Tafseer of Luqman · Luqman · 31:6
And of the people is he who buys the amusement of speech to mislead [others] from the way of Allah without knowledge and who takes it in ridicule. Those will have a humiliating punishment.
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 explanation of the words of the Exalted: وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ وَيَتَّخِذَهَا هُزُوًا أُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ (6) ("And among the people is he who buys idle talk in order to lead astray from the way of Allah without knowledge, and who takes it in mockery; for these there is a humiliating punishment") (31:6).
The exegetes (ahl al-taʾwīl) differed concerning the explanation of His word: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيث ) ("and among the people is he who buys idle talk"). Some of them said: it concerns the one who carries out the well-known purchase for a price, and they have adduced regarding this a tradition from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ.
And that is what Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Khallād al-Ṣaffār, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Zaḥr, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Yazīd, on the authority of al-Qāsim, on the authority of Abū Umāma, who said: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "It is not permitted to sell singing-girls, nor to buy them, nor to trade in them, nor (to take) their price. And concerning them this verse was sent down: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ )."
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of Khallād al-Ṣaffār, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Zaḥr, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Yazīd, on the authority of al-Qāsim, on the authority of Abū Umāma, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, in similar fashion, except that he said: "The eating of their price is forbidden (ḥarām)," and he also said: "And concerning them Allah sent down to me this verse: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللهِ )."
ʿUbayd ibn Ādam ibn Abī Iyās al-ʿAsqalānī related to me, saying: my father related to us, saying: Sulaymān ibn Ḥayyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Qays al-Kilābī, on the authority of Abū al-Muhallab, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Zaḥr, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Yazīd, on the authority of al-Qāsim, on the authority of Abū Umāma. He said: and Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us, on the authority of Muṭarriḥ ibn Yazīd, on the authority of ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Zaḥr, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Zayd, on the authority of al-Qāsim, on the authority of Abū Umāma al-Bāhilī, who said: I heard the Messenger of Allah ﷺ say: "It is not permitted to teach singing-girls, nor to sell them, nor to buy them, and their price is forbidden (ḥarām); and the confirmation of that was sent down in the Book of Allah: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ ) to the end of the verse."
And others said: no, the meaning of it is: he who prefers idle talk and loves it.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His word: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللهِ بغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ ), by Allah, perhaps he spends no money on it, but his "buying" of it is his loving of it; it is enough for a man as error that he prefers idle talk over true talk, and that which harms over that which benefits.
Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-ʿAsqalānī related to me, saying: Ayyūb ibn Suwayd related to us, saying: Ibn Shawdhab related to us, on the authority of Maṭar concerning the word of Allah: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ ), he said: the buying of it is the loving of it.
And the more correct of the two explanations in my view is the explanation of the one who said: its meaning is "buying" which takes place for a price, and that is because that is the clearest of its two meanings.
If someone were to say: and how does one buy idle talk? Then it is answered: he buys that which possesses idle talk, or that which brings idle talk with it, so that he is a buyer of idle talk.
As for "the talk" (al-ḥadīth): the exegetes differed concerning it. Some of them said: it is singing and listening to it.
* Mention of who said that:
Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yazīd ibn Yūnus informed me, on the authority of Abū Ṣakhr, on the authority of Abū Muʿāwiya al-Bajalī, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Abū al-Ṣahbāʾ al-Bakrī (1) that he heard ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd, while the latter was being questioned about this verse: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللهِ بغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ ). ʿAbd Allāh said: it is singing, by Him besides whom there is no god — he repeated it three times.
ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Ṣafwān ibn ʿĪsā related to us, saying: Ḥumayd al-Kharrāṭ informed us, on the authority of ʿAmmār, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Abū al-Ṣahbāʾ, that he asked Ibn Masʿūd about the word of Allah ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), he said: singing.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn ʿĀbis related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), he said: singing.
ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: ʿImrān ibn ʿUyayna related to us, saying: ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), he said: singing and what resembles it.
Ibn Wakīʿ and al-Faḍl ibn al-Ṣabbāḥ related to us, both saying: Muḥammad ibn Fuḍayl related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His word: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), he said: it is singing and the like.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām ibn Salm related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Abī Qays, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, in similar fashion.
Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Anmāṭī related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Laylā related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: it is singing and listening to it — namely His word: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ).
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥīm related to us, saying: ʿUbayd Allāh ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Qābūs ibn Abī Ẓabyān, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Jābir concerning His word: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), he said: it is singing and listening to it.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of al-Ḥakam or Miqsam, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: the buying of the singing-girl.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ and al-Muḥāribī related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: singing.
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His word: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللهِ ), he said: idle talk: it is singing and the like.
Ibn Bashshār and Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, both saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ḥabīb, on the authority of Mujāhid ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), he said: singing.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar and ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Mahdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, that he said concerning this verse: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), he said: singing.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ḥabīb, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: singing.
He said: my father related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, in similar fashion.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: al-Ashjaʿī related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Karīm, on the authority of Mujāhid ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), he said: it is singing, and every game is idle amusement (lahw).
Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Anmāṭī related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Ḥafṣ al-Hamdānī related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), he said: singing and listening to it and every idle amusement.
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 concerning His word: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), he said: the male singer and the female singer for much money, or listening to him, or to something of the like of idle amusement.
