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Surah Aal Imran, 180-186

"And those who are miserly with what Allah has given them out of His grace should not take it as good for them. Instead, it is bad for them. They shall be forced, on the Doomsday, to put on round their necks the shackles of what they were miserly with. And to Allah belongs the inheritance of the heavens and the earth. And of what you do, Allah is All-Aware. [180]

Allah has surely heard the saying of those who said. "Allah is poor and we are rich." We shall write down what they said, and their killing of the prophets unjustly; and We shall say. 'Taste the punishment of the flaming fire. [181] This is due to what your hands sent ahead and that Allah is not cruel to the slaves." [182]

(There are) those who said, "Surely, Allah directed us that we should not believe in a messenger unless he comes to us with an offering to be eaten up by the fire." Say, "A number of messengers have come to you, before me, with clear signs and with what you have said. So, why did you kill them, if you are true? [183]

Then if they belie you, so messengers have been belied before you. They came with clear signs and the Scriptures and light giving Book. [184]

Every soul has to taste death. And it is on the Doomsday that you shall be paid your rewards in full. So, whoever has been kept away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he has really succeeded. And the wordly life is nothing but an asset, full of illusion. [185]

Of course, you shall be tested in your wealth and yourselves. And, of course, you shall hear much of what hurts, from those who have been given the Book before you and from those who associate (others with Allah). And if you observe patience and fear Allah, then these are among matters of determination."[186] (3:180-186)

Anomalies in the conduct of Jews were mentioned at the beginning of Surah 'Al-'Imran (21-25). The text now reverts back to the same subject. The verses cited above carry related topics. In between, there are words of comfort for the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him as well as those giving good counsel to Muslims.

Commentary

The first (180) of the seven verses (180-186) appearing here repudiates miserliness and carries a warning for those who practice it.

The Definition of Miserliness and the punishment it brings

In the terminology of the Shari'ah of Islam, miserliness (Bukhl) refers to the act of not spending that which it is obligatory to spend in the way of Allah. Therefore, miserliness is forbidden (baram). Besides, it carries a stern warning of Hell for its practitioners. As for occasions where spending is not obligatory (wajib) but only recommended (mustahabb), then not spending there is not included under the miserliness which is forbidden. However, this too is called miserliness in its general sense. As said earlier, this kind of miserliness is not forbidden (haram) but against the preferred choice (khilafaula) it certainly is.

Appearing in Hadith, there is another word - Shuhh - also used in the sense of Bukhl or miserliness. By definition, it means not spending what it was obligatory to spend - one may go even farther than that by remaining consumed with greed to increase one's wealth. This then, shall be a crime much more severe than ordinary miserliness. Therefore, the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him said:

"Miserliness (shuhh) and faith ('Iman) can never coexist in the heart of a Muslim." (Qurtubi)

The punishment for miserliness (Bukhl) mentioned in this verse: 'They shall be forced, on the Doomsday, to put. on round their necks the shackles of what they were miserly with' has been explained by the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him in the following words reported by Sayyidna Abu Hurairah Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him:

'Anyone Allah blessed with some wealth and who did not pay the zakah due on it properly will find his or her wealth turn into a deadly snake shackled round the neck chomping at the person's mouth from one to the other end of the lips and saying: 'I am your wealth. I am your capital gain.' Thereafter, the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him recited this verse (180). (Al-Nasa'i, from Tafsir al-Qurtubi)

The second verse (18) warns Jews against their grave act of effrontery and mentions its punishment. According to the background of the event, when the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon himpresented the Qur'anic injunctions relating to Zakah and Sadaqat (charities), the arrogant Jews started saying that Allah had surely become poor and needy while they were rich, or else why would He go about asking us to give? We seek refuge with Allah from such effrontery. Obviously, they would have hardly believed in the absurd statement they made but, in all likelihood, they would have said so to prove that the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him was, God forbid, false in his statement. Their argument was: If these verses of the Qur'an are true, then, it necessarily follows that Allah be poor and needy! This absurd argument of theirs being false in itself was not worth responding to because the injunction of Allah Almighty was not for His benefit; it was, rather, for the benefit of the owners of wealth themselves in this world and the hereafter.

