وَلَا تَزِرُ وَازِرَةٌ وِزْرَ أُخْرَىٰ ۚ وَإِن تَدْعُ مُثْقَلَةٌ إِلَىٰ حِمْلِهَا لَا يُحْمَلْ مِنْهُ شَىْءٌ وَلَوْ كَانَ ذَا قُرْبَىٰٓ ۗ إِنَّمَا تُنذِرُ ٱلَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُم بِٱلْغَيْبِ وَأَقَامُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ ۚ وَمَن تَزَكَّىٰ فَإِنَّمَا يَتَزَكَّىٰ لِنَفْسِهِۦ ۚ وَإِلَى ٱللَّهِ ٱلْمَصِيرُ
6:165; 39:8; 53:39.
36:12.
Important Words:
مثقلة (heavily laden soul) is derived from ثقل which means, it was or became heavy, weighty or ponderous; it was or became heavy, weighty or preponderant ideally; he was or became slow, lazy, wanting in activity or intelligence. ثقلت المرأةmeans, her pregnancy became apparent. أثقله means, he overburdened him. مثقل of which مثقلة is feminine gender means, heavily burdened or burdened beyond his power; overburdened; weighed down or oppressed by disease, debt, etc. (Lane & Aqrab). See also 4:41.
Commentary:
The word وزر may here signify the burden of duty or responsibility; or it may mean the remorse or shame which a person feels when he commits a sin or crime. Taking it in the first sense, the expression لا تزر وازرة وزر أخری would mean that the personal duty or responsibility of one person cannot be shifted to, or discharged by another. Everyone has to carry his own cross. Taking the word in the second sense the expression cuts at the root of the doctrine of Atonement on which the whole fabric of Christianity stands. The verse purports to say that no person can relieve any other person of his grief or sorrow, nor can he share with him the remorse or regret that afflicts his conscience after he has committed a crime. Evidently as these feelings have their origin in the heart of man, they cannot be transferred to or shared by another person. The punishments of Hell are only the spiritual embodiments of man’s evil actions done in this life and the person who committed the evil deeds quite clearly will not share these spiritual embodiments of his actions with another person who had not committed those evil deeds.
6:165; 39:8; 53:39.
36:12.