"O those who believe, spend of the good things you have earned and of what We have brought forth for you from the earth, and do not opt for a bad thing, spending only from there, while you are not going to accept it at all, unless you close your eyes to it. And know that Allah is All-Independent, Ever-Praised. Satan frightens you of poverty and bids you to indecency, and Allah promises you forgiveness from Him, and grace as well. And Allah is All-Embracing, All-Knowing. He gives wisdom to whom He wills. And whoever is given wisdom is certainly given a lot of good. And only the men of understanding do observe the advice. And whatever spending you do and whatever vow you make, Allah knows it all. And for the unjust, there are no supporters. If you make the alms open, it is good enough, and if you keep it secret and give it to the needy, it is far better for you. And this will write off part of your sins. And Allah is All-Aware of what you do. It is not for you to put them on the right path. Rather, Allah puts on the right path whom He wills. And whatever good you spend is for your own selves, and you shall not spend but to seek the pleasure of Allah. And whatever good you spend, shall be paid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged. (Let your charities be) for the needy who are confined in the way of Allah, unable to move about in the land. An ignorant person takes them to be rich on account of their abstinence. You know them by their appearance. They do not beg people importunately. And whatever good you spend, Allah is All-Aware of it. Those who spend their wealth night and day, secretly and openly, they have their reward with their Lord, and there is no fear for them, nor shall they grieve." (2:267-274)

Commentary

The preceding section dealt with spending in the way of Allah. Now further details related to this appear in the seven verses of the present section. These are as follows:

(1) Verse 267: 'O those who believe, spend ... Allah is All-Independent, Ever-Praised.'

On the basis of the circumstances in which this verse was revealed, the word: (tayyib: plural, tayyibat) has been interpreted to mean 'good' since some people used to bring things which were bad and that was why this verse was revealed. Some commentators have interpreted the word, tayyib (good) to mean halal (lawful) relying on the generality of the word since something is prefectly good only when it is halal (lawful) as well. So, according to this interpretation, the verse emphasizes that the thing given in charity must be from one's lawful income. However, according to the first interpretation, the stress on this condition will have to be proved by other sources. Let us remember that this is for a person who has something good yet elects to spend something not good as (you have earned) and akhrajna (We have brought forth) do indicate that good things are available with the person making charity, while the sentence (and do not opt for a bad thing spending only from there) proves the spending of something not good deliberately. As for the one who just does not possess anything good, he shall be exempted from this prohibition. His giving, even if it be bad, shall be accepted.
Some scholars have deduced from the expression, (what you have earned), the ruling that it is permissible for the father to eat out of the earnings of his son. This is based on a hadeeth:

"Your children are a good part of your earnings, so eat out of the income of your children cheerfully." (Qurtubi)

Injunctions Relating To The Lands Of 'Ushr

The word (akhrajna: We have brought forth) in (What We have brought forth for you from the earth) hints that 'ushr is obligatory on 'ushri lands. Based on the generality of this verse, Imam Abu Hanifah has deduced that 'ushr is wajib or obligatory on every produce, big or small, yielded by 'ushri land. The verse (And pay the due thereof on the day of its harvest; 6:141) in Surah Al-An'am is open and clear in support of the obligatory nature of 'ushr.

'Ushr (the tenth or twentieth part) and Kharaj (land tax) are two technical terms used in Islamic Shari'ah. There is a common factor between these two. Both have an aspect of tax in them when levied on lands by an Islamic state. However, there is a difference. 'Ushr is not just a tax. On the contrary, its real nature is more of an act of monetary 'Ibadah (worship) than tax. This is similar to Zakah, for which reason, it is also called (zakah al-ard: the zakah of the land). Kharaj is straight tax which carries no aspect of 'Ibadah. Since Muslims are capable of 'ibadah and are obligated to do that, the part of land-produce taken from them is known as 'Ushr. Since non-Muslims are not obligated with 'Ibadah, that which is levied on their lands is named Kharaj. There is another practical difference between Zakah and 'Ushr -- Zakah becomes due on gold, silver and goods of commercial value after the passage of one year while 'Ushr becomes obligatory immediately after the produce is harvested from the land.

There is yet another difference - 'Ushr is dropped if the land produces nothing, but Zakah remains obligatory at the end of the year on gold, silver and goods of commercial value even if there is no profit at all. This is not the place to discuss details relating to the problems of 'Ushr and Kharaj. These can be seen in books of Fiqh. Incidentally, this humble writer has discussed this subject in some details in his book, Nizam al-Aradi which also contains special injunctions concerning lands in Pakistan and India.

