Tafseer of Competition · At-Takaathur · 102:1
Competition in [worldly] increase diverts you
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The discourse on the explanation of the statement of Allah, whose praise is exalted and whose names are sanctified:
أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ (Competing for more has distracted you) (102:1)
Allah, the Exalted, says: Competing for more wealth and greater numbers has distracted you, O people, from obedience to your Lord and from that by which you might save yourselves from His wrath against you.
In line with what we have said about this, the people of interpretation (ahl al-taʾwīl) also spoke.
* Mention of who said that:
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ * حَتَّى زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَ (Competing for more has distracted you * until you visited the graves): he said: "They used to say: 'We are more numerous than the sons of so-and-so, and we are stronger in numbers than the sons of so-and-so,' while every day they were falling one by one, down to the last of them. By Allah, they continued thus until they all became among the inhabitants of the graves."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ (Competing for more has distracted you): "They said: 'We are more numerous than the sons of so-and-so, and the sons of so-and-so are more numerous than the sons of so-and-so.' That distracted them until they died in error."
From the Prophet ﷺ there is also a statement transmitted which indicates that its meaning concerns competing for more wealth.
* Mention of the narration about that:
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Hishām al-Dustawaʾī, on the authority of Qatāda, on the authority of Muṭarrif ibn ʿAbd Allāh ibn al-Shikhkhīr, on the authority of his father, that he approached the Prophet ﷺ while he was reciting: أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ * حَتَّى زُرْتُمُ الْمَقَابِرَ (Competing for more has distracted you * until you visited the graves). He said: "O son of Adam, of your wealth you have only that which you have eaten and thus consumed, or what you have worn and thus worn out, or what you have given as charity and thus given away forever."
Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-ʿAsqalānī related to us, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of Thābit al-Bunānī, on the authority of Anas ibn Mālik, on the authority of Ubayy ibn Kaʿb, who said: "We used to regard this statement as belonging to the Qurʾān: 'If the son of Adam had two valleys full of wealth, he would desire a third valley, and nothing fills the belly of the son of Adam except the dust, and then Allah turns in mercy to whoever repents' — until this sūra was sent down: أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ (Competing for more has distracted you) to its end." And the statement of the Prophet ﷺ immediately after reciting "has distracted you" — namely: "Of your wealth you have only this and that" — indicates that its meaning, according to his understanding, is: competing for more has distracted you, that is: [for more] wealth.
