In the Name of Allah, the All-beneficent, the All-merciful
“Did you see him who denies the Retribution? That is the one, who drives away the orphan, and does not urge the feeding of the needy. Woe to those who pray but are heedless of their prayers—who show off but deny aid” (Qurʾan 107:1–7). The meanings: (al-din): recompense / (yaduʿʿu): rebuffs / (yahuddu): urges and incites / (al-maʿun): everything in which there is benefit. Between Attitude and Behavior
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Is there a relationship between the attitude and the belief in which a person believes and the behavior he follows in life? To answer this question, many theories followed one another among psychologists and sociologists, and until the seventies of the past century scholars had not settled on a view establishing the relationship between attitude and behavior, until some scholars came in the eighties and established the link between them, on condition that they correspond in place, time, nature and all specifications. So if his attitude is one of rejecting cheating, for example, we should identify the type of cheating he rejects, so that we can determine whether or not his behavior corresponds to his attitude.
Surat al-Maʿun evaluates a person by presenting him on the scale of the attitude he adopts and the extent of its correspondence with his behavior in life, and it raises this scale so that it determines a person's attitude through his behavior. His saying, the Exalted: “Did you see him who denies the Retribution?” “Did you see him who denies the Retribution?” (Qurʾan 107:1), is a presentation of an attitude and a belief that a person adopts, namely denying al-din, which means recompense, as the exegeses mention. This trait characterizes everyone who practices a particular behavior, namely “That is the one, who drives away the orphan” (Qurʾan 107:2) .. to the end of the surah. So what counts in determining a person's attitude and belief is not saying with the tongue, but behavior. Our Lord, Almighty, says in Surat al-Baqara: “Among the people are those who say, ‘We have faith in Allah and the Last Day,’ but they have no faith” (Qurʾan 2:8)! And this one who denies the Retribution has two characteristics:
The first: lack of social responsibility
Allah, Glorified and Exalted is He, has emphasized the one Umma and cooperation among it in piety and Godwariness, compassion toward orphans, and giving the needy their rights. And our noble Messenger (s) emphasized that “The Muslims are like a single body: if one member of it complains, all the other members respond to it with sleeplessness and fever”, and also: “Whoever wakes up in the morning without concerning himself with the affairs of the Muslims is not one of them.” So whoever denies the need of society only denies the recompense that follows from it.
He practices lack of social responsibility individually: “That is the one, who drives away the orphan” (Qurʾan 107:2)—that orphan who needs, more than anything else, affection and tenderness; he rebuffs him, pushes him away and breaks his heart. And since he does not practice social concern individually, he is unable to work sincerely: “and does not urge the feeding of the needy” (Qurʾan 107:3). He may call for and take part in social concern for reasons of self-interest or other reasons, but he does not reach the degree of persuading others to feed the needy. For the Qurʾanic expression came as (and does not urge), and it did not say (and does not call); urging is of a stronger degree than issuing calls: it is inciting with force and sincerity, and whoever does not hold to that feeling in himself does not reach it.
The second: the measure of his behavior is society's view.
Likewise he is, before the acts of worship performed purely for Allah the Exalted, which he does not perform as they are prescribed for him, but rather neglects them—the most important of them being prayer. Imam ʿAli (a) said: “There is no deed more beloved to Allah, Almighty, than prayer, so let nothing of the affairs of this world distract you from its times; for Allah, Almighty, censured certain people, saying: ‘but are heedless of their prayers’, meaning that they are unmindful, having made light of its times.” And as the hadiths have come to emphasize: “Between unbelief and faith is the abandonment of prayer.” He, Almighty, said: “Woe to those who pray but are heedless of their prayers” (Qurʾan 107:4–5), as individual behavior between them and Allah the Exalted; and in contrast, they are the ones “who show off” (Qurʾan 107:6): they maintain the prayer in front of people, while in reality they pray for people, not for Allah. The one who is sincere to Allah maintains the prayer at its times in all circumstances, whether anyone sees him or not.
But deny aid
Whoever does not carry within himself a feeling toward his society, does not share its major problems, makes light of his relationship with Allah, and tries to preserve his relationship with people, reaches the degree of not practicing the simple charitable acts of help to which people are accustomed, such as lending utensils, a small loan, lending books and the like of daily help. If this behavior becomes widespread, the wheel of society's progress will stop, even in the simplest of its matters, which are manifested in the saying of our Lord, Almighty: “but deny aid” (Qurʾan 107:7).
Insights for Life.
(1) A person's behavior expresses the inner convictions in which he believes, so every belief must have a behavior that matches it in its manifestations and aims.
(2) Engaging with the concerns of society, and paying attention to its needs even if they are simple, is among the matters connected with divine belief.
(3) To participate effectively in society and to influence the course of good successfully, a person must commit himself to that course as individual behavior.
We should not make light of small acts of help, such as simple lending, in their role in the integration and progress of society.
