The Ocean of the Quran

A verse by verse explanation of The Ultimate Scripture

Al-Humazah – Verse 1

بِسمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحمٰنِ الرَّحيمِ

وَيلٌ لِكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُمَزَةٍ

Woe to every scandal-monger and slanderer.

EXEGESIS

Wayl (woe) is an expression of condemnation or doom. It is also reported that it is the name of a valley in hell.‎[1] To begin a statement with wayl, before even mentioning the action that causes the woe, is an eloquent style normally found in Arabic literature, employed to capture the attention of the listener to the severity of the act in question. Wayl appears in the Quran thirty-six times,‎[2] and from those, twenty-seven times as a warning to those who lie.‎[3]

Sūrat al-Humazah and Sūrat al-Muṭaffifīn (83) are the only chapters that start with wayl, which indicates a serious warning and severe threat to those who commit crimes against the rights of others by mocking them, lying to them, cheating them, and usurping their wealth through fraud and force. Additionally, wayl may carry different meanings depending on the context:

  1. It could indicate remorse and regret: Should a whiff of your Lord’s punishment touch them, they would surely say: ‘Woe (wayl) to us! We have indeed been wrongdoers’ (21:46).
  2. It may indicate condemnation: when the righteous among the Jews condemned those who were impressed by the wealth of Korah, they said: ‘Woe to you! Allah’s reward is better for someone who has faith and acts righteously’ (28:80).
  3. It could indicate astonishment or surprise: She said: ‘Oh, my (wayla-tā)! Shall I, an old woman, bear [children], and [while] this husband of mine is an old man?! That is indeed an odd thing!’ (11:72).

Humazah and lumazah are nouns on the standard form of intensive amplification (fuʿalah), which describes a person doing something abundantly, excessively, or extremely more than its normal pattern. For example, the description of nukaḥah for someone who gets married frequently, or ḍuḥakah for someone who laughs excessively.‎[4]  

Humazah is derived from hamz, which literally means to break something physically and repeatedly. Hence, its usage here suggests that insulting someone is breaking that person emotionally, or destroying his dignity in front of others.‎[5]  

Lumazah, is derived from lamz, which literally means to eat, or to stab someone from behind.‎[6] Lumazah is used to describe those who usually try to find and expose defects in someone, especially hidden ones, in their absence, or to mock and to make fun of someone by attacking their dignity, either by words or through signs, facial expressions, symbolism, or bodily expressions.‎[7]  

However, both terms may be used interchangeably to indicate someone who looks for faults and defects to mock others and to defame them in their presence or in their absence.

Hamz has also been used in the Quran to indicate the whispers of Satan (23:97).

Lamz is used in the Quran in 9:58 for someone who defames or criticises the Prophet with insulting remarks, in 9:79 for those who mocked people who did not have anything to donate or contribute to charity, and in 49:11 for those who insult and defame others in general.

EXPOSITION

Islam promotes the respect and honour of every human being; hence, insulting people is a great sin and deserves strong condemnation, as in this surah. These offenders are deprived of the forgiveness of God even if the Messenger of God would intercede for their forgiveness (9:80). This hideous behaviour of mocking and slandering is often caused by one’s ego, arrogance, and pride.

According to Qummī, humazah are those who mock others and humiliate scholars, and lumazah are those who mimic in ridicule and become angry whenever they see a poor person or a beggar who collects some money.‎[8]

It is forbidden in Islam to accept any accusation about someone without knowledge or witnesses. Imam Ali (a) has said regarding giving the benefit of doubt to others: ‘Always think best about your brethren until you gain definitive knowledge that it is otherwise. In addition, do not speculate about a word said by your brethren to be bad or evil as long as you can find a good and justified meaning for it.’‎[9]

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

  1. From the Prophet: ‘The lowest [of] people is he who insults people.’‎[10]

Note: There are around 150 narrations in Wasāʾil al-Shīʿah condemning backbiting, hurting and insulting others, false accusation, slandering, or destroying relations and friendships.‎[11]

  1. Imam al-Riḍā (a) divides gossiping about someone in his absence into three types; he says: ‘Whoever mentions a person in his absence by some defect which the people are aware of, then it would not be considered as backbiting. However, if he mentions something about him that the people are unaware of, then it would be considered backbiting. If he mentions him by some defect which does not exist in him, then he has made a false accusation.’‎[12]
  2. From the Prophet: ‘Shall I inform you who the evilest ones among you are?’ They said: ‘Yes, O Messenger of God!’ He said: ‘The squealers of malicious gossip, those who ruin the relationships of the beloved ones, and those who seek faults in the innocent.’‎[13]
  3. Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) said: ‘Verily, Allah, the blessed and exalted, says: “Whoever insults one of my true believers has prepared himself to have war with Me, for I am a prompt supporter of My beloved ones.”’‎[14]
  4. The Prophet said: ‘Whoever humiliates a believer or disrespects him due to his poverty and vulnerability, God would expose him on the Day of Resurrection.’‎[15]
  5. The Prophet said: ‘Whoever insults a poor Muslim due to his poverty and belittles him has belittled God, thus, the wrath of God and His displeasure would continue on him until He pleases him [i.e. the victim]. And if someone honours a poor Muslim then he would meet God with gladness on the Day of Resurrection.’‎[16]

Note: There are similar narrations in which the Imams considered every insult to their followers an insult to them, as narrated from Imam al-Ṣādiq (a): ‘Whoever belittles a believer has belittled us and violated the sanctity of God, the almighty and exalted.’‎[17]

