Al-Munaafiqoon (The Hypocrites)

9. O you who believe! Let neither your properties nor your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that is the loser.

Since worldly possessions and children constitute one of the most significant factors lying behind loving this worldly life, the blessed Verse warns the believers against such excessive affection, saying:

“O you who believe! Let neither your properties nor your children divert you from the remembrance of Allah. And whoever does that is the loser.”

It is true that worldly possessions and children are Divine Bounties to the extent that one makes use of them in Allah's Cause and attaining to happiness. However, they are regarded as the worst afflictions when excessive affection for them impedes man from treading the Path to the Truth. It is mentioned above that the same affection led the hypocrites astray.

The same motif is most explicitly depicted in a tradition narrated from Imam Baqir (as) according to which two wolves on either sides of a cattle may not inflict so many harms that mammonism and greed may adversely affect the believers’ faith.¹

Qur’an exegetes discuss different possibilities regarding the remembrance of God Almighty in this blessed Verse. Some maintain that the five daily prayers are hereby intended.

Some hold that it alludes to showing gratitude for Divine Bounties, patience at the time of affliction, contentment with Divine Decrees, pilgrimage to Mecca, paying alms tax (zakat), recitation of the Holy Qur’an, and all religious obligations. However, it is clear that remembrance of God Almighty is broad in its semantic range encompassing all the above. Thus, such interpretation makes a reference to the explicit instances of such remembrance.