Tafsir of Al-Humazah 104:1-9

The Hamz: Breaking, like hazm. The Lamz: Stabbing/attacking. It is said: lamazahu and lahazahu—meaning he stabbed him.

The intended meaning is: breaking the honor of people, belittling them, backbiting them, and attacking them. The structure (fa‘ala) indicates that this is a habit he has become accustomed to. Similar examples are lu‘ana (a habitual curser) and duhkah (a habitual mocker). A poet said: “If I am absent, you are the slanderer and the backbiter.”

It is recited: Wayl lil-hamzah al-lamzah. It is also recited: Wayl li-kulli humazah lumazah (with a sukūn on the mīm). This refers to the buffoon who brings forth absurdities and jokes to make people laugh at others, while he insults them.

It is said this was revealed regarding al-Akhnas ibn Shurayq, whose habit was backbiting and attacking others. Others say it was Umayyah ibn Khalaf, or al-Walid ibn al-Mughirah, regarding his backbiting of the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ) and his belittling of him. It is permissible for the cause to be specific while the threat is general, so that it encompasses everyone who engages in this ugly behavior, and to serve as an allusion to the one for whom it was revealed—for that is more deterrent and painful to him.

{Who} is a substitute for "every," or in the accusative case as a form of dispraise.

{Collected} (jama‘a): Recited with a shaddah (jamma‘a), which corresponds to his "counting" (‘addadahu). It is said: ‘addadahu means he made it a reserve for the calamities of time. It is also recited as wa-‘addadahu (and counted his wealth), meaning he gathered the wealth, kept track of its number, and enumerated it. Or, he gathered his wealth and his people who support him, from the saying: "So-and-so has ‘idad and ‘adad," meaning he has a large number of supporters and what sustains them. It is also said that mālan wa-‘addadahu means wa-‘addahu (and promised it), resolving the assimilation, like danū (for dannū).

{Makes him immortal} (akhladahu): Meaning, his wealth has lengthened his hope and given him far-reaching desires, until, due to his extreme heedlessness and long hope, he thinks that his wealth will make him immortal in this world and that he will not die. Or, he works by constructing buildings reinforced with rock and brick, planting trees, and cultivating the land—the work of one who thinks his wealth has kept him alive. Or, it is an allusion to righteous deeds, for that is what makes its owner immortal in bliss; as for wealth, it has never made anyone immortal.

It is reported that al-Akhnas had four thousand dinars, or ten thousand. Al-Hasan said: He was once wealthy and was asked, "What do you say about thousands that I have not used to ransom myself from a base person, nor have I favored a noble person with?" He replied, "But why?" He said, "For the fickleness of time, the harshness of the ruler, the calamities of fate, and the fear of poverty." He said, "Then you leave it for someone who will not praise you, and you return it to someone who will not excuse you."

{No!} A rebuke to him for his assumption.

{He will surely be thrown} (la-yunbadhanna): Meaning he and his wealth. Or la-yunbadhanna (with a damma on the dhāl), meaning he and his supporters.

{Into the Crusher} (al-hutamah): Into the Fire whose nature is to crush everything thrown into it. A gluttonous man is called a hutamah. It is recited as al-hatimah.

It means it enters their interiors until it reaches their chests and rises over their hearts—the centers of the hearts. There is nothing in the human body more delicate than the heart, nor more pained by the slightest harm that touches it; so how is it when the Fire of Hell rises over it and takes control of it? It is permissible that the hearts are singled out because they are the seats of disbelief, corrupt beliefs, and wicked intentions. The meaning of the Fire "rising over them" is that it covers them, overcomes them, and encompasses them. Or, it rises over them metaphorically, reaching the sources of their causes.

{Locked} (mu’sadah): Closed shut. A poet said: “My she-camel yearns for the mountains of Makkah, While the doors of Sana’a are locked before her.”

It is recited as ‘umud (with two dammas), ‘umd (with a sukūn on the mīm), and ‘amad (with two fathas). The meaning is that it confirms their despair of exiting and their certainty of eternal imprisonment; the doors are locked upon them, and pillars are extended across the doors, for maximum security. It is also possible the meaning is that it is locked upon them, while they are shackled in extended pillars, like the stocks in which thieves are shackled.

O Allah, save us from the Fire, for You are the best of those to whom one seeks refuge.

From the Messenger of Allah (ﷺ): "Whoever recites Surah al-Humazah, Allah will give him ten good deeds for every person who mocked Muhammad and his companions."