Tafsir of Surah Aal Imran - Verse 15

The True Value of This Earthly Life

Allah mentions the delights that He put in this life for people, such as women and children, and He started with women, because the test with them is more tempting. For instance, the Sahih recorded that the Messenger ﷺ said,

«مَا تَرَكْتُ بَعْدِي فِتْنَةً أَضَرَّ عَلَى الرِّجَالِ مِنَ النِّسَاء»

(I did not leave behind me a test more tempting to men than women.)

When one enjoys women for the purpose of having children and preserving his chastity, then he is encouraged to do so. There are many Hadiths that encourage getting married, such as,

«وَإِنَّ خَيْرَ هذِهِ الْأُمَّةِ مَنْ كَانَ أَكْثَرَهَا نِسَاء»

(Verily, the best members of this Ummah are those who have the most wives) He also said,

«الدُّنْيَا مَتَاعٌ، وَخَيْرُ مَتَاعِهَا الْمَرْأَةُ الصَّالِحَة»

(This life is a delight, and the best of its delight is a righteous wife)

The Prophet said in another Hadith,

«حُبِّبَ إِلَيَّ النِّسَاءُ وَالطِّيبُ، وَجُعِلَتْ قُرَّةُ عَيْنِي فِي الصَّلَاة»

(I was made to like women and perfume, and the comfort of my eye is the prayer.)

`A'ishah, may Allah be pleased with her, said, "Nothing was more beloved to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ than women, except horses," and in another narration, "...than horses except women."

The desire to have children is sometimes for the purpose of pride and boasting, and as such, is a temptation. When the purpose for having children is to reproduce and increase the Ummah of Muhammad with those who worship Allah alone without partners, then it is encouraged and praised. A Hadith states,

«تَزَوَّجُوا الْوَدُودَ الْوَلُودَ، فَإِنِّي مُكَاثِرٌ بِكُمُ الْأُمَمَ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَة»

(Marry the Wadud (kind) and Walud (fertile) woman, for I will compare your numbers to the rest of the nations on the Day of Resurrection.)

The desire of wealth sometimes results out of arrogance, and the desire to dominate the weak and control the poor, and this conduct is prohibited. Sometimes, the want for more money is for the purpose of spending it on acts of worship, being kind to the family, the relatives, and spending on various acts of righteousness and obedience; this behavior is praised and encouraged in the religion.

Scholars of Tafsir have conflicting opinions about the amount of the Qintar, all of which indicate that the Qintar is a large amount of money, as Ad-Dahhak and other scholars said. Abu Hurayrah said "The Qintar is twelve thousand Uwqiyah, each Uwqiyah is better than what is between the heavens and earth." This was recorded by Ibn Jarir .

The desire to have horses can be one of three types. Sometimes, owners of horses collect them to be used in the cause of Allah, and when warranted, they use their horses in battle. This type of owner shall be rewarded for this good action. Another type collects horses to boast, and out of enmity to the people of Islam, and this type earns a burden for his behavior. Another type collects horses to fulfill their needs and to collect their offspring, and they do not forget Allah's right due on their horses. This is why in this case, these horses provide a shield of sufficiency for their owner, as evident by a Hadith that we will mention, Allah willing, when we explain Allah's statement,

وَأَعِدُّواْ لَهُمْ مَّا اسْتَطَعْتُم مّن قُوَّةٍ وَمِن رّبَاطِ الْخَيْلِ

(And make ready against them all you can of power, including steeds of war.) 8:60.

As for the Musawwamah horses, Ibn `Abbas said that they are the branded, beautiful horses. This is the same explanation of Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Sa`id bin Jubayr, `Abdur-Rahman bin `Abdullah bin Abza, As-Suddi, Ar-Rabi` bin Anas and Abu Sinan and others. Makhul said the Musawwamah refers to the horse with a white spotted faced, and the horse with white feet. Imam Ahmad recorded that Abu Dharr said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

«لَيْسَ مِنْ فَرَسٍ عَرَبِيَ إِلَّا يُؤْذَنُ لَهُ مَعَ كُلِّ فَجْرٍ يَدْعُو بِدَعْوَتَيْنِ يَقُولُ: اللَّهُمَّ إِنَّكَ خَوَّلْتَنِي مِنْ بَنِي آدَمَ، فَاجْعَلْنِي مِنْ أَحَبِّ مَالِهِ وَأَهْلِهِ إِلَيْهِ أَوْ أَحَبَّ أَهْلِهِ وَمَالِهِ إِلَيْه»

(Every Arabian horse is allowed to have two supplications every dawn, and the horse supplicates, `O Allah! You made me subservient to the son of Adam. Therefore, make me among the dearest of his wealth and household to him, or, ...make me the dearest of his household and wealth to him.)

