Tafsir Ibn-Kathir:
Allah orders that He be worshipped Alone without partners, because He Alone is the Creator and Sustainer Who sends His favors and bounties on His creation in all situations and instances. Therefore He deserves to be singled out, without associating anything or anyone from His creation with Him in worship.
Indeed, the Prophet said to Mu`adh, (Do you know what Allah's right on His servants is) Mu`adh replied, "Allah and His Messenger know better.'' He said, (That they should worship Him and should not worship any others with Him.)
The Prophet then said, (Do you know what the right of the servants on Allah is if they do this He should not punish them.) Allah then commands the servants to be dutiful to their parents, for Allah made parents the reason for the servants to come to existence, after they did not exist. Allah joins the order to worship Him with being dutiful to parents in many places.
For example, He said, (give thanks to Me and to your parents), and, (And your Lord has decreed that you worship none but Him. And that you be dutiful to your parents).
After Allah ordained being dutiful to parents, He ordained kind treatment of relatives, males and females.
A Hadith states, (Charity given to the poor is Sadaqah, while charity given to relatives is both Sadaqah and Silah (keeping the relations).)
Allah then said, (orphans), because they lost their caretakers who would spend on them. So Allah commands that the orphans be treated with kindness and compassion.
Allah then said, (Al-Masakin (the poor)) who have various needs and cannot find what sustains these needs. Therefore, Allah commands they should be helped in acquiring their needs in a sufficient manner that will end their inadequacy. We will further elaborate on the matter of the destitute and the poor in Surah Bara'h (9:60).
The Right of the Neighbor: Allah said, (the neighbor who is near of kin, the neighbor who is a stranger)
`Ali bin Abi Talhah said that Ibn `Abbas said that, (the neighbor who is near of kin) means, "The neighbor who is also a relative'', while, (The neighbor who is a stranger) means, "Who is not a relative.'' It was also reported that `Ikrimah, Mujahid, Maymun bin Mihran, Ad-Dahhak, Zayd bin Aslam, Muqatil bin Hayyan and Qatadah said similarly.
Mujahid was also reported to have said that Allah's statement, (the neighbor who is a stranger) means, "The companion during travel.'' There are many Hadiths that command kind treatment to the neighbors, and we will mention some of them here with Allah's help.
The First Hadith Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin `Umar said that the Messenger of Allah said, (Jibril kept reminding of the neighbor's right, until I thought that he was going to give him a share of the inheritance.) The Two Sahihs recorded this Hadith.
The Second Hadith Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin `Amr said that the Messenger of Allah said, (Jibril kept reminding me of the neighbor's right, until I thought he was going to appoint a share of the inheritance for him.) Abu Dawud and At-Tirmidhi recorded this Hadith, which At-Tirmidhi said was "Hasan Gharib through this route.''
The Third Hadith Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin `Amr bin Al-`As said that the Prophet said, (The best companions according to Allah are those who are the best with their friends, and the best neighbors according to Allah are the best with their neighbors.) At-Tirmidhi recorded this Hadith and said, "Hasan Gharib''.
The Fourth Hadith Imam Ahmad recorded that Al-Miqdad bin Al-Aswad said that the Messenger of Allah asked his Companions, (What do you say about adultery) They said, "It is prohibited, for Allah and His Messenger have prohibited it. So it is forbidden until the Day of Resurrection.''
The Messenger of Allah said, (For a man to commit adultery with his neighbor's wife is worse than if he commits adultery with ten women.)
He then said, (What do you say about theft) They said, "It is prohibited, for Allah and His Messenger prohibited it.'' He said, (If a man steals from his neighbor, it is worse for him than stealing from ten homes.)
The Fifth Hadith Imam Ahmad recorded that `A'ishah asked the Messenger of Allah, "I have two neighbors, so whom among them should I give my gift'' He said, (The neighbor whose door is the closest to you.) Al-Bukhari narrated this Hadith We will elaborate on this subject in the Tafsir of Surah Bara'h, Allah willing and upon Him we depend.
Being Kind to Slaves and Servants: Allah said, (and those (slaves) whom your right hands possess,) this is an order to be kind to them because they are weak, being held as captives by others.
An authentic Hadith records that during the illness that preceded his death, the Messenger of Allah continued advising his Ummah: ((Protect) the prayer, (protect) the prayer, and (those slaves) whom your hands possess.) He was repeating it until his tongue was still.
Imam Ahmad recorded that Al-Miqdam bin Ma`dykarib said that the Messenger of Allah said, (What you feed yourself is a Sadaqah (charity) for you, what you feed your children is Sadaqah for you, what you feed your wife is Sadaqah for you and what you feed your servant is Sadaqah for you.) An-Nasa'i recorded this Hadith which has an authentic chain of narration, all the thanks are due to Allah.
`Abdullah bin `Amr said to a caretaker of his, "Did you give the slaves their food yet'' He said, "No.'' Ibn `Amr said, "Go and give it to them, for the Messenger of Allah said, (It is enough sin for someone to prevent whomever he is responsible for from getting their food. )'' Muslim recorded this Hadith.
Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said, (The slave has the right to have food, clothing and to only be required to perform what he can bear of work.) Muslim also recorded this Hadith.
Abu Hurayrah narrated that the Prophet said, (When your servant brings meals to one of you, if he does not let him sit and share the meal, then he should at least give him a mouthful or two mouthfuls of that meal or a meal or two, for he has prepared it.) This is the wording collected by Al-Bukhari.
Allah Does Not Like the Arrogant: Allah said, (Verily, Allah does not like such as are proud and boastful.) meaning, one who is proud and arrogant, insolent and boasts to others. He thinks that he is better than other people, thus thinking high of himself, even though he is insignificant to Allah and hated by people.
