Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: (Al-haakum al-takaathur)
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Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: (Al-haakum al-takaathur)]
We begin this session with where we left off in the exegesis of the portion of Surat al-Naba', where we reached Surat al-Takathur. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: [al-Takathur:1-2] This is a declarative sentence, in which Allah the Mighty and Majestic informs the servants, addressing them, saying: [al-Takathur:1] The meaning of (Al-haakum) is: It occupied you until you were distracted from what is more important, namely the remembrance of Allah the Exalted and the performance of His obedience. As you know, the address is to the entire Ummah, except that it is specified to those whose affairs of the Hereafter occupied them from the affairs of this world, and they are few.And we say: They are few; because it is established in the two Sahihs that Allah Blessed and Exalted is He says on the Day of Resurrection: (O Adam! He says: At your service and at your command,So he says: Send out from your descendants a group to the Fire,He said: And what sent [people] to the Fire?He said: Nine hundred and ninety-nine out of every thousand) One in Paradise and the rest in the Fire. This is a huge number if only one out of a thousand from the children of Adam is in Paradise and the rest are from the people of the Fire. Therefore, the general address in such a verse follows its original rule; because one out of a thousand is nothing compared to them.
And as for His saying: [al-Takathur:1] So it includes competing in wealth, competing in tribe, competing in status, competing in knowledge, and in everything in which boasting can occur,And indicating this is the statement of the owner of the garden to his companion: [al-Kahf:34] So a person may compete with his wealth, seeking to have more wealth than the other and a wider trade. A person may also compete with his tribe,He says: saying: We are more numerous than them, as the poet said:
And I am not more numerous than them in pebbles, but honor belongs to the one who is more numerous
More numerous than them in pebbles; because they used to count things with pebbles in the past,For example: if these people’s pebbles were ten thousand and the others’ pebbles were eight thousand, the first group became more numerous and more honorable,The poet says:
And I am not more numerous than them in pebbles, but honor belongs to the one who is more numerous
Likewise, a person competes with knowledge, so you find him boasting over others with knowledge. But if it is with Islamic knowledge, it is good. If it is with non-Islamic knowledge, it is either permissible or forbidden. The important thing is that knowledge is among the things in which competition occurs. And this is the norm for the children of Adam: they compete in these matters, being distracted from what they were created for, which is the worship of Allah the Mighty and Majestic.
We begin this session with where we left off in the exegesis of the portion of Surat al-Naba', where we reached Surat al-Takathur. Allah the Mighty and Majestic says:
The competition for more has distracted you until you visit the graveyards.
أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ * حَتَّى زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَAl-haakum al-takaathur
أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُAnd as for His saying:
al-takaathur
التَّكَاثُرُI am greater than you in wealth and mightier in [numbers of] men."
أَنَا أَكْثَرُ مِنْكَ مَالاً وَأَعَزُّ نَفَراًAnd I am not more numerous than them in pebbles, but honor belongs to the one who is more numerous
More numerous than them in pebbles; because they used to count things with pebbles in the past,For example: if these people’s pebbles were ten thousand and the others’ pebbles were eight thousand, the first group became more numerous and more honorable,The poet says:
And I am not more numerous than them in pebbles, but honor belongs to the one who is more numerous
Likewise, a person competes with knowledge, so you find him boasting over others with knowledge. But if it is with Islamic knowledge, it is good. If it is with non-Islamic knowledge, it is either permissible or forbidden. The important thing is that knowledge is among the things in which competition occurs. And this is the norm for the children of Adam: they compete in these matters, being distracted from what they were created for, which is the worship of Allah the Mighty and Majestic.