Tafseer of Competition · At-Takaathur · 102:8
Then you will surely be asked that Day about pleasure.
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.
His statement: ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ — He says: then Allah, the Exalted and Almighty, will question you about the blessings you enjoyed in the worldly life: what you did with them, by which path you came to them, for what you acquired them, and what you did with them.
The exegetes differed concerning what that blessing (al-naʿīm) is. Some said: it is security and health.
* Mention of those who said that:
ʿAbbād ibn Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd, concerning the words ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ : he said: "Security and health."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ḥafṣ related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of ʿAbdullāh — the same.
ʿAlī ibn Saʿīd al-Kindī related to me, saying: Muḥammad ibn Marwān related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid — concerning ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ —: he said: "Security and health."
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, saying: "It reached me that concerning the words لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ it is said: security and health."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh, on the authority of ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz ibn ʿAbdullāh, saying: I heard al-Shaʿbī say: "The blessing about which an accounting will be demanded on the Day of Resurrection is security and health."
He said: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Khālid al-Zayyāt, on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of ʿĀmir al-Shaʿbī, on the authority of Ibn Masʿūd — the same.
He said: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān — concerning ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ —: he said: "Security and health."
Others said: the meaning of this is that on that Day an accounting will be demanded concerning what Allah granted them of blessings: hearing, eyesight, and bodily health.
* Mention of those who said that:
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning the words ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ : he said: "The blessing is the health of the bodies, the hearing, and the eyesight." He said: "Allah asks His servants for what they employed these, though He knows that better than they do, and that is what He says: إِنَّ السَّمْعَ وَالْبَصَرَ وَالْفُؤَادَ كُلُّ أُولَئِكَ كَانَ عَنْهُ مَسْئُولاً (Verily, the hearing, the sight, and the heart — about all these an accounting will be demanded)."
Ismāʿīl ibn Mūsā al-Fazārī related to me, saying: ʿUmar ibn Shākir informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, saying: he used to say concerning the words ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ : "The hearing, the eyesight, and bodily health."
Others said: it is well-being (al-ʿāfiya).
* Mention of those who said that:
ʿAbbād ibn Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Nūḥ ibn Darrāj related to us, on the authority of Saʿd ibn Ṭarīf, on the authority of Abū Jaʿfar — concerning ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ —: he said: "Well-being."
Others said: by it is meant a portion of what a person eats or drinks.
* Mention of those who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq, saying: "I saw Saʿīd ibn Jubayr brought a cup of honey; he drank it and said: 'This is the blessing about which you will be asked to give an accounting.'"
ʿAlī ibn Sahl al-Ramlī related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan ibn Bilāl related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn Abī ʿAmmār, saying: I heard Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh say: "The Prophet ﷺ came to us, and Abū Bakr and ʿUmar too, may Allah be pleased with them both. We fed them dates and water. Then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: 'This is among the blessings about which you will be asked to give an accounting.'"
Jābir ibn al-Kurdī related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: Ḥammād ibn Salama related to us, on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn Abī ʿAmmār, saying: I heard Jābir ibn ʿAbdullāh say: "The Prophet ﷺ came to us" — and he mentioned something similar.
Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣudāʾī related to me, saying: al-Walīd ibn al-Qāsim related to us, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Kaysān, on the authority of Abū Ḥāzim, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, saying: "While Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them both, were sitting, the Prophet ﷺ came and said: 'What makes you sit here?' They said: 'Hunger.' He said: 'By Him who sent me with the truth, nothing else has driven me out.' They set off until they reached the house of a man of the Anṣār. The woman met them, and the Prophet ﷺ asked her: 'Where is so-and-so?' She said: 'He has gone to fetch us fresh water.' Then their host arrived, carrying his waterskin, and said: 'Welcome! Never has anything visited me that is better than what visits me today.' He hung his waterskin on a palm trunk and departed, and he returned with a cluster of dates. The Prophet ﷺ said: 'Why did you not pick some out yourself?' He said: 'I wanted you to choose for your own eyes.' Then he took the knife, and the Prophet ﷺ said: 'Beware of the milk-giving one (do not take a milch animal).' So he slaughtered for them that day. They ate, and then the Prophet ﷺ said: 'You will be asked to give an accounting for all this on the Day of Resurrection — hunger drove you out of your homes, and you did not return until you had enjoyed all this. This is among the blessings.'"
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Abī Bukayr related to us, saying: Shaybān ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, on the authority of Abū Salama, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, saying: the Prophet ﷺ said to Abū Bakr and ʿUmar: "Come with us to Abū al-Haytham ibn al-Tayyahān al-Anṣārī." So he went with them to the shade of his garden. He spread out a rug for them, then departed to a palm tree and returned with a cluster. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Why did you not pick ripe dates out for us?" He said: "I wanted you to choose for yourselves from the ripe dates and the half-ripe dates." They ate and drank water. When the Messenger of Allah ﷺ had finished, he said: "This — by Him in whose hand is my soul — is among the blessings about which you will be asked to give an accounting on the Day of Resurrection: this cool shade, these cool ripe dates with cool water alongside them."
Ṣāliḥ ibn Mismār al-Marwazī related to me, saying: Ādam ibn Abī Iyās related to us, saying: Shaybān related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr related to us, on the authority of Abū Salama ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, on the authority of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — something similar, but he mentions in his narration: "Cool shade, cool ripe dates, and cool water."