(2) Verses 268-269: "Shaytaan frightens you of poverty ... and only the men of understanding do observe the advice."

When a person is obsessed with the idea that spending in charity will cause him poverty, when he does not pick up the courage to go ahead and spend - even after hearing the warning of Allah Almighty -and continues feeling that he should not spend out of what he has, and when, turning away from the Divine promise, his mind takes him to rely on the promise of Satan, he should better be sure that this apprehension of his is being generated by Satan. He should never say that he has never seen Satan, so how could he take orders from him? Conversely, should he come to think that not only his sins will be forgiven by spending in charities, but also his wealth will be blessed with increase - he should then be sure that this thought has come from Allah for which he should be grateful to Him. Allah's treasure never runs short. He knows fully well - the open, the hidden, the intentions, the deeds - everything about everyone.

Al-Hikmah: Meaning And Explanation

(3) Verse 269: "He gives wisdom to whom He wills."

The word, (al-hikmah: wisdom) appears repeatedly in the Holy Qur'an, and at every place, its meaning has been explained differently. In Tafsir al-Bahr al-Muhit, all positions taken by commentators have been assembled at this point. These come to nearly thirty, however, towards the end it was said that all these positions are close together and there is no contradiction among them. The only difference is that of interpretations. The word, hikmah is the verbal noun of 'ihkam (the first letter, hamzah with kasrah) which means 'to complete what is said or done with all its properties and requisites.'

This is why the verse: 'And Allah gave him the kingdom and the hikmah' (2:251) which concerns Sayyidna Dawud (A.S), was explained in al-Bahr al-Muhit in the following manner: The real meaning of hikmah is to place everything whereto it be­longs and this can only be accomplished ideally thrdugh prophethood. Therefore, hikmah has been interpreted as prophethood here.

Imam Raghib al-Isfahani (ra) has said in Mufradat al-Qur'an: "When the word, hikmah is used for Allah Almighty, it denotes the comprehensive knowledge and solid creative excellence of all things; and when attributed to the non-Divine, it means the rightly-guided knowledge of what exists, and the action which corresponds to it.

This sense has been interpreted in different words. Somewhere it means, the Qur'an; elsewhere, the Hadith. Then at different places, it carries different meanings, such as "the authentic knowledge", "the righteous deed", "the True Word", "the wisdom", "the understanding of religion", "correctness of opinion" and "the fear of Allah". Incidentally, the last meaning appears in Hadith as well: , that is, "the real wisdom is the fear of Allah". The word, hikmah in the verse: (teaches them the Book and the wisdom - 3:164) has been explained as "Hadith and Sunnah" by the Sahabah and the Tabi'in (the Companions and the Successors). Some commentators hold the opinion that hikmah in the verse (whoever is given wisdom) under discussion covers all these things.

This is the more evident view; more so, since the words of the Qur'an : "And whoever is given wisdom is certainly given a lot of good" do hint in that direction as they mean that the hikmah covers a lot of good. Allah knows best.

(4) Verse 270: "And whatever spending you do ... and for the unjust, there are no supporters."

Here, "and whatever spending you do" covers all spendings - those in which all related conditions are observed and those too, in which all or some conditions are not observed. For instance, it may not be in the way of Allah but be in the ways of sin; or the act of giving may be mixed up with hypocrisy; or may be followed by making a show of the favour before the receiver; or it may not be halal (lawful) and good.

Similarly, all votive offerings (nudhur) come under the general purview of (nadhr: singular: votive offering), for instance, it includes the nadhr of monetary 'ibadah in accordance with which nadhr has been introduced alongwith infaq (spending) and may also include of physical 'ibadah. It may be absolute, or dependent on something else; or it may or may not have been fulfilled. The purpose of saying all this is that Allah Almighty knows all these things and He shall recompense for them duly. This was made known so that people are persuaded to observe limits and conditions and be warned of their non-observance. The word (al-zalimin) in the text refers to the unjust, the transgressors, who do not observe the necessary conditions. To them was given clear warning.

(5) Verse 271: "If you give the alms openly, it is good enough, ... and Allah is All-Aware of what you do".

