Different commentaries of it have been reported from different scholars. Some of them take the Prayer to mean the five times obligatory Prayer (salat); some take it to imply the Prayer of `Id al-Adha, and some say that it implies the Prayer itself. Likewise, the meaning of wanhar (وَانۡحَرۡ) and sacrifice according to some illustrious scholars, is to place the right hand over the left hand and to fold them on the chest in the Prayer; some say that it implies raising both hands with Allahu Akbar at the commencement of the Prayer; some say that it implies raising both hands at the commencement of the Prayer, at bowing for Ruku ` and after rising from Ruku `; and some say that it means performing the `Id al-Adha Prayer and then offering the animal sacrifice. But if the context in which this command has been enjoined, is considered, its meaning clearly seems to be: "O Prophet, when your Lord has granted you so many and so splendid blessing, then you should perform the Prayer only for His sake and offer sacrifice only for His sake." This Command was given in the environment when not only the pagans of Quraish but the pagans of entire Arabia and the world worshiped their self-made gods and offered sacrifices at their shrines. Therefore, the intention of the Command is "Contrary to the polytheistic practice, you should remain steadfast to your creed: your Prayer is only for Allah and your sacrifice also is for Him alone, as it has been said at another place: `Declare, O Prophet, my salat and my sacrifice and my life and my death are all for Allah, Lord of the universe, Who has no partner with Him. This is what I have been enjoined, and I am the first to surrender to Him.'(Al-An`am:162-163). This same meaning has been explained of it by Ibn 'Abbas. `Ata`, Mujahid, `Ikrimah, Hasan Bari, Qatadah, Muhammad bin Ka`b al-Kurzi, Dahhak, Rabi` bin Anas, `Ata` al-Khurasani and many other major commentators (may Allah bless them all) (Ibn Jarir). However, this by itself is correct that when the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) enforced by Allah's command the practice of the `Id al-Adha Prayer and the offering of animal sacrifice at Madinah, he himself gave the first place to the Prayer (salat and the second to the sacrifice, as commanded in the verses: Inna salati wa nusuki and fa-salli li-Rabbika wanhar, and enjoined an the Muslims also to do the same, i.e. they should first perform the Prayer and then offer the sacrifice. This is neither the explanation of this verse nor the occasion of its revelation but a deduction made by the Holy Prophet from these verses and his deduction of injunctions also is a kind of Divine inspiration.
He who grants these blessings is Allah, and to Allah alone must we turn in adoration and thanksgiving, and in sacrifice. Nahr=sacrifice: in a restricted ritual sense, the sacrifice of camels: see n. 2813 to xxii. 36. But the ritual is a mere Symbol. Behind it is a deep spiritual meaning: the meat slaughtered feeds the poor, and the slaughter is a symbol of the self-sacrifice in our hearts. "It is not their meat nor their blood, that reaches Allah: it is your piety that reaches Him" (xxii. 37).
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
Mentioned here is the obligation towards God’s gift called Kawthar. The implication is that the Quraysh also worship their deities in both these rituals ie. the prayer and animal sacrifice; Muḥammad (sws) should however, pray and offer sacrifice only for the One God once he is bestowed with its custodianship; he should also cleanse it from all types of polytheistic practices and religious innovations.
Tafsir Qur'an Wiki:
“So pray to your Lord and sacrifice to Him.” (Verse 2) Having assured the Prophet of this munificent gift, which disproves what the calumniators and wicked schemers say, God directs the Prophet to be completely and sincerely thankful to Him for His bounty. He is to devote himself to Him alone in worship and ritual slaughter, taking no heed whatsoever of any form of idolatry and refusing to participate in the worship rituals offered by idolaters, especially when they invoke anyone other than God in their offerings.
Islam frequently lays emphasis on the pronouncing of God’s name when slaughtering animals. It prohibits anything that is consecrated to any other being, which indicates the importance Islam attaches to the purification of human life from all forms of idolatry and all that leads to it. Because it is based on the principle of God’s oneness in its purest sense, Islam does not aim merely at purifying human imagination and conscience. It pursues idolatry in all its manifestations, striving to eliminate its marks in man’s consciousness, worship rituals and general behaviour. Life, Islam says, is one indivisible entity and must be treated as such. It must be cleansed inside out and completely oriented towards God, in all its aspects: worship, tradition and social behaviour.
