Tafheem ul Quran

Surah 63 Al-Munafiqun, Ayat 9-11

يٰۤاَيُّهَا الَّذِيۡنَ اٰمَنُوۡا لَا تُلۡهِكُمۡ اَمۡوَالُكُمۡ وَلَاۤ اَوۡلَادُكُمۡ عَنۡ ذِكۡرِ اللّٰهِ​ۚ وَمَنۡ يَّفۡعَلۡ ذٰلِكَ فَاُولٰٓـئِكَ هُمُ الۡخٰسِرُوۡنَ‏  ﴿63:9﴾ وَاَنۡفِقُوۡا مِنۡ مَّا رَزَقۡنٰكُمۡ مِّنۡ قَبۡلِ اَنۡ يَّاۡتِىَ اَحَدَكُمُ الۡمَوۡتُ فَيَقُوۡلَ رَبِّ لَوۡلَاۤ اَخَّرۡتَنِىۡۤ اِلٰٓى اَجَلٍ قَرِيۡبٍۙ فَاَصَّدَّقَ وَاَكُنۡ مِّنَ الصّٰلِحِيۡنَ‏ ﴿63:10﴾ وَلَنۡ يُّؤَخِّرَ اللّٰهُ نَفۡسًا اِذَا جَآءَ اَجَلُهَا​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ خَبِيۡرٌۢ بِمَا تَعۡمَلُوۡنَ‏ ﴿63:11﴾

(63:9) Believers,17 let your possessions and your offspring not make you negligent of Allah's remembrance.18 For whoso does that, they will be the losers. (63:10) And spend of what Allah has granted you by way of sustenance before death should come to any of you and he should say: “Lord, why did You not defer my return for a while so that I might give alms and be among the righteous?” (63:11) But when a person's term comes to an end, Allah never grants any respite. Allah is well aware of all that you do.


Notes

17. Now a word of admonition is being addressed to all those people who have entered Islam, whether they are true and sincere believers, or those who profess the faith merely verbally. As we have explained at several places above. the words alla-dhina amanu in the Quran are sometimes used to address the true believers and sometimes to address the hypocrites, for they profess the faith only with the tongue, and sometimes to address the Muslims of all kinds in general. The context itself shows which group is the audience at a particular place.

18. The mention of the possessions and the children, in particular, has been made for man mostly turns away from the demands of the faith for the sake of their well being and interests and becomes involved in hypocrisy, weakness of faith, or wickedness and disobedience; otherwise it implies everything of the world that allures and absorbs man so completely that he becomes heedless of the remembrance of God. This heedlessness in respect of the remembrance of God is indeed the root cause of all evil. If man only remembers that he is not free but the servant of One God, and that God is fully aware of all his actions and deeds, and he will be held accountable one day before Him for all his actions and deeds, he would never be involved in any deviation and wickedness, and if ever he commits an error due to a human weakness, he will immediately rectify it as soon as he comes to realize his wrongdoing and repent.