NusariAAu lahum fee alkhayrati bal la yashAAuroon (surah Muminun: 56)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(23:56) We are solicitous for their welfare? Nay, they do not understand the reality of the matter. *50

Nusaari`u lahum fil khairaat; bal laa yash`uroon

*50) This question has been posed as a proof of the main theme of the Surah. It is meant to remove their misconception of "success", "welfare" and "prosperity", which the disbelievers had formed to delude themselves. According to them, the one, who enjoyed the good things of life and wielded power and influence in the society, had attained "success". On the other hand, the one who was deprived of these things was a "failure" . This misconception had involved " them in another serious misunderstanding. They thought that the one who had attained "success" was in the right, and the beloved of Allah. Otherwise, how could he have attained all the "successes"? On the contrary, the one who was apparently deprived of these things was surely wrong in his creed and erroneous in his deeds, and was under the wrath of God (or gods). As this misconception is one of the greatest deviations of the materialists, the Qur'an has stated it and refuted it in different ways at different places and made the reality plain. For instance, see A1-Baqarah (II): 126, 212, Al-A'araf (VII): 32, At-Taubah (IX): 55, 69, 85, Yunus (X):17, Hud (XI) :3, 27-31, 38-39, Ar-Ra`d (XIII): 26, Al-Kahf (XVIII): 28, 32-43, 103-105, Maryam (XIX):77-80, Ta Ha (XX): 131-132, Al-Anbiya` (XXI) :44 along with the relevant E.N.'s. In order to remove the above-mentioned misconceptions one should keep in view the following:
(1) "Success" is a far higher thing than the material prosperity and the transitory success of an individual, community or nation
(2) It is absolutely wrong to consider "prosperity" and "success" as a criterion of truth and _falsehood.
(3) It should be noted well that this world is a place of test and trial and not a place of reward and retribution. It is true that even in this world, sometimes there is some punishment or reward, but it is on a very limited scale, and even in this, there is an aspect of the test. Therefore it is an utter folly to consider material "success" and "prosperity" to be a proof that the recipient is in the right and so the beloved of the Lord, and vice versa. Moreover, the tests and trials of individuals and communities are of many varieties and a seeker after truth must understand at the outset that the worldly "success" or "failure" of the people is not the result of ultimate reward or punishment and cannot be regarded as the criterion for the right or wrong creed, morals and actions and a sign of being the beloved of God or otherwise.'
(4) One must have a firm belief that truth and righteousness will ultimately gain victory over falsehood and wickedness. As regards the criterion of truth and falsehood and right and wrong, one must judge this in the light of Revelations and teachings of the Messengers, because common sense confirms the same, and it is also supported by the general conception which mankind has always had of good and evil.
(5) As a corollary of the above, it would have become clear that according to the Qur'an (and this is confirmed by common sense), the conception of "reward" and "punishment" should also be different from the common one. For instance, if a wicked person or community is enjoying "prosperity", it is not a reward of its evil deeds but a harder test for it, and it is not a blessing but the wrath of AIIah. It means that Allah has decided to punish the "prosperous people" with a severe scourge. On the other hand, if the righteous people are suffering from hardships and afflictions, it is not a punishment from Allah but a blessing in disguise to pass them through the "fire" to remove impurity, if any, from the pure gold. If this hard trial is a blessing for the righteous people, it is a test for the wicked people to give them a severe punishment for the persecution of the former.