ذرة
Dharra
Topic
The Quran’s “weight of an atom” (mithqāl dharra) means the smallest thing one can think of.
What it means
“Whoever does an atom’s weight of good will see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil will see it” (99:7–8; also 10:61, 34:3). Dharra originally meant a tiny ant or a speck of dust, and translators now use “atom” for it as the smallest known thing.
Often misunderstood as
That the Quran anticipates atomic physics, or that it makes an error about ants.
What the sources say
Neither claim is needed. The point of the verse is that no deed, however small, is lost with God. Muslim theologians did develop an atomism of their own, in the school of kalam, from reasoning and not from this verse.