INTRODUCTION TO SURAH AL-HUMAZAH
In this surah, which takes its name from the word hümeza in verse 1, another attitude of the lustful, unreasonable type of people, which was introduced in the previous Surah al-Qiyamat with the expressions, … 32But he denied and turned away, 33Then he went to those who were close to him, swaggering., and all of humanity is warned by showing the fate of these poor people who are confident of everything by relying on their property and possessions.
The classical sources mention the names of al-Ahnes b. Sharīq, Walīd b. Mughīra, Umayya b. Khalaf and Jamil b. ‘Amr al-Saqafī. Since all of them have similar qualities, it is possible that each person may have named the person he knew. For example, because of the similarity between the person whose qualities are described here and the person mentioned in al-Muddathir/11-30, suggesting that this person could be Walīd b. Mughīra or Abu Jahl. Likewise, we agree with the view that this person is Adiyy b. Abi Rabia, who is thought to be the one who denies the Judgment Day in Surah al-Qiyamat. However, since the address is general, it does not matter for which person the surah was revealed. In the Surah, both unknown and well-known individuals are addressed, but everyone with the character structure of “irresponsible lover of a carefree life who thinks that he will not grow old, get sick, or die by relying on his wealth [who thinks himself far away from death]” is addressed. Another characteristic of people of this character is that they are the type of people who who try to harm or cause trouble to good people who are trying to enlighten the society, either to their faces or behind their backs
It is clear from the Surah that the verses of the Qur’an come according to the course of events, and our Prophet and the believers who are with him are guided by deciphering those who are plotting against them. The infidels and deniers are threatened with words that become more and more striking in form, rhyme and meaning, and with punishments that increase in severity. Every word used in the warnings is like a sledgehammer to the minds of the unbelieving deniers, engraved on their brains like writing on marble.
32 / SURAH AL-HUMAZAH
Meaning of the verses:
1Woe to all those who backbite, who scorn with facial expressions!
2,3He is the one who collects wealth and increases it/counts his wealth again and again, thinking that his wealth will make him immortal.
4Certainly not as he thinks! Indeed, he will be thrown into the Hutamah.
5What has made you know what the Hutamah is?
6,7It is a blazing fire of Allah that rises over the hearts.
8,9It is closed upon/locked upon them in extended columns/unending distresses/in wounds which will never get better in their back.
Analysis of the Verses:
Verse 1:
1Woe to all those who backbite, who scorn with facial expressions!
VEYL:
The word ويل [veyl] is a word that expresses “condemnation, anger and threat”, and its original form is وى لفلان [vey li-fulan=woe to so-and-so]. However, the word وى [vey], which was frequently used by the Arabs, was combined with the following ل [lam] in time and became ويل [veyl].
The Arabs use the word veyl for the extreme ugliness they see, veys for contempt, and veyh for pity.[1]
The word Veyl has also been reported as the name of a mountain or a valley in Hell. But such stories have not gone beyond personal interpretation.
Our Lord has used the word veyl here in the indefinite form [nekre]. From this usage, it is understood that no one knows or can know the measure of Veyl, but only Allah can know it. In other words, by stating that the punishment is so great, only He can comprehend its magnitude, our Lord draws attention to the ugliness of such behavior by infidels.
HUMEZE and LUMEZE:
The word همزة [humeze] is a noun derived from the root همز [hemz], and is an active noun in the form of a superlative in the sense of ” pressing, breaking, preventing, condemning, striking, or beating”. But its original meaning is “one who squeezes” and “one who restrains”. In the course of time, it has come to mean “one who reproaches, condemns, and maligns from behind, and makes someone avoid something, and puts that person in distress”.[2]
لمزة [lumeze], on the other hand, is derived from the wordلمز [lemz], which means “to to insult or hurt with subtle words to the face; to annoy with gestures of the eyebrows, eyes and lips; to spoil the spirituality”. Lümeze, like hümeze, is a plural active noun meaning ‘those who annoy with facial expressions [gestures of the eyebrows, eyes and lips]’ “.[3]
Derivatives of the word lemz can be seen in Hujurat/11 and Tawbah/58, 79.
