Tafsir of Al-Maa'oun 107:1-7

"Have you seen" (أرأيت): It is read as ra’ayta with the hamza elided. This is not the preferred reading, as elision is specific to the imperfect tense (mudari‘), and "rayta" is not considered correct in Arabic. However, it is facilitated here by the interrogative particle at the beginning of the sentence. Similar to this is the verse: "O companion, have you seen (rayta) or heard of a shepherd / who returns to the udder what was milked into the pail?"

Ibn Mas‘ud read it as ara’aytaka (with the addition of the address particle), similar to the verse: "Have you seen (ara’aytaka) this one whom You have honored above me?" The meaning is: Do you know who the one who denies the Recompense is? If you do not know, then "that is the one" who denies the Recompense.

"He who pushes away the orphan" (يدع اليتيم): Meaning, he repels him with violence, harshness, and harm, and turns him away with ugliness, scolding, and roughness. It is also read as yada‘u, meaning he abandons and neglects him.

"And does not encourage" (ولا يحض): He does not urge his household to provide food for the poor. He makes the denial of the Recompense known by the withholding of kindness and the boldness to harm the weak. This means: if he believed in the Recompense and was certain of the punishment, he would fear Allah and His retribution and would not dare to do such things. Since he has dared to do so, it proves he is a denier. How severe a statement this is, how frightening a position, and how eloquent in warning against sin—that it is worthy of being used as evidence for the weakness of faith and the looseness of the knot of certainty.

Then He connects it with: "So woe to those who pray" (فويل للمصلين). It is as if He said: If the matter is such, then woe to those who pray who are heedless of their prayer out of lack of concern for it, until it passes them by or its time expires, or they do not pray it as the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) and the predecessors prayed it. Rather, they peck at it like a bird, without humility or submissiveness, and without avoiding what is disliked in it—such as fidgeting with one's beard or clothes, excessive yawning, and looking around. One of them does not know how many units he has finished, nor what chapters he has recited, as you see in the prayer of most of those who are accustomed to showing off in their deeds and withholding the rights of their wealth.

The meaning is: These people are more deserving of being heedless of the prayer—which is the pillar of religion and the separator between faith and disbelief—and of the showing off (riya’) which is a branch of polytheism, and of withholding zakat which is the sister of prayer and the bridge of Islam, as a sign that they are deniers of the Religion. How many people are there who call themselves Muslims, and even among the scholars, who are of this description! Oh, what a calamity!

Another interpretation: "So that is" is a conjunction to "the one who denies," either as a noun to a noun or an attribute to an attribute. The answer to "Have you seen" is elided because what follows indicates it, as if it were said: "Tell me, what do you say about one who denies the Recompense? And one who harms the orphan and does not feed the poor? Is what he does good?" Then He said: "So woe to those who pray," meaning: if it is known that he is an evildoer, then woe to those who pray. This is meant as "woe to them," but their attribute is placed in the position of their pronoun because, along with their denial and what is added to them, they are heedless of prayer, showing off, and not paying zakat.

If you ask: How can "those who pray" stand in place of the pronoun of "the one who denies," when the latter is singular? I say: It means the plural, because the intent is the generic category.

If you ask: What is the difference between His saying "heedless of their prayer" (‘an salatihim) and saying "heedless in their prayer" (fi salatihim)? I say: The meaning of ‘an (of) is that they are heedless of it, meaning they abandon it and pay little attention to it; this is the action of hypocrites or the wicked among Muslims. The meaning of fi (in) is that heedlessness befalls them during it due to the whisperings of Satan or internal thoughts, and no Muslim is safe from that. The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) experienced forgetfulness in his prayer, let alone others; hence, the jurists established the chapter of "Prostration of Forgetfulness" in their books. Anas (may Allah be pleased with him) said: "Praise be to Allah that He did not say in their prayer." Ibn Mas‘ud read it as lahun (negligent).

If you ask: What is the meaning of showing off (riya’)? I say: It is a reciprocal form (mufa‘ala) derived from "making seen" (ir’a’), because the one who shows off makes people see his deed, and they see him and praise him and admire him. A man is not a show-off for displaying a righteous deed if it is an obligatory act (fard), for it is the right of obligatory acts to be made public and known, according to the Prophet’s saying: "There is no concealment in the obligations of Allah," because they are the banners of Islam and the symbols of religion. Since the one who abandons them deserves blame and hatred, it is necessary to remove suspicion by making them public. If it is a voluntary act (tatawwu‘), it is better to hide it, because one is not blamed for abandoning it, and there is no suspicion in it. If he displays it intending for others to follow his example, it is beautiful. Showing off is only when one intends by the display that eyes should see him, so that he is praised for righteousness.

Some say that avoiding showing off is difficult except for those trained in sincerity. Hence, the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him) said: "Showing off is more hidden than the crawling of a black ant on a black stone in a dark night."

"Al-Ma‘un" (The Assistance): It is zakat. The poet Al-Ra‘i said: "A people who, regarding Islam, do not withhold their assistance (ma‘un) and do not waste the declaration of faith." Ibn Mas‘ud said: It is what people usually lend to one another, such as an axe, a pot, a bucket, or a fire-starter. Aisha said: It is water, fire, and salt. Withholding these things can be forbidden in the Sharia if borrowed out of necessity, and ugly in terms of chivalry if not in a state of necessity.

From the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him): "Whoever recites the Surah 'Have you seen,' Allah will forgive him if he is a payer of zakat."