Have you considered the one who denied the religion?

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Tafsir of Surah al Ma'un
Nouman Ali Khan

أَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِي يُكَذِّبُ بِالدِّينِ

Have you seen the one who belies in the religion?

Here Allah is asking us to reflect but on who? Is it a particular disbeliever like Abu Lahab or is it referring to anyone who fits the description? The use of the word الذي will get people to think the surah is about them and make them feel guilty. Allah didn't say 'kufr' which is outright denial and rejection but He said 'تكذيب' which is when someone knows the truth but is lying against it anyway. In this case, the present tense is used (يكذب) because this person continues to lie against the religion
The importance of the word 'deen' here shows that after Islam, it refers to Islam itself but some mufasiroon have said that generally the word was understood in the literal sense. The biggest hurdle for people was the next life. Ash Shawkani said: They can't accept getting payback in the hereafter so they lie against the idea he'll have to get payback. In this speech rhetoric, there's omission. The denial of resurrection is the essence of rejection.

فَذَٰلِكَ الَّذِي يَدُعُّ الْيَتِيمَ

So that is the one who repels the orphan

There is allegory in this ayah by the use of ف It's proof of someone who doesn't believe in the afterlife pushes the orphan around. When you deny the akhirah your heart becomes hard and you lose mercy hence why the orphans don't matter. The ف is the one who lies against the religion AND acts unjustly towards the orphan. These are crimes against Allah and crimes against the human. Kufr makes it easy to push orphans around. One of the worst ways to displease and disobey Allah because Allah comes into the defence of the orphan a lot.

وَلَا يَحُضُّ عَلَىٰ طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ

And not exhorts from feeding the needy one

This is a direct blow to the leaders of the Quraish. In the previous ayat we learnt about their personal life and here we learn about their public life. They are supposed to feed the poor. This person doesn't even ENCOURAGE it because he doesn't even treat the orphan right. Allah didn't even say 'he doesn't feed the poor' but doesn't ENCOURAGE feeding. The singular for needy one is used (مسكين) so that they understand their immediate behaviour. Also Allah isn't talking about feeding the orphan with their own food but Allah says (عَلَىٰ طَعَامِ الْمِسْكِينِ) which actually means that this person doesn't even encourage giving the needy THEIR OWN FOOD. The food is mudaf ilayhi; it belongs to the him. This illustrates the state of the heart of the one not allowing this.

فَوَيْلٌ لِّلْمُصَلِّينَ

So Woe to the ones who perform prayers

Allah starts this ayah with the ف which already indicates they are in destruction. He mentions 'those who pray' first. What is the benefit?
One of the benefit is that anyone who prays is alerted. It should terrify everyone! We should wonder if we're the people being described here. If you're engaged in crime against the creation then you'll be involved in crime against the Creator, hence worst kind of prayer there is. This ayah is referring to those who pray REGULARLY. These are people who pray in public to show off. The crime of stealing from the prayer is the same as someone who wrote their own book and called it the book of Allah.

الَّذِينَ هُمْ عَن صَلَاتِهِمْ سَاهُونَ

Those who they from their prayers are negligent.

Continuing from the previous ayah, Allah is telling us how the people performing prayer committed the crime and it's because they were neglectful these are the people who say and think prayer is not important. Do we remember when Allah spoke to Musa and Allah said 'Establish prayer and remember Me'. This is what prayer means to Allah. In surah al Baqarah, Allah called Salah, imaan. The people in this ayah perform their Salah but not in their heart. Ash Shawkani said this ayah referred to those who pray sometimes but not other times, those who peck in their prayers, those who don't fulfil the pre-requisites

الَّذِينَ هُمْ يُرَاءُونَ
Those are they who show off

The repetition of الذين هم illustrates how angry Allah is - when these people DO pray, they only do it to show off! Allah is telling us that people are heedless but will improve a little because they want to show off. Guard your Salah! The Quran at Fajr will be a witness for you!
It is a mercy from Allah that He didn't say 'IN the prayer' because we are all guilty of that.
This ayah shows the hypocrisy of the believer and the hypocrisy of the kaafir. It's almost like 'don't leave the nawafil out of shame but don't make them to show off'. Go home and pray your nawafil so your kids can see.

وَيَمْنَعُونَ الْمَاعُونَ
And they withhold the small kindness (necessities)

Allah is talking about the crime against the people again. Allah doesn't separate the good towards Him and good towards the people.
ماعون
Can be something like zakat. The Sahaba said that Allah is asking very little from us - that which you can't possibly be cheap in BUT they are THAT cheap! They can't even see a smile on somebody's face. This is the hardness of the heart.

Teachings and Lessons

Two things that will keep your heart soft

1. How you pray
2. How much you give

The teacher concluded with: if our prayers are weak, that's a life project

All good is from Allah and all mistakes are from myself.