Surah Ya Sin (Ya Sin) 36 : 47

Explanatory Note

If they are urged to be charitable and to give to the poor a portion of what God has provided for them, they say in ridicule:

“Are we to feed those whom God could have fed, had He so willed?” (Verse 47)

They would even be impolite in their reply to those calling on them to be charitable, saying:

“Clearly, you are lost in error.” (Verse 47)

Viewing the matter in such a mechanical way betrays their ignorance of the law God has set for human life. It is God who feeds and provides for All the provisions that people receive on earth are created by Him. They cannot create any of that; indeed, they cannot create anything whatsoever. It is God’s will that people should have needs which they cannot attain to without hard work, such as planting the earth, extracting its raw material to manufacture things, transporting its produce from place to place, offering such produce in return for other products or for money, etc. It is also His will that people differ in their talents and abilities to ensure that everything needed to fulfil man’s task of building human life on earth is available. The accomplishment of this task not only needs talents and abilities that earn money and produce wealth; it also requires others that can meet different human needs, without earning money. This makes for a complex human society, in which people have different lots in a bustling world, and across generations. However, the resulting differences of the means available to different people does not lead to the ruination of life and society. In fact it is a by-product of life’s movement.