Tafseer of The Criterion · Al-Furqaan · 25:68
And those who do not invoke with Allah another deity or kill the soul which Allah has forbidden [to be killed], except by right, and do not commit unlawful sexual intercourse. And whoever should do that will meet a penalty.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The Exalted and Praised says: and those who do not worship any other god alongside Allah and so associate partners (shurakāʾ) with Him in their worship of Him; rather, they purify their worship for Him and devote it solely to Him in obedience. وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ (and they do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden to kill) إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ (except by right) — whether through unbelief (kufr) in Allah after one's conversion to Islam, or through fornication (zinā) after consummated marriage (iḥṣān), or through the killing of a soul — in which case one is killed for it. وَلَا يَزْنُونَ (and they do not commit fornication) — they do not engage in sexual intercourse which Allah has forbidden them with respect to the private parts. وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ (and whoever does that) — He means: whoever commits these deeds and calls upon another god alongside Allah, kills a soul which Allah has forbidden to kill without right, and commits fornication — يَلْقَ أَثَامًا (will meet an athām) — He means: he will meet a chastisement (ʿuqūbah) and an exemplary punishment (nakāl) from Allah, just as our Lord, exalted be His praise, described him, namely يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا (his chastisement will be doubled for him on the Day of Resurrection and he will abide therein forever in humiliation). Among the meanings of athām is the saying of Balaʿah ibn Qays al-Kinānī:
"May Allah requite the son of ʿUrwa, for disobedience (ʿuqūq) to parents brings with it its chastisement (athām)."
By al-athām he means: the punishment (al-ʿiqāb).
And it has been transmitted that this verse was sent down to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ on account of a group of polytheists (mushrikūn) who wished to enter Islam, some of whom had committed these sins during their polytheism. They feared that their conversion to Islam would not avail them in spite of what they had done before, and they asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ for a legal verdict (fatwā) about this. Then Allah, the Blessed and Exalted, sent down this verse to teach them that Allah accepts the repentance of whoever among them repents.
The report of those who said that:
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: Yaʿlā ibn Muslim related to me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: that there were people from the polytheism who had killed much, and they came to Muḥammad ﷺ and said: "What you call us to is good; if only you could tell us that there is an expiation (kaffārah) for what we have done." Then there was sent down: وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَلَا يَزْنُونَ (and those who do not call upon another god alongside Allah and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right and do not commit fornication). And there was sent down: قُلْ يَا عِبَادِيَ الَّذِينَ أَسْرَفُوا عَلَى أَنفُسِهِمْ لَا تَقْنَطُوا مِنْ رَحْمَةِ اللَّهِ (Say: O My servants who have transgressed against themselves, do not despair of the mercy of Allah) up to His word مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَكُمُ الْعَذَابُ بَغْتَةً وَأَنتُمْ لَا تَشْعُرُونَ (before the chastisement comes upon you suddenly while you do not perceive it). Ibn Jurayj said: and Mujāhid said the same as Ibn ʿAbbās, verbatim.
ʿAbd Allāh ibn Muḥammad al-Firyābī related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Abū Muʿāwiya, on the authority of Abū ʿAmr al-Shaybānī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, who said: I asked the Prophet ﷺ: "Which sin is the greatest?" He said: "that you set up an equal (nidd) to Allah while He has created you; and that you kill your child out of fear that it will eat with you; and that you commit adultery with your neighbour's wife." And the Messenger of Allah ﷺ recited to us from the book of Allah: وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَلَا يَزْنُونَ (and those who do not call upon another god alongside Allah and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right and do not commit fornication).
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us on the authority of al-Aʿmash and Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Shuraḥbīl, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, who said: I said: "O Messenger of Allah, which sin is the greatest?" He said: "that you set up an equal to Allah while He has created you." I said: "then which?" He said: "that you kill your child out of fear that it will eat with you." I said: "then which?" He said: "that you commit adultery with your neighbour's wife." Then there was sent down in confirmation of the words of the Prophet ﷺ: وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَن النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ وَلَا يَزْنُونَ (and those who do not call upon another god alongside Allah and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right and do not commit fornication) ... the verse.
