Surat Al-Ma'un (The Small Kindnesses)

Theme and Subject-Matter: The theme of this Surah is to point out what kind of morals a man develops when he refuses to believe in the Hereafter. In vv 2-3 the condition of the disbelievers, who openly deny the Hereafter, is described. In the last four verses, the state of those hypocrites who apparently are Muslims but do not believe in the Hereafter: the Day of Judgement, reward and the punishment, has been described. On the whole, the objective of depicting the attitude and conduct of two kinds of people is to stress the point that man cannot develop a strong, stable and pure character in himself unless he believes in the Hereafter Those people who offer Salah (prayers), but do not practice good behavior with other believers and neighbors, and do not provide a helping hand when they are needed to do so, have not understood the very reason for which congregational prayers are made obligatory. Therefore, it is pointed out that their prayers are nothing but a show and are not acceptable to Allah and such people may very well end up in the hellfire.