The Orphan Child

Chapter 6

Opening her evenings homework Zahra gathered on her bed with all her textbooks. Her mother Umm Zahra cooked in the kitchen while her father Abu Zahra put out the washing on the line outside.

Zahra was slightly behind on her scedhule this evening since the whole school was kept in for 20 minutes after school when no one owned upto to the mischief in the bathroom.

She tackled the hard subjects first before turning her attention to the booklet that Ustaada Amina had handed out.

Opening it up her eyes lit up as she began to read and by the end of it her heart craved for more and so she opened it up once more and read through it again.

Tafsir of Surat Al- maun ~ A Small Kindness (Chapter - 107)
Revealed in Makkah

﴿بِسْمِ اللَّهِ الرَّحْمَـنِ الرَّحِيمِ ﴾

In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

﴿أَرَءَيْتَ الَّذِى يُكَذِّبُ بِالدِّينِ - فَذَلِكَ الَّذِى يَدُعُّ الْيَتِيمَ وَلاَ يَحُضُّ عَلَى طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَـتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ الَّذِينَ هُمْ يُرَآءُونَ وَيَمْنَعُونَ الْمَاعُونَ ﴾

(1. Have you seen him who denies Ad-Deen) (2. That is he who repulses the orphan,) (3. And urges not the feeding of Al-Miskeen.) (4. So, woe unto those performers of Salah,) (5. Those who with their Salah are Sahun.) (6. Those who do good deeds only to be seen,) (7. And withhold Al-Ma'un.)

Allah says, "O Muhammad! Have you seen the one who denies the Deen''

Here the word Deen means the Hereafter, the Recompense and the Final Reward.

﴿فَذَلِكَ الَّذِى يَدُعُّ الْيَتِيمَ ﴾

(That is he who repulses the orphan, ) meaning, he is the one who oppresses the orphan and does not give him his just due. He does not feed him, nor is he kind to him.

﴿وَلاَ يَحُضُّ عَلَى طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ ﴾

(And urges not the feeding of Al-Miskeen.)

This is as Allah says,

﴿كَلاَّ بَل لاَّ تُكْرِمُونَ الْيَتِيمَ - وَلاَ تَحَاضُّونَ عَلَى طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ ﴾

(Nay! But you treat not the orphans with kindness and generosity! And urge not one another on the feeding of Al-Miskeen!) (V, 89:17-18)

meaning, the poor man who has nothing to sustain him and suffice his needs. Then Allah says,

﴿فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ - الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَـتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ ﴾

(So, woe unto those performers of Salah, those who with their Salah are Sahun.) Ibn 'Abbas and others have said, "This means the hypocrites who pray in public but do not pray in private.'' Thus, Allah says,

﴿لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ﴾

(unto those performers of Salah,) They are those people who pray and adhere to the prayer, yet they are mindless of it. This may either be referring to its act entirely, as Ibn 'Abbas said, or it may be referring to performing it in its stipulated time that has been legislated Islamically. This means that the person prays it completely outside of its time.