The Tafsīr of Sūrat Al-Qāri'ah (Chapter - 101)

Which was revealed in Makkah

Qur’anبِسْمِ ٱللَّهِ ٱلرَّحْمَٰنِ ٱلرَّحِيمِ

In the Name of Allāh, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Qur’an 101:1–11ٱلْقَارِعَةُ مَا ٱلْقَارِعَةُ وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْقَارِعَةُ يَوْمَ يَكُونُ ٱلنَّاسُ كَٱلْفَرَاشِ ٱلْمَبْثُوثِ وَتَكُونُ ٱلْجِبَالُ كَٱلْعِهْنِ ٱلْمَنفُوشِ فَأَمَّا مَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَٰزِينُهُۥ فَهُوَ فِى عِيشَةٍ رَّاضِيَةٍ وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَفَّتْ مَوَٰزِينُهُۥ فَأُمُّهُۥ هَاوِيَةٌ وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا هِيَهْ نَارٌ حَامِيَةٌۢ

«1. Al-Qāri'ah.» «2. What is Al-Qāri'ah?» «3. And what will make you know what Al-Qāri'ah is?» «4. It is a Day whereon mankind will be like moths scattered about.» «5. And the mountains will be like wool, carded.» «6. Then as for him whose Balance will be heavy,» «7. He will live a pleasant life.» «8. But as for him whose Balance will be light,» «9. His mother will be Hāwiyah.» «10. And what will make you know what it is?» «11. A fire Ḥāmiyah!»

Al-Qāri'ah is one of the names of the Day of Judgement, like Al-Ḥāqqah, Aṭ-Ṭāmmah, As-Sākhkhah, Al-Ghāshiyah and other names. Then Allāh intensifies concern and fright for it by saying,

Qur’an 101:3وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا ٱلْقَارِعَةُ

«And what will make you know what Al-Qāri'ah is?» Then He explains this by saying,

Qur’an 101:4يَوْمَ يَكُونُ ٱلنَّاسُ كَٱلْفَرَاشِ ٱلْمَبْثُوثِ

«It is a Day whereon mankind will be like moths scattered about.» meaning, in their scattering, their dividing, their coming and their going, all due to being bewildered at what is happening to them, they will be like scattered moths. This is like Allāh's statement,

Qur’an 54:7كَأَنَّهُمْ جَرَادٌ مُّنتَشِرٌ

«As if they were locusts spread abroad.» (54:7) Allāh said,

Qur’an 101:5وَتَكُونُ ٱلْجِبَالُ كَٱلْعِهْنِ ٱلْمَنفُوشِ

«And the mountains will be like wool, carded.» meaning, they will become like carded wool that has began to wear out (fade away) and be torn apart. Mujāhid, 'Ikrimah, Sa'īd bin Jubayr, Al-Ḥasan, Qatādah, 'Aṭā' Al-Khurāsāni, Aḍ-Ḍaḥḥāk and As-Suddi have all said,

Qur’an 101:5كَٱلْعِهْنِ

«like wool ('Ihn).» "Woolen."^{1Aṭ-Ṭabari 24:574.} Then Allāh informs about the results received by those who performed the deeds, and the honor and disgrace they will experience based upon their deeds. He says,

Qur’an 101:6فَأَمَّا مَن ثَقُلَتْ مَوَٰزِينُهُۥ

«Then as for him whose Balance will be heavy.» meaning, his good deeds are more than his bad deeds.

Qur’an 101:7فَهُوَ فِى عِيشَةٍ رَّاضِيَةٍ

«He will live a pleasant life.» meaning, in Paradise.

Qur’an 101:8وَأَمَّا مَنْ خَفَّتْ مَوَٰزِينُهُۥ

«But as for him whose Balance will be light.» meaning, his bad deeds are more than his good deeds. Then Allāh says,

Qur’an 101:9فَأُمُّهُۥ هَاوِيَةٌ

«His mother will be Hāwiyah.» It has been said that this means he will be falling and tumbling headfirst into the fire of Hell, and the expression 'his mother' has been used to refer to his brain (as it is the mother of his head).