Mujahid said that Allah's statement, (Verily, Allah does not like such as are proud) means arrogant, while, (boastful فَخُوراً ) means boasting about what he has, while he does not thank Allah. This Ayah indicates that such a person boasts with people about the bounty that Allah has given him, but he is actually ungrateful to Allah for this bounty. Ibn Jarir recorded that `Abdullah bin Waqid Abu Raja' Al-Harawi said, "You will find that those who are mean are also proud and boasting.
He then recited, (and those (slaves) whom your right hands possess,) You will find that he who is undutiful (to parents) is also arrogant, and deprived. He then recited, (And dutiful to my mother, and made me not arrogant, deprived.)
Once a man asked the Prophet, "O Messenger of Allah, advise me.' The Prophet said, (Avoid lengthening the dress (below the ankles), for this practice is from arrogance. Verily, Allah does not like arrogance.)''
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
( And all of you worship God and associate none with Him.) This is a mention of good and bad morals. Like some other places in the Qur’ān, this too begins with a mention of the directive of worshipping the Almighty. Worshipping Him is His right and since He is the Creator, Master and Lord of this universe, hence His right is the greatest. The essence of worship is humility and servility and its foremost manifestation is devotion to Him. Then, because a person also possesses a physical entity, this devotion becomes inclusive of obedience. The manifestations of the first case are tasbīḥ (glorifying God), taḥmīd (thanking God), du‘ā (supplicating before God), rukū‘ u sujūd (kneeling and prostrating before God), nadhr niyādh (making vows to God), qurbānī (animal sacrifice) and i‘tikāf (secluding one’s self in the mosque in the month of Ramaḍān). In the second case, a person regarding someone an independent law-giver, submits to him and acknowledges his authority to declare things ḥalāl or ḥarām and give directives to do something or to abstain from some other thing. It is the verdict of the God of this universe that none of these things can be from anyone besides Him. Thus it is simultaneously said that no one should be associated in worshipping Him. This is the right of God only. If someone else is associated with Him in worship, then the latter is rendered baseless.
( Show kindness to parents, ) The actual words are: وَبِالْوَالِدَيْنِ اِحْسَانًا. The letter ب found here shows that the word encompasses the meaning of loyalty. In other words, kindness to parents should be accompanied by fulfilling their rights. All divine scriptures instruct us to do so. The Qur’ān too in this instance and in verse 23 of Sūrah Banī Isrā’īl, in verse 8 of Sūrah al-‘Ankabūt, in verses 14-15 of Sūrah Luqmān and in verse 15 of Sūrah al-Aḥqāf has urged its followers to adopt this. There is no doubt that among human beings, parents have the greatest right. Thus immediately after directing the Muslims to worship God, they are asked to be kind to their parents. The reason for this is that it is a person’s parents who bring him into existence and are the means required for his upbringing. The way this directive is mentioned in Sūrah Luqmān and Sūrah al-Aḥqāf shows that among the parents, the right of the mother is more than that of the father. No doubt, the care and affection of the father is quite a lot, however the hardship a mother encounters in bringing up the child starting from her pregnancy, to childbirth and then breast-feeding the child is unmatched and no child can repay her for this great service. On these grounds, the Prophet (sws) has regarded the right of the mother as three times that of the father. (See: al-Bukhārī, no. 5971; Muslim, no. 6500)
( and also be kind to relatives, ) It is evident from the verse that after the parents, a person’s foremost obligation is towards other relatives and the kindred. The expression ṣilāh-i raḥmī is used for kind treatment to these people. The basis of a relationship between human beings can be multifarious: people can be class mates, neighbours, friends or companions; they can have common interests or common professions and the basis can even entail being citizens of the same country; however, in all these relationships the greatest relationships are between blood relatives. This is the knot tied by the Almighty and it is not befitting for a human being to untie it. Thus safeguarding the rights of this relationship is a foremost obligation.
( to orphans, to the destitute, ) After relatives and the kindred, the orphans and the needy are included in the list. It follows from this that they too fall in the category of the kindred; hence every Muslim should regard them to be so and with this motivation patronize them and be of service to them.
( to neighbours who are your relatives and to neighbours you do not know and to those that keep company with you; similarly, to the traveler and to slave men and women in your possession.) In spite of the change in society, even today travelers can become needy in some respect or the other; however, slavery no longer exists. The measures adopted by Islam in eradicating it are mentioned in the chapter “The Social Sharī‘ah” of my treatise: Mīzān.
With regard to one’s neighbours, the view of the Qur’ān is unique in the history of religion and morality. It is generally considered that a neighbour is a person who lives next door or nearby; however, the Qur’ān says that a neighbour is of three types:
First, someone who is a neighbour and also a relative. The Qur’ānic words used are الْجَارِ ذِي الْقُرْبٰي and it is mentioned the foremost. It means that among other neighbours, he is more worthy of kind treatment.
Second, someone who is not a relative, yet he is a neighbour. The words used are الۡجَارِ الۡجُنُبِ (unfamiliar neighbour). This unfamiliarity can be on the basis of relationship or on the basis of having a different religion. After a neighbour who is a relative, is the status of this neighbour.
Third, a person who accompanies us in travel or is in our company at some place. الصَّاحِبِ بِالۡجَنۡبِ are the words used for such a person. Muslims have been directed to treat him kindly too the way they treat other neighbours.
( God does not like the arrogant and the conceited, ) After urging people to discharge their duties to others and to be kind, a mention of the opposite mentality is made. The implication is that those who regard the favours bestowed on them by God a consequence of their own ability and planning instead of becoming grateful and humble end up with an arrogant and conceited mentality.