Surah Maryam, Ayah 80

Refuting the Disbelievers Who claim that They will be given Wealth and Children in the Hereafter

Imam Ahmad reported from Khabbab bin Al-Aratt that he said, "I was a blacksmith and Al-" ®256؛لs bin Wa'il owed me a debt. So I went to him to collect my debt from him. He said to me, `No, by Allah, I will not pay my debt to you until you disbelieve in Muhammad ﷺ.' I replied to him, `No, by Allah, I will not disbelieve in Muhammad ﷺ until you die and are resurrected again.' He then said to me, `Verily, if I die and am resurrected, and you come to me, I will also have abundance of wealth and children and I will repay you then.' Then, Allah revealed these Ayat,

أَفَرَأَيْتَ الَّذِى كَفَرَ بِـَايَـتِنَا وَقَالَ لأوتَيَنَّ مَالاً وَوَلَداً

وَنَرِ‌ثُهُ مَا يَقُولُ

"And We will inherit from him what he is talking about" - 19:80.

It is foolish of him to talk about retaining his wealth and children in the Hereafter because he will have to leave behind even these things which he possesses in this world, and his wealth and children will all revert to Allah Ta’ ala.

وَيَأْتِينَا فَرْ‌دًا

"And he.will come to Us all alone" - 19:80.

And on the Day of Judgment he will appear in God's presence one without his wealth and his children.

When a man acquires a certain amount of wealth and power, he develops a misplaced self-confidence, says things he should not and behaves in a manner that ill befits his true position. An incident, which occurred in Makkah, illustrates behaviour of this kind. ‘As ibn Wa’il, a pagan chief of Makkah, owed some money to one Khabbab ibn al-Arat. When the latter demanded his money back, ‘As ibn Wa’il promised to repay the amount if Khabbab disowned allegiance to Muhammad. The latter answered: ‘I will never disown Muhammad, even if you were to die and be born again.’ Hearing this, ‘As ibn Wa’il, answered that when he was born again, and possessed wealth and progeny, then he would repay the amount. All this is false self-confidence and an empty boast, which are of no avail to anybody.