Miscellaneous · Quran topic

Feebleness

الوهن · Wahn

Guarding heart, body, and collective action against the creeping paralysis of feebleness.

114 verses · 5 parts · 9 min read

Study guide based on

موسوعة التفسير الموضوعي للقرآن الكريم

مركز تفسير للدراسات القرآنية

«الوهن» · Volume 18

At a glance

The Quran uses the word الوهن al-wahn to describe a profound weakness or slackness that overtakes a person after strength. While physical frailty is a natural reality of old age and the burden of pregnancy, the Quran focuses urgently on feebleness of the heart and deeds. This inner feebleness creeps into an individual or a community when love of worldly comforts replaces devotion to Allah and fear of death paralyses resolved action.

Inner feebleness dissolves courage, breeds dispute, and makes once-honored communities drift like worthless foam upon a flood. When hearts lose resolve, deeds unravel like loose threads, causing people to hold back their wealth, avoid righteous struggle, and slide into humiliation. The Quran exposes how turning away from Allah reduces all effort to fragility, leaving life as vulnerable as a spider's shelter.

Yet the Quran does not merely diagnose this illness; it offers a comprehensive cure. By instilling firm conviction in divine decree, grasping the steady laws of trial and alternating fortunes, and holding firmly to patience, believers discover renewed resolve. Obeying Allah and His Messenger heals division, repels crippling grief, and transforms fragile hesitation into unbreakable unity.

Key verses

Ali 'Imran 3:139-140: Allah forbids believers from succumbing to feebleness or sorrow after setbacks, reminding them that worldly hardship is shared and rotated by divine wisdom to test and purify hearts.
Al-Anfal 8:46: Allah warns that internal disputes and disunity cause hearts to fail and strip away collective strength, commanding obedience and steadfast patience instead.
Ali 'Imran 3:146: The verse praises dedicated disciples who faced severe injury alongside prophets without yielding to feebleness, weakness, or humiliating submission before their enemies.
Maryam 19:4: Prophet Zakariyya pleads to Allah by acknowledging his profound bodily decline, showing that the softening of bones in old age naturally humbles the servant before divine power.
Luqman 31:14: Allah honors the profound, continuous physical exhaustion borne by mothers who carry their children through compounding stages of bodily weakness.
Al-Ahqaf 46:15: The Quran highlights a mother's hardship through pregnancy and nursing, marking age forty as the peak of human strength before physical frailty sets in.
At-Tawbah 9:38: Allah reproaches believers who cling heavily to worldly comforts and hesitate to strive in His path, showing that preferring this life over the hereafter breeds paralysis.
Ali 'Imran 3:103: Holding firmly to the bond of Allah and shunning fragmentation is presented as the primary shield against collective collapse and vulnerability.
Al-Anfal 8:12: Allah casts terror into the hearts of those who oppose truth, actively weakening their resolve and invalidating their hostile plots.

Words to know

الوهن al-wahn

Feebleness, slackness, or a breakdown in strength that afflicts the body, heart, or action.

Appears 9 times in the Quran.

Most common forms: وَهَنَ (5), وَهْن (2), مُوهِن (1), أَوْهَن (1)

Root: و ه ن

الضعف al-da'f

Weakness in constitution, body, or situation, which can be inherent or divinely created from birth.

Root: ض ع ف

القوة al-quwwah

Firmness, intensity, and capacity in body, heart, or resources, serving as the direct opposite of feebleness.

Root: ق و ي

الكسل al-kasal

Sluggishness and reluctance to perform an act due to weariness or aversion despite having the ability.

العزم al-'azm

The firm determination of the heart to execute a matter with seriousness, standing opposed to inner slackness.

Root: ع ز م

Physical feebleness and its causes

From the paper: «أولًا: وهن الجسم وأسبابه»

Bodily feebleness in the Quran is presented through natural, biological transitions: the frailty brought on by advancing age and temporary hardships like pregnancy.

Old age weakens the physical frame, causing the bones to soften, hair to gray, voices to tremble, and fears to rise. Prophet Zakariyya called upon his Lord with a faint voice, confessing his physical exhaustion: Maryam 19:2-5. Scholars point out that when bones, the very pillar and hardest support of the body, grow fragile, every other bodily capacity inevitably deteriorates. The Quran explains that humans are created from weakness, raised into strength, and then returned to weakness and gray hair Ar-Rum 30:54, sometimes reaching decrepit old age where faculties decline and memory fades Ya-Sin 36:68, An-Nahl 16:70.

