Fa-ummuhu hawiyah: a note on Surah 101:9.

• Author: Bellamy, James A.

It is suggested that the phrase fa-ummuhu hawiyah (Surah 101:9), which is usually translated "His mother shall perish" or "His mother shall be bereft," should be emended to read fa-ummatun hawiyah, which means "Then a steep course downward (sc. into hell shall be his)."

A longstanding problem in Koranic exegesis is the meaning of the words fa-ummuhu hawiyah in Surah 101:9.(1) The whole passage runs as follows: fa-amma man thaqulat mawazinuh (6) fa-huwa fi ishatin radiyah (7) wa-amma man khaffat mawazinuh (8) faummuhu hawiyah (9) wa-ma adraka ma hiyah (10) narun hamiyah (11), "As for him whose scales are heavy, he shall be in a pleasing way of life, as for him whose scales are light, fa-ummuhu hawiyah, but how should you know what that is!? a hot fire." Even though the phrase is defined in v. 11, neither Muslim commentators nor Western orientalists have been able to agree on just how the phrase means what it surely must mean.

The literal meaning of the words is "his mother shall perish" or "his mother shall be bereft" (i.e., he shall perish), but neither of these fits the context since they cannot be explained by "hot fire" as is done in v. 11. Moreover, both persons, not only the man whose scales are light, must die before going either to heaven or hell, and every mother who outlives her children is bereft, regardless of where they go. Finally, it is not in accord with Koranic ethics for a mother to perish because of the sins of her son.

The most important study that has been done on this passage is by A. Fischer.(2) Although his solution of the problem (see below) cannot be accepted, his article is very useful in that it brings together all the pertinent comments by exegetes and lexicographers on the words umm and hawiyah. Fischer summarizes their views as follows (p. 41). (1) Umm is here short for umm al-ra s skull, brain," and hawa means "to fall." (2) Umm is metaphoric for dwelling-place (maskan), refuge (ma wa), or abode (mustaqarr), and hawiyah designates hell. (3) Umm means mother," as usual, and hawiyah is the act. part. of hawa, meaning "she shall perish" or "shall be bereft of her children." This explanation is the one preferred by Fischer, who relies on Zamakhshari's Kashshaf, but it forces him to conclude that the last two verses of the Surah are an interpolation, since ummuhu hawiyah, in the sense that he takes it, cannot be explained by narun hamiyah.

Fischer's conclusions were rejected by C. C. Torrey.(3) who, however, adds...