The words humeze and lümeze are in the form فعلة [fu’aletun], and the Arabs have also used ضحكة [Ad-Duhaketun = laughing a lot], لعنة [lu’anetun = cursing a lot] in this form. Although the words have different qiraats, there is no difference in meaning in any of the qiraats. Therefore, we will not go into the details of the different versions here.
The following explanations have been given in the classical works regarding the meanings of the words humeza and lümeza:
* “Humeze means ‘one who backbites’ and lümeze means ‘one who condemns and makes fun of’.[4]
* Humeze is mocking with gestures and lümeze is mocking with the tongue.[5]
* A humane person is one who condemns and ridicules face to face, while a lumeze is one who condemns and ridicules behind one’s back.[6]
* It has also been said that a humeze is one who openly condemns and mocks, while a lumeze is one who secretly condemns with eyebrow and eye gestures.[7]
* Humeze and lümeze are those who call people by names they do not like.[8]
* Humeze is one who reproaches and ridicules the person sitting next to him with a gesture out of the corner of his eye, while lümeze is one who reproaches his brother in absentia by calling him bad things.[9]
* These are those [humeze and lumeze] who are the slanderers, those who drive a wedge between friends, and those who find fault with people.[10]
* Humeze is done with the tongue and lumeze is done with the eyes.[11]
As can be seen, all of the above explanations have similar meanings. However, in our opinion, the most appropriate one for the literal structure of the verse and the general principles of the Qur’an is the explanation based on the original meanings of the words in line with the meanings given by Lisan al-‘Arab.
If we pay attention, all the explanations of the words converge in the meaning of “playing with people’s honor and dignity, exposing their faults, causing them distress, and ruining their morale”. This means that those who are called humeze and lumeze make attempts, lobby, lobby, lobby behind their backs, and even make annoying gestures to their faces, in order to harass, distress, and hinder the success of the preachers of Islam.
Verses 2-3
2-3He is the one who collects wealth and increases it/counts his wealth again and again, thinking that his wealth will make him immortal.
The noun الّذى at the beginning of the verses identifies the people who do wrong for the reasons explained later in the sentence. These are the humeze and lumeze mentioned in verse 1. In other words, the audacity of these people, who cause trouble to the believers by making hemz and lemz in verse 1, stems from the fact that they think that they are eternal in this world because of the wealth they have accumulated.
The word مالا [mal] in the verse has been rendered nekra [indefinite], thereby broadening its meaning. This is because nekra [indefinite] can be interpreted as much or little.
If nekra is interpreted as ‘little,’ the verse emphasizes the insignificance of wealth, since one person’s wealth is negligible compared to that of the entire world.
If the nekmah is attributed to abundance, then the emphasis in the verse is on the abundance of wealth, with emphasis on importance, and at the same time, this arrogance is meant to imply that this arrogance is due to confidence in the significant amount of wealth accumulated.
COUNTING WEALTH:
The word عدّد [‘addada] is derived from the root ‘udde, a homophonous word meaning “to accumulate, to prepare”. The word ‘udda refers to the act of accumulating something for a specific purpose (e.g., as a safeguard against possible bad events).
The word ‘uddah has multiple meanings due to its root being a homophonous word.
The first meaning of the word is عدة [‘adet=number] and in the sentence it means “he counted them one by one”. The fact that the word is in the form of taf’īl [shaddah] indicates the multiplicity of what is counted.[12]
The word ‘Addada’ also means “multiplied” in the sense of “number”.[13] Indeed, in Arabic, it is used as, “…[there is] a great number, that is, multiplicity.”
