To give only good things in charity, Charity enhances bounties of God, God knows every charity and vow we make, Persons who deserve to receive charity.

Al-Baqarah Verses 267 – 273

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْفِقُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ وَمِمَّا أَخْرَجْنَا لَكُمْ مِنَ الْأَرْضِ ۖ وَلَا تَيَمَّمُوا الْخَبِيثَ مِنْهُ تُنْفِقُونَ وَلَسْتُمْ بِآخِذِيهِ إِلَّا أَنْ تُغْمِضُوا فِيهِ ۚ وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ

“O’ ye who believe! Give in charity out of (only) the good things which ye have earned and of that which we have produced for you from the earth and (even) aim not at the bad things to spend thereof (in charity); while ye yourselves would not accept it except that ye connive at it; and know ye, God is Self-Sufficient, Praiseworthy” (2:267).

الشَّيْطَانُ يَعِدُكُمُ الْفَقْرَ وَيَأْمُرُكُمْ بِالْفَحْشَاءِ ۖ وَاللَّهُ يَعِدُكُمْ مَغْفِرَةً مِنْهُ وَفَضْلًا ۗ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ

“The Satan threatened! you with poverty and enjoineth on you sordidness, whereas God promiseth you pardon from Him and grace; And verily God is Omniscient, All-Knowing” (2:268).

يُؤْتِي الْحِكْمَةَ مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۚ وَمَنْ يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِيَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا ۗ وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلَّا أُولُو الْأَلْبَابِ

“He granteth wisdom to whomsoever He willeth, and he who hath been granted wisdom hath been given abundant good; and none shall mind it save those endowed with wisdom” (2:269).

وَمَا أَنْفَقْتُمْ مِنْ نَفَقَةٍ أَوْ نَذَرْتُمْ مِنْ نَذْرٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ يَعْلَمُهُ ۗ وَمَا لِلظَّالِمِينَ مِنْ أَنْصَارٍ

“And whatever alms ye give or whatever vow ye make, Verily God knoweth it; but for the unjust there shall be no helpers” (2:270).

إِنْ تُبْدُوا الصَّدَقَاتِ فَنِعِمَّا هِيَ ۖ وَإِنْ تُخْفُوهَا وَتُؤْتُوهَا الْفُقَرَاءَ فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَكُمْ ۚ وَيُكَفِّرُ عَنْكُمْ مِنْ سَيِّئَاتِكُمْ ۗ وَاللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ

“And if ye give alms openly (even so) it is well, and if ye hide it and give it to the poor, it will be better still for yourselves; and (it) will remove from you some of your sins, and verily God is aware of all that ye do” (2:271).

لَيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَاهُمْ وَلَٰكِنَّ اللَّهَ يَهْدِي مَنْ يَشَاءُ ۗ وَمَا تُنْفِقُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلِأَنْفُسِكُمْ ۚ وَمَا تُنْفِقُونَ إِلَّا ابْتِغَاءَ وَجْهِ اللَّهِ ۚ وَمَا تُنْفِقُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنْتُمْ لَا تُظْلَمُونَ

“Not on thee (O’ Our Apostle Muhammad!) is incumbent their guidance, but (nay!) God guideth aright whomsoever He willeth; and whatever good thing ye spend (in charity) shall be for your own selves; and ye give not except seeking the pleasure of God; and whatever ye shall spend of good, shall be rendered back to you (in full) and ye shall not be wronged” (2:272).

لِلْفُقَرَاءِ الَّذِينَ أُحْصِرُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ ضَرْبًا فِي الْأَرْضِ يَحْسَبُهُمُ الْجَاهِلُ أَغْنِيَاءَ مِنَ التَّعَفُّفِ تَعْرِفُهُمْ بِسِيمَاهُمْ لَا يَسْأَلُونَ النَّاسَ إِلْحَافًا ۗ وَمَا تُنْفِقُوا مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ بِهِ عَلِيمٌ

“(Charity is) for those poor that are besieged in the path of God and thereby prevented from moving about in the land the ignorant thinketh them to be rich for their Self-Control (from begging) thou wouldst recognise them by their Countenance, they beg not of men importunately; and whatever of good things ye give in charity, verily God fully knoweth of it” (2:273).

