Surah Al-Maa'un: Verse 1 - أرأيت الذي يكذب بالدين... - English

The love of the world causes nations to lose faith and consign Allah to oblivion

This Surah denounces some of the evil actions of the pagans and the hypocrites, and it holds out a threat of destruction to those who commit them. If these evil actions are committed by believers, who do not reject the true faith, they are still heinous and gravely sinful, but the threat of chastisement made in this surah does not apply to them. Therefore, verse [ 107:1] أَرَ‌أَيْتَ الَّذِي يُكَذِّبُ بِالدِّينِ (Have you not seen him who denies the Requital?), as a preamble, makes plain that the person who performs these evil deeds is one who cries lies to the Doom, and thus the warning of punishment mentioned in this Surah is for those who deny the religion and the Day of Judgment. The verse contains a subtle indication that the moral sins condemned in this Surah are far too inconceivable from a believer; only a non-believer or hypocrite would commit them. The morally bad and sinful deeds mentioned here are: [ 1] oppressing and insulting the orphan, and being unkind to them; [ 2] despite the means, failing to feed the poor or failing to urge others to feed them; [ 3] praying [ in public only, not in private ] only to show the people; and [ 4] failing to pay the Zakah [ obligatory alms ]. These actions are intrinsically bad and gravely sinful, but their commission in the wake of kufr [ disbelief ] and takdhib [ rejection ] are even more aggravating, because they attract eternal perdition, which in this Surah is described as wail [ heavy affliction or calamity or disaster or destruction ].

Verses [ 107:4-6] فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ ﴿4﴾ الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ ﴿5﴾ الَّذِينَ هُمْ يُرَ‌اءُونَ (So woe to those performers of salah who are neglectful of their salah, who [ do good only to ] show off.) These verses describe the characteristics of the hypocrites who used to perform the prayers only to make a display of them to the people and prove that their claim of being sincere Muslims is true. As they do not believe in the obligatory nature of the prayers, they are not regular at them, and they do not observe the prescribed times, but offer them carelessly at the eleventh hour or completely out of time. They perform them only when they must to make a display of them, otherwise they have no place in their lives. The preposition 'an (translated above as 'of) in the prepositional phrase عَن صَلَاتِھِم "[ neglectful ] of their salah" is significant. It indicates that they [ the hypocrites ] are neglectful of the very concept of salah. This does not refer to the unintentional errors, slips and mistakes that Muslims make in their prayers. The Holy Prophet ﷺ also made this type of unintentional mistakes in his prayers. The warning of Hell by the expression of wail does not apply to such mistakes. If that was the case, the prepositional phrase would have been fi salatihim [ in their prayers ] instead of ['an salatihim [ neglectful of their prayers ].

Verse [ 107:7] وَيَمْنَعُونَ الْمَاعُونَ (And refuse [ to give even ] small gifts.) The word min literally means any small or petty thing' and idiomatically it refers to 'small household articles of common use such as axe, hoe, cooking pot which at the time of need neighbors borrow from one another'.

Anyone who is unwilling to lend such small items is morally a very miserly and mean person. However, in the current verse the word ma’ un is taken in the sense of Zakah [ obligatory alms ] because it is a little amount out of much wealth - only 2-½% out of the entire wealth. Majority of the commentators - like Sayyidna ` Ali, Ibn ` Umar, Hasan Basri, Qatadah, Dahhak ؓ and others - hold the view that ma` un implies Zakah. [ Mazhari ]. The threat of wail (torment of Hell) can only be for failure to fulfill one's legal obligation. Giving small items to help out one's fellow human beings is a humanitarian and philanthropic gesture that carries much reward in the Hereafter, but it is not an obligation at all, the violation of which could lead to eternal perdition. Traditions reporting that ma’ un refers to pots and pans, and other household items of daily use are to show that if a person is reluctant to part with such small items, how will he have the heart to part with 2-½% of his wealth? The Traditions purport to say that these people are so narrow-minded that they are not willing to make the least bit of selfless sacrifice for the welfare and wellbeing of others. They are morally mean, low and miserly in the extreme. Therefore, they do not pay their legal alms. Thus the threat of punishment in Hell-fire is not on account of failure to do one's neighborly acts of kindness, but for failure to pay the legal alms and perhaps for their extreme niggardliness.