  1. The Prophet said: ‘Whoever publicises an indecent act of someone would be considered as the doer of it, and whoever blames a believer with a defect would not die unless he sees the same defect in himself.’‎[18]
  2. The Prophet said: ‘Whoever backbites a Muslim, his fast and ablution would become invalid [i.e. lose its essence]. And on the Day of Resurrection he would appear with a smell worse than the nasty repelling smell of a corpse that would disturb the resurrected people … and whoever rejects an accusation about his brother in his absence and defends him, God will prevent him from a thousand doors of evil of this world and the hereafter. However, if he was able to reject it but did not do so, then he would carry the burden seventy times greater than the slanderer.’‎[19]
  3. The Prophet said: ‘Should I tell you what is worse than adultery? [It is] slandering the dignity of a brother.’‎[20]
  4. The Prophet said: ‘On the Night of Ascension, I saw certain people who were fed their own flesh after it was cut from the sides of their body, and they were told: “Eat whatever you used to eat from the flesh of your brethren.” So I asked: “O Gabriel, who are these?” He replied: “These are the hammāz from your nation and the lammāz from your nation.”’‎[21]
  5. Sulaymān al-Daylamī reports: ‘I asked Imam al-Ṣādiq (a) about the meaning of the words of the Almighty and the Exalted, Woe to every scandal-monger and slanderer, and he said: “Those are the ones who usurped the rights of the household of the Prophet (a) and insulted them, and sat on the positions where the Prophet’s household (a) were more worthy than them.”’‎[22]

Note: This is an instance of the application of the verse and not its literal meaning.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Rāzī mentions that wayl is used when someone is in serious trouble or when he is angry with others, similar to words of damnation that are used in such conditions. Thus, when in trouble, one would say al-waylu lī (damn/woe to me). Similarly, when he is angry, he would say al-waylu laka (damn/woe to you). Wayl belongs to a group of words such as waysa‎[23] and wayḥa, which indicate a similar meaning. Furthermore, he connects the title of the sinner (humazah) with the word of its punishment (ḥuṭamah). Humazah literally means someone who breaks abundantly, and when someone mocks a person he breaks the personality of that person. Similarly, ḥuṭamah means that which breaks abundantly, thus, it would break the bones of that person as a punishment. In addition, lumazah literally means to eat, which in this surah indicates a backbiter, and ḥuṭamah could also literally indicate someone who eats the flesh or eats abundantly. Therefore, the punishment of breaking the bones is for breaking the personality of others by mocking, and the punishment of the fire eating the flesh would be for eating the flesh of others, i.e. backbiting.‎[24]

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

  1. Be not thou envious against evil men, neither desire to be with them. For their heart studieth destruction, and their lips talk of mischief.‎[25]
  2. Wisdom istoo high for a fool: he openeth not his mouth in the gate. He that deviseth to do evil shall be called a mischievous person. The thought of foolishness issin: and the scorner is an abomination to men. If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small.‎[26]
  3. Lay not wait, O wicked man, against the dwelling of the righteous; spoil not his resting place.‎[27]
  4. Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.‎[28]
  5. The words of a talebearer areas wounds, and they go down into the innermost parts of the belly. Burning lips and a wicked heart are likea potsherd covered with silver dross. He that hateth dissembleth with his lips, and layeth up deceit within him; When he speaketh fair, believe him not: for there are seven abominations in his heart. Whose hatred is covered by deceit, his wickedness shall be shewed before the whole congregation. Whoso diggeth a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolleth a stone, it will return upon him. A lying tongue hateth those that are afflicted by it; and a flattering mouth worketh ruin.‎[29]
  6. Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.‎[30]
  7. Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure.‎[31]
  8. In the same way, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it boasts of great things. Consider how small a spark sets a great forest ablaze. The tongue also is a fire, a world of wickedness among the parts of the body. It pollutes the whole person, sets the course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.‎[32] 
[1] https://www.almaany.com/quran/104/1/%D9%88%D9%8E%D9%8A%D9%92%D9%84%D9%8C.
[2] https://corpus.quran.com/wordmorphology.jsp?location=(104:1:1).
[3] Furqan, 3/445.
[4] Mizan, 20/358.
[5] https://www.almaany.com/quran/104/1/%D9%87%D9%8F%D9%85%D9%8E%D8%B2%D9%8E%D8%A9%D9%8D/.
[6] Ibn al-Tamjīd, Ḥāshiyat al-Qūnawī ʿalā Tafsīr al-Bayḍāwī wa maʿahu Ḥāshiyat Ibn al-Tamjīd, 20/431.
[7] https://www.almaany.com/quran/104/1/%D9%84%D9%8F%D9%85%D9%8E%D8%B2%D9%8E%D8%A9%D9%8D/.
[8] Nur, 5/667-668.
[9] Wasail, 12/289-302, h. 16361.
[10] Bihar, 75/142.
[11] Wasail, 12/264-311.
[12] Wasail, 12/289, h. 16326.
[13] Wasail, 12/306, h. 16369.
[14] Wasail, 12/266, h. 16267.
[15] Wasail, 12/267, h. 16271.
[16] Wasail, 12/268, h. 16275.
[17] Wasail, 12/272, h. 16286.
[18] Wasail, 12/277, h. 16296.
[19] Wasail, 12/282, h. 16312.
[20] Wasail, 12/285, h. 16318.
[21] Nur, 5/667-668.
[22] Zubaydī, al-Taysīr fī al-Tafsīr lil-Qurʾān bi-Riwāyat Ahl al-Bayt (Beirut: Dār al-Maḥajjah al-Bayḍāʾ, 2007), 8/488.
[23] Razi, 32/283.
[24] Razi, 32/283.
[25] Proverbs 24:1-2.
[26] Proverbs 24:7-10.
[27] Proverbs 24:15.
[28] Exodus 23:1.
[29] Proverbs 26:22-28.
[30] Mathew 7:1-2.
[31] Psalms 101:5.
[32] James 3:5-6.