Tafsir of Surah Al-Isra - Verse 100

Holding back is Part of Man's Nature

Allah says to His Messenger : "Tell them, O Muhammad, even if you had authority over the treasures of Allah, you would refrain from spending for fear of exhausting it." Ibn `Abbas and Qatadah said, "This means for fear of poverty," lest it run out, despite the fact that it can never be exhausted or come to an end. This is because it is part of your nature. So Allah says:

وَكَانَ الإنْسَـنُ قَتُورًا

(and man is ever miserly.) Ibn `Abbas and Qatadah said: "(This means) stingy and holding back." Allah says:

أَمْ لَهُمْ نَصِيبٌ مِّنَ الْمُلْكِ فَإِذاً لاَّ يُؤْتُونَ النَّاسَ نَقِيراً

(Or have they a share in the dominion Then in that case they would not give mankind even a Naqira.) (4:53), meaning that even if they had a share in the authority of Allah, they would not have given anything to anyone, not even the amount of a Naqira (speck on the back of a date stone). Allah describes man as he really is, except for those whom Allah helps and guides. Miserliness, discontent and impatience are human characteristics, as Allah says:

إِنَّ الإِنسَـنَ خُلِقَ هَلُوعاً - إِذَا مَسَّهُ الشَّرُّ جَزُوعاً - وَإِذَا مَسَّهُ الْخَيْرُ مَنُوعاً - إِلاَّ الْمُصَلِّينَ

(Verily, man was created very impatient; irritable when evil touches him; and stingy when good touches him. Except those who are devoted to Salah (prayers). ) (70:19-22). And there are many other such references in the Qur'an. This is an indication of the generosity and kindness of Allah. In the Two Sahihs it says:

«يَدُ اللهِ مَلْأَى لَا يَغِيضُهَا نَفَقَةٌ سَحَّاءُ اللَّيْلَ وَالنَّهَارَ، أَرَأَيْتُمْ مَا أَنْفَقَ مُنْذُ خَلَقَ السَّمَوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضَ، فَإِنَّهُ لَمْ يَغِضْ مَا فِي يَمِينِه»

(Allah's Hand is full and never decreases because of His giving night and day. Do you not see how much He has given since He created the heavens and the earth, yet that which is in His right hand never decreases.)

Commentary

The truth of the matter about what has been said in the last verse (100) is that the treasures of the mercy of Allah are limit-less and end-less. They are never going to end, but man is by nature narrow-minded, short on courage. When it comes to giving, he is not motivated enough to share what he has with others.

Commentators generally take the expression 'the treasures of the Lord's blessing or mercy' to mean the treasures of wealth. This has its link with previous verses (90, 91) where the disbelievers of Makkah had demanded that the Holy Prophet ﷺ should - if he was really a prophet in truth - make rivers flow in the barren desert of Makkah and trans-form it into lush green farms, like the land of Syria. The answer to this was given right there (93), saying in effect: This is as if you have taken me to be nothing short of God whose authority you want me to exercise. As for me, I am only a messenger of Allah, not Allah. I cannot do what I will. If we see this verse in this context, it would mean: If you are asking me to turn this desert land of Makkah into a green land to test my veracity as prophet and messenger, then, the miracle of the eloquence of the Qur'an is sufficient to prove that. There is no need for any other demands. And if this is to meet the needs of your country and people, remember that, even if you are given everything you demand for the land of Makkah, and all sorts of treasures with it, it would not result in the prosperity of the masses of your country. In fact, human nature will take its course and whoever gets hold of these treasures will sit on them like legendary serpents. Tell them to spend it on the people and you will see them all consumed by the fear that it will go out of their hands. In a situ-ation like this, if a few rich men of Makkah get to be richer and opulent, what are the masses of people going to get out of it? Most commentators have declared this to be the sense of the verse.

My master and mentor, Hadrat Thanavi (رح) ، in his Bayan al-Qur'an, has interpreted 'my Lord's mercy' as the station of prophethood and messenger-ship, and 'the treasures of mercy' as the varied perfection of prophethood. Given this Tafsir, this verse will be linked with previous verses by saying: The outcome of all those absurd demands you are making against my status as a prophet and Messenger of Allah ﷺ is that you just do not want to believe in it. Do you, then, want that the function of prophethood should be entrusted in your hands, so that you can make anyone a prophet at your sweet will? If such a wish were to be granted, the consequence would be that you would never give prophethood or messenger-ship to anyone, sitting over it like misers. After having given this explanation, he has added that this Tafsir is something that comes as one of the many divine gifts. It fits the occasion. Interpreting proph-ethood in this setting with mercy would be similar to its interpretation in the verse of Surah az-Zukhruf. It was said: أَهُمْ يَقْسِمُونَ رَ‌حْمَتَ رَ‌بِّكَ (Do they distribute the mercy of your Lord? - 43:32). Here, 'rahmah' (mercy) means nothing but 'nubuwwah' (prophethood) - and there is a consensus on it. Allah knows best.

Man is narrow-minded. He wants to build up all kinds of status for himself or for his group. If the distribution of all kinds of blessings had been in the hands of man, surely the rich and the powerful would in addition have reserved prophethood for themselves. But God sees everything in terms of merit rather than community biases. He looks at all human beings and selects the best person out of the entire human race for prophethood. Had prophethood been conferred by human beings, their choice would certainly have been characterised by communal biases and prejudices rather than by merit.