Al-Muṭaffifīn (, "The Defrauders") is the eighty-third surah of the

Qur'an The Quran, also romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a revelation directly from God ('' Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which consist of individual verses ('). Besides ...

. It has 36 ayat or verses. It is the last

Meccan surah A Meccan surah is, according to the timing and contextual background of their revelation ('' asbāb al-nuzūl'') within Islamic tradition, a chronologically earlier chapter ('' suwar'', singular ''sūrah'') of the Qur'an. The traditional chronolog ...

in Quran.

Summary

The primary theme of this surah is

Islamic eschatology Islamic eschatology includes the afterlife, apocalyptic signs of the End Times, and final Judgement. It is fundamental to Islam as life after death is one of the six Doctrines of Islam. Resurrection is divided into Lesser Resurrection (''al-q ...

or the hereafter, and the

rhetoric Rhetoric is the art of persuasion. It is one of the three ancient arts of discourse ( trivium) along with grammar and logic/ dialectic. As an academic discipline within the humanities, rhetoric aims to study the techniques that speakers or w ...

addresses the following subjects is the

discourse Discourse is a generalization of the notion of a conversation to any form of communication. Discourse is a major topic in social theory, with work spanning fields such as sociology, anthropology, continental philosophy, and discourse analysis. F ...

. The surah opens with a declaration of war and denunciation of those who use false weights and measures in the first six ayat. The surah warns the audience that the acts of the wicked are recorded in the book ''

Sajjín ''Sijjīn '' ( lit. Netherworld, Underworld, Chthonian World) is in Islamic belief either a prison, vehement torment or straitened circumstances at the bottom of ''Jahannam'' or hell, below the earth (compare Greek Tartarus), or, according to a d ...

'' in 7th to 9th ayaat. The surah makes explicit the relation between morality and the doctrine of the Hereafter effectively and impressively with woes to those who reject Muhammad and deny the judgment-day in ayaat up to 17th. Further up to 21st ayat, the surah describes that the acts of the righteous are registered in ''

Illiyún ''Illiyin'' or ''Illiyun'' ( literally: Heaven, Upperworld) is a Quranic term referring to either the "most high" and "supreme" places above Jannah, i.e. the Garden of Eden or Paradise, in the seventh Heaven closest to the Throne of God (al-ʿ ...

.'' The rewards of the righteous in Paradise are explained in ayaat 22nd up to 28th. In conclusion, from 29th to the 36th ayat, the believers have been consoled, and the disbelievers warned as if to say: Unbelievers mock at Muslims now but shall be laughed at in turn on the

Day of Resurrection In Islam, "the promise and threat" () of Judgement Day ( or ), is when "all bodies will be resurrected" from the dead, and "all people" are "called to account" for their deeds and their faith during their life on Earth. It has been called "the do ...

Ayat (verses)

*1-6 Denunciation of those who use false

weights and measures A unit of measurement, or unit of measure, is a definite magnitude (mathematics), magnitude of a quantity, defined and adopted by convention or by law, that is used as a standard for measurement of the same kind of quantity. Any other qua ...

*7-9 The acts of the wicked are recorded in the book

*10-18 Woe to those who reject Muhammad and deny the judgment-day *18-21 The acts of the righteous are registered in

*22-28 The rewards of the righteous in Paradise *29-36 Unbelievers mock at The Believers now, but shall be laughed at in turn

Name of the surah

Jalaluddin Al-Suyuti Jalal al-Din al-Suyuti (; 1445–1505), or al-Suyuti, was an Egyptian Sunni Muslim polymath of Persian descent. Considered the mujtahid and mujaddid of the Islamic 10th century, he was a leading muhaddith (hadith master), mufassir (Qu'ran exege ...

co-author of the classical Sunni tafsīr known as

Tafsir al-Jalalayn ''Tafsīr al-Jalālayn'' () is a classical Sunni interpretation (tafsir) of the Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly ...

suggests that some of the sūrahs have been named using incipits (i.e. the first few words of the surah).

