Al-Hajj · Madani · ayah 72 of 78

Al-Hajj 22:72

وَإِذَا تُتْلَىٰ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتُنَا بَيِّنَـٰتٍ تَعْرِفُ فِى وُجُوهِ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ٱلْمُنكَرَ ۖ يَكَادُونَ يَسْطُونَ بِٱلَّذِينَ يَتْلُونَ عَلَيْهِمْ ءَايَـٰتِنَا ۗ قُلْ أَفَأُنَبِّئُكُم بِشَرٍّ مِّن ذَٰلِكُمُ ۗ ٱلنَّارُ وَعَدَهَا ٱللَّهُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ ۖ وَبِئْسَ ٱلْمَصِيرُ

“And when Our verses are recited to them as clear evidences, you recognize in the faces of those who disbelieve disapproval. They are almost on the verge of assaulting those who recite to them Our verses. Say, "Then shall I inform you of [what is] worse than that?[942] [It is] the Fire which Allāh has promised those who disbelieve, and wretched is the destination."”

Saheeh International

Essence

Clear verses were recited, faces darkened and hands almost flew; the reply was not a blow but calm news of something far worse.

A reflection

The face answers before the mouth

The ayah does not report what these listeners said. It reports what you could see. 'You will recognise in the faces of those who disbelieve the munkar.' Before a word of reply, the face had already answered.

The commentators describe that face closely. It is the frown, the scowl, the darkening and the tightened jaw. Some read munkar as the refusal itself, written across the features. Others read it as something ugly and hostile in the expression. Either way, rejection leaked out through the skin.

The root of the word is telling. The lexicons describe nakira as a heart meeting something it cannot picture, so it will not accept it. Its opposite is maʿrifa, the knowing a heart settles into. The ayah sets the two side by side: 'you will recognise' (taʿrifu) the munkar. The believer reads the face with ease. The listener's heart has no room for what it hears.

Picture a family video call after a grandfather's death. An aunt reads his will aloud, clause by clause. Most faces stay still. Then she reaches a line about the house. One cousin's camera goes dark before anyone can see his face. He has said nothing. He did not need to.

One commentator notes that the 'you' here may be the Prophet ﷺ, or anyone able to see. Anyone could read it. The heart wears its verdict on the outside.

That gives the reader a quiet test. What does your own face do when an ayah touches the thing you love most? A softening, or a setting of the jaw? The face often knows before we do.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.