31:4 Luqman (Luqman)

ثم وصف المحسنين بالعلم التام، وهو اليقين الموجب للعمل والخوف من عقاب اللّه، فيتركون معاصيه، ووصفهم بالعمل، وخص من العمل، عملين فاضلين: الصلاة المشتملة على الإخلاص، ومناجاة اللّه تعالى، والتعبد العام للقلب واللسان، والجوارح المعينة، على سائر الأعمال، والزكاة التي تزكي صاحبها من الصفات الرذيلة، وتنفع أخاه المسلم، وتسد حاجته، ويبين بها أن العبد يؤثر محبة اللّه على محبته للمال، فيخرجه محبوبه من المال، لما هو أحب إليه، وهو طلب مرضاة اللّه.

وهم الذين أحسنوا العمل في اتباع الشريعة فأقاموا الصلاة المفروضة بحدودها وأوقاتها وما يتبعها من نوافل راتبة وغير راتبة وآتوا الزكاة المفروضة عليهم إلى مستحقيها ووصلوا أرحامهم وقراباتهم وأيقنوا بالجزاء في الدار الآخرة فرغبوا إلى الله في ثواب ذلك لم يراءوا به ولا أرادوا جزاء من الناس ولا شكورا فمن فعل ذلك كذلك فهو من الذين ذكرهم في الآية التالية.

Which was revealed in Makkah

بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ

In the name of Allah, the Beneficent, the Merciful

The Doomed are preoccupied with Idle Talk and They turn away from the Ayat of Allah

When Allah mentions the blessed -- who are those who are guided by the Book of Allah and benefit from hearing it, as He says:

اللَّهُ نَزَّلَ أَحْسَنَ الْحَدِيثِ كِتَـباً مُّتَشَـبِهاً مَّثَانِيَ تَقْشَعِرُّ مِنْهُ جُلُودُ الَّذِينَ يَخْشَوْنَ رَبَّهُمْ ثُمَّ تَلِينُ جُلُودُهُمْ وَقُلُوبُهُمْ إِلَى ذِكْرِ اللَّهِ

(Allah has sent down the Best Statement, a Book, its parts resembling each other (and) oft-repeated. The skins of those who fear their Lord shiver from it. Then their skin and their heart soften to the remembrance of Allah) (39:23). He connect that with mention of the doomed, those who turn away from the Qur'an and do not benefit from hearing the Words of Allah. Instead, they turn to listening to flutes and singing accompanied by musical instruments. As Ibn Mas`ud commented about the Ayah:

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَشْتَرِى لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ

(And of mankind is he who purchases Lahu Al-Hadith to mislead (men) from the path of Allah), he said, "This -- by Allah -- refers to singing."

وَمِنَ النَّاسِ مَن يَشْتَرِى لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ لِيُضِلَّ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ بِغَيْرِ عِلْمٍ

(And of mankind is he who purchases Lahw Al-Hadith to mislead (men) from the path of Allah without knowledge, ) Qatadah said: "By Allah, he may not spend money on it, but his purchasing it means he likes it, and the more misguided he is, the more he likes it and the more he prefers falsehood to the truth and harmful things over beneficial things." It was said that what is meant by the words

يَشْتَرِى لَهْوَ الْحَدِيثِ

(purchases idle talks) is buying singing servant girls. Ibn Jarir said that it means all speech that hinders people from seeing the signs of Allah and following His path. His saying:

لِيُضِلَّ عَن سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ

(to mislead (men) from the path of Allah) means, he does this to oppose Islam and its followers.

وَيَتَّخِذَهَا هُزُواً

(and takes it by way of mockery.) Mujahid said, "This means mocking the path of Allah and making fun of it."

أُوْلَـئِكَ لَهُمْ عَذَابٌ مُّهِينٌ

(For such there will be a humiliating torment.) Just as they showed no respect to the signs and path of Allah, so they will be shown no respect on the Day of Resurrection, and they will be subjected to a painful, ongoing torment. Then Allah says:

وَإِذَا تُتْلَى عَلَيْهِ ءَايَـتُنَا وَلَّى مُسْتَكْبِراً كَأَن لَّمْ يَسْمَعْهَا كَأَنَّ فِى أُذُنَيْهِ وَقْراً

(And when Our Ayat are recited to such a one, he turns away in pride, as if he heard them not -- as if there were deafness in his ear.) means, when these Qur'anic verses are recited to one who is fond of idleness and play, he turns away from them and does not want to hear them. He turns a deaf ear to them as if he can hear nothing, because it annoys him to hear them since he gains no benefit from them and has no interest in them.

فَبَشِّرْهُ بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍ

(So announce to him a painful torment.) i.e., on the Day of Resurrection, which will hurt him just as much as listening to the Book of Allah and its verses hurt him.

who maintain the prayer alladhīna yuqīmūna’l-salāta an explication of al-muhsinīna ‘the virtuous’ and pay the alms and who are certain of the Hereafter the repetition of hum ‘they’ here translated ‘who’ is for emphasis.

Commentary

The words: يُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَاةَ (pay Zakah) in Verse 4 carry the injunction of Zakah, although the verse is Makki. This tells us that the original injunction of Zakah had already been revealed before Hijrah, right there in Makkah al-Mu` azzamah. As for the popular assumption that the injunction of Zakah was enforced in the second year of Hijrah, it refers to the arrangement of fixing its nisab (threshold), providing details of obligatory amount to be paid, collecting and disbursing it on authorized heads by the Islamic government. This was done in the second year of Hijrah.

Ibn Kathir while commenting on verse 20 of Surah Al-Muzzammil: وَأَقِيمُوا الصَّلَاةَ وَآتُوا الزَّكَاةَ (Establish Salah and pay Zakah - 73:20) has arrived at the same conclusion, because Surah Al-Muzzammil as one of the Makki surahs was revealed during the very initial period of the revelation of the Qur'an. This tells us that the way Salah and Zakah have been described mostly side by side in the verses of the Qur'an, its obligation had also taken effect side by side. Allah knows best.