Az-Zumar · Makki · ayah 32 of 75

Az-Zumar 39:32

۞ فَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّن كَذَبَ عَلَى ٱللَّهِ وَكَذَّبَ بِٱلصِّدْقِ إِذْ جَآءَهُۥٓ ۚ أَلَيْسَ فِى جَهَنَّمَ مَثْوًى لِّلْكَـٰفِرِينَ

“So who is more unjust than one who lies about Allāh and denies the truth when it has come to him? Is there not in Hell a residence for the disbelievers?”

Saheeh International

Essence

The worst wrong is a double one: saying about Allah what is false, then calling His truth a lie the moment it arrives.

A reflection

The wolf set to guard the flock

The ayah opens with a question that is really a verdict: fa-man aẓlamu, so who does greater wrong? The commentaries agree on the answer. No one.

The root ẓ-l-m has two pictures in the lexicons. One is darkness. The other is putting a thing in a place that is not its own. A herdsman 'wronged' his milk-skin when he poured from it before the butter had formed. Ground was 'wronged' when someone dug it though it was never a place for digging. An Arab proverb says that whoever sets the wolf to guard the flock has done ẓulm. These images are established in the lexicons.

So ẓulm is misplacement. Every injustice puts something where it does not belong. Another's money sits in your pocket. Blame lands on the innocent. A harsh word comes where a gentle one was due.

Picture a man who uses his late mother's gold wedding ring as a curtain hook because it happened to be the right size. Nothing is broken. The curtain hangs. But anyone who knew what the ring meant would wince.

Now measure the misplacement in this ayah. To say Allah has a son or a partner is to put a creature in the place of the Creator. To call His message a lie is to put falsehood where truth stands. It is the greatest misplacement there is, because it concerns the greatest thing there is. That is why the question has no answer but one.

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.