Allah's statement,

وَالاٌّنْعَـمُ

(Cattle) means, camels, cows and sheep.

وَالْحَرْثِ

(And fertile land) meaning, the land that is used to farm and grow plants.

Allah then said,

ذَلِكَ مَتَـعُ الْحَيَوةِ الدُّنْيَا

(This is the pleasure of the present world's life) meaning, these are the delights of this life and its short lived joys,

وَاللَّهُ عِندَهُ حُسْنُ الْمَأَبِ

(But Allah has the excellent return with Him) meaning, the best destination and reward.

The Reward of the Those Who Have Taqwa is Better Than All Joys of This World

This is why Allah said,

قُلْ أَؤُنَبِّئُكُمْ بِخَيْرٍ مِّن ذَلِكُمْ

(Say: "Shall I inform you of things far better than those")

This Ayah means, "Say, O Muhammad, to the people, `Should I tell you about what is better than the delights and joys of this life that will soon perish"' Allah informed them of what is better when He said,

لِلَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْاْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ جَنَّـتٌ تَجْرِى مِن تَحْتِهَا الاٌّنْهَارُ

(For those who have Taqwa there are Gardens (Paradise) with their Lord, underneath which rivers flow) meaning, rivers run throughout it. These rivers carry various types of drinks: honey, milk, wine and water such that no eye has ever seen, no ear has ever heard, and no heart has ever imagined,

خَـلِدِينَ فِيهَآ

(Therein (is their) eternal (home)) meaning, they shall remain in it forever and ever and will not want to be removed from it.

وَأَزْوَجٌ مُّطَهَّرَةٌ

(And Azwajun Mutahharatun (purified mates or wives)) meaning, from filth, dirt, harm, menstruation, post birth bleeding, and other things that affect women in this world.

وَرِضْوَنٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ

(And Allah will be pleased with them) meaning, Allah's pleasure will descend on them and He shall never be angry with them after that. This is why Allah said in in Surah Bara`ah,

وَرِضْوَنٌ مِّنَ اللَّهِ أَكْبَرُ

(But the pleasure of Allah is greater) 9:72, meaning, greater than the eternal delight that He has granted them. Allah then said,

وَاللَّهُ بَصِيرٌ بِالْعِبَادِ

(And Allah is All-Seer of the (His) servants) and, He gives each provisions according to what they deserve.

In the second verse that follows (15), the same subject has been further cleared by saying:

قُلْ أَؤُنَبِّئُكُم بِخَيْرٍ‌ مِّن ذَٰلِكُمْ ۚ لِلَّذِينَ اتَّقَوْا عِندَ رَ‌بِّهِمْ جَنَّاتٌ تَجْرِ‌ي مِن تَحْتِهَا الْأَنْهَارُ‌ خَالِدِينَ فِيهَا وَأَزْوَاجٌ مُّطَهَّرَ‌ةٌ وَرِ‌ضْوَانٌ مِّنَ اللَّـهِ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ بَصِيرٌ‌ بِالْعِبَادِ ﴿15﴾

Say: "Shall I not tell you what is far better than that? For those who fear Allah, there are with their Lord gardens beneath which rivers flow, where they shall live forever, and wives purified, and approval from Allah. And Allah is watchful over His servants."

Here, the address is to the Holy Prophet ﷺ who is being asked to tell those who become obsessed with imperfect and perishable blessings they find in the present life that he is in a position to lead them on to far better blessings. These shall be the lot of those who fear Allah and are obedient to Him. These blessings are, 'gardens beneath which rivers flow, wives purified and favours from Allah' - the last being the ultimate man can and should aspire for.

It will be recalled that in the preceding verse (14), the total count of blessings that infatuate man was given as six women, children, heaps of gold and silver, fine horses, cattle and tillage. As compared to that, only three blessings of the Hereafter, that is, the gardens of Par-adise, wives purified and the approval from Allah have been identified. Out of the rest, children were not mentioned because man loves children during his life in the world as children help and strengthen him in what he does and through them his name lives on. But, in the Here-after he would not need such help, nor would he 'die' in which case he may have to look for an heir. Apart from this, whoever has children would have them all in the Paradise. Whoever has no children in the mortal world would, to begin with, just not have the desire to have them in the Paradise. Should someone desire that he may have children, Allah Almighty would bless him with children. According to a hadith in Jami` al-Tirmidhi, the Holy Prophet ﷺ said: 'If a dweller of Paradise wishes to have children, the process of pregnancy, birth and growth of the child will be completed in no time and he would have what he wished for.'

