Al-Baqarah 2:265–270

In verse 265, the fifth under discussion, the acts of charity which are acceptable in the sight of Allah Almighty as valid spendings, have been illustrated with an example. It is said that those who spend in the way of Allah, solely and sincerely, to seek nothing but His pleasure, and thus fortify their selves with steadfastness, are in a situation where there is a fruit farm located on some mound, then it is hit by heavy rains, then it brings forth double of its usual yield. And should it be that the rain is not that heavy, a light drizzle would become sufficient for it and Allah Almighty sees and knows what you do.

Here the merits of spending in the way of Allah, surely with sincerity of intention, and obedience to conditions set, has been made clear through this similitude. The message is: Spending with good intention and sincerity, even if it be just a little, becomes enough and helps one receive the gains of the Hereafter.

In verse 266, the sixth under discussion, the statement, that صدقہ sadaqah can be rendered void and rejected if one acts against conditions set forth for the acceptance of charitable spendings, has been illustrated with yet another example. It was asked: Does anyone among you like that he owns a fruit farm, growing dates and grapes with streams flowing underneath, and trees laden with all sorts of fruits -- then comes old age for the owner and he has children and a family that can-not stand on their own. Under these conditions comes a whirlwind through the farm with fire in it and which burns the farm out. This is how Allah Almighty brings forth illustrative parallels so that you may think.

It means that spending in charity against given conditions is like hoping to be investing profusely in the Hereafter, but with Allah Almighty this investment comes to naught.

It may be noted that there are a series of qualifications added to this similitude-for instance, 'came his old age, he has children too and the children are young and weak.' These have a purpose. Isn't it that a person, if young, can look forward to having a new farm when his old farm burns out? Then, a person who has no children, and no hope to reactivate his burnt farm, he will not be so worried about his livelihood since a single man can get by even in adversity, one way or the other. Then there is the situation of one who has children, who are good and young with the hope that they would help the father out. In such a situation, a person is not that shocked even if his farm is burnt or plundered since he is free of the needs of his adult children who can themselves carry him through. In short, these three riding restrictions were introduced to describe the intensity of need when it was said that a person who spent his capital and labour and set up a fruit farm; the farm became ready and started yielding fruit as well. In this condition, came his old age and the days of weakness. Now this person has children and family. The children are very young and weak. Under these circumstances, should the farm he groomed burn out, his shock would be severe and the pain caused would be limitless.

Similarly one who has given his charity with hypocrisy is as if he set up a farm. Then came death after which his condition became equal to that of the old man who cannot earn his living and cannot set up the farm all over again. This is because human deeds cease to be after death. Similarly, an old man with children and family needs that his previous earnings be safe so that they can be used during old age. If, in this condition, his farm and his belongings burn out, there will be no limit to his pain and distress. Very much like this, the صدقہ sadaqah and khayrat خیرات ، the spendings in charity, which were made hypocritically or for self-promotion, will not come to help him exactly when he would need them most.

Summarising this whole verse, it could be said that ikhlas اخلاص or sincerity is one big condition governing the acceptance of صدقہ sadaqah and khayrat خیرات with Allah. This sincerity means that one should spend exclusively for the good pleasure of Allah Almighty without any admixture of self-promoting ends.

Now let us look at all the verses in this whole section once again. We shall discover that there are six conditions governing the acceptance, in the sight of Allah, of spendings in His way (صدقہ sadaqah صدقہ and khayrat خیرات ). These are:

1. Spend from halal حلال belongings.

2. Spend according to the prescribed practice (Sunnah).

3. Spend in proper place.

4. Do not remind of favour after having done it.

5. Do nothing to insult the receiver.

6. Spend with sincerity of intention, exclusively for the good pleasure of Allah Almighty, never doing it for the sake of name and fame.

The second condition, that is, spending according to Sunnah, means that one should be careful while spending in the way of Allah that rights due to someone may not be usurped. This is no act of thawab ثواب (reward) that one indulges in sadaqah صدقہ and khayrat خیرات (charity) by stopping or limiting the necessary expenses on his family without their assent. Depriving the needy inheritors and bequeathing the whole inheritance or giving out everything in sadaqah صدقہ and khayrat خیرات is against the teachings of Sunnah.

Then there are a thousand forms of spending in the way of Allah. The sunnah method requires that the place to spend must be selected carefully giving thought to involved factors of importance, need, urgency etc. Usually people who spend do not bring these into consideration.