Hamiduddin Farahi Hamiduddin Farahi (18 November 1863 – 11 November 1930) was an Indian Islamic scholar known for his work on the concept of ''nazm'', or coherence, in the Quran. The modernist Farahi school is named after him. He was instrumental in prod ...

a celebrated

Islamic Islam is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the Quran, and the teachings of Muhammad. Adherents of Islam are called Muslims, who are estimated to number Islam by country, 2 billion worldwide and are the world ...

scholar of

Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

is known for his groundbreaking work on the concept of Nazm, or Coherence, in the Quran. He writes that some sūrahs have been given names after some conspicuous words used in them. The Surah takes its name from its second word al-Mutaffifin -

Abul A'la Maududi Abul A'la al-Maududi (; – ) was an Islamic scholar, Islamist ideologue, Muslim philosopher, jurist, historian, journalist, activist, and scholar active in British India and later, following the partition, in Pakistan. Described by Wilfred C ...

.Compiled from a First Edition, multi-volume paperback English translation of the Quran by

Tafhim-ul-Quran ''Tafhim-ul-Quran'' () is a 6-volume translation and commentary of the Qur'an by the Pakistani Islamist ideologue and activist Syed Abul Ala Maududi. Maududi began writing the book in 1942 and completed it in 1972. ''Tafhim'' is derived from t ...

Placement and coherence with other surahs

The idea of a textual relation between the verses of a chapter has been discussed under various titles such as ''nazm'' and ''munasabah'' in non-English literature and ''coherence'', ''text relations'', ''intertextuality'', and ''unity'' in English literature.

, an

scholar of the

, is known for his work on the concept of nazm, or coherence, in the Quran.

Fakhruddin al-Razi Fakhr al-Dīn al-Rāzī () or Fakhruddin Razi () (1149 or 1150 – 1209), often known by the sobriquet Sultan of the Theologians, was an influential Iranian and Muslim polymath, scientist and one of the pioneers of inductive logic. He wrote vari ...

(died 1209 CE), Zarkashi (died 1392) and several other classical as well as contemporary Quranic scholars have contributed to the studies. This surah belongs to the seventh and final group of surahs which starts from Surah

Al-Mulk Al-Mulk () is the List of chapters in the Quran, 67th chapter (surah) of the Quran, comprising 30 ayat, verses. Surah Al Mulk emphasizes the greatness of Allah and His creation, urging believers to reflect on the signs of God's power in the uni ...

(67) and runs to the end of the Quran. This surah forms a pair with the next one (

Al-Inshiqaq Al-Inshiqāq (, "The Sundering", "Splitting Open") is the eighty-fourth chapter (''surah'') of the Qur'an, with 25 verses ('' āyāt''). It mentions details of the Day of Judgment when, according to this chapter, everyone will receive reckoning o ...

) about their subject-matter.

Connection with previous surah

Tadabbur-i-Quran ''Tadabbur-i-Qur'an'' () is a exegeses (''tafsir'') of the Qur'an by Amin Ahsan Islahi based on the concept of thematic and structural coherence, which was originally inspired by Allama Hamiduddin Farahi. The tafsir is extended over nine volumes ...

is a

tafsir Tafsir ( ; ) refers to an exegesis, or commentary, of the Quran. An author of a ''tafsir'' is a ' (; plural: ). A Quranic ''tafsir'' attempts to provide elucidation, explanation, interpretation, context or commentary for clear understanding ...

(exegeses) of the

Amin Ahsan Islahi Amin Ahsan Islahi (; 1904 – 15 December 1997), was a Pakistani Islamic scholar best known for his Urdu exegesis of the Quran, '' Tadabbur-i-Quran'' ("Pondering on the Quran"), which he based on Hamiduddin Farahi's (1863 – 1930), id ...

based on the concept of thematic and structural coherence, which was originally inspired by

Allama Hamiduddin Farahi Hamiduddin Farahi (18 November 1863 – 11 November 1930) was an Indian Islamic scholar known for his work on the concept of ''nazm'', or coherence, in the Quran. The modernist Farahi school is named after him. He was instrumental in produ ...

. The tafsir is extended over nine volumes of six thousand pages. It describes Al-Mutaffifin as a supplement to the previous surah

al-Infitar The Cleaving in Sunder (, al-infiṭār, also known as "The Cleaving" and "Bursting Apart") is the 82nd sura of the Quran, with 19 ayat. The chapter is named 'Al-Infitar' because of the occurrence of the word 'unfatarat' in the first verse of t ...

concerning the central theme and that this surah elaborates the division righteous and the deviants mentioned in last passage of the previous surah. This surah further continues and elaborates the concept of

alluded towards the end of previous surah.

