Surah Aal-i-Imraan (3) — Ayah 117

117. 1. On the Day of Resurrection, neither the wealth of the disbelievers will benefit them nor their children, even whatever they spend on charitable and seemingly good deeds will be rendered useless, and their example is like that of a severe frost which burns a lush green crop to ashes. The wrongdoers are pleased upon seeing this crop and have hopes of benefit from it, but suddenly their hopes are reduced to dust. From this, it is understood that as long as there is no faith, no matter how much fame those who spend money on charitable works gain in this world, they will receive no reward for it in the Hereafter; rather, for them there is the eternal punishment of Hell.

117. The example of what these disbelievers spend in this worldly life (charity, donations, etc.) is like a biting wind containing frost that strikes the harvest of people who have wronged themselves and destroys it [105]. Allah does not wrong them, but they wrong themselves.

[105] This world is the abode of action, and the Hereafter is the abode of recompense. Whatever a person sows in this world, he will reap in the Hereafter. However, for the crop sown in this world to bear fruit, there are a few conditions. If these conditions are not observed, the crop will never be fruitful, and those conditions are: faith in Allah and the Day of the Hereafter; sincerity of intention, meaning there should not be even a trace of ostentation in it, and whatever is done should be done purely for the pleasure of Allah; and thirdly, following the Book and Sunnah, meaning the deed or charity should be done according to the guidance prescribed by the Shariah. If any of these is missing, nothing will be attained in the Hereafter. Why are the good deeds of the disbelievers also wasted? In this verse, regarding those disbelievers about whom it is said that they wronged themselves, all three of these conditions are missing. Disbelievers are called so because they do not believe in Allah and the Day of the Hereafter, and this is the greatest wrong they do to themselves. Or, even if according to their own thinking they believe, it is not accepted by Allah, and since they do not believe in the Day of the Hereafter, whatever they spend is merely for show and for their own praise, and the question of following the guidance of the Shariah of Muhammad ﷺ does not even arise here. So then, what reward can they expect for such deeds in the Hereafter? The mist of their disbelief has destroyed the crop of their good deeds, so what reward will they get in the Hereafter? In Surah Al-Baqarah, verse 263, the example of one who spends for show is given as: like a smooth rock on which there is a little dust, and someone sows a seed in that dust, then a heavy rain comes and washes away the seed and the dust, leaving the rock as smooth as before. And here, the example is given that the crop did grow, but then a severe cold wind blew and burned the crop to ashes. The essence of both examples is the same: such disbelievers and those who show off will receive no reward in the Hereafter for their charity and good deeds, because their crop has already been destroyed in this world, and how can they be rewarded for something they never did for the Hereafter?