|
In the name
of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful |
|
Woe to every slanderer and defamer,[1] who
amasses wealth and keeps on counting it.[2] He thinks that his
wealth will insure his status forever![3] By no means! He
shall be thrown into Hotamah.[4] What will make you understand
what Hotamah is?[5] It is the fire kindled to a blaze by Allah
Himself.[6] The one which will rise right to the hearts,[7]
closing in upon them from every side[8] in outstretched
columns.[9]
104:[1-9] |
The
slanderer, defamer and stingy shall be thrown into the blazing
fire |
Major Issues, Divine
Law and Guidance:
|
* The slanderer, defamer and stingy shall
be thrown into the blazing fire.
This S�rah condemns the evils which were
prevalent among the materialistic hoarders of wealth in the
pre-Islamic days. After stating this kind of ugly character, the
ultimate end of such a people in the Hereafter is told. Both of
these things (i. e., the character and one's fate in the
Hereafter) are depicted in a way which makes the listener
automatically reach the conclusion that such a man deserves to
meet such an end. And since in the world, people of such
character may not suffer and appear to be thriving instead, the
occurrence of the Hereafter becomes absolutely inevitable.
If this S�rah is read in the sequence of the S�rahs beginning
with Az-Zilz�l, one can fully understand the fundamental beliefs
of Islam. In S�rah Az-Zilz�l, it was said that in the Hereafter,
man�s full record will be placed before him and not an atom�s
weight of good or evil done by him in the world will have been
left unrecorded. In S�rah Al-'�diy�t, attention was drawn to the
plunder, loot, bloodshed and vandalism, prevailing in Arabia
before Islam; then making the people realize, that the way the
powers given by God were being abused, was indeed an expression
of sheer ingratitude to Him and deserves punishment. In S�rah
Al-Q�riah, after depicting the Resurrection, the people were
warned that in the Hereafter, a man�s good or evil end will be
dependent on whether the scale of his good deeds was heavier, or
the scale of his evil deeds was heavier. In S�rah At- Tak�thur
the people were taken to task for their materialistic mentality
because of which, they remained occupied in seeking increase in
worldly benefits, pleasures, comforts and position. They were
warned that they would have to render an account to their Rabb
and Sustainer as to how they obtained it and how they used it.
In S�rah Al-'Asr, it was declared that each member, each group
and each community of mankind, even the entire world of
humanity, was in manifest loss if its members were devoid of
faith, righteous deeds and the practice of exhorting others to
truth and patience. Immediately after this comes S�rah Al-Humazah,
in which, after presenting a specimen of leadership of the
pre-Islamic age of ignorance, the people are asked the question:
�What should such character deserve, if not loss and perdition?�
(This narration is taken from Tabarani) |
|