The phrase عدّده [‘addedehu = he who counts it over and over again] has been rendered as ‘adedehu in some of the Qur’anic translations with the unshaddah form of the word ‘addada. According to this form, because of the homophony of the root, the meaning of the expression is as follows:
“He accumulated wealth and determined its number.”
“He multiplied the number of his wealth and the number of his men.”
The above verses expose the foolishness of those who boast of the wealth they have accumulated, the children they have raised, the position they have attained, and the real reason why those who think they are self-sufficient behave in this way: He thinks that his wealth has truly made him eternal!
However, all the worldly goods are but transitory things. What is not eternal in itself cannot provide eternity to man. Even worldly dominions are doomed to perish in this world, which is mortal. Therefore, it is only a sign of foolishness for a person to feel that he is eternal with what he possesses in this mortal world.
The word خلد [huld = eternalization] is a concept specific to the Afterlife, and for this reason, one of the names of the Afterlife is Dâr al-Huld [Abode of Eternity]. In fact, in the Qur’an, the eternity of heaven and hell is expressed by the word khuld.
The word اخلده [ahledehu] in the verse is derived from the root huld and means “to stay at home permanently without going out”. This word implies that the state of being continues without interruption.[14] Thus, in Al-Waqi’ahh/17, the adjective muhalledūn [eternalized] is used for the children who will be given to the people of Paradise as a blessing, which means that these children will never grow up or grow old.
Since the verb ahledehu is in the past tense, the meaning of the verse should be given as he has made him eternal. Translating the word in the present tense or future tense as “he will make himself eternal” is not only incorrect but also undermines the subtle meaning of the verse. For, according to the text of the verse, the fool thinks that his wealth has made him immortal, not that it will make him immortal.
It will be recalled that in Surah At-Tin, it was reported that man, who was created in the form of Ahsan-i Taqwîm, was made worse than an animal and pushed down to asfal-i sâfilîn as a result of not believing and not doing the righteous deeds. Verses 1-3 paint a portrait of this disgusting, despicable and insolent human being. This portrait is not just of this or that person at the time of the verse, but of the unbelieving person in all times and places: “A despicable type who thinks that by possessing wealth, one can possess the superior and eternal values of humanity and all that is honorable; who considers the wealth he has acquired in one way or another as the greatest gain in life; who, when he possesses wealth, loses his heart completely to it; who feels that all concepts lose their importance, all values and all measures shrink in the face of wealth, and who cannot control himself in the face of it…”
This pathological personality tends to see the property or commodity he has acquired as an omnipotent deity, a god that can defeat even death and provide immortality. This personality, which has become so corrupted by its passion for wealth, is so foolish as to think that the economic wealth it possesses is a power that can ward off Allah’s punishment in the Afterlife, a time of reckoning and retribution for what it has done.
The unbelieving person with this personality disorder, guided by the motives listed above, pursues wealth, counts it over and over again, and takes pleasure in counting it. The ugly feelings that these motives have implanted in his personality push him to humiliate the sublime values and dignity of people. Eventually, the picture painted in the verses is realized and the infidel begins to ridicule both with his tongue and his actions. That is to say, he imitates and caricatures the voices, words, actions or physical characteristics of the people he mocks with mocking gestures, staging a kind of theater in order to humiliate them in his mind. However, this behavior carries a heavy consequence that will cost them dearly.
Verse 4:
4Certainly not as he thinks! Indeed, he will be thrown into the Hutamah.
Our Lord emphasizes that the situation is not as the disbeliever believes, with the word كلاّ [kellâ=no, no]. Because no matter how much wealth and possessions may exist, they cannot make a person immortal and eternal. This false belief is a regretful delusion, a trap for the faithless man enslaved by his uncontrolled impulses, which clouds his ability to perceive reality.
It is certain that the abundance of wealth and possessions will not benefit this person in any way. He will certainly be thrown into Hutamah because he has caused distress to the Muslims and spiritual wear and tear in the society due to his wrong behavior stemming from his disbelief.
