63:10 Al-Munaafiqoon (The Hypocrites)

{ وَأَنْفِقُوا مِنْ مَا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ } يدخل في هذا، النفقات الواجبة، من الزكاة والكفارات ونفقة الزوجات، والمماليك، ونحو ذلك، والنفقات المستحبة، كبذل المال في جميع المصالح، وقال: { مِمَّا رَزَقْنَاكُمْ } ليدل ذلك على أنه تعالى، لم يكلف العباد من النفقة، ما يعنتهم ويشق عليهم، بل أمرهم بإخراج جزء مما رزقهم الله الذي يسره لهم ويسر لهم أسبابه.فليشكروا الذي أعطاهم، بمواساة إخوانهم المحتاجين، وليبادروا بذلك، الموت الذي إذا جاء، لم يمكن العبد أن يأتي بمثقال ذرة من الخير، ولهذا قال: { مِنْ قَبْلِ أَنْ يَأْتِيَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ فَيَقُولَ } متحسرًا على ما فرط في وقت الإمكان، سائلاً الرجعة التي هي محال: { رَبِّ لَوْلَا أَخَّرْتَنِي إِلَى أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ } أي: لأتدارك ما فرطت فيه، { فَأَصَّدَّقَ } من مالي، ما به أنجو من العذاب، وأستحق به جزيل الثواب، { وَأَكُنْ مِنَ الصَّالِحِينَ } بأداء المأمورات كلها، واجتناب المنهيات، ويدخل في هذا، الحج وغيره، وهذا السؤال والتمني، قد فات وقته، ولا يمكن تداركه.

فقال "وأنفقوا مما رزقناكم من قبل أن يأتي أحدكم الموت فيقول رب لولا أخرتني إلى أجل قريب فأصدق وأكن من الصالحين "فكل مفرط يندم عند الاحتضار ويسأل طول المدة ولو شيئا يسيرا ليستعتب ويستدرك ما فاته وهيهات كان ما كان وأتى ما هو آت وكل بحسب تفريطه أما الكفار فكما قال تعالى "وأنذر الناس يوم يأتيهم العذاب فيقول الذين ظلموا ربنا أخرنا إلى أجل قريب نجب دعوتك ونتبع الرسل أو لم تكونوا أقسمتم من قبل مالكم من زوال" وقال تعالى "حتى إذا جاء أحدهم الموت قال رب ارجعون لعلي أعمل صالحا فيما تركت كلا إنها كلمة هو قائلها ومن ورائهم برزخ إلى يوم يبعثون".

The Importance of not being too concerned with the Matters of the Worldly Life, and being Charitable

Allah the Exalted orders His faithful servants to remember Him frequently and to refrain from being distracted from His remembrance by indulging in their properties and children excessively. Allah informs them that those who engage in this life, its delights and attributes and were busied from the obedience and remembrance of Allah, for which they were created, will be among the losers. They will lose themselves and their families on the Day of Resurrection. Allah encourages the believers to spend in His cause,

وَأَنفِقُواْ مِن مَّا رَزَقْنَـكُمْ مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِىَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ فَيَقُولُ رَبِّ لَوْلا أَخَّرْتَنِى إِلَى أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ فَأَصَّدَّقَ وَأَكُن مِّنَ الصَّـلِحِينَ

(And spend of that with which We have provided you before death comes to one of you, and he says: "My Lord! If only You would give me respite for a little while, then I should give Sadaqah from my wealth, and be among the righteous.) Surely, every person who fell into shortcomings will regret it by the time of his death and will ask for respite, even a short period, so that he does better and attains what he missed. No, rather what occurred, has occurred and what is coming, shall indeed come. Each will be held accountable for his mistakes. As for the disbelievers, they will be as Allah said about them,

وَأَنذِرِ النَّاسَ يَوْمَ يَأْتِيهِمُ الْعَذَابُ فَيَقُولُ الَّذِينَ ظَلَمُواْ رَبَّنَآ أَخِّرْنَآ إِلَى أَجَلٍ قَرِيبٍ نُّجِبْ دَعْوَتَكَ وَنَتَّبِعِ الرُّسُلَ أَوَلَمْ تَكُونُواْ أَقْسَمْتُمْ مِّن قَبْلُ مَا لَكُمْ مِّن زَوَالٍ

(And warn mankind of the Day when the torment will come unto them; then the wrongdoers will say:"Our Lord! Respite us for a little while, we will answer Your call and follow the Messengers!" (It will be said): "Had you not sworn aforetime that you would not leave.") (14:44), and,

