Surah 16:25
Show Full Scripture Context (16:24-25) — 2 Verses
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُم مَّاذَآ أَنزَلَ رَبُّكُمۡ قَالُوٓاْ أَسَٰطِيرُ ٱلۡأَوَّلِينَ
When it is said to them, ‘What has your Lord sent down?,’ they say, ‘Old tales!’
لِيَحۡمِلُوٓاْ أَوۡزَارَهُمۡ كَامِلَةٗ يَوۡمَ ٱلۡقِيَٰمَةِ وَمِنۡ أَوۡزَارِ ٱلَّذِينَ يُضِلُّونَهُم بِغَيۡرِ عِلۡمٍۗ أَلَا سَآءَ مَا يَزِرُونَ
– that they may bear their own burdens fully on the Day of Resurrection, and (also) some of the burdens of those whom they led astray without (their) realizing (it). Evil is what they will bear!
"25. They will bear their own burdens in full on the Day of Resurrection, and also the burdens of those whom they misled without knowledge. Evil indeed is that which they shall bear !"
Allah informs us that when it is said to those liars,
{"What is it that your Lord has revealed?" They say,} not wanting to answer,
meaning nothing is revealed to him, what he is reciting to us is just tales of the men of old, taken from the previous Books. As Allah says,
i.e., they tell lies against the Messenger and say things contradicting one another, but all of it is false, as Allah says,
Once they have gone beyond the bounds of the truth, whatever they say will be in error. They used to say that he (the Prophet) was a sorcerer, a poet, a soothsayer, or a madman, then they settled on an idea proposed by their leader, an individual known as Al-Walid bin Al-Mughirah Al-Makhzumi, when:
meaning something that had been transmitted and passed down. So they dispersed having agreed on this opinion, may Allah punish them.
meaning, 'We decreed that they would say that, so they will carry the burden of their own sins and some of the burden of those who followed them and agreed with them,' i.e., they will be held guilty not only for going astray themselves, but also for tempting others and having them follow them. As it says in a Hadith :
«Whoever invites people to guidance, he will receive a reward like that of those who follow him, without diminishing their reward in the least. And whoever invites people to misguidance, he will bear a burden of sin like that of those who follow him, without diminishing their burden in the least.»
Allah says;
Al-'Awfi reported from Ibn 'Abbas that it is like the Ayah:
Allah says,
{They shall bear their own loads, and other loads besides their own} (29: 13).
Mujahid said: "They will bear the burden of their own sins, and they will bear the sins of those who obeyed them, but that will not lessen the punishment of those who obeyed them at all."