Another manifestation is the strain borne by mothers during pregnancy and childbearing. Allah commands kindness to parents, emphasizing how a mother carries her child in weakness upon weakness Luqman 31:14 through months of escalating physical distress, culminating in painful delivery and lengthy nursing Al-Ahqaf 46:15.

Medical insights parallel this Quranic phrasing: bone density naturally peaks around age forty before declining progressively Al-Ahqaf 46:15, making the term wahn, which conveys gradual, cumulative fragility, an exact depiction of bodily wear.

وقد بين الزمخشري وجه إسناد الوهن إلى العظم؛ «لأنه عمود البدن وبه قوامه وهو أصل بنائه، فإذا وهن تداعى وتساقطت قوته، ولأنه أشد ما فيه وأصلبه، فإذا وهن كان ما وراءه أوهن».

موسوعة التفسير الموضوعي للقرآن الكريم

مركز تفسير للدراسات القرآنية

Volume 18

Feebleness of the heart and its causes

From the paper: «ثانيًا: وهن القلب وأسبابه»

Feebleness of the heart is a blameworthy condition wherein inner resolve gives way to cowardice, hesitation, and slackness. The Quran forbids believers from falling into it and praises those free from it. Its root causes are love of this worldly life and hatred of death.

When worldly ease becomes the primary focus, hearts shrink from hardship. Believers are forbidden from asking for humiliating truces out of wariness of sacrifice Muhammad 47:35-36. Clinging to earthly comforts makes limbs feel heavy when duty calls At-Tawbah 9:38, while greed and divided intentions inevitably trigger internal failure and defeat Ali 'Imran 3:152.

Hatred of dying often stems from past trauma, wounds, and battle losses Ali 'Imran 3:139-140. In contrast, the Quran praises steadfast followers who fought alongside past prophets; when struck with painful loss in Allah's path, their hearts did not falter, weaken, or surrender Ali 'Imran 3:146. Believers are commanded never to slacken when pursuing justice, knowing that pain touches both sides, but the faithful possess hope in Allah An-Nisa 4:104.

The Quran portrays heart-feebleness through several states: grief Ali 'Imran 3:139, uncontrolled anger Ash-Shura 42:37, inner tightness An-Nahl 16:127, heavy sluggishness At-Tawbah 9:38, cowardice under threat Al-Anfal 8:46, frantic panic Al-Ahzab 33:19, and paralyzing regret Ali 'Imran 3:156. The Prophet sought refuge from these paralyzing inner states, teaching that the strong believer, who relies on Allah and acts without helpless despair, is more beloved to Allah.

وكراهية القتال «تنشأ بسبب الهزائم والآلام والقروح التي تصيب المؤمنين، مما يؤدي إلى تسلل الوهن إلى قلوبهم، ويكون مظاهر هذا الوهن: ضعفًا بعد قوة، وجبنًا بعد شجاعة، وفتورًا بعد عزيمة، ويدفعهم ذلك إلى القعود عن الجهاد، وإلقاء السلاح، والتخلي عن نصرة الحق، والرضا بالذل والهوان».

موسوعة التفسير الموضوعي للقرآن الكريم

مركز تفسير للدراسات القرآنية

Volume 18

Feebleness in action and its causes

From the paper: «ثالثًا: وهن العمل وأسبابه»

Feebleness of action refers to effort that lacks sound grounding, stability, and fruitful outcome, rendering it as insubstantial as a spider's web Al-Ankabut 29:41-43.

Actions become feeble when directed toward the wrong ends. Relying on created beings rather than Allah leaves a person unprotected, like building upon an unstable, crumbling cliff At-Tawbah 9:109. Misguided efforts undertaken without sound spiritual orientation yield exhaustion without divine acceptance Al-Kahf 18:103-104, Al-Ghashiyah 88:3. When believers loosen their connection to Allah, rely on worldly craftiness, turn toward oppressors, or indulge in disobedience, divine aid withdraws, leaving their efforts weak and forsaken Ali 'Imran 3:160, Az-Zumar 39:36, Al-Ma'idah 5:51, Hud 11:113, Maryam 19:59.

Action also turns feeble when undone after completion. Breaking pacts resembles a woman who carefully spins yarn only to unravel it into loose fibers An-Nahl 16:92. Associating partners with Allah nullifies all labor Al-An'am 6:88, just as boastful reminders and insults destroy the value of charity Al-Baqarah 2:264, leaving deeds like blowing ashes scattered on a stormy day Ibrahim 14:18, An-Nur 24:39, Al-Furqan 25:23, Muhammad 47:1. Furthermore, internal factional disputes unravel communal cohesion Ali 'Imran 3:103, Ali 'Imran 3:104, Al-Anfal 8:46.

