Bismillaahir Rahmaa

nir Raheem
Teachings of the Qur'aan

Al-Qalam
Soorah 68:8-16

Teachings and Commentary

Ayub A. Hamid

Teachings and Commentary

In the hope that the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam would yield under
pressure or at least compromise his strict stand against their evils and their idolatry,
the Makkan chiefs were putting extreme pressure on him. The Prophet ŝall Allaahu
‘alayhi wa sallam had so far resisted every kind of pressure without any emotional
reaction and without any slow down in his work or compromise in his stance.
However, the Makkans continued to hope that if they increased the intensity of their
opposition, at some point he would break down. The next two verses dashed their
hopes. They commanded the Prophet not to yield to them in any instance, thus
letting the Makkan chiefs know that none of their pressure was going to work
because the Prophet was not allowed to yield. It was on similar occasions that the
Prophet told the Makkans that he could not stop working for his mission or soften his
stance just as the sun could not stop shining or make its shine any cooler.

8 9
So do not yield to the rejecters. They would have had you soften, so that they
may soften.

Verse 9 exposes their true motives. Their opposition to the mission of the Prophet
ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam was not based on any principles. All their opposition
and pressure tactics were intended just to make him soften his efforts and
compromise his strict stand against their evil behaviour and their idolatry. It was to
compel him to bargain and arrive at some compromising position through give and
take. They knew that he was not a mad man. Had he been a mad man promoting
crazy ideas, there was no sense in arriving at a give and take proposition. In reality
they knew that there was nothing wrong with him or his message. They just wanted
him to become soft and compromising in his message of reformation, so that they
could save face, maintain their egos and continue doing the evils they were doing.

There is an important lesson to be learned here. There must never be any give or
take on the matters of principles or beliefs of Deen [1]. It is hypocritical on the part of
both parties: those who expect a compromise and those who make a compromise.
This lesson especially needs to be noted by the Muslim masses who see themselves
between two groups of people: One group standing up for the pure Islamic principles
and the other group opposing them. In such situations, the masses usually put
pressure on the Muslims who want to live by pure Islamic principles and expect them
to soften up, become accommodating and not to be a hardliner, etc. On the other
hand, Muslims must also be vigilant about those people who confuse the principle of
Deen with the provision and rules of Sharee‘ah and want everyone to follow their
version of the Sharee‘ah as the only truth. No softening up or compromise or
accommodation is allowed on the principles of Deen, while there can be quite a bit of
flexibility, accommodation and adaptation on the rules of Sharee‘ah.

The next few verses portray the character sketch of those who were calling him a
mad man and pressuring him to compromise. This was described so that Makkans
could recognize evil traits in the people who were opposing the Prophet ŝall Allaahu
‘alayhi wa sallam and mentally contrast them against the superb character of the
Prophet mentioned earlier.

Some people think that it is the description of a certain chief who could be
recognized by these features without having to mention his name. Their opinion is
based on the use of singular words, mention of being base-born and use of single
pronoun while mentioning branding in verse 16. Others think that it was a typical
description of the collective character of the chiefs of the Quraish who had banded
together to oppose him. They give three reasons for their opinion: firstly, this
description starts with “and” as a continuation of the point made in verse 8 where
“rejecters” was plural; secondly, this verse uses the word “every” which is not fitting
if this was the description of one particular person; and thirdly, the example given
(verses 17-32) immediately after this description also uses the plural pronoun at the
very start of verse 17. They think the use of singular words and pronouns has been
made because the description is of a typical collective personality, not persons
individually.

In any case, this character sketch further exposed the real reason for the chiefs’
opposition to the Prophet and some of the dirty tactics stemming from such evil
characteristics that were used against the Prophet ŝall Allaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam. It
was now up to the Makkans to choose whom they preferred to listen to.

10 11
And, heed not every worthless habitual swearer, a mocker by gestures, going
12
about with malicious gossip, hindering charity, transgressing beyond limits,
13 14
shirking obligations, cruel, and besides all that, a base-born. Just because he
 15
has wealth and sons. When Our revelations are recited to him, he says, “Mere
fables of the earlier people.”

