Praise be to Allah Lord of the worlds, King of the Kings Owner of the skies and earth, may Allah Expand my chest, facilitate my matter and untie a knot in my tongue so they would understand what I say. Prayer and peace be upon our Messenger, leader and teacher Mohamed Ibn Abudllah, his household and companions.
Still with the Noble and glorious Quran, the more you surf this amazing book, the more you grow certain about its divinity and be taken by its outstanding language.
As we all know Allah Has numerous Names and Attributes, some of them are contained in Quran, others Allah taught some of His Creation, or Kept in the unknown knowledge to Himself. The use of those Divine Names and Attributes in Quran always makes me stop and ponder much Sobhan Allah. It is really amazing how Allah Uses them to just make a significant distinction between different situations in a miraculous manner.
Just review the following Ayahs with me:
“The likeness of those who spend their wealth in the Way of Allah, is as the likeness of a grain (of corn); it grows seven ears, and each ear has a hundred grains. Allah gives manifold increase to whom He pleases. And Allah is All-Sufficient for His creatures' needs, All-Knower.
“Those who spend their wealth in the Cause of Allah, and do not follow up their gifts with reminders of their generosity or with injury, their reward is with their Lord. On them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.
“Kind words and forgiving of faults are better than Sadaqah (charity) followed by injury. <b>And Allah is Rich (Free of all wants) and He is Most-Forbearing</b>.” (Quran 2:261- 263)
In the above mentioned Ayahs Allah Is addressing and encouraging to spend money in the name of Allah. It is a general donation not associated with an obligatory Zakat but rather in the way of Allah, for the sake of Allah, just to gain Allah’s Satisfaction. Then Allah Added another condition for the betterment of the act which is not to follow what they gave out for charity with any harm. This could be best explain as if one gives out charity for someone then talk to them in a disrespectful manner to brag about the help. Or make them feel low for receiving such help. Or make a comparison in also a degrading manner between him/herself and the receiptient. This is what Allah Meant by follow the charity with harm. The word in Arabic is adha which is not exactly physical injury but more like harm. To this effect Allah ends the subject with a further explanation that just the kind words and forgiving of faults is better than giving a sadaqa followed by harm. In some cases receiptients of the sadaqa are harsh in their attitude. Actually Allah Tests the giver to verify if one is giving the sadaq purely to Allah or not. In other words, if u give to please Allah or your self by choosing only those who are nice to u and give them. The real test is to give any one who is in dire need even if they are not really nice to u. Since this is the case Allah Had to remind the giver that He is Free of all wants, thus He is not in need of our sadaqa and also He is is Most-Forbearing. This Attribute is the one we need to handle a situation like the one I explained. Allah reminded us with this attribute for us to use when we give sadaqa not to fall into the problem of following the sadaqa with a harmful behaviour and also for the receiptient to put up with such a situation if it even happens. Sobhan Allah.
“O you who believe! Spend of the good things which you have (legally) earned, and of that which We have produced from the earth for you, and do not aim at that which is bad to spend from it, (though) you would not accept it save if you close your eyes and tolerate therein. And know that <b>Allah is Rich (Free of all wants), and Worthy of all praise.” (Quran 2:267)</b>
While in this Ayah, although Allah also ended up the sentence using the same Attribute Being Rich (Free of all wants) but in this case He coupled it with the other Attribute that He Is Worthy of all praise. Why what is the difference although both Ayahs address the spending in the name of Allah? In this Ayah Allah Is reminding the giver to spend from the best of what they earned and what Allah made grow for them from earth. It is a reminder of Allah’s bounties on the person, not to think that he /she is giving out of their own pocket but rather from Allah’s bounties. Allah also warned the giver not to give out what they themselves would not take for being bad. Because of all these circumstances, Allah here is the Rich Who Owns every thing but also Worthy of all praise for what He gave us. Sobhan Allah. The usage of only one different Attribute here made a clear distinction between the two situations. Allah u Akbar.
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