Sulaymān ibn ʿAbd al-Jabbār related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Qadīm related to us, saying: Asbāṭ ibn Naṣr al-Hamdānī related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil, on the authority of Abū Maysara, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ — identical in wording.
ʿĪsā ibn ʿUthmān ibn ʿĪsā al-Ramlī related to me, saying: my uncle Yaḥyā ibn ʿĪsā related to me, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh, who said: a man came to the Prophet ﷺ and said: "O Messenger of Allah, which sin is the greatest?" Then he mentioned something similar.
Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq al-Ahwāzī related to me, saying: ʿĀmir ibn Mudrik related to us, saying: al-Sarī — that is: Ibn Ismāʿīl — related to us, saying: al-Shaʿbī related to us, on the authority of Masrūq, who said: Ibn Masʿūd said: "the Messenger of Allah ﷺ went out one day and I followed him. He sat down on a raised piece of ground and I sat lower than he, with my face toward his knees. I seized the opportunity of his being alone and said: may I ransom you with my father and mother, O Messenger of Allah, which sin is the greatest? He said: that you set up an equal to Allah while He has created you. I said: then which? He said: that you kill your child out of aversion that it should eat with you. I said: then which? He said: that you commit adultery with your neighbour's wife." Then he recited this verse: وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ (and those who do not call upon another god alongside Allah) ... to the end of the verse.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ṭalq ibn Ghannām related to us, on the authority of Zāʾida, on the authority of Manṣūr, who said: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr related to me — or it was related to me on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr — that ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abzā charged him to ask Ibn ʿAbbās about these two verses: the verse in Sūra al-Nisāʾ وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُتَعَمِّدًا (and whoever kills a believer intentionally) ... to the end of the verse, and the verse in Sūra al-Furqān وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ يَلْقَ أَثَامًا (and whoever does that will meet an athām) up to وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا (and he will abide therein forever in humiliation). Ibn ʿAbbās said: "when a man enters Islam and learns its rulings and knows its affair, and then kills a believer intentionally, there is no repentance for him; but the verse in Sūra al-Furqān — when it was sent down, the polytheists of Mecca said: we have associated partners with Allah and we have killed the soul which Allah had forbidden without right. What then does Islam avail us? Then there was sent down إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ (except whoever repents). So whoever among them repented, it was accepted from him."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, who said: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr related to me — or he said: al-Ḥakam related to me, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr — who said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abzā charged me and said: ask Ibn ʿAbbās about these two verses, about the word of Allah وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ (and those who do not call upon another god alongside Allah and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden) ... the verse, and the verse in Sūra al-Nisāʾ وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ (and whoever kills a believer intentionally — his recompense is Hell). I asked Ibn ʿAbbās about this and he said: "when Allah sent down the verse in Sūra al-Furqān, the polytheists of Mecca said: we have set up partners alongside Allah, and we have killed the soul which Allah has forbidden." He said: إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا (except whoever repents, believes and does righteous deeds) ... the verse. This was for them. But as for the verse in Sūra al-Nisāʾ وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُتَعَمِّدًا فَجَزَاؤُهُ جَهَنَّمُ (and whoever kills a believer intentionally — his recompense is Hell) ... the verse: if a man already knew Islam and then killed a believer intentionally, his recompense is Hell and there is no repentance for him. I related this to Mujāhid and he said: except whoever shows remorse.