The personality sketch mentions the following traits:

§ Low esteem and credibility, hence, frequent resorting to oaths to convince

people to believe him – the Makkan chiefs would swear profusely to convince people
that the Prophet was mad or possessed.

§ Excessive use of mocking gestures, verbal put downs and derogatory remarks
to dishonour a person – the Makkan leaders would use this tactic when the Prophet
presented his message in public.

§ Spreading malicious gossip – for character assassination of another person or

making people fight. This technique was used to spread misgivings about the Prophet
and to cause rifts and misunderstandings among Muslims.

§ Hindering charity – being miserly and uncharitable as well as discouraging

others from giving charity and doing selfless goodness. “Khair” means good as well
as wealth. According to some commentators, here it particularly refers to wealth
which they withhold from spending on the poor and needy, and discourage others
from dong so.

§ Transgressing beyond limits – Abusing others’ rights, being excessive and

exceeding all limits.

§ Shirking obligations – “Atheem” is the one who continually shirks one’s

obligations to God, society, relatives or family.

§ Cruel – “‘Utull” means one who is quarrelsome, aggressive, stone-hearted,

violent and cruel.

§ Base-born – “Zaneem” is someone who is from a lower class family but

pretends or falsely presents himself to be from a higher class. Such people socialize
and associate themselves with whoever they consider to be more influential or higher
class, indulge in flattery of that elite class while vocally opposing and belittling those
who differ in principle with such elite – all this in their efforts to be included in that
class and to prove that they are the most loyal champions for the cause of that
powerful and influential class[2].

Verse 14 “Just because he has wealth and sons” is making three points:

1. People should not yield to or be influenced by such evil personalities just

because they are powerful and wealthy. Having many sons who could fight alongside
the father carried huge weight in Arabian society. In those days, many people were
influenced by the rich and powerful just as today’s people follow rich and famous
celebrities. Allaah Subhaanahu wa Ta’aala wants people to make a decision about
who to follow or listen to on the basis of their character, not on the basis of their
wealth and power.
2. They have adopted such a vicious personality because of their wealth and
resources. They use corrupt and cruel practices in amassing wealth, in protecting it
and increasing it; and those dirty traits become a part of their personality. Also,
based on their wealth and resources, they think they are important and deserve to
be recognized and followed as leaders. To this end, they adopt evil tactics listed
above. If they perceive someone to be a threat to their aspirations, they become
vicious and use any and all immoral techniques and tactics to discredit him.

3. Because of their wealth and resources, they become arrogant, summarily

discounting even serious matters brought up by others without due diligence on their
merit. Their rejection of the message of the Qur-aan was not because they had given
it its due consideration and reflected upon it rationally, it was because of this
arrogance. When the Qur-aan warned them about the consequences of their
behaviour using example of the previous nations, the said Makkan chiefs snubbed
the Qur-aanic anecdotes as “fables of the earlier people”, instead of thinking and
reflecting on the gravity of the matter.

The next verse concludes the mention of such people who were opposing the
message of the Qur-aan because of their pride, arrogance and egoism, with a
reminder of the consequence of such behaviour. They are being warned that they
would soon be humiliated both in this world and particularly in the Hereafter.

16
Soon We will brand him on the snout!

Just as “having one’s nose in the air” in English is an expression to indicate display of
one’s arrogance, “having a big nose” in Arabic indicates inflated pride and ego. As
the core motive behind their opposition to the Prophetic message was their pride and
egos which were excessively strong, their noses have been called snouts or
“Khurtoom” (elephant trunk). Their humiliation is termed “branding on their snouts”.

[1] Principles or beliefs of Deen must not be confused with the rules and regulation of Sharee‘ah or Fiqh,
wherein there can be much flexibility under the right conditions.

[2] Islam does not recognize or endorse division of human beings into classes. This mention is only to
portray the mentality of those who were opposing the Prophet.