Basic
The Hereafter
Surah: At-Takathur (1)
Competition in Worldly Increase Diverted You Until You Visited the Graves — The Great Delusion
أَلۡهَىٰكُمُ ٱلتَّكَاثُرُ حَتَّىٰ زُرۡتُمُ ٱلۡمَقَابِرَ
— التكاثر الآية 1
Verse: "Competition in worldly increase diverted you until you visited the graves." (102:1-2)
"Until you visited the graves": "Until" here indicates the limit — the diversion continued until death came! Visiting graves is a metaphor for dying — the deceased is a temporary visitor to the grave before resurrection.
Lesson: Accumulation is not forbidden in itself — being diverted by it is forbidden. The difference: did money divert you from Allah, or do you possess money while your heart belongs to Allah?
"Until you visited the graves": "Until" here indicates the limit — the diversion continued until death came! Visiting graves is a metaphor for dying — the deceased is a temporary visitor to the grave before resurrection.
Lesson: Accumulation is not forbidden in itself — being diverted by it is forbidden. The difference: did money divert you from Allah, or do you possess money while your heart belongs to Allah?
Source: Ibn Kathir (8/432); Al-Sadi; Al-Qurtubi (20/164)
Test Yourself
What is the difference between the blameworthy "competition in increase" and permissible wealth?
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