Surah No. 104

Introduction
Merits of the Surah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَٰنِ الرَّحِيمِ وَيْلٌ لِكُلِّ هُمَزَةٍ لُمَزَةٍ (1)

(104:1) Woe1 to every backbiter, slanderer,2

1. The wayl of the original has also been said to be a valley in Hell (Ibn Jarir).

2. From the varying interpretations that have come to us from authorities such as Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Qatadah Abu al-`Aliyyah and others, the two words humazah and lumazah (translated as backbiter and slanderer) seem to be synonymous and interchangeable (Ibn Jarir).
Ibn Kathir disagrees: Humazah is someone who slanders in words, whereas lumazah is one who does it in action.
And Sufyan Thawri has said that humazah is one who slanders while lumazah someone who makes signs with his eyes (i.e. a winker) - Qurtubi.
Grammatical construction of the two terms suggests that the allusion is to someone who habitually indulges in backbiting and slander (Zamakhshari).
The commentators have suggested Akhnas b. Shurayq, Walid b. al-Mughira, Jamil ibn `Amir Thaqafi and Ubayy b. Khalf, (or Umayyah b. Khalf) as the possible candidates who all used to backbite the Prophet and his followers, mimic them and make fun of them in a variety of ways. Nonetheless, the verses are general in their application and not specific to them (Zamakhshari, Razi, Qurtubi and others).
The inclusion of Akhnas b. Shurayq’s name sounds doubtful since Ibn Hajr has stated in his `Isabah that he became a Muslim at the fall of Makkah (Alusi).

الَّذِي جَمَعَ مَالًا وَعَدَّدَهُ (2)

(104:2) Who amassed riches and counted them over.3

3. A second meaning is "he lay up (or hoarded) for the future (Shawkani and others).

يَحْسَبُ أَنَّ مَالَهُ أَخْلَدَهُ (3)

(104:3) Thinking that his riches will make him immortal.4

4. The implication of conditions stated along with the efforts to amass riches, is that it is the inordinate love of wealth and excessive devotion to it that invoked the censor (Thanwi).

كَلَّا ۖ لَيُنْبَذَنَّ فِي الْحُطَمَةِ (4)

(104:4) No indeed. He shall be hurled into the Crusher.5

5. It is also said that hutamah (translated as Crusher) is one of many names of Hell-fire, such as Jahannum, Saqar and Laza (Ibn Jarir).

وَمَا أَدْرَاكَ مَا الْحُطَمَةُ (5)

(104:5) And what will tell you what the Crusher is?

نَارُ اللَّهِ الْمُوقَدَةُ (6)

(104:6) It is Allah’s own kindled Fire6

6. To say that it is Allah’s own kindled Fire means it is not any ordinary fire, rather of a very special nature, that remains burning, never cooling down.
`Ali (ra) has said: 'Strange of a man who disobeys Allah on the surface of the earth while the Fire is being kindled for him under him!
And a hadith says that Hell-fire was burnt for a thousand years until it became red. Then it was burnt for another thousand years until it became white, and then it was burnt for another thousand years until it became black. Now it is pitch dark (Razi). Also see note 6 of chapter 101 (Au.).

الَّتِي تَطَّلِعُ عَلَى الْأَفْئِدَةِ (7)

(104:7) That will rise up to the hearts.7

7. The sentence has two other implications. One, that the Fire straightaway reaches the heart and burns it from within, which will be a very painful experience for the victim, the heart being the most tender and sensitive part of the body. And second, the heart has been expressly mentioned because it is the home of denial, pride against truth and the like qualities (Razi).

إِنَّهَا عَلَيْهِمْ مُؤْصَدَةٌ (8)

(104:8) It will be vaulted over them

فِي عَمَدٍ مُمَدَّدَةٍ (9)

(104:9) In towering columns.8

8. The `amad of the original has been variously understood. After stating various opinions Ibn Jarir rounds off with his own remark that he prefers it be left to what Qatadah has said, viz., the dwellers of Hell will be punished with columns or pillars of some sort.
Maqatil has said that after their portion of Hell has been vaulted over the inhabitants, columns of steel (`amad, pl. of `amud or `imad) will be used to seal it. It is also said that the allusion could be to the chains that will be used to bind them (Shawkani). The term is also used for wooden fetters with which the legs of criminals used to be bound (Zamakhshari, Razi, Qurtubi).
However, the interpretation that has generally come from the mufassirin at this point is that after Hell-fire has been capped up from the top, nothing will be able to escape out nor penetrate in. Therefore the cries of the inmates will not be heard from the outside. Allah will forget them and they will remain within it forever and ever. May Allah save us all (Alusi and others).