Commentary

Verse 267

This is a warning against the usual practice of the rich and the wealthy ones, who give away as charity their rejected and unwanted stuff. (A.P.)

Verse 268

‘Fahsha’ ordinarily means indecency. Here meaning niggardliness or tenaciousness (bukhl) to mean that one should be as much ashamed of it as for indecent conduct.

This is a warning as well as an attempt to raise the mentality of the rich and the wealthy, who refrain from charity fearing poverty, while they indulge freely in all sorts of waste, vices and licentiousness calling it the enjoyment of life.

The fear of ‘Fakhr’ (i.e. poverty) i.e. niggardliness and ‘Fahsha’ i.e., both are devilish tendencies, the outcome of narrow selfishness, while the expectation of forgiveness and grace are commended as godly. This lofty character of avoiding the Satanic temptations and seeking God’s blessings and grace, is an outstanding specimen of theoretical and practical wisdom. (A.P.)

Verse 269

‘Wisdom’ - The word wisdom, as used in this verse does not mean as in English something purely predominantly intellectual. It implies the best knowledge seeking to act with fullness and soundness of one’s own conscience. True knowledge is spiritual illumination or divine guidance worked through the grace of God as and when the necessity for it occurs. This being the active result of the constant seeking for it by man from the All-Wise and the Almighty. The highest kind of this unique gift is revelation through divine agency which is conferred upon the divinely chosen and the purified ones1. It is a matter easily conceivable by simple common sense that every bit of iron cannot bear or resist the charge of the electrical energy to get its heat to convert it to light and reflect it to the others. Only a specially purified and a purposefully conditioned metal can do it.

Humanity could never have had the necessary guidance for its existence without the guidance from its Creator Lord, and He created some of His chosen beings. Himself purifying them and conditioning them to fit to be charged with the special gifts of His Knowledge and Wisdom. The souls that were called the apostles who were created for the purpose of the guidance of man in his primitive stages of life yet to be developed, had come and played their role as best as they could and had gone.

Now that man had reached the stage of the progressive evolution of his intellect, fit to be initiated to the higher spheres of knowledge and wisdom, and now for the guidance of man were needed some specially purified souls duly conditioned to serve the higher purpose in the far improved conditions. The Holy Prophet, the Last of the Apostles of God, had to convey the final message of Guidance from the All-Merciful Lord and with him, the apostleship had to conclude its mission. With the conclusion of the apostleship there was the need to make provision for the security or the preservation of the revealed truth in its originality against corruption and the source of guidance towards it and its correct availing in the practical life. As the world has yet to continue, there would remain the necessity for humanity to be guided aright towards the last message in its purity as delivered by the Last Apostle of God against Satan’s devices to lead men astray.

The divine grace of the All-Merciful, Almighty had in His merciful plan, the institution of Imamat i.e., the apostolic guidance through His own chosen guides who shall not be ‘Rasools’ or ‘Nabis’ i.e., Apostles or Prophets but ‘Imams’ i.e. Guides, towards what the Last Apostle had said and himself acted. This divine plan to send the Last Apostle with the most advanced knowledge and wisdom, to convey the final message along with the provision for the continuance of the divine guidance to the last day of the life of the world, through the institution of Imamat, could not naturally have been enacted without the personnel fit for the purpose. It needed specially purified and purposefully conditioned souls. Hence, the All-Wise, Almighty created the ‘Ahl Al-Bayt,’ The People of The Holy House, ‘with the purity needed for the purpose of their mission’. Holy Qur’an 33:33.

It has been left to the independent choice or the responsibility of every individual seeker after truth, to know these divine agencies of true guidance and be guided aright, or to reject them and get astray. The right way has been shown to man for all times.

إِنَّا هَدَيْنَاهُ السَّبِيلَ إِمَّا شَاكِرًا وَإِمَّا كَفُورًا

“Verily, We have shown him (man) the way, be he (man) grateful or ungrateful.’’ (76:3)

Verse 270

‘Nazr’, a vow, a voluntary undertaking of an act of virtue as binding one’s self in gratitude for some special favour prayed for.

‘God knoweth it’ i.e. appreciates it to reward it, over and above the grant of the favour prayed for.

The last words of the verse are applicable to those who obstruct charity and righteousness.