Obviously, this verse covers all types of charity, whether obligatory or supererogatory, and it is more preferable to perform all of them as secretly as possible. To observe secrecy in a charitable act has religious merits, because it is far from the possibility of riya' (show off), and more graceful for the receiver who can feel shy about receiving charity in public. It is also beneficial from an earthly point of view, because it does not disclose the amount of wealth one owns.

It should, however, be kept in mind that the preferability of observing secrecy is a matter of principle. There may be situations where it becomes more preferable to perform an act of charity openly for some external reasons, such as removing some accusation (of not paying zakah, for instance) or to persuade others to follow the example. Such exceptional cases do not negate the basic principle in any way.

Immediately after the instruction of concealing the 'Sadaqat', the holy verse says, (This will write off part of your sins). It does not mean that the expiation of evil-deeds is confined to the charity made in secret only. In fact, a charity made in public also carries the same benefit. But the reference to expiation here is in the context that even if someone feels a secret charity as useless in this world, he should not feel depressed, because Allah will forgive his sins, and that is a great gain for him.

(6) Verse 272: "It is not for you to put them on the right path ... and you shall not be wronged."

It has been clarified in this verse that a sadaqah given to a non-Muslim also carries a reward in the life to come. As the basic purpose of a Muslim in making a sadaqah is to get that reward, he should not confine himself to giving it to the Muslims only and to avoid giving it to the poor non-Muslims in the hope that this attitude will persuade them towards Islam, because a Muslim is not charged with bringing non-Muslims to the right path. He should seek his own benefit (the reward in the Hereafter) which can also be achieved through giving sadaqah to a non-Muslim.

Let us be clear at this point that sadaqah referred to here is nafl (supererogatory or voluntary charity) which can be given to a dhimmi (a non-Muslim citizen of a Muslim state) as well. The obligatory Zakah is not meant here since it is not permissible to give that to anyone ex­cept a Muslim (Mazhari). It is not permissible to give any kind of sadaqah to a harbi (a non-Muslim citizen of a non-Muslim state) and, however, it is permissible to give the dhimmis all other types of sadaqat, obligatory or supererogatory. Zakah is not included in the verse.

(7) Verse 273: "For the needy who are confined in the way of Allah ... Allah is All-Aware of it'.'

Here the word, al-fuqara (the needy: those who need support for their physical sustenance) covers all those who cannot engage them­selves in other jobs because of their religious preoccupation.

"An ignorant person takes them to be rich on account of their abstinence."
This verse tells us that a faqir (the one who does not own the nisab of zakah) wearing expensive dress will not be taken as 'need-free' because of that. Instead, he would be regarded as faqir. Paying Zakah to such a person will be correct. (Qurtubi)

"You know them by their appearance." This tells us that it is correct to give rulings based on circumstancial evidence. For instance, if a dead body is found wearing zunnar (waist-cord which is a symbol of some pagan religions), and is uncircumcised, it will not be buried in the graveyard of Muslims. (Qurtubi)

"They do not beg people importunately." On the surface, this verse gives the sense that they do not solicit importunately but it does not negate soliciting without importunity, as is the actual interpretation of some commentators. But, in accordance with the consensus of commentators, it means that they just do not ask; (totally refrain from asking) (Qurtubi).

(8) Verse 274: "Those who spend their wealth night and day."

Presented in this verse is the great reward and excellence of those who are used to spending in the way of Allah. They are those who, under all conditions and circumstances, during the day and during the night, secretly and openly, keep spending in the way of Allah in all sorts of ways. By implication, it was also stated that there is no time fixed for charities, i.e., sadaqah and khayrat. There is no restriction of night or day. Similarly, spending in the way of Allah, secretly and openly, is an act of thawab both ways, however, the condition is that it should be done with sincerity (ikhlas), and not to earn name and fame. The excellence of spending secretly is limited to a situation where there be no pressing need to spend out openly; and where such a need does exist, spending there openly is certainly better.

Based on the authority of Ibn 'Asakir, there is a report in Ruh al-Ma'ani which says that Sayyidna Abu Bakr Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him spent forty thousand dinars in the way of Allah - making it ten thousand during the day, ten thousand during the night, ten thousand openly and ten thousand secretly. Some commentators have said that this very event related to Sayyidna Abu Bakr Radhi-Allahu Anh: Allah be pleased with him was the background of the revelation of this verse. There are other views also regarding the circumstances of its revelation. (Ma'ariful Qur'an)

» Posted by Seifeddine-M on 10th October 2011

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