Maun

Surah Al-Ma'un is the 107th surah of the Quran; it consists of seven verses and addresses the inseparable bond between faith and ethics. The surah sketches the portrait of one who denies the Day of Judgment: he pushes the orphan away, does not encourage feeding the poor, prays heedlessly and for show, and withholds even the smallest acts of assistance (al-ma'un). In doing so it makes clear that religion is not reducible to ritual forms; belief in the Hereafter must translate into social conduct. Condemning any piety that separates worship from compassion, this short surah remains essential reading in an age of performative religiosity, calling readers to sincerity, social responsibility, and mindful prayer.

Revelation & background

Surah Al-Ma'un is Meccan, revealed in the early Meccan period as a critique of the Meccan elite who denied the Judgment and oppressed the weak. Some scholars held that the verses describing prayer performed for show were revealed in Medina, but the prevailing view is that the entire surah is Meccan.

Major themes

The surah's core theme is that denial of religion shows itself first in moral collapse. Verses 107:1-3 link disbelief in the Judgment to mistreating the orphan and neglecting the hungry; 107:4-6 condemn those who are heedless of their prayers and worship only to be seen; 107:7 censures the meanness that withholds even small neighborly kindnesses. Worship, the surah teaches, is hollow without sincerity and mercy.