There are three other interesting emphases in this verse besides the preposition الرّدع [red’]:
1) The verb, which should normally be ينبذ [yünbezü], is turned into لينبذنّ [le-yünbezenne] by adding the preposition ل [lam] at the beginning and two letters ن [nun] at the end. This structure adds an emphasis on certainty.and it is stated that this is not a joke and that what is said will be done absolutely, absolutely.
2) The verb نبذ [nabeze] in the verse is not an ordinary word, but it is used for “throwing away something insignificant” with the emphasis on contempt and humiliation.[15] With this word, our Lord sends a specific message to those who consider themselves prestigious, honorable and important because of what they have, as if to say: “You consider yourselves to be very privileged, but We will humiliate you and throw you into Hutamah like a trifle, like a rag.”
3) The word حطمة [hutamah] is the genitive form of the word hatm, which means “to smash” and means “one who smashes excessively”. The Arabs use this violent word in the sense of breaking dry and hard things such as bones. Figuratively, the shepherd who cannot keep his flock in front of him and destroys the goods in his flock; the gluttonous person who devours whatever he finds; the year of famine that depletes all savings; One who squanders family wealth, causing ruin,; and the stray animal that eats crops, vegetables and fruits are also called hutameh.[16]
From the continuation of the Surah, it is clear that what is meant by the word hutamah is “hell”. In this case, it is clear that Hell is not only fiery, but also torment after torment, devouring and devouring those who are thrown into it.
The word hutameh, which has been chosen to describe Hell, also contains other subtle messages. It is as if to say: “And if you, by your humbug and lümez, cause distress to our Prophet and the believers and spoil their morale, We will hurl you into hutame [the devouring, breaking Hell], which inflicts torments more severe than what you have done, and you will be broken and devoured.”
Verse 5:
5What has made you know what the Hutamah is?
That is, you don’t know hutame, you cannot know it. It is beyond human comprehension, it has no example in the world. Only We will explain it.
Verse 6-7:
6,7It is a blazing fire of Allah that rises over the hearts.
This is the only verse in the Qur’an that uses the expression ناراللّه for “hellfire”. The reason for this is only to describe the horror of that fire. Implied, “It is not of the fires you know, it belongs to Allah; it is unquenchable, unending, inexhaustible. No one can interfere with it. Nor can you know its terror and severity; it is in the measure of Allah.”
Verse 6 also points to the hatred with which those who are spoiled in this world because of their wealth will be greeted in the sight of Allah.
Such a welcome awaits them:
WHY FUAD [HEARTS]:
The word الافئدة [ef’ideh] is the plural of the word fawad, which means “heart”. However, this word is not used for “the heart in the human chest”, but for “the center of consciousness, perception, feeling, enthusiasm, principle, thought, intention and will in the human being”.[17]
The fire reaching the heart can mean more than one thing:
- This fire not only envelops the wrong thoughts, ugly desires, corrupt principles, bad principles, bad intentions and will that lead to the punishment of the human being, but it also reaches the center where these impurities are produced.
- B) This fire is not a blind fire like the fire of the world, which burns both the deserving and the undeserving together, but a fire that burns according to the guilt and as much as is deserved, reaching the hearts of the guilty and making them taste the promised torment.
- C) Since the heart is the most sensitive and fragile part of the human being, the fire of Hell reaching the heart means that the torment reaches the place that hurts the most and the torment is felt with all its intensity. The Turkish expressions “It has penetrated my lungs”, “My heart is broken”, “My liver is shattered”, “My heart is shattered”, “My heart hurts” and the Arabic expression “Itılaun alel ef’ideh” (climbing on the hearts), which are used in Turkish to express the poignancy of the pain felt, express the same meaning.
- D) The heart is where ugliness, disbelief, bad beliefs and bad intentions are produced. Man believes with his heart or denies with his heart. When the fire of hell reaches this center, the heart, it means that the punishment is “hitting the bull’s-eye”, which is akin to actually breaking a hand or a foot as a punishment after threatening “if you touch me, I will break your hand” or “if you step on me, I will break your foot”.
