Surah al-Humazah

Shaykh al-Islām—may Allah have mercy on him—said:

Section

His words:

“Woe to every slanderer and backbiter.”

This means someone who maliciously attacks others and finds fault with them, as He says:

“A slanderer, going about spreading malicious gossip.”

And He says:

“Among them are those who criticize you concerning the distribution of charities.”

And He says:

“Those who criticize the believers who give charity voluntarily.”

Hamz (malicious criticism) is more severe, because hamz means a forceful thrust. From this comes the name of the letter hamzah, which is a sharp catch in the throat. Another instance is His saying:

“And say: ‘My Lord, I seek refuge in You from the incitements of the devils.’”

Another is the saying of the Prophet, may Allah bless him and grant him peace:

“I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed Satan, from his goading, his blowing, and his spitting.”

He also said: “His goading is al-mūtah,” meaning a seizure. Thus hamz resembles taʿn (stabbing) in both expression and meaning, whereas lamz is akin to condemnation and fault-finding. He condemned only those who engage frequently in hamz [and lamz, for humazah and lumazah denote someone who does this frequently, whereas (humzah) and (lumzah)