فَقُتِلَ كَيْفَ قَدَّرَ 19
Translations
So may he be destroyed [for] how he deliberated.
Transliteration
Faqutila kayfa qaddara
Tafsir (Explanation)
This ayah expresses a curse upon Walid ibn al-Mughirah (or those like him who rejected the Quran), with the phrase meaning 'May he be destroyed, how he planned/determined!' According to Ibn Kathir and Al-Tabari, the ayah condemns the arrogance and scheming of those who heard the Quran but deliberately plotted against it and the Prophet Muhammad. The word 'qaddara' (he determined/planned) refers to his deliberate calculation to reject and oppose the divine message despite recognizing its truth.
Revelation Context
This ayah appears in the context of Surah Al-Muddaththir's rebuke of those who mock and reject the Quran. The surah addresses the rejecters of Mecca, particularly referencing Walid ibn al-Mughirah, a prominent Meccan elder who heard the Quran and acknowledged its beauty but refused to believe due to arrogance and desire to maintain his status. The ayah follows Allah's description of his stubbornness and precedes warnings about the consequences of rejection.
Related Hadiths
While no hadith directly quotes this ayah, related traditions include those in Sahih Bukhari about Walid ibn al-Mughirah's rejection and the accounts of how he tried to counter the Quran with false accusations. The broader theme relates to hadiths about those who reject truth despite knowing it (Sahih Muslim 164, on hearts being sealed).
Themes
Key Lesson
This ayah reminds believers that rejecting truth despite recognizing it is a grave sin deserving of severe condemnation, and serves as a warning against allowing pride, worldly status, or personal interests to override submission to Allah's guidance.
Related Ayahs
كَذَٰلِكَ يُؤْفَكُ ٱلَّذِينَ كَانُوا۟ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ ٱللَّهِ يَجْحَدُونَ
Thus were those [before you] deluded who were rejecting the signs of Allāh.
أَلَمْ يَأْتِكُمْ نَبَؤُا۟ ٱلَّذِينَ مِن قَبْلِكُمْ قَوْمِ نُوحٍ وَعَادٍ وَثَمُودَ ۛ وَٱلَّذِينَ مِنۢ بَعْدِهِمْ ۛ لَا يَعْلَمُهُمْ إِلَّا ٱللَّهُ ۚ جَآءَتْهُمْ رُسُلُهُم بِٱلْبَيِّنَـٰتِ فَرَدُّوٓا۟ أَيْدِيَهُمْ فِىٓ أَفْوَٰهِهِمْ وَقَالُوٓا۟ إِنَّا كَفَرْنَا بِمَآ أُرْسِلْتُم بِهِۦ وَإِنَّا لَفِى شَكٍّ مِّمَّا تَدْعُونَنَآ إِلَيْهِ مُرِيبٍ
Has there not reached you the news of those before you - the people of Noah and ʿAad and Thamūd and those after them? No one knows them [i.e., their number] but Allāh. Their messengers brought them clear proofs, but they returned their hands to their mouths and said, "Indeed, we disbelieve in that with which you have been sent, and indeed we are, about that to which you invite us, in disquieting doubt."
وَإِن يَرَوْا۟ ءَايَةً يُعْرِضُوا۟ وَيَقُولُوا۟ سِحْرٌ مُّسْتَمِرٌّ
And if they see a sign [i.e., miracle], they turn away and say, "Passing magic."
وَمَنْ أَظْلَمُ مِمَّن ذُكِّرَ بِـَٔايَـٰتِ رَبِّهِۦ فَأَعْرَضَ عَنْهَا وَنَسِىَ مَا قَدَّمَتْ يَدَاهُ ۚ إِنَّا جَعَلْنَا عَلَىٰ قُلُوبِهِمْ أَكِنَّةً أَن يَفْقَهُوهُ وَفِىٓ ءَاذَانِهِمْ وَقْرًا ۖ وَإِن تَدْعُهُمْ إِلَى ٱلْهُدَىٰ فَلَن يَهْتَدُوٓا۟ إِذًا أَبَدًا
And who is more unjust than one who is reminded of the verses of his Lord but turns away from them and forgets what his hands have put forth? Indeed, We have placed over their hearts coverings, lest they understand it, and in their ears deafness. And if you invite them to guidance - they will never be guided, then - ever.