As-salaam wa-alaikum, brothers and sisters.
Summary
Today’s selection is the entirety of Surah 104, Al-Humazah or the Scandalmonger. This Surah condemns all sorts of scandal, backbiting, and selfish hoarding of wealth as destroying the hearts and affection of men. Tafseer for this Surah concerns the Hutamah or That which Breaks to Pieces in verses 4 and 5 and the subsequent Fire of punishment in verses 6-9.
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Verses
Bis-millahi ar-rahman, ar-raheem.
In the name of Allah, most gracious, most merciful.Woe to every (kind of) scandalmonger and backbiter,[1] Who piles up wealth and lays it by,[2] Thinking that his wealth would make him last forever![3] By no means! He will be sure to be thrown into That which Breaks to Pieces.[4] And what will explain to you That which Breaks to Pieces?[5] (It is) the Fire of (the Wrath of) Allah kindled (to a blaze),[6] the one which does mount (right) to the hearts:[7] It shall be made into a vault over them,[8] in columns outstretched.[9] 104:[1-9]
Ameen.
Tafseer
On the Hutamah:
Hutamah: that which smashes or breaks to pieces: an apt description of the three anti-social vices condemned. Scandal-mongering and backbiting make any sort of cohesion or mutual confidence impossible; and the miser’s hoards block up the channels of economic services and charity, and the circulation of goodwill among men.
On the Fire of Punishment:
This Fire of Punishment mounts right up to the hears and minds of such men, and shuts them out of the love of their fellows. “Heart” in Arabic means not only the seat of affection, pity, charity, etc., but also of understanding and intelligent appreciation of things.
Those guilty of these vices will be choked and suffocated, for this Vault of Fire will cover them all over, and its scorching columns will extend over a far wider area than they imagine.
This concludes today’s episode of the 17 Verses Podcast. I hope that this selection has helped increase your understanding of the holy Qur’an just a little bit.
Thank you and be well.