The essence of the third condition is that spending at a place or in a cause with even good intention is not good enough. This will not suffice to make it an act of thawab ثواب . It is also necessary that the place or cause of spending should be permissible and commendable in the sight of the Shari'ah. If a person was to bequeath his property for impermissible games and amusements he would be deserving of ` adhab عذاب (punishment) rather than thawab ثواب (reward). This holds good for all other possible avenues of investment which are not desirable in the view of the Shari'ah.

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 يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنفِقُوا (الٰی قولہ) غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ:O those who believe, spend ... Allah is A11-Independent, Ever-Praised.'

On the basis of the circumstances in which this verse was revealed, the word: (tayyib: plural, tayyibat طَيِّبَاتِ ) 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 طَيِّبَ (good) to mean حلال halal (lawful) relying on the generality of the word since something is perfectly good only when it is حلال 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 ما کسبتم (you have earned) and اخرجنا (We have brought forth) do indicate that good things are available with the person making charity, while the sentence لَا تَيَمَّمُوا الْخَبِيثَ (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, ما کسبتم (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 hadith: اولادکم من طیب اسابکم فکلوا اموال اولادکم ھنیاً 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 اخرجنا (akhrajna: We have brought forth) in مِمَّا أَخْرَ‌جْنَا لَكُم مِّنَ الْأَرْ‌ضِ (What We have brought forth for you from the earth) hints that ` ushr عُشر is obligatory on 'ushri عُشری lands. Based on the generality of this verse, Imam Abu Hanifah (رح) has deduced that 'ushr is wajib واجب or obligatory on every produce, big or small, yielded by 'ushri land. The verse وَآتُوا حَقَّهُ يَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ (And pay the due thereof on the day of its harvest; 6:141) in Surah AI-An'am is open and clear in support of the obligatory nature of 'ushr.

'Ushr (عُشر : the tenth or twentieth part) and Kharaj خراج : 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 زکاۃ Zakah, for which reason, it is also called (zakah al-ard زکاۃ الارض : the زکاۃ Zakah of the land). Kharaj خراج 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 زکاۃ Zakah and 'Ushr -- زکاۃ 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 زکاۃ 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 خراج . These can be seen in books of Fiqh. Incidentally, this humble writer has discussed this subject in some details in his book, Nizam al-Ara-di نظام الاراضی which also contains special injunctions concerning lands in Pakistan and India.

(2) Verses 268-269: وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ‌ إِلَّا أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ الشَّيْطَانُ يَعِدُكُمُ الْفَقْرَ‌ (الٰی قولہ): "Satan 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 يُؤْتِي الْحِكْمَةَ مَن يَشَاءُ : "He gives wisdom to whom He wills." The word, الْحِكْمَةَ (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 البحر المحیط ، 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 حِكْمَةَ is the verbal noun of 'ihkam الاحکام (the first letter, hamzah ھمزہ with kasrah کسرہ ) which means 'to complete what is said or done with all its properties and requisites.'

This is why the verse وَآتَاهُ اللَّهُ الْمُلْكَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ : 'And Allah gave him the kingdom and the hikmah حکمہ ' (2:251) which concerns Sayyidna Dawud (علیہ السلام) ، was explained in al-Bahr al-Muhit in the following manner:

The real meaning of hikmah حکمہ is to place everything whereto it be-longs and this can only be accomplished ideally through prophethood. Therefore, hikmah حکمہ has been interpreted as prophethood here.

Imam Raghib al-Isfahani has said in Mufradat al-Qur'an: مفردات القرآن "When the word, hikmah حکمہ 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: راس الحکمہ خشیۃ اللہ that is, "the real wisdom is the fear of Allah". The word, hikmah in the verse يُعَلِّمُهُمُ الْكِتَابَ وَالْحِكْمَةَ (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 یوتَ الحکمہ (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 وَمَن يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِيَ خَيْرً‌ا كَثِيرً‌ا "And whoever is given wisdom is certainly given a lot of good" do hint in that direction as they mean that the hikmah حِكْمَةَ covers a lot of good. Allah knows best.

(4) Verse 270: وَمَا أَنفَقْتُم مِّن نَّفَقَةٍ (الی قولہ) وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنصَارٍ‌: "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 حلال halal (lawful) and good.

Similarly, all votive offerings (نذور : nudhur) come under the general purview of (nadhr نذر : singular: votive offering), for instance, it includes the nadhr نذر of monetary ` ibadah in accordance with which nadhr نذر has been introduced alongwith infaq (spending) and may also include nadhr نذر 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 الظَّالِمِينَ ) in the text refers to the unjust, the transgressors, who do not observe the necessary conditions. To them was given clear warning.