Unveiling the Essence of Charity and Worship: A Thematic Study of Surah Al-Ma'un

Unveiling the Essence of Charity and Worship: A Thematic Study of Surah Al-Ma'un

Authors

  • Kuthar Gabar Zedin Alle Al-Mustansiriyah University
  • Noorkahleed Muyhaldeen Al-Mustansiriyah University
  • Sikna Jebur Hussein Al-Mustansiriyah University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.58223/dzilmajaz.v3i1.407

Keywords:

al-maun, Qur’anic ethics, hypocrisy, Qur’anic values

Abstract

The Qur’an is the primary source of guidance and spiritual development in Islam, and its reflective contemplation is essential for shaping a believer’s character. Among its chapters, Sūrat al-Māʿūn stands out—despite its brevity—for its profound themes related to faith, ethics, and social behavior. The research problem arises from a noticeable neglect in giving adequate scholarly attention to shorter sūrahs, including al-Māʿūn, which are often underestimated due to their concise nature. This study aims to uncover the deeper moral, theological, and social meanings embedded in Sūrat al-Māʿūn, especially its warnings against hypocrisy and disbelief. The study employs a qualitative, analytical method, drawing from classical and contemporary Qur’anic exegesis to offer a thematic and structural analysis of the sūrah. It seeks to bridge traditional interpretations with modern analytical frameworks, making the message of the sūrah relevant to today’s ethical and spiritual challenges. The results highlight al-Māʿūn as a rich text that presents a clear critique of superficial religiosity and unethical social behavior. The contribution of this study lies in its effort to reawaken interest in the thematic depth of shorter Qur’anic chapters and demonstrate their critical role in spiritual education and moral reform

References

Ibn al-Faras al-Andalusi, ʿAbd al-Munʿim ibn ʿAbd al-Rahim. Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, ed. Ṭāhā ibn ʿAlī (Beirut: Dār Ibn Ḥazm, 1st ed., 1191 AH/9336 AD).

Al-Wāḥidī. Asbāb al-Nuzūl, ed. Kamāl Basyūnī (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1st ed., 1111 AH).

Munīrah al-Dawsarī. Asmāʾ Sūwar al-Qurʾān al-Karīm wa Faḍāʾilihā (Dār Ibn al-Jawzī Center, 1st ed., 1196 AH).

Muḥammad al-Amīn al-Shinqīṭī. Aḍwāʾ al-Bayān fī Īḍāḥ al-Qurʾān bi al-Qurʾān (Lebanon: Dār al-Fikr, n.d., 1113 AH–1223 AD).

Abū Bakr al-Jazāʾirī. Aysar al-Tafāsīr (al-Madīnah al-Munawwarah: Maktabat al-ʿUlūm wa al-Ḥikam, 5th ed., 1191 AH).

Al-Saʿdī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Taysīr al-Karīm al-Raḥmān fī Tafsīr Kalām al-Mannān, ed. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān al-Luwayḥiq (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah, 1st ed., 1193 AH).

Al-Qurashī, Aḥmad ʿAbd Allāh. Al-Baḥr al-Madīd fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-Majīd, ed. Ḥasan ʿAbbās Zakkī (Cairo: n.p., 2nd ed., 1112 AH).

Ibn al-Zubayr. Al-Burhān fī Tanāsib Suwar al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, ed. Muḥammad Shaʿbānī (Morocco: Wizārat al-Awqāf wa al-Shuʾūn al-Islāmiyyah, 1113 AH).

Al-Khāzin. Al-Taʾwīl fī Maʿānī al-Tanzīl, ed. Muḥammad ʿAlī Shāhīn (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 3rd ed., 1111 AH).

Ibn ʿĀshūr, Muḥammad al-Ṭāhir. Al-Taḥrīr wa al-Tanwīr (Tunis: al-Dār al-Tūnisiyyah li al-Nashr, n.d., 1291 AD).

Ibn ʿArafah, Muḥammad. Tafsīr Ibn ʿArafah, ed. Jalāl al-Asyūṭī (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1st ed., n.d.).

Al-Wāḥidī, ʿAlī ibn Aḥmad. Al-Tafsīr al-Basīṭ, ed. ʿImādat al-Baḥth al-ʿIlmī (Riyadh: Jāmiʿat al-Imām Muḥammad ibn Suʿūd al-Islāmiyyah, 1st ed., n.d.).

Al-Darwazah, Muḥammad ʿIzzat. Al-Tafsīr al-Ḥadīth Muraṭṭab Ḥasba Tartīb al-Nuzūl (Cairo: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Kutub al-ʿArabiyyah, n.d., 1090 AH).

Ibn Kathīr, Ismāʿīl ibn ʿUmar. Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm, ed. Sāmī Salāmah (Riyadh: Dār Ṭayyibah, 2nd ed., 1193 AH/1222 AD).

