z-l-m

Description

The Arabic root ظ-ل-م (ẓ-l-m) fundamentally means to place something in the wrong position or context, deriving from the concrete sense of darkness (ẓulm) as the absence of light in its proper place. In the Quran's 315 occurrences, this root encompasses wrongdoing, injustice, and transgression—whether against God through disbelief and associating partners with Him, against others through oppression and violation of rights, or against oneself through sin and moral corruption. The concept is central to Quranic ethics and theology, establishing that all forms of ẓulm ultimately constitute a fundamental disorder in the moral universe, with God repeatedly emphasizing that He does not wrong anyone and that wrongdoers face inevitable consequences for their injustice.