Kindness All Around
\r\n Al-Nisa (Women) - Chapter 4: Verse 36
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"Worship God alone and do not associate with Him any partners. Be kind to your parents and near of kin, to orphans, the needy, the neighbour who is related to you and the neighbour who is a stranger, the friend by your side, the wayfarer, and those whom your right hands possess. God does not love those who are arrogant and boastful."
The first commandment is to worship God, which is followed by a prohibition of worshipping anyone other than Him. This is a total and absolute prohibition of all sorts of worship which man has practised in all ages and communities.
\r\nThis is followed by a commandment to extend kindness to parents in particular and relatives in general. We also note in this verse, as in many others, that Divine directives begin by emphasizing the need to be kind to one's relatives before widening their concern to include all those who need to be looked after in society or in humanity at large. Compassion towards others begins at home, in one's own immediate family. A person who has not shown compassion towards his family, hardly ever shows compassion towards others.
\r\nThis commandment to extend our kindness to all these groups is followed by a comment which denounces conceit and arrogance, miserliness, suppression of God's favours, boastfulness and showing off. All these are attributes to one basic cause, namely, lack of faith in God and the Day of Judgement.
\r\nCompiled From:
\r\n \"In the Shade of The Quran\" - Sayyid Qutb, Vol 3, pp. 144-147