Conversely, Allah Himself actively weakens the hostile plots of disbelievers Al-Anfal 8:17-18. Because of their rebellion against truth Al-Baqarah 2:61, Ali 'Imran 3:112, Al-Anfal 8:12-13, Allah exposes their vulnerabilities, sows mutual discord, casts terror into their hearts, renders their vast expenditures a source of regret, and overturns their machinations Al-Anfal 8:7-8, Yunus 10:81, Az-Zukhruf 43:79, Al-Anfal 8:42, Al-Anfal 8:26, Al-Anfal 8:30, Al-Anfal 8:36.

قال ابن القيم: «أعظم الناس خذلانًا من تعلق بغير الله، فإن ما فاته من مصالحه وسعادته وفلاحه أعظم مما حصل له ممن تعلق به، وهو معرض للزوال والفوات. ومثل المتعلق بغير الله كمثل المستظل من الحرِّ والبرد ببيت العنكبوت».

موسوعة التفسير الموضوعي للقرآن الكريم

مركز تفسير للدراسات القرآنية

Volume 18

The impact of feebleness on individuals and nations

From the paper: «أثر الوهن في الأفراد والأمم»

When feebleness infects hearts, it wrecks individual character and brings collapse upon entire communities.

Its first consequence is abandoning righteous struggle and accepting humiliation. Shocking rumors of defeat during hardship lead faint-hearted individuals to turn on their heels Ali 'Imran 3:144-146. Feebleness causes people to mimic those who stayed behind, manufacturing excuses of heavy burdens to avoid sacrifice At-Tawbah 9:38, At-Tawbah 9:87, At-Tawbah 9:81, At-Tawbah 9:83, or despairingly claiming helplessness before challenges Al-Baqarah 2:249. Abandoning divine duty brings pervasive disgrace.

A second consequence is financial stinginess. Consumed by love of worldly wealth, individuals withhold spending in Allah's cause, failing to realize that hoarding damages their own souls Muhammad 47:35-38. Excessive attachment to wealth and family can turn blessings into obstacles that block charity and obedience At-Taghabun 64:14-17.

Thirdly, feebleness causes worshippers to drag their feet, growing sluggish in prayer and acts of devotion Al-Anbiya 21:99, An-Nisa 4:142, At-Tawbah 9:54.

On a communal scale, feebleness produces what the Prophet described as becoming like the froth and debris of a flood: large in numbers but lacking moral weight, inner courage, and discipline. The Quran calls this collapse the loss of strength and authority Al-Anfal 8:46. Stripped of respect, fragmented nations become easy targets for hostile forces An-Nisa 4:102, an outcome brought on by their own internal division and neglect of duty Ali 'Imran 3:165.

«وبهذه العوامل تكون الأمة قوية، مرفوعة الجبين، مرهوبة الجانب، يهابها أعداؤها، ويخضعون لها.»

موسوعة التفسير الموضوعي للقرآن الكريم

مركز تفسير للدراسات القرآنية

Volume 18

Remedies for feebleness

From the paper: «علاج الوهن»

The Quran provides seven interrelated remedies to eradicate feebleness and restore enduring resolve:

Belief in Divine Decree: Knowing that life and death are appointed by Allah alone Ali 'Imran 3:144-148, Ali 'Imran 3:154, Ali 'Imran 3:156-158, An-Nisa 4:78, and that retreating never delays death nor preserves life Al-Ahzab 33:16, frees the heart from crippling cowardice.
Understanding Divine Laws: Recognizing that Allah alternates worldly fortunes among people purifies sincere believers from hypocrites and elevates martyrs Ali 'Imran 3:137-142, Ali 'Imran 3:140, An-Nisa 4:104, Ali 'Imran 3:143.
Steadfast Patience: Patience neutralizes enemy schemes Ali 'Imran 3:120, secures divine aid Ali 'Imran 3:125, heals psychological wounds of setback Ali 'Imran 3:186, Ash-Shura 42:43, and leads to ultimate success Ali 'Imran 3:200, Al-Baqarah 2:249-250, Al-Anfal 8:45-46.
Forsaking Grief and Fear: Satan uses sorrow over the past and anxiety over the future to halt believers in their tracks. Remembering that sacrifices are honored and that fallen martyrs are alive with Allah dissolves demoralizing grief Ali 'Imran 3:139, Ali 'Imran 3:153, Al-Hadid 57:22-23, Ali 'Imran 3:169-171.
Reliance on Allah: Placing complete trust in Allah protects the soul from panic Ali 'Imran 3:122-123, Ali 'Imran 3:160, combining deep heart reliance with the diligent pursuit of practical means Al-Anfal 8:69, Al-Anfal 8:12, An-Nisa 4:71, Al-Anfal 8:60, Al-Jumu'ah 62:10.
Striving with Wealth and Life: Active service and generous spending revive communal dignity Al-Baqarah 2:216-217, requiring believers to equip themselves with modern defensive power Al-Anfal 8:59-60, Al-Anfal 8:65-66.
Obedience to Allah and His Messenger: Unwavering obedience curbs self-serving desires, protects against disputes that fracture collective strength, and unites hearts under sacred principle Al-Anfal 8:45-46, An-Nisa 4:59, Ali 'Imran 3:103, At-Tawbah 9:71, An-Nisa 4:144, Al-Ma'idah 5:51.