Connection with next surah

According to

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Javed Ahmad Ghamidi (born 7 April 1952) is a Pakistani Islamic scholar and philosopher who is the founder of Al-Mawrid Institute of Islamic Sciences and its sister organisation ''Danish Sara''. He is regarded as one of the most influential and ...

Pakistan Pakistan, officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of over 241.5 million, having the Islam by country# ...

Muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

theologian,

Quran The Quran, also Romanization, romanized Qur'an or Koran, is the central religious text of Islam, believed by Muslims to be a Waḥy, revelation directly from God in Islam, God (''Allah, Allāh''). It is organized in 114 chapters (, ) which ...

scholar,

Islamic modernist Islamic modernism is a movement that has been described as "the first Muslim ideological response to the Western cultural challenge", attempting to reconcile the Islam, Islamic faith with values perceived as modern such as democracy, civil rights ...

, exegete and educationist; the central theme of both surahs is to warn the

Quraysh The Quraysh () are an Tribes of Arabia, Arab tribe who controlled Mecca before the rise of Islam. Their members were divided into ten main clans, most notably including the Banu Hashim, into which Islam's founding prophet Muhammad was born. By ...

of any misconception they may have about the Day of Judgement. Most surely, they are going to be raised on that day to appear before their Lord and shall definitely meet different fates according to their deeds.

Special traits of Sūrat Al-Mutaffifin

The Quran consists of 114 chapters of varying lengths, each known as a

sūrah A ''surah'' (; ; ) is an Arabic word meaning 'chapter' in the Quran. There are 114 ''suwar'' in the Quran, each divided into ayah, verses (). The ''suwar'' are of unequal length; the shortest ''surah'' (al-Kawthar) has only three verses, while ...

. Many of the surahs contain overlapping subjects yet many of them hold special traits. In this surah, for example, the word
al-Mutaffifin
' is unique in its frequency of occurrence as it is mentioned only once in the whole of the Quran. Al-Mutaffifin means the stinters who use unfair means & measures to take more than they should and give less than they should. As the principal subject of the

is the stinters/al-Mutaffifin, the surah further elaborates the actions of either; using malpractice or carefully being honest; are recorded in
Sajjín
' and
Illiyún
' respectively. Both of these words ''Sajjín'' and ''Illiyún'' also occur only in this surah and nowhere else in the whole Quran just like their trigger word ''Al-Mutaffifin''.

Hadith

* "When the Prophet

Muhammad Muhammad (8 June 632 CE) was an Arab religious and political leader and the founder of Islam. Muhammad in Islam, According to Islam, he was a prophet who was divinely inspired to preach and confirm the tawhid, monotheistic teachings of A ...

came to Al-Madinah, they were the worst people in weights and measures. Then, Allah, Glorious is He revealed: "Woe to the Mutaffifun (those who give less in measure and weight)"(Al-Mutaffifin), and they were fair in weights and measures after that. * According to

Abdullah ibn Masud Abd Allah ibn Mas'ud (; ) was a companion of the Islamic prophet Muhammad whom Sunni Islamic tradition regards the greatest interpreter of the Quran of his time and the second ever. He was also known by the ''kuniya'' Abu Abd al-Rahman.Muhammad ...

, Muhammad used to recite two equal surahs in one rak'ah; he would recite (for instance)

An-Naziat An-Nāziʻāt (, "Those Who Pull Out", in reference to "the angels who tear out the souls of the wicked") is the seventy-ninth sura of the Qur'an, with 46 ayat. Its name derived from the word ''wan-nazi‘at'' with which it opens. The root (n- ...

(79) in one rak'ah, surahs (Al-Mutaffifin) (83) and Sūrat al-ʿAbasa (80) in one rak'ah.

Sunan Abu Dawood ''Sunan Abi Dawud'' () is the third hadith collection of the Six Books of Sunni Islam. It was compiled by scholar Abu Dawud al-Sijistani (). Introduction Abu Dawood compiled twenty-one books related to Hadith and preferred those (plural of ...

1396; in-book reference: Book 6, Hadith 26; English translation: Book 6, Hadith 1391

References

External links

Quran 82

Clear Quran translation Mustafa Khattab is a Canadian–Egyptian Muslim scholar, imam, and university chaplain. He holds a professional ijâzah in the Ḥafṣ style of recitation. He is known for his translation of the Quran in "The Clear Quran" series. Career He ...

{{Authority control Mutaffifin