وَتَأكُلونَ التُّراثَ أَكلًا لَمًّا

And you eat the inheritance rapaciously.

EXEGESIS

The noun turāth means heritage, inheritance, and legacy.^{‎[1]Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 1020.}

The verbal noun lamma, used here adjectivally and qualifying the word aklan, means: exhaustive, excessive.^{‎[2]Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 851.}

EXPOSITION

The critical tone continues in this verse, harshly reproaching the unjust consumption of inheritance. In light of the fact that the utilisation and consumption of one’s inheritance is legally valid and permissible and certainly not condemned, the exegetes have sought to explain the condemnation in this verse as being due to one or all of the following reasons:

1. This verse reproaches the use of one’s own inheritance along with that of others, which was said to be the understanding of Hasan al-Baṣrī.^{‎[3]Tabrisi, 10/739.} It involves unjustly appropriating other’s inheritance thereby mixing up legacies, the permissible with the impermissible, the right with the wrong, and the good with the evil.^{‎[4]Mizan, 19/284.} This interpretation has been suggested in light of the meaning of the word lamma, which means to gather and to put together. Such was the wont of the Arabs in the pre-Islamic era when the inheritance of women and children was denied them, being appropriated by the male members of the deceased,^{‎[5]Amthal, 19/189.} along with devouring the inheritance of the orphans (which was the understanding of Abū Muslim),^{‎[6]Irshād al-Adhhān, 1/599.} and that of the weak and lowly in society.^{‎[7]Tabrisi, 10/740.} Several stern refrains in the Quran against such practices (4:2, 4:10), as well as caution urged with respect to managing the wealth of orphans (4:6, 6:152, 17:34) may be indicative of the prevalence of such practices at that time.
2. The second potential interpretation suggested is that it refers to stinginess with respect to one’s inheritance, and refusing to spend of it on the poor and needy among the relatives and others.^{‎[8]Al-Balāgh fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bil-Qurʾān, p. 593, favours this explanation and adds 4:8 as evidence for it.} 4:8 brings this teaching to the fore, asking the legal heirs of a deceased to give those relatives of the deceased who are not legal heirs, the orphans, and the needy, something from the inheritance due to themselves if these were present at the time of the division of the inheritance. Thus 4:8 not only includes the orphans and the needy as beneficiaries of the inheritance, but also accommodates distant and remote relatives in the inheritance in a benevolent manner.

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. The Messenger of God said: ‘He who usurps someone’s land wrongfully will meet God [on the Day of Judgement] while He is wrathful towards him.’^{‎[9]Kanz, h. 30366.}
2. The Messenger of God said: ‘He who usurps the property of a believer has God abandon him, despising all the good and righteous deeds he performs, not recording them among his good deeds until and unless he repents and returns the property that he had wrongly seized to its rightful owner.’^{‎[10]ʿAwālī al-Laʾālī, 1/364, h. 56.}
3. Imam Ali (a) narrated: ‘The Messenger of God (s) asked me: “Ali, what will you do when people shall turn away from the hereafter, incline towards the world, consume the inheritance rapaciously [89:19], and love wealth with exceeding fondness [89:20], and when they make the religion of God into a lawless, corrupt jungle, and appropriate the wealth of God in the form of kingdom?” I replied: “I shall abandon them and what they will have chosen [for themselves] and instead I shall choose God, His Messenger, and the hereafter. I shall be patient in the face of problems and difficulties of the world till I meet you, God-willing.” So the Messenger of God said: “You have been guided,” and prayed, saying: “O God, fulfil that for him.”’^{‎[11]Furat, 1/555.}
4. Imam al-Bāqir (a) said: ‘How wretched is the slave [of God] who is a slave of his own greed which controls him.’^{‎[12]Kafi, 2/320, h. 2.}
5. Imam Ali (a) said: ‘No one is more despicable than a greedy person.’^{‎[13]Ghurar, h. 10953.}
6. Imam Ali (a) said: ‘The greedy person is shackled in disgrace.’^{‎[14]Nahj, saying 226.}
7. Imam Ali (a) said: ‘Greed is an eternal slavery.’^{‎[15]Nahj, saying 180.}

[1] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 1020.
[2] Arabic-English Dictionary of Qur’anic Usage, p. 851.
[3] Tabrisi, 10/739.
[4] Mizan, 19/284.
[5] Amthal, 19/189.
[6] Irshād al-Adhhān, 1/599.
[7] Tabrisi, 10/740.
[8] Al-Balāgh fī Tafsīr al-Qurʾān bil-Qurʾān, p. 593, favours this explanation and adds 4:8 as evidence for it.
[9] Kanz, h. 30366.
[10] ʿAwālī al-Laʾālī, 1/364, h. 56.
[11] Furat, 1/555.
[12] Kafi, 2/320, h. 2.
[13] Ghurar, h. 10953.
[14] Nahj, saying 226.
[15] Nahj, saying 180.