حَتَّى إِذَا جَآءَ أَحَدَهُمُ الْمَوْتُ قَالَ رَبِّ ارْجِعُونِ - لَعَلِّى أَعْمَلُ صَـلِحاً فِيمَا تَرَكْتُ كَلاَّ إِنَّهَا كَلِمَةٌ هُوَ قَآئِلُهَا وَمِن وَرَآئِهِمْ بَرْزَخٌ إِلَى يَوْمِ يُبْعَثُونَ

(Until, when death comes to one of them, he says: "My Lord! send me back. So that I may do good in that which I have left behind!" No! It is but a word that he speaks; and behind them is Barzakh (a barrier) until the Day when they will be resurrected.) (23:99-100) Then Allah said;

وَلَن يُؤَخِّرَ اللَّهُ نَفْساً إِذَا جَآءَ أَجَلُهَآ وَاللَّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ

(And Allah grants respite to none when his appointed time comes. And Allah is All-Aware of what you do.) meaning, when the time of death comes, no one will be granted respite. Surely, HSe is the Most Knowledgeable and t an what they did before. Allah said,

وَاللَّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ

(And Allah is All-Aware of what you do.) This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Al-Munafiqun. All praise and thanks are due to Allah, and all success and immunity from error come from Him.

And expend in alms of that with which We have provided you before death comes to any of you whereat he will say ‘My Lord if only law-lā means hal-lā ‘why do You not’; or the lā is extra and the law is optative You would reprieve me for a short time so that I might give charity assaddaq the original tā’ of atasaddaqa has been assimilated with the sād that I might offer alms and become one of the righteous!’ by making the Pilgrimage. Ibn ‘Abbās may God be pleased with both him and his father said ‘Every person who has fallen short of his duty regarding alms and the Pilgrimage will ask to be returned to this world at the moment of death’.

وَأَنفِقُوا مِن مَّا رَ‌زَقْنَاكُم مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِيَ أَحَدَكُمُ الْمَوْتُ (And spend out of what We have given to you before death comes to one of you…63:10) ‘Coming of death’ in this verse refers to ‘witnessing the signs of death’. The verse exhorts the believers to make the best of their opportunities to spend in the way of Allah, in the state of good health and strength, before the signs of death appear, and thus they should have their degrees of rank elevated in the Hereafter. Once death overtakes them the opportunity to spend will be lost, and the wealth will be of no use. Earlier on it was learned that the word dhikr (remembrance of Allah) refers to all forms of obedience and following the dictates of Shari’ ah, which include spending wealth as due. Despite that, spending wealth as due. Despite that, spending wealth on this occasion has been mentioned separately. There may be two reasons for it: Firstly, one of the major objects that divert man from acting upon the sacred laws of shari’ ah is wealth. Therefore, spending wealth, in the form of Zakah, ‘Ushr, Hajj and so on, is specifically mentioned. Secondly, when a person sees the signs of death, it is not in his power to perform his missed prayers, or his missed Hajj, Ramadhan fasts. However, the wealth is in front of him, and he is sure that soon it will slip out of his hand. So he may spend the wealth to compensate his shortfalls in worship and so attain salvation from such shortcomings. Furthermore, charity [ sadaqah ] is efficacious in averting calamities and punishment.

Sahih of Bukahri and Muslim record on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ that a person asked the Messenger of Allah ﷺ : “ Which sadaqah attracts most reward?” The Messenger of Allah replied: “ To spend in Allah’ s way when a person is in a state of good health, and yet he fears, in view of future needs, that if he spends the wealth he may become poor.” Then he continued: “ Do not delay spending in Allah’ s way until such time when your death reaches your throat, and at that moment you instruct (your heirs), ‘Give this much to so-and-so and give this much for such and such work.”’

فَيَقُولَ رَ‌بِّ لَوْلَا أَخَّرْ‌تَنِي إِلَىٰ أَجَلٍ قَرِ‌يبٍ (…and he says, “ My Lord, would you not respite me to a near term, and I will pay sadaqah (alms) and will become one of the righteous…63:10). Sayyidna Ibn ‘Abbas ؓ says, in the interpretation of this verse, that if Zakah was due on a person and he failed to pay it, and Hajj was obligatory and he failed to perform it, he will express this desire when death approaches him. He will want a little more time so that he can give sadaqah and أَكُن مِّنَ الصَّالِحِينَ ‘become one of the righteous’ [ 10] In other words, he will also desire that he is given a little more time so that he may act righteously by fulfilling his obligations that he has missed out and repent and ask pardon for the forbidden and abominable acts he might have indulged in. but Allah makes it clear in the next verse that once his time has come, He (Allah) will not give any more time to anyone. This desire at that stage is futile.

Al-Hamdullah

The commentary on

Surah Al-Munafiqun

Ends here