Similarly, gold and silver were not mentioned in relation to the Paradise because gold and silver are needed in the mortal world as material things are bought against them or anything else one-needs can be procured through them. In the Hereafter, there will be just no need to buy anything or sell anything or pay for anything. Instead of that, whatever the dweller of Paradise needs will be instantly provided. Incidentally, the Paradise itself is not without gold and silver.

Some sayings of the Prophet ﷺ mention that some places of Paradise will have bricks of gold and silver masoned one after the other. However, in view of the uniqueness of that life; gold and silver were not considered worth mentioning.

Now the horses. In the world of our experience, horses help cover distances. In the other world, there is no travel and no riding but, sound hadith reports do prove that fine horses will be presented before the dwellers of Paradise on Fridays which they will ride to go and meet friends and relatives. As is evident, horses were not worth mentioning in this context, which is also true about cattles and farms and their produce. The services they provide have already been provided in the Paradise by Allah Almighty without their medium.

However, should there be someone there who for some unnecessary reason wishes to try farming, he will have his wish granted. As it appears in some reports in al-Tabarani, everything needed for farming will be assembled instantly for such a person. Thereafter the whole process of ploughing, seeding, ripening and cutting will be accomplished in no time and he will have what he wished for before him. So, among the blessings of the آخرۃ Akhirah, the mention of 'wives purified' was considered sufficient because the Holy Qur'an has another promise for the people of Paradise: وَلَهُم مَّا يَشْتَهُونَ ﴿57﴾ And for them there is what they wish for). After such a comprehensive declaration, there remains no need to individually mention any particular blessing. Those that have been mentioned are blessings already there without any need to ask for these.

The last and most important messing mentioned is the approval of Allah Almighty something one cannot easily conceptualize - after which there is no danger of displeasure from Allah. According to a hadith, when the people of Paradise would have settled down there, happy and content without having any desire remaining unfulfilled, Allah Almighty will speak to them asking if they are happy and if they need anything. They will say: Our Lord, You have given us everything, what else could we ever need. Allah Almighty would say: Now I give you the greatest of all blessings - you all have My approval that I will never be displeased with you, and nearness forever.

Since the danger of Allah's displeasure does not exist in Paradise, there is also no danger that the blessings of Paradise will ever be taken back or reduced.

It is the very subject of these verses that the Holy Prophet has summarized in the following hadith:

الدنیا ملعونۃ و ملعون ما فیھا الا ما ابتغی بہ وجہ اللہ وفی روایہ الا

زکر اللہ و ما والاہ او عالماً او متعلماً

'Wordly life is cursed and cursed is what is in there, except what is used to seek the pleasure of Allah'. According to another narration: ' except the Dhikr (Remembrance) of Allah and what Allah likes and except ` Alim عالِم (religious scholar) and Talib ilm طالب العلم (student in religion).'

This hadith has been reported by Ibn Majah and al-Tabarani on the authority of Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ .

This world is a place of trial. God, wishing to ascertain which of His creatures are capable of rising above worldly attractions, has so willed it that man should be attracted to and find gratification in the things of this world, but at the same time be faced with the choice of clinging to them or renouncing them in favour of the unseen things of the next world. This is not an easy choice, for he sees that worldly acquisitions lead him to an honourable place in society. By possessing material resources, he can have all that he wants in life. This gives him the impression that it is these things that are of consequence. All his interests and activities centre around his family, his wealth and his property. This presents the greatest obstacle to advancing towards the demands of the Hereafter. The aura of importance surrounding worldly things makes him oblivious of all that pertains to the next life. He is so engrossed in building the future of his children in this world, that he no longer remembers the fact that there is any ‘future’ beyond this present life, to which he should give thought. Providing all comforts for his home in this world becomes so dear to him that it never occurs to him that there is any other home save this, to which he should pay heed. Making money, accumulating riches and possessing property in this world seem so estimable to him, that he fails to realize that there is any ‘wealth’ other than this, to which he should devote his life. However, all these things with the external glitter of this present life will be of no use to him in the next, eternal life. It is only one who makes the permanent life of the Hereafter the focus of his attention who will realize the insignificance of these worldly things.