Al-Qamar · Makki · ayah 25 of 55

Al-Qamar 54:25

أَءُلْقِىَ ٱلذِّكْرُ عَلَيْهِ مِنۢ بَيْنِنَا بَلْ هُوَ كَذَّابٌ أَشِرٌ

“Has the message been sent down upon him from among us? Rather, he is an insolent liar."”

Saheeh International

Essence

"Why him?" is envy's oldest question; unable to answer the message, they called the messenger a liar drunk on his own importance.

A reflection

Why him and not us?

An office hears that a quiet colleague has been promoted to lead the team. By lunchtime the muttering has begun in the kitchen. Why her? She has only been here four years. Some of us have been here twelve. Nobody discusses whether she is good at the job. The question is only why she was chosen and they were not.

Thamud ask the same question about Salih. A-ulqiya al-dhikru ʿalayhi min bayninā? Has the Reminder been cast upon him, out of all of us? One commentator fills in what they meant. Why was he singled out from the people of Thamud, when some among them had more wealth and better standing? Another: when there were those among us more deserving of it.

The question is not really a question. Commentators call it a denial in the form of a question. Underneath it is envy: not of what Salih had, but of the fact that he had been chosen.

The Quran records the same reflex in Makkah. They said: why was this Quran not sent down to some great man of the two towns (43:31)? Every age produces it. People can bear a truth more easily than they can bear the person through whom it came.

Envy at someone's selection is one of the quietest and most corrosive emotions. It rarely says "I envy her". It says "why her?", "who does he think he is?", "I don't see what's so special". And it blocks us from receiving what the chosen person carries.

The cure begins with honesty. When you feel the "why him?" rising, name it to yourself: this is envy. Then ask a better question. What has he been given that I could learn from? And pray for the person you envy, by name. The Prophet ﷺ said none of you truly believes until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself (al-Bukhari). Envy cannot survive long in a heart that prays for its target.

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.