Al Islam

e. 104:3. (close)

3339. The verse drives home to hoarders of wealth the evils of hoarding. Inordinate love of money creates in man an excessive desire to keep on adding to his wealth, without spending it for the furtherance of good causes. It makes him regardless of the means he employs to acquire it, which leads to his moral ruin. Islam takes as much care of the moral health of society as it takes of that of the individual: and society’s health requires that material goods be widely distributed and wealth kept in easy circulation. (close)

c. 104:3. (close)

4718. Important Words:

جما (exceeding). جم الماء means, the water became much or abundant. جموا means, they became many. جاؤا جما کثیرا means, they came all of them, none of them remaining behind. مال جم means, much property. جم means, plenty, abundance; exceeding; numerous (Lane & Aqrab).

Commentary:

Taken along with the preceding three verses, the verse under comment drives home to hoarders of wealth the evils of hoarding and says to them in effect: "You have been given wealth in abundance not as of right or as the result of superior intellect; you should not, therefore, feel injured or humiliated when you are deprived of it. It is given to you that you should spend it to meet the needs of the orphans and the poor, but you squander it in immoral pursuits, depriving others of their rights in it, or else you hoard it and refuse to spend it in noble causes." In fact inordinate love of money leads to three inevitable results: (a) It creates in man an excessive desire to keep on adding to his wealth, without spending it on good causes or on meeting the needs of the orphans and the poor. (b) It makes him careless about whether he acquires wealth by fair or by dishonest means. (c) In time of national peril, fear of possible success of the enemy renders his loyalty to his country doubtful. With the desire, in such an eventuality, to keep his life and property safe he does not take an active part in his country’s defence. These are the main causes that lead to the destruction of a people. Islam takes as much care of the moral health of society as it takes of that of the individual; and society’s health requires that material goods be widely distributed and wealth kept in easy circulation. (close)

4719. Commentary:

The verse warns disbelievers that as they do not possess the ingredients mentioned in the foregoing verses which are so essential for the maintenance of the moral health of a people, the time would surely come when they will become morally corrupt and will be seized with Divine punishment. (close)

f. 2:110; 6:159; 16:34. (close)

3340. The 'coming of the Lord' attended by the angels is a Quranic idiom for imminent and destructive Divine punishment. (close)

a. 2:111; 6:159; 16:34. (close)

4720. Commentary:

"The coming of the Lord attended by the angels" is the Quranic idiom for imminent and destructive Divine punishment. (close)

a. 26:92. (close)

b. 79:36. (close)

b. 26:92. (close)

c. 79:36. (close)

3341. The mill of God grinds slowly, but it grinds exceedingly small. God is slow to punish but when His punishment comes, it is most destructive. 'It spares not and it leaves naught' (74:29). (close)

4721. Commentary:

The Mill of God grinds slowly but it grinds exceedingly small. God is slow to punish but when His punishment overtakes a people, it is most destructive. "It spares not and it leaves naught" (74:29). (close)

4722. Commentary:

The last four verses of the Surah constitute a befitting climax. They purport to say that he who acquires the prerequisites for full moral development, mentioned in the foregoing verses, becomes immune to all possibility of faltering or falling. He attains the highest stage of spiritual development; "he is well pleased with his Lord and his Lord is well pleased with him." At this stage, called the heavenly stage, man is freed from all weakness and frailty and is braced with a peculiar spiritual strength. He becomes "united" with God and cannot exist without Him. As water flows with great force down a slope and, on account of its great mass and the total absence of all obstacles, dashes down with irresistible force, so the God-intoxicated man, at this stage, casting off all trammels, becomes attracted unrestrainedly towards his Maker. It is in this life and not after death that this great transformation takes place in him and it is in this world and not elsewhere that access to Paradise is granted to him. He finds his support only in God; He drinks deep at this fountain of spiritual life and is delivered from death. (close)

3342. This is the highest stage of spiritual development when man is well- pleased with his Lord and his Lord is well-pleased with him (58:23). At this stage which is called the heavenly stage, he becomes immune to all moral weaknesses and frailties and is braced with a peculiar spiritual strength. He is "united" with God and cannot exist without Him. It is in this life and not after death that this great spiritual transformation takes place in him and it is in this world and not elsewhere that access to Paradise is granted to him. (close)