Al-Khaṭīb, ʿAbd al-Karīm Yūnus. Al-Tafsīr al-Qurʾānī li al-Qurʾān (Cairo: Dār al-Fikr al-ʿArabī, n.d.).

Al-Māturīdī, Muḥammad ibn Muḥammad. Tafsīr al-Māturīdī wa Taʾwīlāt Ahl al-Sunnah (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1st ed.).

Al-Marāghī, Aḥmad ibn Muṣṭafā. Tafsīr al-Marāghī (Cairo: Maktabat Muṣṭafā al-Ḥalabī, 1063 AH–1216 AD).

Al-Nasafī, ʿAbd Allāh ibn Aḥmad. Tafsīr al-Nasafī: Madārik al-Tanzīl wa Ḥaqāʾiq al-Taʾwīl, ed. Yūsuf ʿAlī Badiwī (Beirut: Dār al-Kalim al-Ṭayyib, 1st ed., 1112 AH–1229 AD).

Al-Saʿdī, ʿAbd al-Raḥmān. Taysīr al-Karīm al-Raḥmān fī Tafsīr Kalām al-Mannān, ed. ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Maʿlā (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah, 1st ed., 1193 AH).

Al-Ṭabarī, Muḥammad ibn Jarīr. Jāmiʿ al-Bayān fī Taʾwīl al-Qurʾān, ed. Aḥmad Muḥammad Shākir (Beirut: Muʾassasat al-Risālah al-Ūlā, 1193 AH).

Al-Qurṭubī. Al-Jāmiʿ li Aḥkām al-Qurʾān, ed. Aḥmad al-Bardūnī (Cairo: Dār al-Kutub al-Miṣriyyah, 3rd ed., n.d.).

Al-Samīn al-Ḥalabī. Al-Durr al-Maṣūn fī ʿUlūm al-Kitāb al-Maknūn (Damascus: Dār al-Qalam, n.d.).

Al-Suyūṭī, Jalāl al-Dīn. Al-Durr al-Manthūr fī al-Tafsīr bi al-Maʾthūr, ed. ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbd al-Muḥsin al-Turkī (Cairo: Hajar li al-Buḥūth, 1st ed., 1191 AH).

Al-Ālūsī. Rūḥ al-Maʿānī fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān al-ʿAẓīm wa al-Sabʿ al-Mathānī, ed. ʿAlī ʿAbd al-Bārī ʿAṭiyyah (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1st ed., 1113 AH).

Al-Naysābūrī, al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad. Gharāʾib al-Qurʾān wa Raghāʾib al-Furqān (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1st ed., 1116 AH).

Al-Qannūjī, Abū al-Ṭayyib Muḥammad Ṣiddīq. Fatḥ al-Bayān fī Maqāṣid al-Qurʾān al-Karīm, ed. ʿAbd Allāh al-Anṣārī (Ṣaydā–Beirut: al-Maktabah al-ʿAṣriyyah, 1st ed., 1119 AH–1229 AD).

Al-Zamakhsharī, Maḥmūd ibn ʿUmar. Al-Kashshāf ʿan Ḥaqāʾiq Ghawāmiḍ al-Tanzīl (Beirut: Dār al-Kitāb al-ʿArabī, 3rd ed., 1119 AH).

Al-Qāsimī, Muḥammad Jamāl al-Dīn. Maḥāsin al-Taʾwīl, ed. Muḥammad Bāsil ʿUyūn al-Sūd (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1st ed., 1119 AH).

Al-Biqāʿī, Burhān al-Dīn. Maṣāʿid al-Naẓar li al-Ashrāf ʿalā Maqāṣid al-Suwar (Riyadh: Maktabat al-Maʿārif, 1st ed., 1139 AH).

Al-Rāzī, Fakhr al-Dīn. Mafātīḥ al-Ghayb (Beirut: Dār Iḥyāʾ al-Turāth al-ʿArabī, 3rd ed., 1193 AH).

Al-Biqāʿī, Burhān al-Dīn ibn ʿUmar. Naẓm al-Durar fī Tanāsub al-Āyāt wa al-Suwar (Beirut: Dār al-Kutub al-ʿIlmiyyah, 1st ed., 1113 AH–1223 AD).

Downloads

Published

2025-05-22

How to Cite

Alle, K. G. Z., Muyhaldeen, N., & Hussein, S. J. (2025). Unveiling the Essence of Charity and Worship: A Thematic Study of Surah Al-Ma’un. Dzil Majaz: Journal of Arabic Literature, 3(1), 109–127. https://doi.org/10.58223/dzilmajaz.v3i1.407

Issue

Section

Articles
Loading...