Allah has bestowed innumerous bounties and blessings unto His servants so as to ease their living and so that they are thankful to Him. But everyone is not fortunate enough to have access to these blessings, not that Allah doesn't not have any soft corner for them, but it is to test them under stress and see whether they still remain grateful to Him or not.
On the contrary, those who have been given in abundance are also being tested that whether they are thankful for being so gifted and they also share their blessings with those who have been given less. And it is these blessed people, yet miser and greedily who hold onto what has been given to them and do not spend in the way of Allah, that are being addressed in the 180th verse of Surah 3 Al-i'Imran:
وَلَا يَحْسَبَنَّ الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ بِمَا آتَاهُمُ اللَّـهُ مِن فَضْلِهِ هُوَ خَيْرًا لَّهُم ۖ بَلْ هُوَ شَرٌّ لَّهُمْ ۖ سَيُطَوَّقُونَ مَا بَخِلُوا بِهِ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ ۗ وَلِلَّـهِ مِيرَاثُ السَّمَاوَاتِ وَالْأَرْضِ ۗ وَاللَّـهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ
( 180 ) And let not those who [greedily] withhold what Allah has given them of His bounty ever think that it is better for them. Rather, it is worse for them. Their necks will be encircled by what they withheld on the Day of Resurrection. And to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth. And Allah, with what you do, is [fully] Acquainted.
This is a mention of how the Hypocrites would ridicule the calls of the Qur’an to spend for the cause of God. When the Qur’an would ask them to lend money to God, they would make fun of this by saying that God is very poor these days and thus asking for money from these rich people.
Everything in the heavens and the earth belongs to God alone. Hence the possession and use of anything by man is purely transient. For everyone will be dispossessed of his temporary belongings, and everything will ultimately return to and abide with God. If anyone therefore spends with open hearts in the way of God out of his temporary possessions he does so from property which, ultimately, belongs to God alone. Anyone who hoards his possessions and fails to spend them in the way of God is indeed stupid.
Ibn Kathir Explanation:
This verse is about the Censure of Selfishness, and Warning Against it. It is being said that the miser should not think that collecting money will benefit him. Rather, it will harm him in his religion and worldly affairs. Allah mentions the money that the miser collected on the Day of Resurrection.
Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said,
(Whoever Allah makes wealthy and he does not pay the Zakah due on his wealth, then (on the Day of Resurrection) his wealth will be made in the likeness of a bald-headed poisonous male snake with two black spots over the eyes. The snake will encircle his neck and bite his cheeks and proclaim, `I am your wealth, I am your treasure.')
The Prophet then recited this Ayah.
Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah said that the Prophet said:
(Every person who does not pay the Zakah due on his wealth, will have his money made into the shape of a bald-headed, poisonous male snake who will follow him. The person will run away from the snake, who will follow him and proclaim, `I am your treasure.')
Yusuf Ali Explanation:
The gifts are of all kinds: material gifts, such as wealth, property, strength of limbs, etc., or intangible gifts, such as influence, birth in a given set, intellect, skill, insight, etc., or spiritual gifts of the highest kind. The spending of all these things (apart from what is necessary for ourselves) for those who need them, is charity, and purifies our own character. The withholding of them (apart from our needs) is similarly greed and selfishness, and is strongly condemned.
By an apt metaphor the miser is told that his wealth or the other gifts which he hoarded will cling round his neck and do him no good. He will wish he could get rid of them, but he will not be able to do so. According to the Biblical phrase in another connection they will hang like a millstone round his neck (Matt. xviii. 6). The metaphor here is fuller. He hugged his wealth or his gifts about him. They will become like a heavy collar, the badge of slavery, round his neck. They will be tied tight and twisted, and they will give him pain and anguish instead of pleasure. Cf. also xvii. 13.
Another metaphor is now introduced. Material wealth or property is only called ours during our short life here. So all gifts are ours in trust only; they ultimately revert to Allah, to Whom belongs all that is in the heavens or on earth.
For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an
You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the Sūrahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
- The plain translation has been taken from the Holy Quran officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- The exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.
- Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
- Tafsir Ibn Khatir
- Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
- Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
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