ʿAlī ibn ʿĪsā al-Bazzāz related to us, saying: Saʿīd ibn Sulaymān related to us, on the authority of Ḥusharaj ibn Nabāta, saying: Abū Baṣīra related to us, on the authority of Abū ʿUsayb, the freedman of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, saying: "The Prophet ﷺ walked along until he entered the garden of one of the Anṣār. He said to the owner of the garden: 'Feed us half-ripe dates.' A cluster was brought and set down. The Messenger of Allah ﷺ and his companions ate of it. Then he asked for cool water and drank. Then he said: 'You will be asked to give an accounting for all this on the Day of Resurrection.' At this ʿUmar took the cluster and struck it on the ground until the half-ripe dates fell off it, and he said: 'O Messenger of Allah, will we be called to account for this?' He said: 'Yes, except for a morsel by which hunger is stilled, or a shelter one enters for protection against heat and cold.'"
Saʿīd ibn ʿAmr al-Sakūnī related to me, saying: Baqiyya related to us, on the authority of Ḥusharaj ibn Nabāta, saying: Abū Baṣīra related to me, on the authority of Abū ʿUsayb, the freedman of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, saying: "The Prophet ﷺ passed by me and called me; I went out, and with him were Abū Bakr and ʿUmar, may Allah be pleased with them both. He entered the garden of one of the Anṣār. Half-ripe dates from a cluster were set before him. He and his companions ate of them. Then he asked for cool water and drank. Then he said: 'You will be asked to give an accounting for all this on the Day of Resurrection.' ʿUmar said: 'For all this on the Day of Resurrection?' He said: 'Yes, except for three things: a cloth with which one covers his private parts, a morsel with which one stills his hunger, or a shelter one enters for protection against heat and cold.'"
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of al-Jurīrī, on the authority of Abū Baṣīra, saying: "The Messenger of Allah ﷺ and a number of his companions ate a meal of unsifted barley bread with fatty meat, after which they drank from a brook. Then he said: 'All this is among the blessings about which you will be asked to give an accounting on the Day of Resurrection.'"
Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, on the authority of Ṣafwān ibn Sulaym, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Maḥmūd ibn Labīd, saying: "When أَلْهَاكُمُ التَّكَاثُرُ was sent down and he recited it until he reached لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ , they said: 'O Messenger of Allah, about which blessing are we questioned? We have only the two black things: water and dates, while our swords rest upon our shoulders and the enemy is present!' He said: 'That will come.'"
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm and al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAlī al-Ṣudāʾī related to me; they said: Shabāba ibn Sawwār related to us, saying: ʿAbdullāh ibn al-ʿAlāʾ Abū Razīn al-Shāmī related to me, saying: al-Ḍaḥḥāk ibn ʿArzam related to us, saying: I heard Abū Hurayra say: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "The first thing about which the servant is questioned on the Day of Resurrection from the blessings is that it is said to him: 'Did We not make your body healthy, and did you not drink of cool water?'"
Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Layth related to us, on the authority of Mujāhid, saying: Abū Maʿmar ʿAbdullāh ibn Sakhbara said: "No one in Kūfa is anything but in comfort in the morning — the lowest standard of living among them is he who eats barley bread, drinks water from the Euphrates, and sits in the shade; and that is among the blessings."
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn al-Ḥārith al-Tamīmī, on the authority of Thābit al-Bunānī, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, who said: "The blessing about which an accounting will be demanded on the Day of Resurrection is: a morsel that gives him strength, water that quenches his thirst, and a garment that covers him."
He said: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Ismāʿīl ibn ʿAyyāsh, on the authority of Bishr ibn ʿAbdullāh ibn Bashshār, saying: I heard some people from Yemen say: I heard Abū Umāma say: "The blessing about which an accounting will be demanded on the Day of Resurrection is wheat bread and fresh water."
He said: Mahrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq al-ʿĀmirī, saying: "A cup of honey was brought to Saʿīd ibn Jubayr. He said: 'But this is the blessing about which we are questioned on the Day of Resurrection' — ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ ."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Bukayr ibn ʿAtīq, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, that he was brought a cup of honey and said: "This is among the blessings about which you will be asked to give an accounting."
Others said: it is everything a person enjoys in the worldly life.
* Mention of those who said that:
Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us; and al-Ḥārith related to me, saying: al-Ḥasan related to us, saying: Warqāʾ related to us — both on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning the word of Allah ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ —: he said: "About everything of enjoyment in the worldly life."
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his word ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ : "Indeed, Allah, the Exalted and Almighty, will question every servant about the blessings He entrusted to him and about His rights therein."
Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Ibn Thawr related to us, on the authority of Maʿmar, on the authority of Qatāda — concerning ثُمَّ لَتُسْأَلُنَّ يَوْمَئِذٍ عَنِ النَّعِيمِ —: he said: "Allah, exalted be His remembrance, will question every possessor of a blessing about what He gave him as a blessing."
Al-Ḥasan and Qatāda used to say: "There are three things about which the son of man will not be asked to give an accounting; but about all the rest there is judgment and accounting, unless Allah wills otherwise: a garment with which he covers his private parts, a morsel with which he strengthens his back, and a house that shelters him."
The correct view concerning this is to say: Allah has announced that He will question these people about the blessings, and in His announcement He did not specify that He would question them only about one kind of blessing and not another. Rather, He made the announcement general for all the blessings together. He will therefore question them, as He has said, about all the blessings, without any exception.
End of the tafsīr of Surah Alhākum.
