Tafsir of Surah Muhammad - Verse 38

Showing the Triviality of the Worldly Life and encouraging Spending

Expressing the insignificance and worthlessness of the worldly life, Allah says,

إِنَّمَا الْحَيَوةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ

(This worldly life is only amusement and diversion.) which means that such is its outcome, except for that which is done for the sake of Allah. Because of this, Allah says,

وَإِن تُؤْمِنُواْ وَتَتَّقُواْ يُؤْتِكُمْ أُجُورَكُمْ وَلاَ يَسْـَلْكُمْ أَمْوَلَكُمْ

(And if you believe and have Taqwa of Allah, He will grant you your rewards, and will not ask from you (to sacrifice all of) your possessions.) meaning, He is in no need of you, and asks you for nothing. He only ordained giving charity from your wealth so that you would help your needy brothers. The benefit of that would then come back to you, as well as the rewards. Allah then says,

ؤإِن يَسْـَلْكُمُوهَا فَيُحْفِكُمْ تَبْخَلُواْ

(If He would demand of you all of it and urge you, you would withhold.) meaning, if He pressures you much, you would become stingy.

وَيُخْرِجْ أَضْغَـنَكُمْ

(And He will expose your (secret) ill--wills.) Qatadah said, "Allah knows that extracting wealth (i.e., money from people) brings about ill-wills. " Indeed, Qatadah has said the truth, because money is dear to the people, and they do not spend it except in things that are dearer to them than it. Allah then says,

هَآ أَنتُمْ هَـؤُلاَءِ تُدْعَوْنَ لِتُنفِقُواْ فِى سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَمِنكُم مَّن

(Here you are now invited to spend in Allah's cause; but among you are those who withhold (stingily).) meaning, they refuse to spend. Allah continues,

يَبْخَلُ وَمَن يَبْخَلْ فَإِنَّمَا يَبْخَلُ عَن

(And whoever acts stingily is but stingy toward himself.) meaning, he only reduces his own rewards, and the bad outcome of that will come back to him.

نَّفْسِهِ وَاللَّهُ

(For Allah is indeed Al-Ghani) Allah is in need of nothing else, whereas everything is ever in need of Him. Thus, Allah says,

الْغَنِىُّ وَأَنتُمُ

(while you are the needy.) meaning, specifically of Him. The description of Allah as Al-Ghani (in no need) is a necessary description of Allah; on the other hand, the description of the creation as Faqr (needy) is a necessary description for them that they cannot avoid. Allah then says,

وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوْاْ

(And if you turn away, ) which means, if you turn away from obeying Him and adhering to His Laws.

تَتَوَلَّوْاْ يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْماً غَيْرَكُمْ ثُمَّ لاَ يَكُونُواْ

(He will replace you with other people; then they will not be like you.) meaning, rather, they will be people who will listen to Him and obey His commands. This concludes the Tafsir of Surat Al-Qital. And Allah is worthy of all praise and gratitude.

تُدْعَوْنَ لِتُنفِقُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ فَمِنكُم مَّن يَبْخَلُ "... you are called upon to spend in Allah's way, but some of you withhold in miserliness". Further the verse reads: وَمَن يَبْخَلْ فَإِنَّمَا يَبْخَلُ عَن نَّفْسِهِ (and he who withholds in miserliness withholds against himself - 47:38) it means that any person practising miserliness will himself suffer loss or detriment because he will have to carry the burden of failing to fulfill his obligation and thus will be deprived of reward in the Hereafter. This point is made even more clear by saying "_ and Allah is the Need-Free, and you are the needy." In other words, Allah is free of want and beyond any need but man is in need of means of comfortable subsistence. So spending in the way of Allah is for man's own good and to fulfill his own needs.

وَإِن تَتَوَلَّوْا يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَ‌كُمْ ثُمَّ لَا يَكُونُوا أَمْثَالَكُم (...And if you turn away, He will replace you by some other people, then they will not be like you. - 47:38) This verse has explained that Allah is the most need-free of all. This attribute is described so lucidly that it brings to our mind the fact that let alone people's wealth, He does not even need their existence. If they stop acting upon His injunctions, He will bring another people who will not turn away from the sacred injunctions, but will obey Him completely as long as Allah wants to maintain the religion of truth, Islam. Sayyidna Hasan Basri (رح) says that the reference in this verse is to non-Arabs and Sayyidna ` Ikramah ؓ says that the reference is to Persians and Romans. Sayyidna Abu Hurairah ؓ reports that when Allah's Messenger ﷺ recited this verse in the presence of the Companions ؓ they asked him: "Who are those people that will be brought instead of us if we, God forbid, turn away from Allah's injunctions and those people will not turn away like us?" Sayyidna Salman Farisi ؓ عنہ was sitting among the Companions ؓ ، the Holy Prophet ﷺ slapped on his thigh and said: "If Faith [ i.e. the religion of truth ] were to go up to the Pleiades [ accessibility to which is difficult ], a man of Persian descent will acquire it from there and act upon it”.

Shaikh Jalal-ud-Din Suyuti wrote a book on the biography of Abu Hanifah (رح) where he identifies him and his disciples as being the people referred to in the Hadith quoted earlier, because no group among the Persians reached that high point of knowledge where Abu Hanifah (رح) and his disciples reached.

The benefits of the world and its attractiveness act as impediments to the adoption of a life of Faith and righteousness. Man knows what kind of behaviour will lead him to success in the Hereafter. But immediate considerations overcome him and he goes astray. The fact is that God is most Merciful and Kind towards his subjects. He never demands of His subjects anything which is unbearable to them. Islam is God’s religion. But the tasks of its propagation and protection have to be carried out in this world of cause and effect by a group of human beings. Muslims constitute this group. If Muslims discharge their duty, they will demonstrate their worthiness in the eyes of God. But if they fail to discharge this duty, God will guide other nations towards the Faith and maintain the continuity of His religion through them.