An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 112 of 176

An-Nisa 4:112

وَمَن يَكْسِبْ خَطِيٓـَٔةً أَوْ إِثْمًا ثُمَّ يَرْمِ بِهِۦ بَرِيٓـًٔا فَقَدِ ٱحْتَمَلَ بُهْتَـٰنًا وَإِثْمًا مُّبِينًا

“But whoever earns an offense or a sin and then blames it on an innocent [person] has taken upon himself a slander and manifest sin.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Whoever does wrong and throws the blame on an innocent person does not get rid of it; he takes on a far heavier load.

A reflection

Throwing your sin like a stone

Thumma yarmi bihi barīʾā: then he throws it at an innocent person.

The verb is ramā, to throw. One lexicon gives it as casting something away from you: an arrow, a stone. Words can be thrown too. The same verb is used for hurling an accusation (24:4).

So the ayah pictures a sin as an object. The wrongdoer is holding it, and wants it gone. He cannot destroy it, so he throws it. And it has to land somewhere.

In this story it landed on an innocent man. The commentators agree that the thief from the Banū Ubayriq did the throwing. They differ on the target. Some name Labīd ibn Sahl, a Muslim. Others name a Jewish neighbour, Zayd ibn al-Samīn.

One classical commentator pinpoints why this is so grave. It is not only the lie, and not only clearing oneself. It is the intention to load one's own crime onto the innocent, so that its punishment falls on him.

That is the anatomy of scapegoating. Something has gone wrong. Someone must pay. The person who did it makes sure it is someone else, preferably someone weaker, newer or without friends.

Picture a project review after a software release fails. The team lead knows he skipped the final tests to hit a deadline. In the meeting he mentions, carefully, that the new contractor had only been with them three weeks. Nobody says the contractor did it. Nobody needs to. His contract is not renewed.

The team lead threw a stone, and it landed on a man who never saw it coming.

Scapegoating rarely looks dramatic. It is usually a hint, a pause or a well-placed fact. Next time something goes wrong where you work or live, watch where the stones are flying. Make sure none of them left your hand.

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.