Tafsir al-Sadi - Abd al-Rahman al-Sadi’ - (790)

Tafsir al-SadiAbd al-Rahman al-Sadi’

(36-38) “The life of this world is only play and amusement. If you believe and are mindful of Allah, He will give you your rewards and will not ask you for your wealth. If He were to ask you for it and press you insistently, you would withhold it, and He would bring out your resentments. Here you are, called upon to spend in the cause of Allah, yet some among you withhold. Whoever withholds does so only from himself. Allah is the Self-Sufficient, while you are the needy. If you turn away, He will replace you with another people, and they will not be like you.”

Here Allah discourages His servants from becoming attached to worldly life by informing them of its true nature: it is play and amusement—play for the body and amusement for the heart. A person remains engrossed in his wealth, children, adornments, and pleasures—women, food and drink, homes, gatherings, sights, and positions of leadership—and occupied with every futile pursuit. Indeed, he continues to vacillate between idleness, heedlessness, and sin until his worldly life runs its course and his appointed time arrives. Suddenly, all these things have passed away and left him, and he has gained nothing worthwhile from them. Instead, his loss and deprivation have become clear to him, and his punishment has arrived.

This should lead every rational person to renounce this world, neither desiring it nor making it his chief concern. What truly deserves his concern is what Allah mentions in His words: “If you believe and are mindful of Allah”—that is, if you believe in Allah, His angels, His Books, His messengers, and the Last Day, and observe the mindfulness of Him that necessarily accompanies and follows from faith: continually doing what pleases Him while refraining from disobedience to Him. This is what benefits a person, what people should compete for, and what deserves the devotion of their aspirations and deeds. This is what Allah desires from His servants, out of mercy and kindness toward them, so that He may grant them an abundant reward. Thus, He says: “If you believe and are mindful of Allah, He will give you your rewards and will not ask you for your wealth.” That is, Allah does not intend to burden you with something that would cause you hardship and distress by taking your wealth and leaving you with nothing, or by diminishing it to an extent that would harm you. Thus, He says: “If He were to ask you for it and press you insistently, you would withhold it, and He would bring out your resentments”—that is, the resentment within your hearts when you are asked to give what you dislike parting with.

The proof that you would refuse if Allah were to ask you for your wealth and press you insistently for it is that you are already “called upon to spend in the cause of Allah” in a manner that serves your religious and worldly welfare, “yet some among you withhold.” What, then, if He were to ask for your wealth for something in which you saw no immediate benefit? Would your refusal not be even more likely?

⦗791⦘ Then He says: “Whoever withholds does so only from himself,” because he deprives himself of Allah’s reward and forfeits immense good. His failure to spend will not harm Allah in the least.

For Allah is “the Self-Sufficient, while you are the needy”: you need Him at all times and in all your affairs.

“If you turn away” from faith in Allah and from obeying His commands, “He will replace you with another people, and they will not be like you” in turning away. Rather, they will obey Allah and His Messenger and love Allah and His Messenger, as the Exalted says: “O you who believe! Whoever among you renounces his religion, Allah will bring forth a people whom He loves and who love Him.”

This completes the commentary on the Surah of Fighting. All praise belongs to Allah, Lord of all worlds.

