Tafsir

The Call to Tawhid Allah says,قُلْ(Say) `O Muhammad, to these disbelievers and idolators,'إِنَّمَآ أَنَاْ بَشَرٌ مِّثْلُكُمْ يُوحَى إِلَىَّ أَنَّمَآ إِلَـهُكُمْ إِلَـهٌ وَاحِدٌ(I am only a human being like you. It is revealed to me that your God is One God,) `not like these idols and false gods which you worship. Allah is one God,'فَاسْتَقِيمُواْ إِلَيْهِ(therefore take straight path to Him) means, `worship Him Alone sincerely, in accordance with what He has commanded you through His Messengers.'وَاسْتَغْفِرُوهُ(and seek forgiveness of Him) means, `for your past sins.'وَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُشْرِكِينَ(And woe to the polytheists.) means, doom and destruction is their lot.الَّذِينَ لاَ يُؤْتُونَ الزَّكَوةَ(Those who give not the Zakah) `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn `Abbas that this means those who do not bear witness that there is no God except Allah. This was also the view of `Ikrimah. This is like the Ayat:قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن زَكَّـهَا - وَقَدْ خَابَ مَن دَسَّـهَا (Indeed he succeeds who purifies himself.

And indeed he fails who corrupts himself.) (91:9-10) And;قَدْ أَفْلَحَ مَن تَزَكَّى - وَذَكَرَ اسْمَ رَبِّهِ فَصَلَّى (Indeed whosoever purifies himself shall achieve success. And remembers (glorifies) the Name of his Lord, and prays.) (87:14-15) And;فَقُلْ هَل لَّكَ إِلَى أَن تَزَكَّى (And say to him: "Would you purify yourself") (79:18) What is meant by Zakah here is purification of the soul, ridding oneself of all bad qualities, the worst of which is Shirk. The Zakah paid on one's wealth is so called because it purifies wealth, and it is a means of increasing it, blessing it and making it more beneficial, and a means of assisting one to use it in doing good deeds. Qatadah said, "They withheld the Zakah of their wealth." This is the apparent meaning according to many of the scholars of Tafsir, and this is the view favored by Ibn Jarir. But the matter is subject to further examination, because the obligation of Zakah was instituted during the second year after the Hijrah to Al-Madinah, according to what is stated by several scholars. Yet this Ayah was revealed in Makkah.

However, it is not unlikely that the principle of giving charity and Zakah was already in place and had been enjoined at the beginning of the Prophet's mission, as Allah says:وَءَاتُواْ حَقَّهُ يَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ(but pay the due thereof on the day of their harvest) (6:141). As for the details of Zakah and how it is to be calculated according to the Nusub, were explained in Al-Madinah. This is how we may reconcile between the two opinions. Similarly, prayer was originally enjoined before sunrise and before sunset at the beginning of the Prophet's mission; it was only on the Night of the Isra', a year and a half before the Hijrah, that Allah enjoined upon His Messenger the five daily prayers. The conditions and essential elements of prayer were explained later, in stages. And Allah knows best.

Then Allah says:إِنَّ الَّذِينَ ءامَنُواْ وَعَمِلُواْ الصَّـلِحَـتِ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ غَيْرُ مَمْنُونٍ (Truly, those who believe and do righteous good deeds, for them will be an endless reward that will never stop.) Mujahid and others said, "It will never be cut off or decrease." This is like the Ayat:مَّاكِثِينَ فِيهِ أَبَدًا (They shall abide therein for ever.) (18:3)عَطَآءً غَيْرَ مَجْذُوذٍ(a gift without an end) (11:108)

لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ‌ غَيْرُ‌ مَمْنُونٍ (For them there is a reward that will never be interrupted 41:8) The word mamnun used here means something interrupted. The sense is that the reward of those people who are firm in their faith and regular in their good deeds would be continuous and eternal. Some exegetes have explained the intention of the verse that if a Muslim, despite being regular in religious duties, could not perform them at any time due to illness, travel or some other reason, the reward for the good deeds is not cut off. Rather, Allah Almighty orders the angels to keep on crediting those good deeds to his account which he used to carry out regularly in normal conditions, but could not do them due to illness or some other reason. Ahadith on this subject are narrated in Sahih of Bukhari as reported by Sayyidna Abu Musa Ash'ari and in Sharh-us-Sunnah of Baghawi by Sayyidna Ibn ` Umar and by Sayyidna Anas ؓ and in Razin by Sayyidna ` Abdullah Ibn Masud ؓ . (Mazhari)

إن الذين آمنوا بالله ورسوله وكتابه وعملوا الأعمال الصالحة مخلصين لله فيها، لهم ثواب عظيم غير مقطوع ولا ممنوع.

ثم قال بعد ذلك : ( إن الذين آمنوا وعملوا الصالحات لهم أجر غير ممنون ) قال مجاهد وغيره : لا مقطوع ولا مجبوب ، كقوله : ( ماكثين فيه أبدا ) [ الكهف : 3 ] ، وكقوله تعالى ( عطاء غير مجذوذ ) [ هود : 108 ] .وقال السدي : غير ممنون عليهم . وقد رد عليه بعض الأئمة هذا التفسير ، فإن المنة لله على أهل الجنة ; قال الله تعالى : ( بل الله يمن عليكم أن هداكم للإيمان ) [ الحجرات : 17 ] ، وقال أهل الجنة : ( فمن الله علينا ووقانا عذاب السموم ) [ الطور : 27 ] ، وقال رسول الله - صلى الله عليه وسلم - : " إلا أن يتغمدني الله برحمة منه وفضل " .