"Verily your enemy" The word shani' as used, in the original is derived from sha 'n, which means the hatred and spite because of which a person may start ill-treating another. At another place in the Qur'an it has been said: "(And O Muslims,) the enmity of any people should not so provoke you as to turn you away from justice." (AI-Ma'idah: 8). Thus, shani aka (شَانِئَكَ) implies every such person who blinded by his enmity of the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) should bring false accusations against him, slander and defame him and vent his personal spite against him by taunting and scoffing at him in every possible way.
"Has been cut off from the roots" Huwal abtar (هُوَ الۡاَبۡتَرُ): "He himself is abtar", i.e. though he calls you abtar he in fact himself is abtar. Some explanations of abtar have already been given in the Introduction to the Surah. It is derived from batar which means to cut off, but idiomatically it is used in a comprehensive meaning. In the Hadith, the rak ah of the Prayer which is not coupled with another rak'ah is called butaira', i.e. the lonely rak ah. According to another Hadith "Every piece of work, which is in any way important, is abtar if it is started without the glorification and praise of Allah", implying that it is cut off from the root, It has no stability, and it is doomed to failure. A man who fails to achieve his object is abtar as also the one who is deprived of all means and resources. A person who is left with no hope of any good and success in life is also abtar. A person who has been cut off from his family, brotherhood, associates And helpers is also abtar. The word abtar is also used for the man who has no male child, or whose male child or children have died, for after him there remains no one to remember him and he is lost to posterity . after death. In almost all these meanings the disbelieving Quraish called the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) abtar. At this, Allah said: "O Prophet, not you but your enemies are abtar." This was not merely a "reprisal", but a prophecy out of the most important prophecies of the Qur'an, which literally proved true. when it was made, the people regarded the Holy Prophet as abtar, and no one could imagine how the big chiefs of the Quraish would become abtar, who were famous not only in Makkah but throughout Arabia, who were successful in life, rich in worldly wealth and children, who had their associates and helpers everywhere in the country, who enjoyed intimate relations with all the Arabian tribes, being monopolists in trade and managers of Hajj. But not long afterwards the conditions altogether changed. There was a time when on the occasion of the Battle of the Trench (A.H. 5) the Quraish had invaded Madinah with the help of many Arabian and Jewish tribes, and the Holy Prophet being besieged had to resist the enemy by digging a trench around the city. After only three years, in A.H. 8, when he attacked Makkah, the Quraish had no helper and they had to surrender helplessly. After this within a year or so the whole Arabia came under his control, deputations of tribes from all over the country began to visit him to take the oaths of allegiance and his enemies were left utterly helpless and resourceless. Then they were so lost to posterity that even if their children survived, none of them today knows that he is a descendant of Abu Jahl, Abu Lahab, As bin Wail, or `Uqbah bin Abi Mu`ait, the enemies of Islam, and even if he knows it, he is not prepared to claim that his ancestors were those people. On the contrary, blessings are being invoked on the children of the Holy Prophet (upon whom be peace) throughout the world; millions and millions of Muslims take pride in bearing relationship to him; hundreds of thousands of people regard it as a mark of honor and prestige to have descended not only from him but from his family and even the families of his Companions. Thus, some one is a Sayyid, another an 'Alavi, and `Abbasi, a Hashmi, a Siddiqi, a Faruqi, an `Uthmani, a Zubairi, or an Ansari, but no one is an Abu Jahli or Abu Lahabi. History has proved that not the Holy Prophet Muhammad (upon whom be Allah's peace and blessings) but his enemies were, and are, abtar. "
Tafsir Qur'an Wiki:
(إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الاٌّبْتَرُ For he who hates you, he will be cut off.) meaning, `indeed he who hates you, O Muhammad, and he hates what you have come with of guidance, truth, clear proof and manifest light, he is the most cut off, meanest, lowliest person who will not be remembered. Ibn `Abbas, Mujahid, Sa`id bin Jubayr and Qatadah all said, "This Ayah was revealed about Al-`As bin Wa'il. Whenever the Messenger of Allah would be mentioned (in his presence) he would say, `Leave him, for indeed he is a man who is cut off having no descendants. So when he dies he will not be remembered.' Therefore, Allah revealed this Surah.'' Shamir bin `Atiyah said, "This Surah was revealed concerning `Uqbah bin Abi Mu`ayt.'' Ibn `Abbas and `Ikrimah have both said, "This Surah was revealed about Ka`b bin Al-Ashraf and a group of the disbelievers of the Quraysh.'' Al-Bazzar recorded that Ibn `Abbas said, "Ka`b bin Al-Ashraf came to Makkah and the Quraysh said to him, `You are the leader of them (the people). What do you think about this worthless man who is cut off from his people He claims that he is better than us while we are the people of the place of pilgrimage, the people of custodianship (of the Ka`bah), and the people who supply water to the pilgrims.' He replied, `You all are better than him.'