Verses 8-9:
8,9It is closed upon/locked upon them in extended columns/unending distresses/in wounds which will never get better in their back.
These verses describe Hell as a dungeon: A dungeon whose gates are closed, never to be opened, from which there is no escape. A dungeon with tall pillars instead of iron bars… A dungeon that is like a cage, visible from everywhere, but you cannot get out of it…
In verse 8, the word مؤصدة [mu’sade] comes from the phrase “I closed the door, I locked it” and means “sealed, sealed tightly”. These meanings indicate that the gates of Hell will remain sealed, with no possibility of exit.[18] This expression about Hell is found in one other place in the Qur’an:
19And those who conceal Our Ayat are the ones who are the companions of the ominous-sinister. 20Upon them is a fire, gates of which are closed very tightly.
(Beled/ 19-20)
It is understood from the above descriptions that spiritual torments await those in Hell in addition to physical torments. The verses emphasize that the gates are locked, and the poles are extended, suggesting that efforts to open the gates or overcome the poles have been in vain. The fact that all this disgrace is visible from the surroundings adds to the embarrassment of the frustration of the futility of the escape attempts, so to speak, a sense of embarrassment that is salt and pepper.
To date, all those who have studied the Qur’an have focused on the meanings of the word عمد [‘amed] in the verse, such as “pole, pillar, pillar, pillar, cane”, and the differences in the Qur’anic rendering of the word, and have gone into detail in this context. “The Turkish idiom ‘amuda kalkmak’ [to stand upright as if in a handstand] conveys the idea of ‘amed’ and has entered our language with meanings related to stability and steadfastness.
However, there are other meanings of the word ‘amed in the ancient Arabic language and the translation of the verse according to these meanings is quite appropriate.
In addition to the above, the word ‘amed has the following meanings: A) A patient who is unable to get up from his seat without support or help is called al-‘Amid. B) Very severe sadness is called al-‘amid. C) A wound on the back and a sore is called ‘amed.[19]
Considering these meanings of the word, verse 9 can be translated as follows: A) “In long illness.” B) “In endless troubles.” C) “With wounds on his back that will never heal.”
WARNING 1: The main thing to do in this matter is not to give the enemies of Islam material to caricature Muslims. However, as it has always been the case in history, the people of humeze and lumeze create their own material and appear on the stage. In this case, what should be done is to refer them to Allah. For example, a polytheist named Hakem b. al-‘As of Mecca, one of the groups of humeze and lumeze in our Prophet’s circle, mocked our Prophet by imitating his gait, according to the available information. The Qur’an consoled our Prophet and the believers for this act of the mockers:
10And surely, the messengers were ridiculed before you as well. Then, that which they ridiculed surrounded those among them who ridiculed.
(Al-An’am/10)
10And surely, We had sent messengers to the ancient peoples before you.
11And when a messenger came to them, they ridiculed him.
(Hijr/10-11)
41And indeed, many messengers before you were ridiculed so, that which they ridiculed surrounded those who mocked among them.
(Al-Anbiya/41)
6-8And We had sent many prophets to the former ones. They certainly ridiculed every prophet who came to them, then We seized and manipulated/destroyed those who were stronger than them in power. And the example of the former ones has preceded.
(Az-Zukhruf/6-8)
Muslims should be vigilant in the light of these messages and should not fall prey to the provocations of these fools, should not play their games, and should not take actions that harm themselves for the sake of punishing them in this world. It should also be well known that their being referred to Allah does not mean that they will not be punished in this world.
