فَوَقٰٮهُمُ اللّٰهُ شَرَّ ذٰلِكَ الۡيَوۡمِ وَ لَقّٰٮهُمۡ نَضۡرَةً وَّسُرُوۡرًاۚ
(76:11) So Allah shall guard them against the woe of that Day, and will procure them freshness and joy,
Let us see who are these people. At many places in Qur'an, Allah has ordained His servants to look after the orphans, feed the needy and help the captives. In this Surah too, this theme is repeated in the 8th verse and the promise of these helpers in the next verse wherein they are seen submitting to Allah that they helped the needy not for any worldly gains or to elevate their status, but only to please Allah. And this should be the sole aim of a true believer that his every act is to please Allah and none else:
وَيُطۡعِمُوۡنَ الطَّعَامَ عَلٰى حُبِّهٖ مِسۡكِيۡنًا وَّيَتِيۡمًا وَّاَسِيۡرًا
(76:8) those who, for the love of Him, feed the needy, and the orphan, and the captive,
Most of the commentators hold the view that the pronoun in hubbi-hi refers to food. Accordingly, they interpret the sentence to mean: "In spite of the food's being agreeable and tasty and that they need it, they give it away to others." Ibn `Abbas and Mujahid say: "they do so because of their fondness for feeding the poor ( `ala hubb-il-it am); and Fudail bin `Iyad and Abu Suleman ad-Darani say: "They do so out of love for Allah." In our opinion the following sentence ("We are feeding you only for the sake of Allah") supports the last meaning.
The custom in the ancient days was that the prisoners were put in fetters and shackles and taken out daily to go about the streets begging food. Later the Islamic government abolished this custom. (Imam Abu Yusuf, Kitab al-Kharaj, p, 150, Ed, 1382 H. ) In this verse, the captive implies every such person who is in bondage, whether he is an unbeliever, a Muslim, a war prisoner, or imprisoned in consequence of a crime, and whether he is provided food in that state, or made to beg for it. In any case, to feed a helpless person who cannot do anything to earn a living, is an act of great virtue.
Tafsir Ibn-Kathir:
( وَيُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَى حُبِّهِ And they give food, in spite of their love for it,) It has been said that this means the love of Allah, the Most High. In their view the pronoun refers to Allah. However, the most apparent meaning is that the pronoun refers to the food. This would mean, they give food while they themselves love it and desire it. This was stated by Mujahid and Muqatil, and it was the preferred opinion of Ibn Jarir.
This is similar to Allah's statement:
(And gives his wealth, in spite of love for it.) (2:177)(By no means shall you attain Al-Birr unless you spend of that which you love.) (3:92)
In the Sahih, there is a Hadith which states: (The best charity is that which you give while you are healthy, covetous, hoping for wealth and fearing poverty.) This means in the condition of your love for wealth, your eagerness for it and your need for it.
Thus, Allah says:
(And they give food, in spite of their love for it, to the poor, the orphan and the captive,) Concerning the poor person and the orphan, an explanation of them and their characteristics has already preceded. In reference to the captive, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hasan and Ad-Dahhak all said, "He is the captive among the people of the Qiblah (i.e., the Muslims).'' Ibn `Abbas said, "At that time (when this Ayah was revealed) their (the Muslims') captives were idolators.'' Proof for this is that on the day of Badr the Messenger of Allah commanded his Companions to treat the captives respectfully. They (the Companions) would give them preference over themselves when eating their meals. `Ikrimah said, "They (captives) are the slaves.'' Ibn Jarir preferred this opinion since the Ayah generally refers to both the Muslim and the idolators. Sa`id bin Jubayr, `Ata', Al-Hasan and Qatadah all made similar statements. The Messenger of Allah advised treating servants well in more than one Hadith.
This held such importance with him that the last statement of advice that he gave (before dying) was his saying: (The prayer (As-Salah) and what your right hand possesses (slaves).) Mujahid said, "He (the captive) is the prisoner.'' This means that these (righteous) people give food to others even though they themselves desire it and love it, saying at the same time.