Al-Hamdulillah

The Commentary on

Surah Al-Ma’ un

Ends here

Which was revealed in Makkah

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Allah says, "O Muhammad! Have you seen the one who denies the Din"

Here the word Din means the Hereafter, the Recompense and the Final Reward.

(That is he who repulses the orphan, ) meaning, he is the one who oppresses the orphan and does not give him his just due. He does not feed him, nor is he kind to him.

(And urges not the feeding of Al-Miskin.) This is as Allah says,

(Nay! But you treat not the orphans with kindness and generosity! And urge not one another on the feeding of Al-Miskin!) (89:17-18) meaning, the poor man who has nothing to sustain him and suffice his needs. Then Allah says,

(So, woe unto those performers of Salah, those who with their Salah are Sahun.) Ibn `Abbas and others have said, "This means the hypocrites who pray in public but do not pray in private." Thus, Allah says,

(unto those performers of Salah,) They are those people who pray and adhere to the prayer, yet they are mindless of it. This may either be referring to its act entirely, as Ibn `Abbas said, or it may be referring to performing it in its stipulated time that has been legislated Islamically. This means that the person prays it completely outside of its time.

This was said by Masruq and Abu Ad-Duha.

`Ata' bin Dinar said, "All praise is due to Allah, the One Who said,

(with their Salah are Sahun.) and He did not say, `those who are absent minded in their prayer."' It could also mean the first time of the prayer, which means they always delay it until the end of its time, or they usually do so. It may also refer to not fulfilling its pillars and conditions, and in the required manner. It could also mean performing it with humility and contemplation of its meanings. The wording of the Ayah comprises all of these meanings. However, whoever has any characteristic of this that we have mentioned then a portion of this Ayah applies to him. And whoever has all of these characteristics, then he has completed his share of this Ayah, and the hypocrisy of actions is fulfilled in him. This is just as is confirmed in the Two Sahihs that the Messenger of Allah said,

(This is the prayer of the hypocrite, this is the prayer of the hypocrite, this is the prayer of the hypocrite. He sits watching the sun until it is between the two horns of Shaytan. Then he stands and pecks four (Rak`ahs) and he does not remember Allah (in them) except very little.) This Hadith is describing the end of the time for the `Asr prayer, which is the middle prayer as is confirmed by a text (Hadith). This is the time in which it is disliked to pray. Then this person stands to pray it, pecking in it like the pecking of a crow. He does not have tranquility or humility in it at all. Thus, the Prophet said,

(He does not remember Allah (in them) except very little.) He probably only stands to pray it so that the people will see him praying, and not seeking the Face of Allah. This is just as if he did not pray at all. Allah says,

(Verily, the hypocrites seek to deceive Allah, but it is He Who deceives them. And when they stand up with laziness and to be seen of men, and they do not remember Allah but little.) (4:142) and Allah says here,

(Those who do good deeds only to be seen,) Imam Ahmad recorded from `Amr bin Murrah that he said, "We were sitting with Abu `Ubaydah when the people mentioned showing-off. A man known as Abu Yazid said, "I heard `Abdullah bin `Amr saying that the Messenger of Allah said,

(Whoever tries to make the people hear of his deed, Allah, the One Who hears His creation, will hear it and make him despised and degraded.)" from what is related to his statement,

(Those who do good deeds only to be seen.) is that whoever does a deed solely for Allah, but the people come to know about it, and he is pleased with that, then this is not considered showing off. Allah said:

(And withhold Al-Ma`un.) This means that they do not worship their Lord well, nor do they treat His creation well. They do not even lend that which others may benefit from and be helped by, even though the object will remain intact and be returned to them. These people are even stingier when it comes to giving Zakah and different types of charity that bring one closer to Allah. Al-Mas`udi narrated from Salamah bin Kuhayl who reported from Abu Al-`Ubaydin that he asked Ibn Mas`ud about Al-Ma`un and he said, "It is what the people give to each other, like an axe, a pot, a bucket and similar items." This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Al-Ma`un, and all praise and thanks are due to Allah.