﴿٣٦-٣٨﴾ ﴿إِنَّمَا الْحَيَاةُ الدُّنْيَا لَعِبٌ وَلَهْوٌ وَإِنْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا يُؤْتِكُمْ أُجُورَكُمْ وَلا يَسْأَلْكُمْ أَمْوَالَكُمْ * إِنْ يَسْأَلْكُمُوهَا فَيُحْفِكُمْ تَبْخَلُوا وَيُخْرِجْ أَضْغَانَكُمْ * هَاأَنْتُمْ هَؤُلاءِ تُدْعَوْنَ لِتُنْفِقُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ فَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يَبْخَلُ وَمَنْ يَبْخَلْ فَإِنَّمَا يَبْخَلُ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ وَاللَّهُ الْغَنِيُّ وَأَنْتُمُ الْفُقَرَاءُ وَإِنْ تَتَوَلَّوْا يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ ثُمَّ لا يَكُونُوا أَمْثَالَكُمْ﴾ . هذا تزهيد منه لعباده في الحياة الدنيا بإخبارهم عن حقيقة أمرها، بأنها لعب ولهو، لعب في الأبدان ولهو في القلوب، فلا يزال العبد لاهيا في ماله، وأولاده، وزينته، ولذاته من النساء، والمآكل والمشارب، والمساكن والمجالس، والمناظر والرياسات، لاعبا في كل عمل لا فائدة فيه، بل هو دائر بين البطالة والغفلة والمعاصي، حتى تستكمل دنياه، ويحضره أجله، فإذا هذه الأمور قد ولت وفارقت، ولم يحصل العبد منها على طائل، بل قد تبين له خسرانه وحرمانه، وحضر عذابه، فهذا موجب للعاقل الزهد فيها، وعدم الرغبة فيها، والاهتمام بشأنها، وإنما الذي ينبغي أن يهتم به ما ذكره بقوله: ﴿وَإِنْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا﴾ بأن تؤمنوا بالله، وملائكته وكتبه ورسله واليوم الآخر، وتقوموا بتقواه التي هي من لوازم الإيمان ومقتضياته، وهي العمل بمرضاته على الدوام، مع ترك معاصيه، فهذا الذي ينفع العبد، وهو الذي ينبغي أن يتنافس فيه، وتبذل الهمم والأعمال في طلبه، وهو مقصود الله من عباده رحمة بهم ولطفا، ليثيبهم الثواب الجزيل، ولهذا قال: ﴿وَإِنْ تُؤْمِنُوا وَتَتَّقُوا يُؤْتِكُمْ أُجُورَكُمْ وَلا يَسْأَلْكُمْ أَمْوَالَكُمْ﴾ أي: لا يريد تعالى أن يكلفكم ما يشق عليكم، ويعنتكم من أخذ أموالكم، وبقائكم بلا مال، أو ينقصكم نقصا يضركم، ولهذا قال: ﴿إِنْ يَسْأَلْكُمُوهَا فَيُحْفِكُمْ تَبْخَلُوا وَيُخْرِجْ أَضْغَانَكُمْ﴾ أي: ما في قلوبكم من الضغن، إذا طلب منكم ما تكرهون بذله. والدليل على أن الله لو طلب منكم أموالكم وأحفاكم بسؤالها، أنكم تمتنعون منها، أنكم ﴿تُدْعَوْنَ لِتُنْفِقُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ﴾ على هذا الوجه، الذي فيه مصلحتكم الدينية والدنيوية. ﴿فَمِنْكُمْ مَنْ يَبْخَلُ﴾ أي: فكيف لو سألكم، وطلب منكم أموالكم في غير أمر ترونه مصلحة عاجلة؟ أليس من باب أولى وأحرى امتناعكم من ذلك. ⦗٧٩١⦘ ثم قال: ﴿وَمَنْ يَبْخَلْ فَإِنَّمَا يَبْخَلُ عَنْ نَفْسِهِ﴾ لأنه حرم نفسه ثواب الله تعالى، وفاته خير كثير، ولن يضر الله بترك الإنفاق شيئا. فإن الله هو ﴿الْغَنِيُّ وَأَنْتُمُ الْفُقَرَاءُ﴾ تحتاجون إليه في جميع أوقاتكم، لجميع أموركم. ﴿وَإِنْ تَتَوَلَّوْا﴾ عن الإيمان بالله، وامتثال ما يأمركم به ﴿يَسْتَبْدِلْ قَوْمًا غَيْرَكُمْ ثُمَّ لا يَكُونُوا أَمْثَالَكُمْ﴾ في التولي، بل يطيعون الله ورسوله، ويحبون الله ورسوله، كما قال تعالى: ﴿يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا مَنْ يَرْتَدَّ مِنْكُمْ عَنْ دِينِهِ فَسَوْفَ يَأْتِي اللَّهُ بِقَوْمٍ يُحِبُّهُمْ وَيُحِبُّونَهُ﴾ تم تفسير سورة القتال، والحمد لله رب العالمين.