Al-Hajj · Madani · ayah 19 of 78

Al-Hajj 22:19

۞ هَـٰذَانِ خَصْمَانِ ٱخْتَصَمُوا۟ فِى رَبِّهِمْ ۖ فَٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ قُطِّعَتْ لَهُمْ ثِيَابٌ مِّن نَّارٍ يُصَبُّ مِن فَوْقِ رُءُوسِهِمُ ٱلْحَمِيمُ

“These[921] are two adversaries who have disputed over their Lord. But those who disbelieved will have cut out for them garments of fire. Poured upon their heads will be scalding water”

Saheeh International

Essence

Two parties dispute about the one Lord of both; for those who denied Him, garments of fire are already cut and scalding water waits.

A reflection

Both hands on the same sack

Two grown siblings sit either side of their mother's hospital bed. Each holds one of her hands. They argue in low voices about her care: the operation, the care home, who knows best. Neither lets go. Both love her. The argument is about her, and she lies between them.

The lexicons give the root of khaṣm, an adversary, a very simple picture. Two people each grip one corner of the same sack and pull. The corner of a sack is itself called a khuṣm. A dispute, in its first image, is two hands on one thing.

Now read the ayah: hādhāni khaṣmāni ikhtaṣamū fī rabbihim. These are two adversaries who disputed about their Lord. Not about 'the Lord' in general. Their Lord: one pronoun that covers both parties. The One they argue about is Lord of each of them. One modern commentary puts the scene plainly: each side claims to be in the right.

This does not make the two sides equal. The very next words separate them sharply. But it changes the tone in which a believer holds the dispute. The person across from you belongs to the same Lord. He created them and feeds them, and keeps them in being moment by moment, as He does you.

That has practical consequences. You can be unbending on the truth and still remember that the other hand on the sack belongs to a servant of your Lord. It rules out contempt. It does not rule out clarity.

It also exposes a temptation. In religious arguments, the sack can quietly become a trophy. We pull to win, and forget to care what is inside. One classical commentator defines the dispute here as each party's hostility to the other over its religion. Hostility is easy to inherit and hard to put down.

When you notice yourself pulling only to win, change your grip. Let go of the winning, and keep hold of the truth. The One you are arguing about is listening to how you argue.

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.