وَجاءَ فِرعَونُ وَمَن قَبلَهُ وَالمُؤتَفِكاتُ بِالخاطِئَةِ
Then brought Pharaoh and those who were before him, and the towns that were overturned, iniquity.
EXEGESIS
Pharaoh mentioned in this verse is the Pharaoh who enslaved the Children of Israel and fought Prophet Moses (a).
And those who were before him are the rebellious nations before the Pharaoh such as the nations of ʿĀd and Thamūd mentioned earlier, and the people of Prophet Noah (a) and Prophet Shuʿayb (a) who also lived before the Pharaoh.
And the towns that were overturned (al-muʾtafikāt) are the towns of Sodom and Gomorrah to which Prophet Lot (a) was sent (see 7:80-84 and 11:77-83). They are also referred to as the towns that were overturned in 9:70, and Sodom is mentioned in the singular as the overturned town (al-muʾtafikah) in 53:53. They are referred to in this manner because God describes their destruction as: We made its [i.e. Sodom’s] topmost part its nethermost (11:82), i.e. it was turned upside down.
Khāṭiʾah (iniquity) can be a sin, an offence, and an act of disobedience deserving of punishment, but it can also be a genuine mistake, a slip, or lapse. In the context of this verse, it holds the former meaning and therefore, the iniquity (khāṭiʾah) that the Pharaoh and others brought can be all forms of transgressions, including polytheism, faithlessness, sinful rebellion, and injustice towards oneself or others. But more importantly, khāṭiʾah here suggests they had crossed all boundaries and the threshold of ever repenting again; and their destruction was only after exhausting all excuses and pleas for reform. It is like the case of the people of Prophet Noah (a) who were drowned because of their iniquities (khaṭīʾātihim) (71:25). See the Exposition for a detailed recount of the Pharaoh’s iniquities and others mentioned in this verse.
The Pharaoh and his allies are also called iniquitous (khāṭiʾīn) in 28:8, as are the inmates of hell in verse 37 of this surah. Also see the Review of Tafsīr Literature for more on the meaning and use of the term khāṭiʾah in the Quran.
EXPOSITION
The iniquities of the Pharaoh and his elite is that they were given signs from God but they wronged them (7:103) and rebelled (ṭaghā) (20:24, 20:43), and thus became the agents of corruption (mufsidīn) (7:103). Even before Prophet Moses (a) was born, and later when he was sent to warn him, the Pharaoh had enslaved the Children of Israel: Indeed the Pharaoh tyrannised over the land reducing its people to factions, abusing one group of them, slaughtering their sons and sparing their women. Indeed he was one of the agents of corruption (28:4).
At first, God asked Prophet Moses (a) and his brother, Prophet Aaron (a), to counsel the Pharaoh: Speak to him in a soft manner; maybe he will take admonition or fear (20:44). Prophet Moses (a) asked the Pharaoh to free the Children of Israel from slavery (26:17) and not to torture them (20:47) but it fell on deaf ears. Instead, the Pharaoh mocked Prophet Moses (a) and his brother (26:25 and 26:27). Prophet Moses (a) then showed the Pharaoh and his elite miracles, but they called it magic (7:109, 20:63, 28:36). Then the Pharaoh brought the best of his magicians but they were proven false (7:111-119, 20:69, 26:45). When the magicians confessed to the truth of Prophet Moses (a) and submitted to God (20:70, 26:46-48), the Pharaoh still refused to accept and instead had them tortured and crucified (7:124, 20:71, 26:49). He killed the males from the Children of Israel and spared the women, enslaving and abusing them (7:127). Prophet Moses (a) and Prophet Aaron (a) even warned the Pharaoh: Indeed it has been revealed to us that the punishment will befall those who deny and turn their backs [on us] (20:48) but the Pharaoh continued to challenge him. God tested the Pharaoh and his people with drought (7:130), a flood and locusts, lice, frogs, and blood, as distinct signs. But they acted arrogantly, and they were a guilty lot (7:133). Whenever a plague fell upon them, they would say: ‘O Moses, invoke your Lord for us by the covenant He has made with you. If You remove the plague from us, we will certainly believe in You and let the Children of Israel go along with you.’ But when We had removed the plague from them until a term that they should have completed, behold, they broke their promise (7:134-135). In the end, the Pharaoh, fed up with the constant afflictions and signs from God, set the Israelites free and allowed them to leave with Prophet Moses (a). As soon as they had left, he regretted his decision, and his arrogance and wrath overwhelmed him again (26:55). He now brought up his army and began chasing Prophet Moses (a) and his people to the seashores. In another sign of God’s omnipotence, the sea split open, and each part was as if it were a great mountain (26:63), and Prophet Moses (a) and his people crossed the dry seabed (20:77). The Pharaoh still decided to pursue them into the sea (20:78). This was clearly a man whose iniquities had crossed all boundaries, exhausted all pleas, and he would never repent. So We took vengeance on them and drowned them in the sea, for they denied Our signs and were oblivious to them (7:136). Indeed Pharaoh and Hāmān and their hosts were iniquitous (khāṭiʾīn) (28:8).
