Sūrah Al-Humazah The Slanderer
سورة الهمزة
A Makkan sūrah of 9 verses condemning the person who slanders and backbites, who counts his wealth thinking it will immortalize him. His punishment is the crushing fire of Ḥuṭamah a fire that reaches to the hearts.
Surah Overview
Key Themes from Ibn Kathīr
Humazah (one who backbites with actions gestures, winks, mockery) and lumazah (one who backbites with words slander, defamation) represent two forms of the same social crime. Ibn Kathīr notes disagreement: some say they are synonyms; others say humazah is backbiting in one's absence while lumazah is to one's face. The subject of "waylun" (woe) applies to anyone who habitually commits either.
The root of this behavior is identified as yaḥsabu anna mālaḥū akhladah "he thinks his wealth will immortalize him." This is the sin: wealth breeds arrogance, which breeds mockery of others, which leads to Ḥuṭamah. Ibn Kathīr describes al-Ḥuṭamah as a name for Hellfire (derived from ḥaṭama to crush and break) that closes over its inhabitants, rising to their hearts the very seat of their arrogance and disbelief.
- Two forms of backbiting: Humazah (mockery by gesture, winking) and lumazah (slander by speech) both are condemned with the strongest "woe" formula.
- Wealth's arrogance: The belief that accumulated wealth grants immortality or immunity from judgment is the root sin enabling the slanderer's behavior.
- Al-Ḥuṭamah: The Crusher a Hellfire that breaks everything thrown into it; Ibn Kathīr emphasizes the crushing nature mirrors the moral crushing the slanderer inflicted on others.
- Closed over them: Mūṣadah ʿalayhim the fire closes over them completely, in towering columns, leaving no escape the permanence mirrors their persistent sin.
- Reaching the hearts: The fire attacks the heart the seat of arrogance, kufr, and pride not merely the body; the punishment targets the source of the crime.