Surah Humazah is a Meccan Surah with nine verses. Humazah means The one who slanders. The Surah takes its name from the word humazah occurring in the first verse.
This Surah was revealed to condemn some of evil traits of the Pre-Islamic Arab society. In it some of the evils prevalent among the materialistic hoarders of wealth in the pre-Islamic days have been highlighted. Every Arab knew that they actually existed in their society; they regarded them as evils and nobody thought they were good. After calling attention to this kind of ugly character, the ultimate end in the Hereafter of the people having this kind of character has been stated. Both these things (i.e. the character and his fate in the Hereafter) have been depicted in a way which makes the listener automatically reach the conclusion that such a man fitly deserves to meet such an end. And since in the world, people of such character do not suffer any punishment, but seem to be thriving instead, the occurrence of the Hereafter becomes absolutely inevitable.
This Surah mainly condemns all sorts of scandal, and backbiting, and all those who do their best to gather and pile up wealth; for which they lose the whole value of their humanity, and defame, insult and mock those who do not possess that wealth.
These selfish people, who are arrogant with their wealth, enjoy talking or suggesting evil of men or women by word, behaviour, mimicry, sarcasm, or insult.
The painful destiny of such a mentality is ultimate loss in Akhirat. Allah says that they will be disgracefully thrown into Hell. Before their other belongings, the blazing fire of Hell will begin burning, withering their hearts and minds; the center of all their pride and arrogance. This ceaseless fire will be with them forever.
Woe to Every Slanderer, Backbiter!
This Surah begins with the strongest terms of a threatening nature and points out a mentality which is slandering and backbiting! They are those who sting others with their speech, behaviour, mimicry, or sarcasm at their backs or in front of them. They mock them and defame them with evil motives. This is the one who defames people by using low titles for them.
The word هُمَزَةٍ and لّمَزَةٍ used in this verse are much close to each other and can be summed up as,
It has become a practice with the slanderer that he insults and holds others in contempt habitually. He raises his finger and winks at one man, finds fault with the lineage and person of another, taunts one in the face and backbites another; creates differences between friends and stirs up divisions between brothers; calls the people names and satirizes and defames them.
So Allah poses a strong threat against this group of people and such a mentality and strongly condemns this evil attitude.
Look around us, isn’t this attitude at hype? Even to the smaller units, our homes, how safe and secure we feel from our own close family relations. Let’s keep a check on ourselves that we doesn’t fall a victim to this trap of Satan and become among those for whom Allah says Woe to such and such!
Allah then extends the characteristic of such a mentality who finds faults in others, slanders and backbites, and this is because he is too proud of his wealth. It is a common observation that majority of the people when they attain too much wealth, they rank themselves to a position where they can comment on anything. And they find themselves valid for this commenting.
These verses after the first verse itself gives the meaning that such a person slanders others because of his pride of wealth. The words “counting it over and over again” depict the person’s miserliness and his selfish hoarding of wealth.
Another meaning also can be: “Such a person thinks that his wealth will make him immortal.” That is, he is so engrossed in amassing wealth and counting it over and over again that he has forgotten death and he never bothers to consider that a time will come when he will have to depart from the world empty-handed, leaving everything behind.
Here Allah highlights the destiny of every arrogant slanderer and all the evil traits mentioned earlier, that such a person will end up in Hutamah!
What is Hutamah? The word hutamah means to smash, crush and break into pieces. Hell has been described by this name because it will crush and break to pieces whatever is thrown into it because of its depth and its fire.
Nowhere else in the Quran has the fire of Hell been called the fire of Allah. Here, its ascription to Allah not only expresses its dreadfulness but it also shows how the wrath of Allah will be on those who become proud and arrogant with the worldly wealth. That is why Allah has described that fire as His own Fire into which they will be hurled.
The fire will focus the hearts…
This fire will burn and will affect the heart specifically. Because heart is the center of man’s evil thoughts, false beliefs, impure desires and feelings, and wicked motives and intentions.
What kind of fire is this fire whose first effect appears on the heart of Man? What kind of fire is it which burns inside before outside? Everything of the Hereafter is surprising and different from that of this world, even the effect of its blazing fire.
And why does the fire of the Wrath of Allah not dominate their hearts first and before occupying their other limbs when, in this world, they put pain in the hearts of the believers (or others) with their mockeries, backbitings, fault-findings, slanders and taunts?
So Allah will throw these proud, arrogant, selfish, self-content fellows in the form of mean, unworthy creatures, into the Hell-fire so that they may see the fruit of their pride.
Allah further explains the state of Fire at Hutamah (Hell) that after the culprits have been thrown into it, Hell will be closed upon them without leaving any slit or opening anywhere, in order to choke and suffocate them. As in dunia, they used to keep their wealth in safes, locked indoors and in secret storage, Allah too, puts them in a punishment shut up in Hell without having a door to flee from.
Futhermore the blazing flames of Hell-fire are upon them in the form of some tall, stretched pillar shaped beams. It may be like,
O Allah! Save us from the negligence originating from wealth, position, and lusts.
O Allah! Hell-fire is shattering so that it is impossible to be free from it, but with your Grace. Bestow Your Grace on us! Ameen.
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