Surah Al-Maa'un (107) — Ayah 7

(Ayah 7) {وَ يَمْنَعُوْنَ الْمَاعُوْنَ:} Because of not believing in the Hereafter, their relationship with Allah is evident from their prayers themselves, and their dealings with people are also not correct. They are not willing to benefit anyone even with a trivial thing, when they do not expect to get anything in return in this world. {’’ الْمَاعُوْنَ ‘‘ ’’مَعْنٌ‘‘} is from, which means {’’شَيْءٌ قَلِيْلٌ‘‘} (a small thing). In "Tafsir al-Wasit by Tantawi" it is stated: The origin of {’’ الْمَاعُوْنَ ‘‘} is {’’مَعُوْنَةٌ‘‘}, whose root is {’’عَوْنٌ‘‘} (help), its "alif" is brought in place of "ta" which has been omitted from the end. Thus, {’’ الْمَاعُوْنَ ‘‘} refers to those things which are used for help in general needs. (Al-Wasit) Ali (may Allah be pleased with him) and some commentators have taken this to mean zakat, because compared to the total wealth, it is very little, i.e., two and a half percent, meaning these people are not even willing to give such a small charity. Abu Hurairah, Ibn Mas'ud, and Ibn Abbas (may Allah be pleased with them) and many commentators have taken this to mean those household items which are not always present in every house but are borrowed from each other when needed, such as a needle, pot, axe, bowl, fire, water, etc., and generally "ma'un" is applied to such things. That is, they are not even willing to give the smallest thing, which will be returned to them after use, to anyone, because they do not hope for its reward in the Hereafter and see no benefit in it in this world. Allah Almighty has mentioned the threat of destruction and ruin for such people who deny the Hereafter.