- So Allah revealed: (إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الاٌّبْتَرُ For he who hates you, he will be cut off.)'' This is how Al-Bazzar recorded this incident and its chain of narration is authentic. It has been reported that `Ata' said, "This Surah was revealed about Abu Lahab when a son of the Messenger of Allah died. Abu Lahab went to the idolators and said, `Muhammad has been cut off (i.e., from progeny) tonight.'
- So concerning this Allah revealed: (إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الاٌّبْتَرُ For he who hates you, he will be cut off.)'' As-Suddi said, "When the male sons of a man died the people used to say, `He has been cut off.'
- So, when the sons of the Messenger of Allah died they said, `Muhammad has been cut off.' Thus, Allah revealed: (إِنَّ شَانِئَكَ هُوَ الاٌّبْتَرُ For he who hates you, he will be cut off.)'' So they thought in their ignorance that if his sons died, his remembrance would be cut off. Allah forbid! To the contrary, Allah preserved his remembrance for all the world to see, and He obligated all the servants to follow his Law. This will continue for all of time until the Day of Gathering and the coming of the Hereafter. May the blessings of Allah and His peace be upon him forever until the Day of Assembling. This is the end of the Tafsir of Surat Al-Kawthar, and all praise and blessings are due to Allah.
Yusuf Ali Explanation:
Hatred and spite are not constructive contributions to the work of this world, but its opposites. Abu Jahl and his Pagan confederates vented their personal spite and venom against the holy Prophet by taunting him with the loss of his two infant sons by Khadija, but where were these venomous detractors a few years afterwards, when the divine Light shone more brilliantly than ever? It was these that were cut off from all future hope, in this world and the next.
Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation:
This is a great prophecy which materialized word for word. What is meant is that the Prophet’s enemies spread the propaganda about him that he had invented a new religion; as a result he had been detached from his nation and the centre of his old religion (the Baytullāh) and would now go and live among strangers; he would be like the severed branch of a tree which is bound to wither away. However, it was the verdict of God that He would grant him success and honour both in this world and the next and would uproot all his enemies from that land. He would ensure that no one would remain who would even remember them.
Tafsir Qur'an Wiki:
“Surely, he who hates you is the one cut off” (Verse 3) In the first verse, God specified that Muhammad was not the one who had no posterity but, on the contrary, was the one endowed with abundance. In this verse, God throws back the taunt on those who hated and reviled the Prophet. Indeed, God’s promise has come true. For, the influence and legacy of Muhammad’s enemies were short-lived, while his impact on human life and history has grown and deepened. Today we are witnessing the truth of this divine pronouncement as clearly as no one among those addressed by the Qur’an for the first time ever did or imagined.
Faith and goodness cannot be barren. Their influence is both profound and deeprooted. By contrast, falsehood, error and evil may grow and spread quickly, but they ultimately come to nothing.
God’s criteria are different from the criteria laid down by man. Men are often deceived when they vainly believe their sense of judgement to be the criterion. Before us is the eloquent and enduring example of the Prophet. Of what value or interest to humanity have Muhammad’s slanderers and foes been to anyone?
On the other hand, calling others to the religion of God, to truth and goodness, can never be called futile. Neither can the righteous and the true be called deprived or cut off. How can it be, when this message itself comes from, and is supported by, God, the Immortal, the Eternal? But deprived and sterile indeed are disbelief, error and evil as are their votaries, however strong and widespread they may appear to be at any moment.
God affirms the truth; wily opponents are but liars!