In the next verse, these believers and men of true belief have shown their humbleness and obedience to Allah rather than boasting of their charitable act:
اِنَّمَا نُطۡعِمُكُمۡ لِـوَجۡهِ اللّٰهِ لَا نُرِيۡدُ مِنۡكُمۡ جَزَآءً وَّلَا شُكُوۡرًا
(76:9) (saying): “We feed you only for Allah's sake; we do not seek of you any recompense or thanks
Although feeding a poor man is in itself a great virtue, yet fulfilling the other needs of an indigent person is no less virtuous. For example, to clothe a poor man, to arrange treatment for a sick person, or to help a debtor who is harassed by his creditor, is an act of equally great virtue. Here, a particular kind of virtue in view of its importance has been presented only as an example, but the real object is to stress giving help to the needy.
It is not necessary that this may be said in so many words while feeding the poor man. It may be said in the heart; in the sight of Allah this is as meritorious as saying it with the tongue. But saying these words with the tongue has been particularly mentioned so as to set the person being helped at ease that no thanks or recompense is due from him, so that he eats with full satisfaction and peace of mind.
Tafsir Ibn-Kathir:
(We feed you seeking Allah's Face only.) meaning, hoping for the reward of Allah and His pleasure.
(We wish for no reward, nor thanks from you.) meaning, `we do not seek any reward from you in return for it. We also are not seeking for you to thank us in front of the people.' Mujahid and Sa`id bin Jubayr both said, "By Allah! They do not say this with their tongues, but rather, Allah knows it in their hearts and He commends them for it. Every seeker should seek after this.''
And they express their fear that if they had not helped the poor or orphans or the captives, they would be among the most distressful on the Day of Resurrection:
اِنَّا نَخَافُ مِنۡ رَّبِّنَا يَوۡمًا عَبُوۡسًا قَمۡطَرِيۡرًا
(76:10) we fear from our Lord a Day that shall be long and distressful.”
Tafsir Ibn-Kathir:
(Verily, We fear from our Lord a Day that is `Abus and Qamtarir.) meaning, `we only do this so that perhaps Allah may have mercy on us and treat us with gentleness on the Day that is `Abus and Qamtarir.' `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn `Abbas, "`Abus means difficult and Qamtarir means long.''
`Ikrimah and others said from Ibn Abbas: (a Day that is `Abus and Qamtarir (hard and distressful, that will make the faces look horrible from extreme dislike to it.)) "The disbeliever will frown on that day until sweat will flow between his eyes like tar.'' Mujahid said, "Abus `Abis means (frowning with) the two lips and Qamtarir means drawing up the face in a scowl.'' Sa`id bin Jubayr and Qatadah said, "Faces will be made to frown due to dismay. Qamtarir is the contraction of the forehead and what is between the two eyes due to dismay.'' Ibn Zayd said, " `Abus is the evil and Qamtarir is the severity.''
It is for such God fearing believers that Allah makes a pledge for them (verse 11). This verse presents the reward which will be given to these people who willingly attend to difficult duties, who fear the bleak, grim day, the generous who feed others despite themselves being in need, and who only seek God's pleasure, hoping for no reward from anyone else. As the surah presents this, we find that it is a reward of security, happiness and perfect enjoyment.:
فَوَقٰٮهُمُ اللّٰهُ شَرَّ ذٰلِكَ الۡيَوۡمِ وَ لَقّٰٮهُمۡ نَضۡرَةً وَّسُرُوۡرًاۚ
(76:11) So Allah shall guard them against the woe of that Day, and will procure them freshness and joy,
"Freshness and joy": freshness of the face and joy of the heart. In other words, all the severities and terrors of the Day of Resurrection will be meant only for the disbelievers and the culprits. The righteous will on that Day remain immune from every hardship and will be well-pleased with their lot. The same theme has been expressed in Al-Anbiya': 103, thus: "The time of great fright will not trouble them at all; the angels will rush forth to receive them, saying: this is the Day that you were promised; and in An-Naml: 89 thus: "He who brings good deeds, will have a reward better than that, and such people shall be secure from the terror of that Day. "
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى) help us understand Qur'ān and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. May we be among the ones whom Allah would procure freshness and joy on the Day of Resurrection Aameen.
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 Qur'ān.
An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that the exegesis of the chapters of the 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.
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from following sources:
- Towards Understanding the Quran
- Tafsir Ibn Khatir
- Muhammad Asad Translation
- Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
- Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
- Qur'an Wiki
- Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
In addition the references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.
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