Verse 271

It is reported that the Holy Prophet had so much insisted on charity being given in secret so that “One hand knoweth not what giveth the other” that people could have doubted about charity given in public being of any worth or having any reward at all. This verse clears the position saying that the giving of charity in open is no doubt well but giving it in secret is better.

The Bible says:

“Take heed that ye do not give your alms before men, to be seen of them’. Otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven”2

This sounds very well but charity in open is barred altogether and deprived of any reward or any return at all. Mark that giving of any help for any cause of public utility or national security or welfare, has no place at all, for the help rendered to public institutions has always to be acknowledged by the men in charge of the management and it can never remain a secret at all, for none else to know. Whereas note the Qur’anic teachings, taking into consideration the ever-varying circumstances of the human society and enjoining public as well as private charity, exhorting to be modest by keeping charity as secret as far as possible. Sometimes charity has to be given in open to encourage others to follow the example.

“The words ‘yu Kaffir ankum’ - in this verse clearly indicate that there are some virtues like charity mentioned here that entitle the doer to his sins being erased or taken away from his personal accounts.

It is reported of the 6^th Holy Imam Ja’far As-Sadiq that the Holy Prophet said that:

“Charity in secret quiets the wrath of God and takes away one’s sin as the water puts out the fire and keeps away seventy kinds of calamities”

It has also been reported of the Holy Prophet having declared that:

“Seven persons shall have refuge in God When there shall be no refuge but God alone”

1. The just ruler or an impartial judge.

2. The man brought up in virtue.

3. The man attached to the place of worship and loves and helps the worshippers.

4. The man loves people and hates them only for the cause of God.

5. The man whom a beautiful woman invites to her (illegally), and he replies, ‘I fear the Lord.’

6. The man who gives away charity (in secret) by one hand and his other hand knows it not.

7. The man who prays to the Lord in secret and sheds tears for fear of the Lord.

It is pointed out that there is no difference in giving charity openly or hidden, as what is accounted is the intention which cannot be known to anyone but God. (A.P.)

Verse 272

The opening words of the verse clearly speak of the general policy of Islam which is never to force its guidance upon anyone. It is quite obvious that every endeavour on the part of the Holy Prophet and Muslim Society under him, was just the defence against the unprovoked aggression from the enemies of Islam and the Muslims, and never to force anyone to accept the religion against his individual and independent will.

The ordinance that charity should not be restricted only to an individual, but it should extend to the general use of the common welfare of the society as a whole and for the amelioration of the public in general3.

It is for this purpose a portion of the ‘Zakat’ and the ‘Khums’ money has necessarily to be spent, only at the direction of some ‘Mujtahid.’ The ‘Mujtahid’ is entitled to collect such a portion and see it is spent for the general benefit of the society or the public as a whole.

If charity towards the unbelievers is expected to bring out healthy results of turning their hearts from infidelity to faith in God, from the falsehood of their belief in false and imaginary deities to truth i.e., Islam, then the charity for the purpose is commendable.

It is also clearly stated that whatever one spends in charity, it is for one’s own benefit as whatever one spends will be returned to him in full with the reward added to it. Hence one who does charity does not in fact oblige anyone but his own self.

Verse 273

The people who deserve the first consideration for charity, are those who are confined in service to the cause of truth i.e. in the way of God. Among them are.

1. Those engaged in fighting in the defence of the faith and the faithful.

2. Those who cannot go on trade owing to the insecurity in the journey and the constant attacks from the enemy.

3. Those wounded and disabled in the defensive battles.

4. And those who are actually in imperative wants of life but do not openly beg or pest anyone with their begging, whom the fools take to be rich enough for not begging or giving vent to their needs.

This passage excludes the professional beggars from being entitled to any share in the charity mentioned here.

This verse while qualifying or including the needy who do not ask for anything, in the list of those who deserve charity, indirectly condemns open beggary. Islam abhors begging and honours and appreciates concealing the personal needs and appearing outwardly as quite content.

‘Dharban fil’ actually means here as journeying in the land, seeking sustenance for his wife, (family).

Palmer obviously misinterprets the word ‘Dharb’ as striking or beating with the ulterior motive of spreading wrong information about Islam and the Muslims.

• 1. Vide 33:33.
• 2. Math. 6/1.
• 3. Vide Verse 60:8.