But, it was termed as giving loan to Allah elsewhere because repayment of a loan is necessary and certain in the sight of every good person. Similar is the case of charity given by someone, the repayment of which Allah Almighty takes upon Himself as if it was the payment of loan taken from someone. Anyone who believes in Allah Almighty as the Creator and Master of everything would never stoop to entertain the kind of doubt from these words of the verse which is there in the saying of the insolent Jews. For this reason, the Qur'an has certainly refrained from answering this doubt. Instead, it has simply restricted itself to announcing that they shall be apprehended and punished for this effrontery of theirs, for having falsified the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him and for having made fun of him. It was said that their insolent words will be put on record in 'writing' so that the final evidence goes against them on the Day of Judgment and they are punished for what they did. Otherwise, Allah Almighty needs no writing.

Along with this act of effrontery committed by the Jews, yet another crime of theirs has been mentioned, that is, they not only falsified the prophets and mocked at them, they even went to the limit of killing them! That such people could falsify and flout any prophet or messenger of Allah hardly remains surprising.

Staying emotionally satisfied with disbelief in and disobedience to Allah is also an equally grave sin

Worth noticing at this point fs the fact that those being addressed by the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him and the Qur'an are the Jews of Madinah while the incident of the killing of prophets belongs to a time much earlier than theirs, that is, to the time of Sayyidna Yahya and Sayyidna Zakariyya, may peace be on them. Now, the question is: How is it that the crime of the killing of the prophets referred to in this verse was attributed to these addressees? The reason is: The Jews of Madinah were quite satisfied with this act committed by their Jewish predecessors, therefore, they too were counted as those who fall under the injunction governing killers of prophets.

Imam al-Qurtubi has said in his Tafsir that 'remaining satisfied with disbelief (kufr) is also included under disbelief and disobedience' which is a major juristic ruling in Islam. A saying of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him explains it further. He said:

'When a sin is committed on Allaah's earth, following which the person who is present on the spot opposes that sin and considers it to be bad, then, such a person shall be deemed as not present there, that is, he is no accomplice in their sin. And, a person who, though not present physically yet is quite satisfied with this act of sinners, then, this person shall be considered, despite his absence (from the scene of sin), an accomplice in their sin.'

In the later part of the present verse (181) and in the third verse (182), the text recounts the punishment to be meted out to such loudmouthed people by saying that they shall be consigned to the Hell to experience the taste of burning in fire which is but the outcome of their own deeds and certainly no injustice from Allah. The fourth verse (183) takes up the case of a false accusation made by these very Jews who came up with an excuse in order to reject the prophethood of the Messenger of Allah. Their contention was that, during the period of past prophets, there used to be a method under which charities and offerings were placed in the centre of an open ground or on top of a hill where heavenly fire came and burnt these to ashes. This used to symbolize that offerings were accepted.

But, to the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him and to his community, Allah Almighty had given the unique distinction that charities were not left to be consumed by heavenly fire. They were given to the poor and needy among Muslims. Since the later method was contrary to the former, the disbelievers found an excuse to say: If you were a prophet, you too would have been given the miracle whereby the heavenly fire would have consumed the offerings and charities. They, not resting at that, became audacious enough to fabricate lies against Allah Almighty claiming that 'He has taken pledge from them to the effect that they are not to believe in a person who is unable to cause the miracle of the coming of a heavenly fire which burns the charitable offerings.'

Since this claim of the Jews that Allah had taken a pledge from them was false, there was really no need to counter it. So, to disarm them through their very proven saying, Allah Almighty said: If you are true in saying that Allah has taken such a pledge from you, then, the past prophets who had obliged you by showing the miracle of your choice whereby the heavenly fire consumed the offerings certainly deserved that you should have at least believed in them! But, what actually happened is that you did not spare them either. You still falsified them. In fact, you went to the extreme of transgression by killing them.

