Al-Anfāl 8:22

The issue

The people of Mecca were critical of Muhammad and his revelations. When a group

of the tribe of Banū ‘Abd al-Dār defeated him in a debate, Muhammad responded by

reciting, “...the worst of beasts in God’s sight are the deaf, the dumb who do not understand,”

as a description of them.16 Al-Rāzī writes that the comparison “to the beasts is for their

willful ignorance and the way they refrain from paying attention to what they say and

what is said to them,” and “calling them beasts here is because it is a name for all that

walk the earth, not for way of resemblance, but merely calling them names appropriate

to them in an insulting fashion”.

The verse adds to the insult and names them “beasts in God’s sight are the deaf, the

dumb” and ends its lampoon by describing them as beasts, “who do nounderstand”

as if some animals do speak and some do understand.

The verse’s description of Muhammad’s debaters as “the worst of beasts...the deaf, the

dumb who do not understand,” is an analogy that aims to revile them. Evidently, the

author of the Qur’ān could not stand anyone rejecting him or opposing his view,

displaying spite towards his opponents. This derogation is repeated after some verses where those who refused to accept the call of Muhammad are described as “the worst of beasts” bar none (Q 8.55). (Compare with the comment on Q 7.176).