Muḥammad ibn ʿAwf al-Ṭāʾī related to us, saying: Aḥmad ibn Khālid al-Dhahanī related to us, saying: Shaybān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr ibn al-Muʿtamir, who said: Saʿīd ibn Jubayr related to me; he said: Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abzā said to me: ask Ibn ʿAbbās about these two verses — about the word of Allah: وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ (and those who do not call upon another god alongside Allah) ... up to مَنْ تَابَ (whoever repents), and about His word وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُتَعَمِّدًا (and whoever kills a believer intentionally) ... to the end of the verse. He said: I asked Ibn ʿAbbās about this. He said: "this verse in Sūra al-Furqān was sent down in Mecca up to His word وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا (and he will abide therein forever in humiliation). Then the polytheists said: what then does Islam avail us, since we have set up partners alongside Allah, killed the soul which Allah has forbidden, and committed fornication? He said: then Allah sent down: إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا (except whoever repents, believes and does righteous deeds) ... to the end of the verse. He said: and whoever, after knowing Islam and understanding it, kills another, for him there is no repentance."
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Ibn Abī ʿAdiyy related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Abū Bishr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās; he said about this verse وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ (and those who do not call upon another god alongside Allah and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right) ... the verse: he said: "it was sent down concerning the polytheists."
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, who said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Abzā charged me: ask Ibn ʿAbbās about this verse وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ (and those who do not call upon another god alongside Allah). Then he mentioned something similar.
ʿAbd al-Karīm ibn ʿUmayr related to me, saying: Ibrāhīm ibn al-Mundhir related to us, saying: ʿĪsā ibn Shuʿayb ibn Thawbān, freedman of Banū al-Dayl from the people of Medina, related to us, on the authority of Fulayḥ al-Shammās, on the authority of ʿUbayd ibn Abī ʿUbayd, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, who said: "I prayed the evening prayer with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, then returned and saw a woman at my door. I greeted her and she answered. I opened the door and went in. While I was praying in my prayer-place, she knocked. I let her in. She said: I have come to you to ask you about a deed I have committed — is there repentance for me? She said: I committed fornication and bore a child, and then killed it. I said: no, by Allah — no honour and no welcome! She rose up and cried out in lamentation: alas, was this fair countenance created for the Fire? He said: then I prayed the dawn prayer of that night with the Messenger of Allah ﷺ; then we sat down to wait for permission to be admitted to him. We were granted permission, and we went in. Then those who were with me departed, and I remained behind. He asked: what is the matter with you, Abū Hurayra, do you have a need? I said: O Messenger of Allah, I prayed the evening prayer with you last night and then returned. I told him what the woman had said. The Prophet ﷺ asked: what did you say to her? He said: I said to her: no, by Allah, no honour and no welcome. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: how evil was what you said! Did you not read this verse: وَالَّذِينَ لَا يَدْعُونَ مَعَ اللَّهِ إِلَهًا آخَرَ وَلَا يَقْتُلُونَ النَّفْسَ الَّتِي حَرَّمَ اللَّهُ إِلَّا بِالْحَقِّ (and those who do not call upon another god alongside Allah and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except by right) ... the verse إِلَّا مَنْ تَابَ وَآمَنَ وَعَمِلَ عَمَلًا صَالِحًا (except whoever repents, believes and does righteous deeds)? Abū Hurayra said: I departed and left no fortification nor house in Medina but I stood by it and said: if among you is the woman who came to Abū Hurayra by night, let her come to me and receive good news. When I had prayed the evening prayer with the Prophet ﷺ, she was standing at my door. I said: rejoice; I went to the Prophet ﷺ and told him what you said to me and what I said to you. He said: how evil was what you said; did you not read this verse? I read it to her and she fell down prostrate to the ground and said: praise be to Allah Who has made from what I did a way out and repentance. This bondmaid and her son are free (ḥurrān) for the sake of Allah, and I have repented of what I did."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: Jaʿfar ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Mālik, on the authority of Abū al-Jawzāʾ, who said: "I frequented Ibn ʿAbbās for thirteen years, and there was nothing in the Qurʾān but I asked him about it, and my messenger frequented ʿĀʾisha. And I heard neither from him nor from any of the scholars that Allah said of any sin: I will not forgive it."
And others said: this verse is abrogated (mansūkh) by the verse in Sūra al-Nisāʾ.
