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wa-mā yukadhdhibu bihī ʾillā kullu muʿtadin ʾathīmin
and none denies it except every sinful transgressor.
— Ali Quli Qarai
83Al-MuṭaffifīnالمطففينVerse 12 of 36
Defrauding83. Al-Muṭaffifīnالمطففين
al-Muṭaffifīn
The Defrauding
MeccanVerse 12 of 36
Surah Mutaffifin, Verses 11-17
11. "Those who deny the Day of Judgement”
12. "And none denies it but every Transgressor, the Sinner!”
13. "When Our Signs are recited to him, he says: 'Myths of the ancients’.”
14. "Nay, Rather what they used to do has put rust upon their hearts."
15. “Nay, most surely on That Day they shall be debarred from their Lord,”
16. "Then, they will enter the fire of Hell."
17. "Then it will be said (to them): ‘This is that which you used to deny.”
Sin Works as Rust Upon the Heart
The previous verses made clear the dreadful end of the unbelievers. The following verses begin with an introduction to unbelievers also. It says:
It means that the denial of the Day of Judgement is not based on reasoning and logical thinking, but those who want to be oppressors, whenever they wish, and to be the sinners of any corruption, take joy in denying the Hereafter. They want to continue their evil deeds, freely and without thinking about their responsibilities. They do not pay attention to their conscience. They know no laws. The case is similar as can be found in Surah Qiyamat, No. 75, verse 5.
It says:
(then he denies the Hereafter). Hence, as belief has an affect on deeds, the same evil deeds affect on the formation of beliefs. This very idea will be divulged, clearly, in the commentary of the next verses. Now, the third characteristic of the deniers of the Hereafter is mentioned. It says:
They are not only Transgressors and Sinners, but mock the Signs of Allah and say that they are old myths like a series of ancient stories belonging to the very early periods of man, which have no real value. In this way, and under the pretext of calling them myths, they want to withdraw themselves from the duties that the verses of the Qur'an define for them. The sinners raise the subject as an excuse to flee from the truth and do not accept Allah’s invitation.
This idea is mentioned not only in this verse, but there are also nine other verses that denote just the same matter, about the sinners, and their excuse of calling these myths including Surah Furqan, No. 25, verse 5, which says:
In Surah Ahqaf, No.46, verse 17 when an ungodly son is being advised by his godly parents that the promise of Allah is true and all will be called to life again, after death, he mocks their words and says:
However, wrong doers always seek some vain excuses to make their conscience content, on the one hand, and to get rid of the just people's protests, on the other hand. It is a wonder how these kind of persons have often had some similar behaviour, as if they had been whispering the same things into each others ears throughout history, matters such as: sorcery, divination, madness, myths and the like. The Holy Qur'an points to the main origin of their wickedness in the next verse where it says:
What an alarming sense it is! What they do works as rust on their hearts and vanishes the first light and the early brightness that is really from the divine nature which Allah created in them. That is why the characteristic of truth, the shine of Revelation; with its full beaming brightness, does not reflect on their hearts. The Qur'anic term /ran/ is based on /rayn/ (rust). As Raqib says in Mufradat, it means: 'the coating or film formed on the precious things'. And some other philologists meant it as 'the radish-brown or redish yellow coating formed on iron or steel, and the like, by oxidation'; as occurs during exposure to air and moisture and it is usually a sign of the decay of the metal. Then, as a consequence, naturally its radiance disappears.
There will be a description, under the title of 'Explanation' that you will study later about the destructive effects of sin which dulls the light and radiance of the heart, even to the point of wiping it out.
And this is the most painful punishment of the evildoers in contrast with the spiritual meeting and the presence of the Righteous before their Lord, which is the best of blessings and the highest reward for them. The term
is usually used to negate a previous statement. For this case, commentators have delivered many probabilities; some of which are as follows: It is an emphasis on the term
in the former verse, and it is not true what they say about the Hereafter being myths of the ancients. Or, it is not so that the rust, which sin causes upon their hearts, will be wiped off. They shall be debarred from seeing Allah both in this world and the Next. Or, as it is said in some other verses of the Qur'an, that they think that even if they are brought back to their Lord, they shall surely be given some kind of blessings there. It is not as they think, though, and they will have the worst punishments and the most severe tortures in the Hereafter.
Truly, there will be a return, to us, of our worldly actions in the Hereafter. Those who neglect the truth, in this life, and their deeds have affected their hearts like rust, will be deprived from the Mercy of Allah and will never be able to see His appearance in the spiritual world, and they will never meet Him; the Sublime.
This entrance into the fire, is the result of deprivation from Allah, and nothing else. Verily, the heat of this deprivation is hotter then the heat of the fire of Hell, itself.
Explanations
Why Does Sin Work As Rust Upon The Heart?
Not only in this verse, but also in many other verses of the Holy Qur'an it talks frankly about the effect of sin in darkening the heart. Once, in Surah Mo'min, No.40, verse 35 it says:
Then another time, in Surah Baqarah, No. 2, verse 7 describing a group of stubborn sinners, it says:
And Surah Hajj, No. 22, verse 46 says:
Verily, the worst result of continual sinning is a heart sealed up, which is the extinguisher of the light of knowledge. The substance of sin flows from the limbs to the heart and changes it into something like a stagnant swamp. It is in this condition that man cannot distinguish between good and evil, and commits such horrific wrongs that everyone becomes astonished. This self-destructive sinner undermines himself and ruins his own happiness by his own hands.
There is a tradition from the holy Prophet (S) which says:
"Abundant sins cause the heart to decay.” 13
And another tradition from him (S) says:
"When a servant commits a sin, a black stain appears on his heart. If he repents and leaves off committing the sin and asks for forgiveness from Allah, his heart will be polished. And if he digresses again, the stain will spread until it covers his heart completely.
This is the very rust that Allah has mentioned in the Holy Qurtan in the verse that says:
The same idea has been narrated from Imam Sadiq (as) with a slight difference in Usul-i-Kafi. And in the same book, there is another tradition from the Prophet (S) that says:
"Speak with each other, and visit each other, and tell of the traditions (of ours). Surely the traditions refine the hearts. Verily, hearts become rusted as a sword does, and the traditions are the polish.” 15
It has also been proved psychologically that man's behaviour effects on his soul and gradually varies it to that qualification. It is effective in his thought and Judgment, even. It is also notable that the more man continues sinning, the thicker the darkness covers his soul until the point where he considers his evil deeds as his good deeds and he is even sometimes proud of them. At this time the back doors are shut and the bridges are broken for him to return. This is the most dangerous position that a person can be in.
A Curtain Over The Spirit
Although many of the commentators have tried to insert something into the verse:
and say: the sinners shall be debarred from ‘the mercy' or 'the honour' or 'the reward' of Allah, the verse apparently does not need anything added, but, they are really debarred from Him; While the Righteous will meet with Allah in Heaven and enjoy the greatest possible pleasure there, where the Sinners, the Hellish Disbelievers, are deprived of that (Him); the unmatched blessing. Some good-doers of the believing people may have the emanation even in this world, but the wrong doers never will.
In one respect, the former are always in front of Allah, but the latter are so far from Him. The Righteous are so delighted in supplicating to Him that it is indescribable, but the sinners are so entangled with their sins that they cannot be saved. Amir-al-Mo'mineen Ali (as) says in his supplication called ‘Kumayl’:
“Supposing that I am able to endure Thy chastisement, how can I endure separation from Thee?”
Footnotes