A careful examination of the words used by our Lord in the Surah reveals that the message is also directed to this world. It is as if our Lord is saying: “We will put such a person on the head of that infidel who thinks that his wealth is a source of power and that he is eternalized by its abundance, who troubles the believers and irritates their nerves with his eyebrow and eye gestures, that he will destroy, devour and lose all his wealth without caring about it. And the infidel will burn from his lungs, and he will suffer the fire of Allah in incurable diseases, endless troubles, sorrows, wounds that will not heal. And We will turn his wealth, which was the cause of his disbelief, into a source of torment for him.”
Indeed, there are many people in society who have been punished in this way.
WARNING 2: This threat does not apply to everyone, but only to “all disbelievers and enemies of Islam who, relying on their wealth, threaten Muslims with the power they derive from their wealth, cause them hardship, destroy their spirituality, discourage their enthusiasm and deny the Afterlife”. Therefore, despite their faults such as gossip and backbiting, believers should not consider themselves as the addressees of this threat.
But unfortunately, in the past, in the name of encouraging Muslims to live a more pious life, stories were fabricated that imperfect Muslims would also enter Hell and burn. Although it is one of the hundreds of stories that contradict the Qur’anic verses, we find it useful to present a account from Abu Hurairah that has been included in most of the classical commentaries on the above verse:
After Allah will take the rebellious believers out of the Fire – and the longest will be seven thousand years – Allah will send some angels to Hell with fiery lids, fiery spikes, fiery amuds, and they will close those lids over them, they will squeeze them with those spikes, they will stretch out those amuds, they will press them down, and there will be no space for a soul to enter, nor will there be any sorrow. Allah, the Exalted, the Exalted, the Mighty, the Almighty, will leave them on His Throne as if He had forgotten them. The people of Paradise will be busy with their blessings, then the people of Hell will not be able to ask for any help, and their words will cease, and their words will be nothing but breathing. And this is the meaning of the verse that the gates of the Fire will be closed upon them, while the inmates of Hell will be tied to upright poles.[20]
Aside from the account, it is obvious that gossip, backbiting, ridicule and other ugly behaviors are unbecoming of a Muslim. They are all forbidden behaviors for a believer. A Muslim who commits any of them must repent for this wrongful behavior:
11O you who have believed! Let not a people ridicule a people. Perhaps, whom they ridicule may be better than them. Let not women ridicule other women. Perhaps, whom they ridicule may be better than them. And do not insult one another; do not humiliate nor scorn; do not call each other with nick names; do not insult, do not despise. How evil is to be named of going astray from the righteous path after faith! And whoever does not repent; he is the one who does wrong; acts against his own good.
(Al-Hujurat/11)
The fact that these issues are mentioned both in this Surah and in Surah Al-Muddaththir, using different words, not only pleases the Muslims who have to defend themselves on the one hand and resist the abominations of the infidels on the other, but also strengthens their faith and trust in Allah.
Allah is the one who knows best
[1] (Razi; al-Mefatih al-Ghayb)
[2] Lisan al Arab, Vol: 9, p. 133-134
[3] Lisan al Arab, Vol. 8, p. 125
[4] ….. (cited from Ibn ‘Abbas)
[5] ….. (cited from Abu Zayd)
[6] ….. (cited from Abu al-‘Aliya)
[8] (Razi; al-Mefatih al-Ghayb)
[9] …(cited from Hasan al-Basri and Ibn al-Kaysan)
[10] .(Abu’l-Lawzā cited by Ibn ‘Abbās)
[11] .(cited from Sufyân al-Sawri)
[12] (Razi; al-Mefatih al-Ghayb)
[13] (Razi; al-Mefatih al-Ghayb)
[14] (Lisan al Arab, article “hld” )
[15] (Lisan al Arab, article “nbz” )
[16] Lisan al Arab, Vol. 2, p. 497-498
[17] (Lisan al Arab, article “fed” )
[18] (Lisan al Arab, article “esd” )
[19] Lisan al Arab, Vol. 6, p. 433-434
[20] Hakim al-Tirmidhi, Nawādir al-Usūl (cited from Abu Hurayrah).