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lan tanfaʿakum ʾarḥāmukum wa-lā ʾawlādukum yawma l-qiyāmati yafṣilu baynakum wa-llāhu bi-mā taʿmalūna baṣīrun
Your relatives and children will not avail you on the Day of Resurrection: He will separate you [from one another], and Allah watches what you do.
— Ali Quli Qarai
Surah al-Mumtahana - Verse 3
The blessed Verse provides a response to people like Hatib ibn Abi Bulta‘a who replying to the Noble Prophet's (S) inquiry regarding the reason behind divulging the secrets of the Muslims to the polytheists said that they have relatives in hands of Meccan disbelievers and by divulging the intelligence they intended to preserve them. In this vein, the blessed Verse is saying that your relatives including your descendants will be of no avail to you since disbelieving relatives are neither regarded as fame, nor substance in this world nor a means of deliverance in the Hereafter. Why must believers embark upon certain measures which entail Divine Wrath and severance from His friends.
The blessed Verse further says that God Almighty will separate you and them on the Day of Resurrection. The believers and the disbelievers will tread the paths toward Hell and Paradise respectively substantiating the statement as per which relation ties shall be totally severed on the Day of Resurrection and they shall be of no avail to them. The contextual meaning of the blessed Verse resembles certain other Qur’anic Verses3:
The blessed Verse closes with reiterates the warning that God Almighty is All-Aware of what you do, your intentions, and your secret intentions.
Footnotes