«فجعل طاعة الله ورسوله من العلاجات التي تقي المؤمنين من الانزلاق إلى الوهن، والتنازع، والفشل.»

موسوعة التفسير الموضوعي للقرآن الكريم

مركز تفسير للدراسات القرآنية

Volume 18

Takeaways

Acknowledge Physical Limits Without Spiritual Surrender
Bodily decline in old age or illness is a natural creation of Allah, not a moral failing. Bring physical frailty directly to Allah in sincere prayer, just as Prophet Zakariyya did, turning physical vulnerability into deep spiritual reliance Maryam 19:4.
Uproot Worldly Clinging to Guard Inner Courage
Inner cowardice creeps in whenever the heart falls excessively in love with comfort and dreads sacrifice. Guard against hesitating in righteous duties, knowing that this earthly life is fleeting compared to the hereafter At-Tawbah 9:38.
Build Deeds upon Sincere Foundations
Actions not rooted in devotion to Allah resemble fragile spider webs that offer zero shelter. Protect worship and good deeds from boastfulness, resentment, or compromise with wrongdoing so that efforts do not dissolve into dust Al-Ankabut 29:41, Al-Baqarah 2:264.
Avoid Petty Disputes to Preserve Collective Strength
Internal arguments and selfish insistence on personal opinions drain the energy of families and communities. Submitting personal desires to the guidance of Allah and His Messenger guards collective unity and preserves strength Al-Anfal 8:46.
Dispel Lingering Regret Through Faith in Decree
Dwelling on painful setbacks feeds feebleness and opens the door to devilish sorrow. Finding peace in the reality that life, death, and provision are decreed by Allah frees the soul to move forward with productive resolve Ali 'Imran 3:139, Al-Hadid 57:22-23.

Reflect

Where in your daily routine has sluggishness crept in, causing you to delay prayers or acts of good?
Are there worldly attachments or comforts in your life that hold you back from standing up for what is right?
When faced with an unexpected setback, do you dwell in paralyzing regret, or do you find strength in Allah's decree?
How can you actively foster unity and avoid petty arguments within your family or local community?

Go deeper

Linguistic meaning

Linguistically, the root denotes weakness and slackness, as well as a passing hour of the night or creeping exhaustion.

قال ابن فارس: «الواو والهاء والنون كلمتان تدل إحداهما على ضعف، والأخرى على زمان».

موسوعة التفسير الموضوعي للقرآن الكريم

مركز تفسير للدراسات القرآنية

Volume 18

Technical meaning

Technically, it refers to a breakdown of firmness or sharpness in body, character, or work, especially occurring after strength or when strength was possible, causing incapacity.

وقيل: «انكسار حد الشيء، بعد قوة متحققة أو ممكنة، مما يؤدي إلى عجزه».

موسوعة التفسير الموضوعي للقرآن الكريم

مركز تفسير للدراسات القرآنية

Volume 18

How it differs from related terms

الضعف Weakness: Weakness is a general term denoting the absence of strength and can be an inherent, innate condition created by Allah, whereas feebleness (al-wahn) specifically represents a human lapse where one acts like a weakling despite possessing underlying capacity, or suffers sudden slackness after strength.
القوة Strength: Strength signifies firmness, bravery, soundness, and capability, standing as the direct and complete conceptual opposite of feebleness, which is marked by cowardice, slackness, and defect.
الكسل Laziness: Laziness refers specifically to a heavy sluggishness and reluctance in physical action born of boredom or aversion, making it narrower in meaning than feebleness, which encompasses the heart, the body, and the overall outcome of deeds.
العزم Firm Resolve: Firm resolve is the heart's binding decision to execute an action with seriousness, directly countering the inner slackness and hesitation that define feebleness of the heart.