Tafseer Ibn Kathir of AL KAHFI [103]

103. Say: ”Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds'' 104. ”Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds.'' 105. ”They are those who deny the Ayat of their Lord and the meeting with Him. So their works are in vain, and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall assign no weight for them.'' 106. ”That shall be their recompense, Hell; because they disbelieved and took My Ayat and My Messengers for jest.'' Al-Bukhari recorded from `Amr that Mus`ab who said: ”I asked my father -- meaning Sa`d bin Abi Waqqas -- about Allah's saying,

(Say: ”Shall We tell you the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds'') `Are they the Haruriyyah' He said, `No, they are the Jews and Christians. As for the Jews, they disbelieved in Muhammad , and as for the Christians, they disbelieved in Paradise and said that there is no food or drink there, and the Haruriyyah are those who break Allah's covenant after ratifying it.' Sa`d used to call them Al-Fasiqin (the corrupt). `Ali bin Abi Talib, Ad-Dahhak and others said: ”They are the Haruriyyah,'' so this means, that according to `Ali, may Allah be pleased with him, this Ayah includes the Haruriyyah just as it includes the Jews, the Christians and others. This does not mean that the Ayah was revealed concerning any of these groups in particular; it is more general than that, because the Ayah was revealed in Makkah, before the Qur'an addressed the Jews and Christians, and before the Khawarij existed at all. So the Ayah is general and refers to everyone who worships Allah in a way that is not acceptable, thinking that he is right in doing that and that his deeds will be accepted, but he is mistaken and his deeds will be rejected, as Allah says:

(Some faces, that Day will be humiliated. Laboring, weary. They will enter in the hot blazing Fire.) ï´¿88:2-4ï´¾

(And We shall turn to whatever deeds they did, and We shall make such deeds as scattered floating particles of dust.) ï´¿25:23ï´¾

(As for those who disbelieved, their deeds are like a mirage in a desert. The thirsty one thinks it to be water, until he comes up to it, he finds it to be nothing) ï´¿24:39ï´¾ And in this Ayah Allah says:

(Say: ”Shall We tell you...'') meaning, `Shall We inform you;'

(the greatest losers in respect of (their) deeds) Then Allah explains who they are, and says:

(Those whose efforts have been wasted in this life) meaning, they did deeds that do not count, deeds that are not in accordance with the prescribed way that is acceptable to Allah.

(while they thought that they were acquiring good by their deeds.) means, they thought that there was some basis for their deeds and that they were accepted and loved.

(They are those who deny the Ayat of their Lord and the meeting with Him.) they denied the signs of Allah in this world, the proofs that He has established of His Oneness and of the truth of His Messengers, and they denied the Hereafter.

(and on the Day of Resurrection, We shall assign no weight for them.) means, `We will not make their Balance heavy because it is empty of any goodness.' Al-Bukhari recorded that Abu Hurayrah said that the Messenger of Allah said: