Surah Muhammad 47:37

Showing the Triviality of the Worldly Life and encouraging Spending

Expressing the insignificance and worthlessness of the worldly life, Allah says,

(This worldly life is only amusement and diversion.) which means that such is its outcome, except for that which is done for the sake of Allah. Because of this, Allah says,

(And if you believe and have Taqwa of Allah, He will grant you your rewards, and will not ask from you (to sacrifice all of) your possessions.) meaning, He is in no need of you, and asks you for nothing. He only ordained giving charity from your wealth so that you would help your needy brothers. The benefit of that would then come back to you, as well as the rewards. Allah then says,

(If He would demand of you all of it and urge you, you would withhold.) meaning, if He pressures you much, you would become stingy.

(And He will expose your (secret) ill--wills.) Qatadah said, "Allah knows that extracting wealth (i.e., money from people) brings about ill-wills. " Indeed, Qatadah has said the truth, because money is dear to the people, and they do not spend it except in things that are dearer to them than it. Allah then says,

(Here you are now invited to spend in Allah's cause; but among you are those who withhold (stingily).) meaning, they refuse to spend. Allah continues,

(And whoever acts stingily is but stingy toward himself.) meaning, he only reduces his own rewards, and the bad outcome of that will come back to him.

(For Allah is indeed Al-Ghani) Allah is in need of nothing else, whereas everything is ever in need of Him. Thus, Allah says,

(while you are the needy.) meaning, specifically of Him. The description of Allah as Al-Ghani (in no need) is a necessary description of Allah; on the other hand, the description of the creation as Faqr (needy) is a necessary description for them that they cannot avoid. Allah then says,

(And if you turn away, ) which means, if you turn away from obeying Him and adhering to His Laws.

(He will replace you with other people; then they will not be like you.) meaning, rather, they will be people who will listen to Him and obey His commands. This concludes the Tafsir of Surat Al-Qital. And Allah is worthy of all praise and gratitude.

Dalam ayat ini, Allah menerangkan salah satu dari sifat manusia yang tercela ialah kikir dan sangat mencintai dan menginginkan harta. Allah menyatakan bahwa Ia tidak minta mereka memberikan harta mereka seluruhnya untuk diberikan kepada kaum Muslimin yang lemah. Bila Ia meminta seluruhnya seperti itu, pasti mereka tidak akan memberikannya karena mereka terlalu tamak kepada harta dan tidak akan memberikannya kepada orang-orang miskin. Allah mengetahui yang demikian. Semakin sering permintaan itu diulang-ulang, semakin bertambah rasa benci dan dengki mereka terhadap orang miskin tersebut.

Sifat kikir itu telah menjadi tabiat manusia. Ia merupakan sifat yang didatangkan kemudian, sebagaimana firman Allah:

Dan perdamaian itu lebih baik (bagi mereka) walaupun manusia itu menurut tabiatnya kikir. (an-Nisa'/4: 128)

Allah swt berfirman:

Dan siapa yang dijaga dirinya dari kekikiran, maka mereka itulah orang- orang yang beruntung. (al-hasyr/59: 9)

Dalam ayat yang lain dinyatakan jika manusia dapat menghilangkan atau mengurangi sifat kikirnya itu, maka ia akan menjadi orang yang beruntung hidup di dunia dan di akhirat.