Yaʿqūb and Ibn Wakīʿ related to me, both saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His word: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), he said: it is singing, or a part of singing, or listening to it.
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: ʿAththām ibn ʿAlī related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Shuʿayb ibn Yasār, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: ( لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ): singing.
ʿUbayd ibn Ismāʿīl al-Hubārī related to me, saying: ʿAththām related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid, on the authority of Shuʿayb ibn Yasār — thus ʿIkrima said, on the authority of ʿUbayd, in similar fashion.
Al-Ḥusayn ibn al-Zibriqān al-Nakhaʿī related to us, saying: Abū Usāma and ʿUbayd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Usāma, on the authority of ʿIkrima concerning His word: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), he said: singing.
Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Usāma ibn Zayd, on the authority of ʿIkrima, he said: singing.
And others said: by "the idle amusement" (al-lahw) the drum is meant.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAbbās ibn Muḥammad related to me, saying: Ḥajjāj al-Aʿwar related to us, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: the idle amusement: the drum.
And others said: by "idle talk" the ascribing of partners to Allah (shirk) is meant.
* Mention of who said that:
A tradition on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd informed us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His word: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ), namely: the ascribing of partners to Allah (shirk).
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: ( وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَنْ يَشْتَرِي لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللهِ بغيرِ عِلْمٍ وَيتَّخِذَها هُزُوًا ), he said: these are the people of unbelief (kufr). Do you not see His word: وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِ آيَاتُنَا وَلَّى مُسْتَكْبِرًا كَأَنْ لَمْ يَسْمَعْهَا كَأَنَّ فِي أُذُنَيْهِ وَقْرًا ("And when Our signs are recited to him, he turns away arrogantly, as if he had not heard them, as if in his two ears there were deafness")? The people of Islam are not so. He said: and some people say: it applies to you — but it is not so. He said: and it is the idle talk with which they used to amuse themselves.
And the correct view concerning this is that one says: by it is meant all of that talk which turns away from the way of Allah, and whose hearing Allah or His Messenger has forbidden; for Allah, the Exalted, made it general through His word ( لَهْوَ الحَدِيثِ ) and did not specify one part above another. It therefore remains general until there comes something that indicates a specification of it, and singing and shirk are among that.
And His word: ( لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللهِ ) ("in order to lead astray from the way of Allah"). He says: so that what he buys of idle talk would turn him away from the religion of Allah and obedience to Him, and from what brings near to Him, such as the recitation of the Qurʾān and the remembrance of Allah.
And in accordance with what we have said concerning this, the exegetes have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās ( لِيُضِلَّ عَنْ سَبِيلِ اللهِ ), he said: the way of Allah: the recitation of the Qurʾān and the remembrance of Allah when one remembers Him; and it was a man from the Quraysh who bought a singing slave-girl (jāriya).
And His word: ( بغَيرِ عِلْمٍ ) ("without knowledge"). He says: he did what he did with his buying of the idle talk out of ignorance on his part regarding what burden and sin he has in the outcome before Allah on account of it. And His word: ( وَيَتَّخِذَها هُزُوًا ) ("and who takes it in mockery"). The reciters differed over its reading. Most of the reciters of Medina and Basra and some of Kufa read it ( وَيَتَّخِذُها ) in the nominative, attaching it to His word ( يَشْتَرِي ), so that its meaning according to them is: and among the people is he who buys idle talk and who takes the signs of Allah in mockery. And most of the reciters of Kufa read it ( وَيَتَّخِذَها ) in the accusative, attaching it to "yuḍilla," in the sense of: in order to lead astray from the way of Allah, and in order to take it in mockery.
And the correct view concerning this is: they are two well-known readings among the reciters of the regions, close to each other in meaning; whichever of the two the reciter reads, he hits upon what is correct in his reading. And the "hā" and the "alif" in His word ( وَيَتَّخِذَها ) refer back to the mention of the way of Allah.
* Mention of who said that:
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, concerning the word of Allah: ( وَيَتَّخِذَها هُزُوًا ), he said: the way of Allah.
And others said: no, that refers back to the mention of the signs of the Book.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: it is enough for a man as error that he prefers idle talk over true talk, and that which harms over that which benefits; and "he takes it in mockery": he mocks it and denies it. And these two — that they refer back to the mention of the way of Allah — appear to me more plausible on account of their nearness to it, even though the other view is not far from the correct; and his "taking it in mockery" is his mocking of it.
And His word: ( أُولَئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُهِينٌ ) ("for these there is a humiliating punishment"). The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: these, of whom we have described that they buy idle talk in order to lead astray from the way of Allah — for them on the Day of Resurrection there is a humiliating, disgracing punishment (ʿadhāb) in the fire of Hell (jahannam).
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The footnotes:
(1) Abū al-Ṣahbāʾ "as in Khulāṣat al-Khazrajī": he is Ṣuhayb al-Hāshimī, on the authority of his master Ibn ʿAbbās, and ʿAlī, and Ibn Masʿūd, and he did not mention "al-Bakrī" in his lineage; there is also Ṣuhayb al-Makkī, Abū Mūsā al-Ḥadhdhāʾ, and he did not give him the kunya Abū al-Ṣahbāʾ.