وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّمَا أَمْوَالُكُمْ وَأَوْلَادُكُمْ فِتْنَةٌ وَأَنَّ اللَّـهَ عِندَهُ أَجْرٌ‌ عَظِيمٌ ﴿28﴾(And be aware that your wealth and your children are but a trial and that with Allah there is a great reward).

The word: فِتنَہ (fitnah) used here carries the sense of 'trial' as well as that of 'punishment.' Then, such things as become the cause of punishment are also referred to as fitnah.' In different verses of the Qur'an, 'fitnah' has been used to carry these three meanings. At this place, there is room for all three. There are occasions when one's own property and children become a can of troubles for him and that they would push him into negligence and disobedience and become the very cause of punishment right here in this world is all too obvious. Firstly, the sense could be that Allah aims to put you to test through your property and children for these are His blessings. Now, you prove whether you become grateful and obedient after having received these, or that you choose to be ungrateful and disobedient. Also possible is the second, even the third meaning, that is, should you become all engrossed in your love for your property and children and bring upon yourself the displeasure of Allah, then, these very children and property will become your punishment. There are occasions within this mortal world when one is engulfed into all sorts of hardships because of property and children and he starts experiencing the heat of punishment right here. Even if the case be otherwise, it stands settled that the property which was acquired or spent by ways counter to the injunctions of Allah Ta` ala will itself become, in the Hereafter, the active agent of punishment through snakes, scorpions and brandings by fire - as stated clearly in several verses of the Qur'an and numerous narrations of the Hadith. Finally, the third meaning is that these things become the cause of punishment. As pointed out a little earlier, it is quite evident that once these things become the cause of heedlessness towards and disobedience to Allah Ta` ala and His injunctions, they automatically become the cause of punishment. At the end of the verse (28), it was said: وَأَنَّ اللَّـهَ عِندَهُ أَجْرٌ‌ عَظِيمٌ (and that with Allah there is a great reward). In other words, one should understand clearly that for a person who is not all-subdued by his love for property and children while doing his duty of being obedient to the commands of Allah and His Rasul, there is a great reward for him with Allah.

As for the thematic content of this verse, it applies to all Muslims, but the cause of its revelation, according to the majority of commentators, is the event relating to Sayyidna Abu Lubabah ؓ as it came to pass during the battle of Banu Qurayzah. As reported, the Holy Prophet ﷺ and the noble Companions ؓ kept the fort of Banu Qurayzah under siege for twenty one days which compelled them to make the request that they be allowed to leave their homeland and go to Syria. In view of their wickedness, he did not accede to their 'request. Instead, he said that the only option of peace open to them was that they should now agree to whatever decision Sayyidna Sa'd ibn Mu` adh رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہ gave in their case. Thereupon, they requested that Sayyidna Abu Lubabah ؓ be entrusted with this duty in place of Sayyidna Sa'd ibn Mu` adh ؓ . The reason was that the family and property of Sayyidna Abu Lubabah رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہ were located in the Banu Qurayzah area. He, they thought, would take a lenient attitude in their case. The Holy Prophet ﷺ sent Sayyidna Abu Lubabah ؓ as they requested. When he reached there, men and women from Banu Qurayzah assembled around him and started crying. They asked: If we were to surrender at the command of the Holy Prophet and come out of the fort, would he be lenient to us? Sayyidna Abu Lubabah ؓ knew that leniency was not the settled policy in this matter. However, it was partly because of their wailing and plaint and partly because of his own love and concern for his family and children that he passed his hand sword-like over his neck giving the signal that they shall be slaughtered. Thus, as one would say, he disclosed the secret of the Holy Prophet ﷺ .

The consideration of property and the love of children and family made him do what he did. But, he was immediately alerted to what had happened. He realized that he had committed a breach of trust reposed in him by the Holy Prophet ﷺ . When he returned from there, he was so overwhelmed by his sense of shame that he, rather than return to his master, went straight to his Masjid and it was a pillar of the Masjid that he tied himself to swearing that he will stay tied like that until his taubah (repentance) was accepted, even if he were to die in that condition. So, for seven full days he stood there tied like that. His wife and daughter used to attend to him. They would untie him so that he could take care of his human compulsions and make his Salah. When he had done that, they would tie him again. He would usually avoid eating and drinking, so much so that he would faint out of weakness.

When the Holy Prophet ﷺ got this news initially, he said: If he had come to me first, I would have sought forgiveness for him and his taubah would have been accepted. Now that he has gone through this act of his, there is nothing left but to wait for the revela-tion of the Divine acceptance of his taubah. So, it was after seven days when, late at night, these verses relating to the acceptance of his taubah were revealed. Some Sahabah gave him the good news and reached out to untie him from the pillar. But, he said: Until such time that the Holy Prophet ﷺ would not decide to untie me, I would not prefer to be untied. Thus, when he came into the Masjid at the time of the Fajr Salah, he untied him with his own blessed hands. The real cause of the revelation of the cited verse which contains the prohibition of becoming overwhelmed by the concern and love for property and children and not fulfilling the trust of Allah is as stated above. Allah knows best.