Tafseer of The Spoils of War · Al-Anfaal · 8:22
Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf and dumb who do not use reason.
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 His word: إِنَّ شَرَّ الدَّوَابِّ عِنْدَ اللَّهِ الصُّمُّ الْبُكْمُ الَّذِينَ لا يَعْقِلُونَ (22) (Truly, the worst of creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf, the dumb who do not understand.) (8:22)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The Exalted, whose praise is proclaimed, says: truly, the worst of what crawls upon the earth of Allah's creation in the sight of Allah are those who make themselves deaf to the truth so that they do not hear it, and therefore draw no lesson from it and do not let themselves be admonished by it, and they turn away from it when it is uttered; those who, with regard to Allah, do not understand His command and His prohibition, so as to set their bodies in service thereby.
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And in the spirit of what we have said concerning this, the scholars of exegesis have spoken.
* Mention of who said that:
15856- Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "Truly, the worst of creatures in the sight of Allah," he said: "the creatures" (al-dawābb) are the creation.
15857- Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, saying: Ibn Jurayj said, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: and they used to say: "We are truly deaf and dumb to that to which Muḥammad calls; we do not hear it from him, and we do not answer him therein with assent!" Then they were all killed at Uḥud, and they were the bearers of the banner.
15858- Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: "the deaf, the dumb who do not understand," he said: those who do not follow the truth.
15859- Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His word: "Truly, the worst of creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf, the dumb who do not understand," and it is not about the deaf in this world nor about the dumb, but about the deafness of the hearts, their dumbness and their blindness! And he recited: فَإِنَّهَا لا تَعْمَى الأَبْصَارُ وَلَكِنْ تَعْمَى الْقُلُوبُ الَّتِي فِي الصُّدُورِ [Surah Al-Ḥajj: 46] (for truly, it is not the eyes that go blind, but it is the hearts in the breasts that go blind).
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And they differed concerning who was intended by this āyah.
Some said: what was intended by it was a group of the polytheists.
* Mention of who said that:
15860- Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, who said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: "the deaf, the dumb who do not understand," a group of the Banū ʿAbd al-Dār, who do not follow the truth.
15861- ... he said: Isḥāq related to us, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning His word: "the deaf, the dumb who do not understand," he said: they do not follow the truth. He said: Ibn ʿAbbās said: they are a group of the Banū ʿAbd al-Dār.
15861- 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, something similar.
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And others said: what was intended by it was the hypocrites (munāfiqūn).
* Mention of who said that:
15862- Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Salama related to us, on the authority of Ibn Isḥāq: "Truly, the worst of creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf, the dumb who do not understand," [that is to say: the hypocrites whom I forbade you to be like, dumb regarding the good, deaf to the truth, they do not understand], they do not know what recompense and consequence will come to them for that.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: and the correct of the two statements concerning this is the statement of those who adhere to the statement of Ibn ʿAbbās: that by this āyah the polytheists of Quraysh were intended, because it stands within the context of the report about them.