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سُورَةُ الأَنفَالِ · 8:22
MedinanRevelation order ٨٨Juzʾ ٩Page ١٧٩

۞ إِنَّ شَرَّ ٱلدَّوَآبِّ عِندَ ٱللَّهِ ٱلصُّمُّ ٱلْبُكْمُ ٱلَّذِينَ لَا يَعْقِلُونَ

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Saheeh International · EN

Indeed, the worst of living creatures in the sight of Allah are the deaf and dumb who do not use reason.

IntroductionRevelationTafsirTransmissionDebate
Bio

Introduction

This is āyah 22 of Sūrat Al-Anfaal (The Spoils of War), the 88th sūrah in the traditional order of revelation. It was revealed in the Medinan period and sits within Juzʾ 9. Medinan verses often address community life, law, and the building of society.

This introduction is a starting point — the community and Bilal will enrich it over time.

Bio

Revelation & occasion

Asbāb al-Nuzūl
Period
Medinan
Order revealed
88 of 114
Surah
Al-Anfaal (8)

No specific occasion of revelation (Asbāb al-Nuzūl) is recorded for this āyah in al-Wāḥidī's collection. Many verses were revealed without a single triggering event.

Commentary

Tafsir

4 works

Hafiz Ibn Kathir

O you who believe! Obey Allah and His Messenger, and turn not away from him while you are hearing (20)And be not like those who say: "We have heard," but they hear not (21)Verily, the worst of living creatures with Allah are the deaf and the dumb (the disbelievers), who understand not (22)Had Allah known of any good in them, He would indeed have made them listen; and even if He had made them listen, they would but have turned away with aversion (23) The Command to obey Allah and His Messenger (ﷺ) Allah commands His believing servants to obey Him and His Messenger ﷺ and warns them against defying him and imitating the disbelievers who reject him. Allah said, وَلَا تَوَلَّوْا عَنْهُ (and turn not away from him...), neither refrain from obeying him or following his commands nor indulge in what he forbade, وَأَنتُمْ تَسْمَعُونَ (while you are hearing.) after you gained knowledge of his…
Provenance

Chains of transmission

Oral — isnād

  1. ~610–632 CERevelation & memorisation

    Received by the Prophet ﷺ and preserved by the ḥuffāẓ (memorisers) among the Companions.

  2. 1st century AHMutawātir transmissionawaiting curation

    Carried by mass-transmission through the generations of qurrāʾ.

  3. TodayLiving chainsawaiting curation

    Continuous ijāzah chains link reciters today back to the Prophet ﷺ.

Verified isnād chains for this āyah will be added by curators.

Written — the manuscript record

  1. ~650 CEʿUthmānic codicesawaiting curation

    The standardised muṣḥaf sent to the great cities (e.g. the Topkapı and Samarqand codices).

  2. 8th–10th c.Early Ḥijāzī & Kūfic foliosawaiting curation

    Surviving leaves in Birmingham, Sanaa, Paris (BnF) and beyond.

  3. Modern printModern printawaiting curation

    The 1924 Cairo edition → today: the standard printed muṣḥaf used worldwide.

A curated chain of manuscript images for this exact āyah — roughly one per century — is coming. Help us source and verify them.

The wall

And now — what do you think?

The text, its history and the classical commentary are laid out above. Share your own understanding, ask a question, or reason with others.

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Provenance

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