Tafseer of Almsgiving · Al-Maa'un · 107:6
Those who make show [of their deeds]
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.
And His statement: الَّذِينَ هُمْ يُرَاءُونَ — He says: those who show the people how they pray when they pray, for they do not pray out of desire for reward, nor out of fear of punishment; they pray only so that the believers would see them and thereby consider them as one of them, so that they would refrain from shedding their blood and carrying off their children as captives (sabī). These are the hypocrites (munāfiqūn, nifāq) who lived in the time of the Prophet ﷺ: they concealed unbelief (kufr) within themselves and displayed Islam outwardly. Thus said the exegetes of the Qurʾān.
*Mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir and Muʾammal related to us, they said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنْ صَلاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ — he said: "They are the hypocrites."
Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the like of it.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid — the like of it.
Yūnus related to me, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, may Allah honor him, concerning His statement: يُرَاءُونَ * وَيَمْنَعُونَ الْمَاعُونَ — he said: "They show how they pray."
It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh say: ʿUbayd related to us, saying: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His statement: الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَنْ صَلاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ * الَّذِينَ هُمْ يُرَاءُونَ — he means the hypocrites.
ʿAlī related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiyah related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās — he said: "They are the hypocrites; they showed the people how they pray when they were present, and abandoned the prayer when they were absent."
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd related to me: "And they pray — while prayer is not at all among their habits — solely out of ostentation (riyāʾ)."
