102 . SURAH AT-TAKATHUR (EMULATION IN WORLDLY INCREASE)

NAME: The Surah derives its name from the word ‘Takathur’ occurring in the first Verse, wherein it is mentioned that this tendency of emulation in grabbing more and more money is the cause of neglecting the real aim of life.

TIME OF REVELATION: It is Makkan and from the subject-matter it appears that it must have been revealed in the early stages of the Mission.

CENTRAL THEME: To inform the people about the reality that getting completely absorbed in acquiring wealth, property and other worldly benefits and spending the entire life for this purpose, without paying any heed to the reckoning of the Hereafter, is most ill-advised, unwise and disadvantageous.

ORDER OF THE VERSES: In Verses Nos. 1 and 2 those persons have been shaken who think that the wealth of this world is the be-all and end-all of everything, and who are so much absorbed in this gold-grabbing that they are totally unmindful of what is going to happen beyond death. In Verses Nos. 3 to 5 people are warned about what is beyond death and that they will see it when death closes their eyes. Had you had believed in this truth, you would not have been negligent about the future and you would not have thrown yourself in this mad rush for gold and worldly objects.

Verses Nos. 6 to 8 warn that you may or may not believe in the Doomsday, but that Day is most certain to occur and you will see it with your own eyes. At that time you will be certain about its reality, but that time will not be for action but for giving an account, and you will have to answer for every favour that God had bestowed on you, in His presence.

102. SURAH AT-TAKATHUR (EMULATION IN WORLDLY INCREASE).

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

1. The emulation for acquiring more and more wealth made you negligent ! ¹

2. Until you reached the graves, ²

3. But Nay, you soon shall know! ³

4. Again, Nay, you soon shall know! ⁴

5. Nay, had you known with surety⁵, (you would not have gone after the world.)

6. You shall indeed see Hell. ⁶

7. Again, you shall see it with sure vision! ⁷

8. Then, on that Day, you shall be certainly questioned 8 about the pleasures.

1. That is: You are so much absorbed in acquiring.wealth, property and means of luxurious living that your real purpose of life and your real destination has been lost sight of. All your efforts are directed towards earning wealth and acquiring high position in society. You are not prepared to rise above this and think seriously.

Total absorption of man acquiring wealth is that basic weakness of man in which he is always involved. However, in the modern times it has acquired a few ‘progressive’ forms such as wealth-worship has become capitalism and matter-worship has come up as materialism. If earlier man did not believe in the Hereafter, now he denies the very existence of God. Formerly man ignored a few moral values in making money, now for worldly benefits he has become totally bereft of them. Then, under the influence of the modern civilized progress everybody is anxious to raise his standard of living, and in the economic and financial fields individuals as well as nations are locked in cut-throat competition, but none is concerned with raising the standard of morals. And there is none who takes the trouble of thinking whether this world is really the last stage of life, or are there no further stages through which man will have to pass? By not paying attention to these most important questions, man has moved, far away from his real purpose of life, and he is in such a state of negligence that he is not aware what is at his back and what is ahead.

2. That is: For grabbing more and more wealth and for acquiring as much property as possible you have spent your whole lives in it and till your last breath you were not prepared to ponder over the facts which will confront you after death. In a hadith too man has been warned on his desire for more wealth and unending greed. Ibne Abbas narrates that the Prophet has said:

“If man had two valleys full of wealth and materials, he would still desire to have the third. Only dust can fill man’s belly (greed).”—-(Bukhari -Kitabur Riqaq).

Dust can fill the belly means that a man’s greed can be ended only after his mixing up with dust, after his death.

3. Soon this reality will be clear to you that abundance of wealth and worldly materials is not the real success, but the real success is acquiring of the wealth for the next world. At that time you will realise your mistake that by ignoring the Hereafter what a calamitous end you have invited.

4. This repetition is for stressing the point and to hint at the inference that the reality about the world-seeking comes before your eyes at the time of death and secondly it will come when the Doomsday will occur.

5. That is: If you had believed in the Day about which the Quran is informing you, then you would not have spent your life in negligence and running after the world, and you would have made preparations for the next world.

6. If you do not want to acknowledge the existence of Hell, you may not do so, but its existence is a reality and that Day is inevitably to occur when it will appear before you and you will see it with your physical eyes.

7. That is: Your having a glimpse of the Hell will not be in the world of dreams, but it will be in the world of reality. Today what you think is unbelievable, when the same thing will come in your observation, then you will believe in it.

8. In the pleasures are included all the pleasures, gifts, etc. bestowed by Allah, e.g. provisions for maintenance wealth and property, children, energies and capabilities, means and resources, rank and position, government and power, etc. Whatever bounty or pleasure man gets in this world, there is also with it a responsibility, and that responsibility is first to thank God for his favours, and then to utilize it for those works which are liked by Him. If a man pays Allah’s dues in this way, then on the Day of judgment the stage of reckoning will be easier for him and he will be considered as deserving of the eternal pleasures and favours from his Lord. But if he does not at all accept the existence of God, or if he believes that He exists but thinks that the givers of these pleasures and gifts, etc. are many gods, or that a particular favour has been bestowed by a particular devi or devta, and on the basis of this false belief he uses Allah’s gifts, having no regard for His likes or dislikes, then on the Day of Judgment he will be questioned very severely, and on account of his ingratitude and criminal behaviour he will be liable to receive very harsh punishment.

With reference to its context this verse hints particularly at the pleasure or gift of wealth and property, and that you definitely have a yearning to get more and more of it, but in this connection you are unmindful of your accountability about it. Had you realised that you had to answer about it in the presence of Allah, then instead of becoming greedy for wealth, you would have been contented, as more wealth means more accountability, and therefore greater difficulty. It should be noted that on the Day of Judgment everybody will have to answer for his deeds, whether he be a Muslim or an infidel. In a hadith it is mentioned:

“(On the Day of Judgment) Man’s feet will not move unless he is asked about all these things: about his age, in what work did he spend it, about his knowledge, how far he acted on it, about his wealth, from where he earned it and on what he spent it, and about his body as to how it was worn out.”

On an occasion the Prophet, with Abu Bakr and Umar went to an Ansari’s house to satisfy the pangs of hunger. They treated them with dates and flesh of animal, and all ate till they were satisfied. Then the Prophet said:

“By the Being in whose hands is my life, On the Day of Judgment you will be definitely asked about this pleasure.” —(Fathul Qadeer Shaukani. Vol.V,P. 490—as quoted by Muslim).