Transliteration:( Fa'budoo maa shi'tum min doonih; qul innal khaasireenal lazeena khasirooo anfusahum wa ahleehim yawmal qiyaamah; alaa zaalika huwal khusraanul mubeen )
"You may worship [43] what you like besides Him. Please declare: 'Surely they will be losers who ruin their own selves and their families on the Day of Resurrection. Yes, remember that it will be a clear loss [44].'"
This is not a permissive statement, but rather a severe rebuke.
Allah speaks in a tone of divine anger, much like a disheartened father telling his rebellious son, “Go, do what you want,” when all efforts at guidance are ignored.
It reflects disapproval, not consent—showing the depth of Allah’s dismay toward those who persist in polytheism after the truth has been made clear.
The verse describes the ultimate losers—those who destroy their own souls and families on the Day of Judgment.
Among disbelievers, the worst are those who not only reject faith themselves but also lead their family members into disbelief.
On the other hand, the most blessed believers are those who are righteous themselves and raise pious families.
The greatness of Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq (may Allah be pleased with him) is evident in this context:
He was a Companion, his parents were Companions, all his children were Companions, and even his grandchildren were Companions—four generations of believers.
Similarly, Hazrat Yusuf (peace be upon him) held the unique honour of being a Prophet among four generations of Prophets.
This verse reminds us that true success lies in preserving faith across generations, and the greatest loss is when one fails both himself and his family in the Hereafter.
The tafsir of Surah Az-Zumar verse 15 by Ibn Kathir is unavailable here.
Please refer to Surah Zumar ayat 13 which provides the complete commentary from verse 13 through 16.
(39:15) So serve, apart from Him, whomsoever you please.” Say: “Behold, the real losers shall be those who will have lost their own selves and their kith and kin on the Day of Resurrection. Behold, that is the obvious loss.[34]
34. Bankruptcy is loss of a person’s capital and failure of his business so that he is unable to pay his debts in full. This same metaphor Allah has used here for the disbelievers and polytheists, The sum total of whatever man has gotten in this worldly life, his intellect, body, powers, capabilities, means and opportunities is, in fact, the capital which he invests in the business of the worldly life. If a person invested all this capital on the hypothesis that there is no God, or that there are many gods, whose servant he is, and that he is not accountable to anyone, or that someone else will rescue him on Judgment Day, it would mean that he made a losing bargain and lost all his capital. This is his first loss. His second loss is that in everything that he did, on the basis of the wrong hypothesis, he went on wronging himself and many other men, and the coming generations and many other creatures of Allah, throughout his life. Thus, he got into countless debts, but has no money with which he may fully pay his debts. Over and above this, he has not only himself incurred this loss, but has caused the same loss to his children and near and dear ones and friends and fellow countrymen by his wrong education and training and wrong example. It is these three losses together which Allah has called khusran-i-mubin (utter bankruptcy) in this verse.
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