A statement similar to this has been reported from Ibn 'Abbās, 'Ikrimah, Abu Ṣāliḥ and Qatādah.^{2Aṭ-Ṭabari 24:575, 576, and Al-Qurṭubi 20:167.} Qatādah said, "He will fall into the Hellfire on his head."^{3Aṭ-Ṭabari 24:576.} Abu Ṣāliḥ made a similar statement when he said, "They will fall into the Fire on their heads."^{4Aṭ-Ṭabari 24:575.}

It has also been said that it means his mother that he will return to and end up with in the Hereafter will be Hāwiyah, which is one of the names of the Hellfire. Ibn Jarīr said, "Al-Hāwiyah is only called his mother because he will have no other abode except for it."^{5Aṭ-Ṭabari 24:575.} Ibn Zayd said, "Al-Hāwiyah is the Fire, and it will be his mother and his abode to which he will return, and where he will be settled." Then he recited the Āyah,

Qur’anوَمَأْوَىٰهُمُ ٱلنَّارُ

«Their abode will be the Fire.» (3:151)^{6Aṭ-Ṭabari 24:576.}

Ibn Abi Ḥātim said that it has been narrated from Qatādah that he said, "It is the Fire, and it is their abode."^{7Aṭ-Ṭabari 24:575.} Thus, Allāh says in explaining the meaning of Al-Hāwiyah,

Qur’an 101:10وَمَآ أَدْرَىٰكَ مَا هِيَهْ

«And what will make you know what it is?».

Allāh's statement

Qur’an 101:11نَارٌ حَامِيَةٌۢ

«A fire Ḥāmiyah!» meaning, extreme heat. It is a heat that is accompanied by a strong flame and fire. It is narrated from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet ﷺ said,

Ḥadīthنَارُ بَنِي آدَمَ الَّتِي تُوقِدُونَ، جُزْءٌ مِنْ سَبْعِينَ جُزْءًا مِنْ نَارِ جَهَنَّمَ

«The fire of the Children of Ādam that you all kindle is one part of the seventy parts of the fire of Hell.»

They (the Companions) said, "O Messenger of Allāh! Isn't it sufficient?" He replied,

Ḥadīthإِنَّهَا فُضِّلَتْ عَلَيْهَا بِتِسْعَةٍ وَسِتِّينَ جُزْءًا

«It is more than it by sixty-nine times.»

This has been recorded by Al-Bukhāri and Muslim.^{8Fatḥ Al-Bāri 6:380, and Muslim 4:2184.} In some of the wordings he stated,

Ḥadīthإِنَّهَا فُضِّلَتْ عَلَيْهَا بِتِسْعَةٍ وَسِتِّينَ جُزْءًا، كُلُّهُنَّ مِثْلُ حَرِّهَا

«It is more than it by sixty-nine times, each of them is like the heat of it.»

It has been narrated in a Ḥadīth that Imām Aḥmad recorded from Abu Hurayrah that the Prophet ﷺ said,

Ḥadīthإِنَّ أَهْوَنَ أَهْلِ النَّارِ عَذَابًا مَنْ لَهُ نَعْلَانِ، يَغْلِي مِنْهُمَا دِمَاغُهُ

«Verily, the person who will receive the lightest torment of the people of the Hellfire will be a man who will have two sandals that will cause his brain to boil. »”^{9Aḥmad 2:432 and 3:13.} It has been confirmed in the Two Ṣaḥīḥs that the Messenger of Allāh ﷺ said,

Ḥadīthاشْتَكَتِ النَّارُ إِلَى رَبِّهَا فَقَالَتْ: يَا رَبِّ أَكَلَ بَعْضِي بَعْضًا، فَأَذِنَ لَهَا بِنَفَسَيْنِ: نَفَسٍ فِي الشِّتَاءِ، وَنَفَسٍ فِي الصَّيْفِ، فَأَشَدُّ مَا تَجِدُونَ فِي الشِّتَاءِ مِنْ بَرْدِهَا، وَأَشَدُّ مَا تَجِدُونَ فِي الصَّيْفِ مِنْ حَرِّهَا

«The Hellfire complained to its Lord and said, "O Lord! Some parts of me devour other parts of me." So He (Allāh) permitted it to take two breaths: one breath in the winter and one breath in the summer. Thus, the most severe cold that you experience in the winter is from its cold, and the most severe heat that you experience in the summer is from its heat.»^{10Fatḥ Al-Bāri 6:380, and Muslim 1:431.} In the Two Ṣaḥīḥs it is recorded that he said,

Ḥadīthإِذَا اشْتَدَّ الْحَرُّ فَأَبْرِدُوا عَنِ الصَّلَاةِ، فَإِنَّ شِدَّةَ الْحَرِّ مِنْ فَيْحِ جَهَنَّمَ

«When the heat becomes intense pray the prayer when it cools down, for indeed the intense heat is from the breath of Hell.»^{11Fatḥ Al-Bāri 2:20, and Muslim 1:430.}

This is the end of the Tafsīr of Sūrat Al-Qāri'ah, and all praise and thanks are due to Allāh.