Let no one have any doubt here despite the fact that while this claim of the Jews was absolutely false, may be, if this miracle did come to pass at the hand of the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him chances were that they would probably have come to believe. Such a doubt is unfounded because Allah Almighty knew that these people were saying such things simply out of hostility and obstinacy. Thus, even if the miracle they demanded came to pass, they would have still not believed.

In the fifth verse (184), the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him has been comforted by saying that he should not grieve at being falsified by his adversaries for this is something faced by all prophets in the past.

Thoughts of the Hereafter heal all sorrows and remove all doubts

The sixth verse (185) puts a sharp focus on the ultimate reality of things in a situation when sometime somewhere disbelievers come to enjoy ascendency one way or the other and they have all the luxury they can think of in this world. Contrary to this, Muslims have to face some hardships, some difficulties and a certain paucity of worldly means. There is nothing surprising about it and certainly no occasion to be grieved, for no follower of a faith or philosophy can ignore the reality of life that sorrow and happiness in this world are both shortlived. No living creature can escape death. As for the comfort and discomfort experienced in this world, they vanish, more than often, right there with relevant changes in circumstances - or, just in case, no change takes place during the life of this world, it is certain that everything will end with the knock of death. Therefore, worrying about this short-lived cycle of comfort and discomfort should not become the chronic concern of a wise person. One should, rather, have concern for what would happen after death.

So, the verse (185) tells us that every living being shall taste death and once in the Hereafter, there shall come the reward and punishment of deeds which will be severe and long drawn as well. This is what a wise person should worry about and prepare for. Given this rule of conduct, one who stays away from Hell and finds entry into the Paradise is really the successful one. May be this happens at the very beginning as would be the case with the most righteous servants of Allah. Or, it may come to pass after having faced some punishment as would be the case with sinning Muslims. But, Muslims - all of them - will finally have their deliverance from Hell and the blessings of Paradise will become theirs for ever.

This will be contrary to what happens to disbelievers - Hell will be their eternal resting place. If they wax proud over their short-lived worldly gains, they are terribly deceived. That is why it was said at the end of the verse: 'And the worldly life is nothing but an asset, full of illusion.' Strange is the anatomy of this deception, for reckless material enjoyments here become the source of great hardships in the Hereafter and conversely, most of the hardships faced here become the treasure of the Hereafter.

People of Falsehood hurting people of Truth is a natural phenomena: Patience (Sabr) and piety (Taqwa) cure everything

The seventh verse (186) was revealed in the background of a particular event which has been briefly referred to a little earlier in verse 181. According to relevant details, when verse 245 of Surah al-Baqarah: (who is the one who would give Allah a good loan) was revealed, it eloquently equated the givings of charities to the giving of loan to Allah thereby indicating that all givings in charity in the life of this world will be recompensed with a certainty like that of someone returning a loan taken. An ignorant or hostile Jew reacted by commenting in the following words: (Allah is poor and we are rich). Sayyidna Abu Bakr Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him was angry at his effrontery and slapped him. The Jew complained to the Holy Prophet Sallallahu 'Alayhi Wasallam: Peace be upon him. Thereupon, the verse: (Of course, you shall be tested in your wealth and yourselves) was revealed.

This verse instructs Muslims that they should not show weakness when called to stake their wealth and life in the defence of their Faith or when they are hurt by the vituperations of the disbelievers, the polytheists and the people of the Book. All this is nothing but a trial for them. The best course for them is to observe restraint, be patient and keep to their real objective in life which is the achievement of the perfect state of Taqwa, (a state in which one fears Allah and remains answerable to Him all the time). In such a state Muslims should not worry about replying to the effrontery by antogonists. [Ma'ariful Qur'an]

» posted by Seifeddine-M on 27th January 2012 on Seifeddine-M's blog - 0 comments

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