REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA — Islam mentions a group of people who deny religion. Who are they in question?
Verses 1 and 2 of Surah Al-Maun show a connection between those who deny religion and those who reject orphans. Allah says:
أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يُكَذِّبُ بِالدِّينِ فَذَٰلِكَ الَّذِي يَدُعُّ الْيَتِيمَ
He is the one who raised orphans.” (QS al-Maun verses 1-2)
So strict is Islam against the practice of harboring orphans, that it is called the act of denying religion.
In the book Fath al-Bayan fii Maqasid of the Qur'an by Siddiq Ibn Hasan Al-Fatujy, it is explained that the second verse of Al-Maun's letter begins with the letter 'Fa', which is grammatically Arabic as 'reply to the sheikh of the muqaddar'.
This means that it is the answer to the question as in verse 1 of Surah al-Maun. In the presence of the 'Fa', it shows that the sentence after the 'Fa' is the subject of a question that needs to be carefully considered.
The letter 'Fa' in Arabic is one of several athaf letters whose function is to connect between sentences before and after.
Thus, the Athaf letter 'Fa' in the second verse of Surah al-Maun indicates a link between a person who denies religion and one who raises orphans. While the word 'dzaalika' after 'Fa' has the status of a mubtada sign noun connected with khabar after it.
Alternatively, the 'dzaalika' in the verse can also be said to be khobar for the omitted mubtada, and serves as a substitute connected to something of its nature, which in this case is the first verse of surah al-Maun.
In a simple sense, mubtada in Indonesian grammar can be said to be a subject. Whereas khabar in Indonesian grammar is a phrase or clause that is located after mubtada.
Furthermore, alladzii yadu'ul orphans' (the one who shuns orphans) is situated in the position of nashab so that it is connected with the previous sentence, that is, the one who denies religion.
The word yadu'u in verse 2 of Surat al-Maun has a harsh and cruel meaning. That is to say, harboring orphans is the act of taking away the rights of orphans by force.
The word yadu'u is also used in other surahs in the Quran, with the same content of meaning. Allah says:
“On that day they were driven to Hell with all their might.” (QS At-Thur verse 13)