As for the iniquities of Prophet Lot’s (a) people, whose towns were overturned, they habitually committed an outrage unprecedented in its acceptance and practice before them, which was the practice of homosexuality (26:165-166, 29:29). As their prophet, Lot (a), reprimands them: Indeed you come to men with lust instead of women! Rather you are a profligate lot (musrifūn) (7:81). Prophet Lot (a) also calls them a corruptive lot (mufsidīn) (29:30). But they ignored him and his followers, calling for their expulsion from their town, as a puritanical lot (7:82). When they exceeded in their iniquity and there was no plea or excuse left, God sent angels to destroy them and their towns. Prophet Lot (a) and his family were delivered and asked to leave the town before dawn, except for his wife who was unrighteous and remained behind (11:81, 15:60, 29:32). So when the punishment came, We made its topmost part its nethermost (11:82, 15:74) and We poured down upon them a rain [of stones]. So observe how was the fate of the guilty! (7:84). And so they were punished because of the transgressions they used to commit (29:34).
For more details on the Pharaoh’s story, see the Expositions of 7:103-137, 20:24-79, and 26:10-68. For the story of Prophet Moses (a) from his birth to his being commissioned to confront the Pharaoh, see 28:3-21.
For more details on the story of Prophet Lot’s (a) people, see the Expositions of 7:80-84, 11:70-83, 15:58-77, 26:160-175, and 29:28-35.
REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE
As nouns, khaṭīʾah (pl. khaṭīʾāt or khaṭāyā) and khaṭaʾ carry a similar meaning to khāṭiʾah that is given in this verse. Some exegetes have tried to distinguish as to when this term means sin versus a genuine mistake. They have argued that when the first verb form faʿala is used (for example as khaṭaʾa or khaṭaʾtu) it denotes sin, whereas the fourth verb form afʿala (for example in akhṭaʾa and akhṭaʾtu) denotes a mistake and an unintentional sin, or for when one intends something good but it results in the opposite. And they have tried reconciling this theory with the various verses from the Quran that use these terms, such as, There will be no sin upon you for any mistake (akhṭaʾtum) that you make therein (33:5).
Such a distinction of meaning, based on the Arabic verb form, is very helpful but quickly becomes complicated when the term is used as a noun, adjective, or infinitive. For example, the noun khaṭīʾah suggests a wrongdoing in 4:112: But someone who commits an iniquity (khaṭīʾah) or sin and then accuses an innocent person of it, is indeed guilty of calumny and a flagrant sin, but it is understood as a sincere mistake in the context of Prophet Abraham’s (a) words in 26:82: and who, I hope, will forgive me my iniquities (khaṭīʾatī) on the Day of Retribution (26:82).
It therefore seems more likely that the meaning of all the various derivatives of khaṭīʾah is dependent on the verse’s context, and, more importantly, on the subject’s intention. When used in reference to the sincere and the repentant, it carries the meaning of a lapse and unintentional sin or mistake, and when used for the unrighteous, it acts as a synonym for sin and wrongdoing. In the latter’s case, it is often mentioned along with another synonymous term such as sayyiʾah (misdeed) (2:81), ithm (sin) (4:112), and so forth. This, Rāghib argues, is because khaṭīʾah and its derivatives usually refer to a wrong that was not intended directly but was an effect and result of another intended offence or sin. He uses the analogies of a hunter who shoots his arrow at a prey and then ends up injuring another person; or one who consumes an intoxicant and then commits a crime. The intent was something else but it gave birth to a crime that was not the primary intent.
