107:1. Have you seen the one who denies the Last Judgement?

107:2. Such is the one who drives away the orphan

107:3. and does not urge others to feed the needy.

107:4. So woe to those who pray

107:5. but are heedless regarding their prayer,

107:6. those who make a show of piety

107:7. yet withhold small kindnesses.

Here Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) criticises those who fail to fulfil their duties towards Him and towards His slaves: ﴾Have you seen the onewho denies the Last Judgement﴿ that is, he denies the resurrection and the requital, so he does not believe in what the Messengers taught.

﴾Such is the one who drives away the orphan﴿ that is, he pushes him away with violence and harshness, and does not show compassion towards him, because of his hardheartedness and because he does not hope for any reward or fear any punishment.

﴾fand does not urge others to feed the needy﴿ so it is more likely that he will not feed any poor person himself.

﴾So woe to those who pray﴿ that is, those who pray regularly, but they ﴾are heedless regarding their prayer﴿ that is, they are negligent concerning it, and they do not pray on time or do the movements of the prayer properly.

This is because of their lack of concern about the command of Allah, for they neglect the prayer, which is the most important act of worship and the best of deeds that will bring one closer to Allah, and being heedless regarding the prayer is something for which a person deserves blame and criticism.

As for making mistakes in the prayer, this is not regarded as heedlessness, because it is something that happens to everyone, and even happened to the Prophet (ﷺ).

Hence Allah describes these people as showing off, being hardhearted and lacking compassion, as He says:

﴾those who make a show of piety﴿ - they do good deeds in order to be seen by people.

﴾yet withhold small kindnesses﴿ that is, they refuse to give things that will not cost the giver much, either by way of lending or giving, such as vessels, buckets, hammers and the like, which people usually lend or give away and are generous with.

But these people - because of their great stinginess — withhold small kindnesses, so how about anything that is more than that?

This soorah is urging people to show kindness towards orphans and the needy, and to encourage others to do likewise, to pay attention to the prayer and pray regularly, and to be sincere in one’s prayer and in all one’s deeds.

It also urges people to do acts of kindness by doing small things, such as lending vessels, buckets, books and the like, because Allah criticises those who do not do that. And Allah (سبحانه وتعالى) knows best what is correct. Praise be to Allah, the Lord of the worlds.

This is the end of the commentary on Soorat al-Ma‘oon.

All praise and thanks are for Allah, and may the blessings and peace of Allah be upon Prophet Muhammad (ﷺ), his family, and his Companions abundantly until the Day of Judgement.