Surah Al-Maa'un (107) — Ayah 4

(Ayah 4 to 6) {فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّيْنَ …: ’’ سَاهُوْنَ ‘‘ ’’ سَهَا يَسْهُوْ سَهْوًا ‘‘} (n) (to be heedless) is the active participle from {’’سَاهٍ‘‘} (on the pattern of {قَاضٍ} ) in plural form. {’’ يُرَآءُوْنَ ‘‘ ’’رَائٰ يُرَائِيْ مُرَائَاةً وَرِيَاءً‘‘} (mufa‘alah) is the present tense verb, third person masculine plural, meaning to show off. The mutual relevance of the verses is that in the previous verses, those people are mentioned who openly denied and rejected the Resurrection, and in these verses, those people are mentioned who outwardly are Muslims but do not believe in the Resurrection in their hearts. These were the hypocrites who, due to lack of faith in the Hereafter, did not want to pray, but in order to prove themselves as Muslims, they had to perform it. In reality, they were heedless of their prayer; this heedlessness was of several kinds: (1) Tabari has narrated with an authentic chain from Ali bin Abi Talhah, from Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them both), that by these praying ones are meant the hypocrites who prayed only for show, that is, when in front of people they would pray, otherwise they would leave it altogether. (2) And even when they prayed, they would delay it until the last moment. The Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) said: [ تِلْكَ صَلَاةُ الْمُنَافِقِ يَجْلِسُ يَرْقُبُ الشَّمْسَ حَتّٰی إِذَا كَانَتْ بَيْنَ قَرْنَيِ الشَّيْطَانِ قَامَ فَنَقَرَهَا أَرْبَعًا لَا يَذْكُرُ اللّٰهَ فِيْهَا إِلَّا قَلِيْلاً ] [ مسلم، المساجد و مواضع الصلاۃ، باب استحباب التبکیر بالعصر : ۶۲۲ ] “This is the prayer of the hypocrite: he sits watching the sun until, when it is between the two horns of the devil, he stands and pecks out four (quick units), remembering Allah only a little therein.” (3) Their manner of performing prayer showed that they had no real concern for their prayer. Allah Almighty said about their prayer: « اِنَّ الْمُنٰفِقِيْنَ يُخٰدِعُوْنَ اللّٰهَ وَ هُوَ خَادِعُهُمْ وَ اِذَا قَامُوْۤا اِلَى الصَّلٰوةِ قَامُوْا كُسَالٰى ١ۙ يُرَآءُوْنَ النَّاسَ وَ لَا يَذْكُرُوْنَ اللّٰهَ اِلَّا قَلِيْلًا » [ النساء : ۱۴۲ ] “Indeed, the hypocrites [think to] deceive Allah, but He is deceiving them. And when they stand for prayer, they stand lazily, showing [themselves] to the people and not remembering Allah except a little.” (4) Forgetfulness in prayer can happen to a sincere Muslim as well; it even happened to the Messenger of Allah (peace and blessings be upon him) when he led two units of Zuhr and then gave salam, but to forget the prayer itself, this is hypocrisy. That is why it is not said {’’هُمْ فِيْ صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُوْنَ‘‘} (they forget in their prayer), but rather it is said: « هُمْ عَنْ صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُوْنَ » meaning they are heedless of their prayer itself, they do not even realize that they have to pray. When they do pray, they are not aware of where they are standing, there is neither humility nor submission, they play with their beards and clothes, yawn, look here and there, in short, they complete the whole prayer but have no idea what they have recited.

The exegesis of this verse has been done along with the previous verse.

The tafsir of this ayah is included with the following verse(s).