. As for those whose deeds weigh heavy in the scales, it is they who are the felicitous. As for those whose deeds weigh light in the scales, it is they who have ruined their souls, because they used to wrong Our signs (7:8-9).
Truth (ḥaqq) is used to weigh actions, meaning that the more aligned actions are with ḥaqq the more weight they have. Those whose actions are not aligned with ḥaqq have nothing that can be weighed. That which has weight, or value, is the good actions done in obedience to God, As for him whose deeds weigh heavy in the scales, he will have a pleasing life (101:6-7). Whereas actions of disobedience or those done for the sake of other than God are valueless and carry no weight, But as for him whose deeds weigh light in the scales, his home will be the abyss (101:8-9). In fact, it may even be understood that God is not looking for quantity but quality in actions, as it is the closeness to ḥaqq that is being sought. He, who created death and life that He may test you [to see] which of you is best in conduct (67:2), about which it is reported from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a): ‘It does not mean the most in deeds, but rather the most correct (aṣwab) in deeds. Correctness is to fear God and have a truthful and good intention.’ The same was also mentioned in the beginning of this surah when God declared that We may test them [to see] which of them is best in conduct (verse 7). In light of this, we may understand many things, such as why martyrs have such a high station, or why the magicians of Pharaoh were deserving of reward, and so on.
The plural use of scales in other verses (for example 21:47 and those quoted earlier), suggests that different scales are used to weigh different types of actions. The singular (weight) is used in this verse because there is no need to set up any scale for the failed and annihilated deeds.
We also understand from what was said in the previous verse that it is referring to deeds which they thought were good and God is emphasising that those deeds have no value by saying they have no weight. This is because they did those while disobeying God’s actual commands, thinking they know better than Him.
There is also a sense of disparagement here, as it is belittling their works, saying they amount to nothing. God will pay no attention to them, as they have not done any good actions worth noting. He will say: ‘So it is. Our signs came to you, but you forgot them, and thus you will be forgotten today’ (20:126). This is a very pertinent point and speaks to their entitled sense of self-worth, which was the cause for them thinking they know better than God and refusing to submit to His commands.
In total there are three groups of people when it comes to weighing of actions on the Day of Judgement. One is those who have no sins or whose actions are so overwhelmingly good that they enter paradise without any need for accounting. Another is those whose actions are so overwhelmingly evil that they are taken to hell, as they have no good deeds that need to be counted or weighed. The third is those who have a mixture of good and bad deeds and whose actions are then weighed. This is probably the vast majority of mankind.
For more on the scales that are set up on the Day of Judgement see the commentary on verse 7:9.
INSIGHTS FROM HADITH
- In a long hadith from Imam Ali (a): ‘… of them are the leaders of kufr and the chiefs of misguidance. For them no scales will be set up on the Day of Judgement and He would not pay them heed, since they did not pay heed to His command or His prohibition. On the Day of Judgement they will remain in hell [forever]. The fire will scorch their faces, and they will be morose in it [23:103-104].’
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
Regarding the word ḥabiṭat, which we said comes from ḥubūṭ, it is said to literally mean the swelling of the stomach of a creature that has eaten something it should not have, as a result of which it gets ill and dies. It is said their actions are described in this manner because their appearance is that of being sated and fine, whilst in reality it is sickness and leads to destruction. They have a bloated sense of self-worth, extolling their own supposed good works, while in reality those are nothing but a cause for their destruction. However, the more pertinent meaning in this verse is one of annihilation.
Rāzī has argued that to interpret encounter as encountering reward requires supposing a type of omission (iḍmār), whereas he asserts that encounter is well-known to be used figuratively for seeing someone (ruʾyah), and we should prefer a well-known figurative expression to any assumption of omission. Thus he concludes the verse intends people seeing God. Well, as one can see, his argument is not very convincing, but more importantly, the whole Asharite position on seeing God on the Day of Judgement is problematic from a theological and rational perspective and is mostly based on certain reports and an unnecessarily literal understanding of the verses. As we said, God does not have physical form or occupy space in order for Him to be seen. So, seeing Him or encountering Him should be understood as seeing His mercy, majesty, authority, kingdom, sovereignty, or something to that effect. If one wishes to then argue that what is meant by ‘seeing’ is not seeing with physical eyesight, then the discussion is meaningless and becomes merely a matter of wordplay as it circles back to the correct view that seeing God is seeing a manifestation of one of the aforementioned aspects.
Shaʿrāwī argues that the expression We will not set for them any weight should be understood as disparagement, but also points out that scales will actually be set up for them, however because they have no worthwhile deeds, it is as if it there was no need to set up the scales at all. He further adds that the expression is used because scales are not set up for them (lahum) – that is, to benefit them – but rather scales are set up against them (ʿalayhim).
Some have said that scales are only set up for monotheists who do good deeds.
INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS
- If anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
- For as the body apart from the spirit is dead, so also faith apart from works is dead.
[1] Tahqiq, 10/228, l-q-y.
[2] Tahqiq, 2/185, ḥ-b-ṭ.
[3] Tabrisi, 6/767; Tantawi, 8/584.
[4] Tahqiq, 13/97-99, w-z-n.
[5] Mizan, 13/400; Tantawi, 8/584. See also Sharawi, p. 9003; Munyah, 17/87.
[6] Nemuneh, 12/561.
[7] Tibyan, 7/98.
[8] Alusi, 8/368; Mizan, 13/400.
[9] Nemuneh, 12/566-567.
[10] Munyah, 17/87-88.
[11] Tibyan, 7/98.
[12] Alusi, 8/369.
[13] See also Tibyan, 7/98.
[14] Mizan, 13/401.
[15] Tabari, 16/29; Qurtubi, 11/67; Alusi, 8/369.
[16] Kafi, 2/16.
[17] Tibyan, 7/98; Tabrisi, 6/767; Baghawi, 3/221.
[18] Tantawi, 8/584.
[19] Nemuneh, 12/568.
[20] Tantawi, 8/584.
[21] Fadlallah, 14/398; Furqan, 18/232.
[22] Tantawi, 8/584.
[23] For example Razi, 21/502.
[24] Sharawi, pp. 9004-9005.
[25] Zamakhshari, 2/749.
[26] 1 Corinthians 3:15.
[27] James 2:26.