Rāghib does concede however, that though the occurrence of khaṭīʾah in the Quran mostly refers to unintended, indirect sins and mistakes, it can also, at times, refer directly to a major sin, and he cites the verse under discussion as an example, because the Pharaoh and others mentioned in the verse could not have been destroyed for genuine mistakes or sins they never intended. Rather, their chastisement would have been for what they would have fully premeditated, committed, and refused to repent from.
What we can conclude from all this is as follows: first, whereas terms like sayyiʾah, dhanb, and ithm are commonly understood as unconditional sin, the term khaṭīʾah factors in the doer’s intention before it can be categorised as either a crime or a mistake. When used in the Quran to refer to one who is sincere or repentant, it alludes to a slip or the unintended result of another sin. And when used to refer to the wretched – those on whom befalls divine chastisement in this world and for whom the term is used followed by the mention of hellfire – then the term is used synonymously to sin (ithm) and wrongdoing (ẓulm). Examples of the former can be found in verses such as: Our Lord! Take us not to task if we forget or make mistakes (akhṭaʾnā)! (2:286), A believer may not kill another believer, unless it is by mistake (khaṭaʾan) (4:92), We have indeed believed in our Lord that He may forgive us our iniquities (khaṭāyānā) (20:73; see also 26:51). See also 12:29, 12:91, and 12:97 that speak of Potiphar’s wife and the brothers of Prophet Joseph (a). Note that they commit a sin (dhanb) but since it is not malicious and intentional and is a result of being overcome by their desires or jealousies respectively, and they eventually repent, they are mentioned as being from the erring (khāṭiʾīn) and not the sinful (mudhnibīn). Conversely, examples of khāṭiʾah and khaṭīʾah in reference to punishable, unrepented sins can be found in verses such as the one under discussion and verse 37 of this surah, and others such as Do not kill your children … killing them is indeed a great iniquity (khiṭʾan) (17:31), Indeed Pharaoh and Hāmān and their hosts were iniquitous (khāṭiʾīn) (28:8), They were drowned because of their iniquities (khaṭīʾātihim) (71:25), and, We shall seize him by the forelock, a lying, sinful (khāṭiʾah) forelock! (96:15-16).
And second, besides the initial categorisation of the term based on the intent of the doer, the two meanings of lapse and sin are closely interconnected, and the first meaning can quickly morph into the second if repentance is ignored. Meaning, though khaṭīʾah is often unintended and is the side-effect of another sin as ‘collateral damage’, the righteous are humble and constantly seek forgiveness from the accumulation of such mistakes, whereas the arrogant are heedless of these khaṭīʾāt or khaṭāyā and never seek God’s forgiveness; and hence, over time, and with habitual and persistent wrongdoing, the khaṭāyā leave an imprint on their souls until they inscribe themselves as an indelible trait (malakah) of the wrongdoers (ẓālimīn) and an identifier of their spiritual make-up. This, in turn, makes them incapable of repenting and drags them to the fire. And this is the meaning of the verse: Certainly, whoever commits misdeeds and is besieged by his iniquity (khaṭīʾatuhu) – such shall be the inmates of the fire, and they shall remain in it [forever] (2:81).
Tabatabai as well, in explaining 2:81, understands khaṭīʾah as the effect of other sins and their traces that are left behind in the heart and soul of man.
[1] Lane, kh-ṭ-ʾ.
[2] Hans Wehr, kh-ṭ-ʾ.
[3] Tahqiq, kh-ṭ-ʾ.
[4] Raghib, kh-ṭ-ʾ.
[5] Raghib, kh-ṭ-ʾ.
[6] ‘Commonly’, because these terms may carry other, non-literal meanings, based on their respective etymologies, especially when used in references to the prophets of God, who are considered to be infallible. See, for example, the meaning of ẓulm (lit. wrongdoing) in 7:19, 7:23, 21:87, and 28:16; ʿiṣyān (lit. disobedience) in 20:121; dhanb (lit. sin) in 48:2; and ḍāl (lit. being astray) in 93:7.
[7] Mizan, 1/215.