The report of those who said that:
Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: al-Mughīra ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Ḥizāmī informed me, on the authority of Abū al-Zinād, on the authority of Khārija ibn Zayd, that he entered upon his father and there was with him a man from Iraq who asked him about this verse in Sūra Tabārak al-Furqān and the verse in Sūra al-Nisāʾ وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُتَعَمِّدًا (and whoever kills a believer intentionally). Zayd ibn Thābit said: "I know the abrogating from the abrogated: the verse in Sūra al-Nisāʾ abrogated it six months later."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn Muzāḥim said: "there are eight pilgrimage seasons between this chapter and the verse in Sūra al-Nisāʾ وَمَنْ يَقْتُلْ مُؤْمِنًا مُتَعَمِّدًا (and whoever kills a believer intentionally)." And Ibn Jurayj said: al-Qāsim ibn Abī Burra informed me that he asked Saʿīd ibn Jubayr: is there repentance for whoever kills a believer intentionally? He said: no. He recited the whole verse to him. Saʿīd ibn Jubayr said: I recited it to Ibn ʿAbbās just as you recited it to me, and he said: this verse is Meccan; it was abrogated (mansūkh) by a verse that came down in Medina, the verse in Sūra al-Nisāʾ. And we have already given the exposition of the correct position concerning this verse in Sūra al-Nisāʾ in a manner that frees us from repeating it here.
And in agreement with what we said about al-athām, the people of the exegetes spoke, except that they said: it is a punishment with which Allah chastises whoever commits these great sins — a valley in Hell called athām.
The report of those who said that:
Aḥmad ibn al-Miqdām related to me, saying: al-Muʿtamir ibn Sulaymān related to us; he said: I heard my father relate, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Abū Ayyūb al-Azdī, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAmr, who said: "al-athām is a valley in Hell."
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, about the word of Allah يَلْقَ أَثَامًا (will meet an athām): he said: "a valley in Hell."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Yazīd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, about his word: وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ يَلْقَ أَثَامًا (and whoever does that will meet an athām): he said: "a valley in Hell, in which are the fornicators (al-zunāh)."
Al-ʿAbbās ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Ziyād related to us, saying: Sharqī ibn Quṭāmī related to us, on the authority of Luqmān ibn ʿĀmir al-Khuzāʿī, who said: "I went to Abū Umāma Ṣudayy ibn ʿAjlān al-Bāhilī and said: relate to me a tradition which you heard from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. He called for food and then said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: if a rock were thrown the size of ten fat camels (ʿashrawāt) from the rim of Hell, it would not reach its bottom after fifty years, and then it would end up in Ghayy and Athām." I said: "and what are Ghayy and Athām?" He said: "two springs in the lowest layer of Hell through which flows the pus (ṣadīd) of the inhabitants of the Fire; they are the two which Allah has mentioned in His book: أَضَاعُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَاتَّبَعُوا الشَّهَوَاتِ فَسَوْفَ يَلْقَوْنَ غَيًّا (they neglected the prayer and followed the lusts — they will soon meet a Ghayy) and His word in Sūra al-Furqān: وَلَا يَزْنُونَ وَمَنْ يَفْعَلْ ذَلِكَ يَلْقَ أَثَامًا (and they do not commit fornication; and whoever does that will meet an athām)."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said about his word يَلْقَ أَثَامًا (will meet an athām): he said: "al-athām: evil." And he said: "what comes after it will be enough for you concerning it: يُضَاعَفْ لَهُ الْعَذَابُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ وَيَخْلُدْ فِيهِ مُهَانًا (his chastisement will be doubled for him on the Day of Resurrection and he will abide therein forever in humiliation)."
Al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, about his word يَلْقَ أَثَامًا (will meet an athām): he said: "an exemplary punishment (nakālan)." He said: and he also said: "it is a valley in Hell."
Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Hushaym, who said: Zakariyyā ibn Abī Maryam informed us: he said: I heard Abū Umāma al-Bāhilī say: "the distance from the rim of Hell to its bottom is a journey of seventy autumns, with a stone descending into it or a rock falling into it the size of ten fat she-camels (ʿashrawāt simān). A man asked him: is there then anything below that? He said: yes, Ghayy and Athām."
