Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:195
And spend in the way of Allah and do not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction [by refraining]. And do good; indeed, Allah loves the doers of good.
Important: The Arabic source text is always authoritative. This translation is a study aid and has not been verified by scholars — do not use it as a basis for religious proof or for deriving rulings (ahkam). When in doubt, always consult the Arabic text and a qualified scholar.
The explanation of the words of the Exalted: وَأَنْفِقُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلا تُلْقُوا بِأَيْدِيكُمْ إِلَى التَّهْلُكَةِ وَأَحْسِنُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ (195) ("And spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands, and do good; truly, Allah loves those who do good.") (2:195)
Abū Jaʿfar said: The exegetes differ concerning the interpretation of this verse, and concerning who is meant by His words: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands."
Some of them said: what is meant by this is: "and spend in the way of Allah" — and "the way of Allah" is His path along which He has commanded marching out against His enemy among the polytheists (mushrikīn) to wage jihād against them and to fight them — "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands": He says: and do not abandon spending in the way of Allah, for Allah will recompense you for it with a reward and will also soon (in this life) provide for you.
* Mention of who said this:
3144 — Abū al-Sāʾib Salm ibn Junāda and al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa related to me; they both said: Abū Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: that means: in abandoning spending.
3145 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to me; he said: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us; he said: Shuʿba related to us = and Ibn al-Muthannā related to us; he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Abū Wāʾil, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa = and Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-ʿAsqalānī related to me; he said: Ādam related to us; he said: Abū Jaʿfar al-Rāzī related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash = and Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us; he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us; he said: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim = all of them, on the authority of Shaqīq, on the authority of Ḥudhayfa, who said: it is the abandoning of spending in the way of Allah.
3146 — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us; he said: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us; he said: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās, that he said concerning this verse: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: spend in the way of Allah, even if you have nothing but a mishqaṣ — or: an arrow — Shuʿba is the one who is uncertain about this.
3147 — Ibn al-Muthannā related to us; he said: Ibn Abī ʿAdī related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ — the one from whom al-Kalbī transmitted — on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: even if you have nothing but an arrow or a mishqaṣ, spend it.
3148 — Ibn Bashshār related to me; he said: Yaḥyā related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: in spending.
3149 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us; he said: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr ibn Abī Qays, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: destruction is not that the man be killed in the way of Allah, but it is the refraining from spending in the way of Allah.
3150 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me; he said: Hushaym related to us; he said: Ismāʿīl ibn Abī Khālid informed us, on the authority of ʿIkrima, who said: it was revealed concerning the expenditures in the way of Allah, namely His words: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands."
3151 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us; he said: Ibn Wahb related to us; he said: Abū Ṣakhr informed me, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Kaʿb al-Quraẓī, that he used to say concerning this verse: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: the people were on their way in the way of Allah, and a man would provide himself with provisions, and he had better provisions than the other. The poor man would spend from his provisions until nothing of his provisions remained, because he wished to support his companion. Then Allah revealed: "and spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands."
3152 — Muḥammad ibn Khalaf al-ʿAsqalānī related to me; he said: Ādam related to us; he said: Shaybān related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr ibn al-Muʿtamir, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, the freedman of Umm Hāniʾ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His words: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: let none of you say: 'I find nothing'; if he finds nothing but a mishqaṣ, let him equip himself with it in the way of Allah.
3153 — Ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā al-Ṣanʿānī related to us; he said: al-Muʿtamir related to us; he said: I heard Dāwūd — namely Ibn Abī Hind — on the authority of ʿĀmir: that some of the Anṣār were withheld some means of livelihood, while they had already made expenditures; he said: then they formed an evil suspicion and held back. He said: then Allah revealed: "and spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands"; he said: and the destruction was their evil suspicion and their holding back.
3154 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me; he said: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us; he said: ʿĪsā related to us = and al-Muthannā related to me; he said: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us; he said: Shibl related to us = on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid concerning the words of Allah: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: the fear of poverty restrains you from a due expenditure.
3155 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us; he said: Yazīd related to us; he said: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His words: "and spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: and Qatāda used to relate that al-Ḥasan had related to him: that they would travel and go out on campaign, but would not spend of their wealth — or he said: but would not spend therein — and Allah commanded them to spend on their campaigns in the way of Allah.
3156 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us; he said: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda concerning His words: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he says: do not hold back your hands from spending in the way of Allah.
3157 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me; he said: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us; he said: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and spend in the way of Allah" = spend in the way of Allah, even if it be only a halter-rope = "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands" — by saying: I have nothing.
3158 — Al-Muthannā related to me; he said: Abū Ghassān related to us; he said: Zuhayr related to us; he said: Khuṣayf related to us, on the authority of ʿIkrima concerning His words: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: when Allah commanded spending, they said — or some of them said —: we spend, and then our wealth is lost and nothing remains for us! He said: then He said: spend and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands, He said: spend, for I will provide for you.
3159 — Al-Muthannā related to me; he said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us; he said: Hushaym related to us, on the authority of Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, who said: it was revealed concerning spending.
3160 — Al-Muthannā related to me; he said: Isḥāq related to us; he said: Ibn Hammām al-Ahwāzī informed us; he said: Yūnus informed us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning "the destruction," he said: Allah commanded them to spend in the way of Allah and informed them that the abandoning of spending in the way of Allah is the destruction.
3161 — Al-Qāsim related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us; he said: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, who said: I asked ʿAṭāʾ concerning His words: "and spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: He says: spend in the way of Allah, little or much — he said: and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr said to me: it was revealed concerning spending in the way of Allah.
3162 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us; he said: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of Manṣūr, on the authority of Abū Ṣāliḥ, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, who said: let the man not say: I find nothing, I am ruined! But let him equip himself, even if only with a mishqaṣ.
3163 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me; he said: my father related to me; he said: my uncle related to me; he said: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His words: "and spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he says: spend whatever there is, little or much. And do not surrender yourselves and refrain from spending anything, lest you perish.
3164 — Al-Muthannā related to me; he said: Isḥāq related to us; he said: Abū Zuhayr related to us, on the authority of Juwaybir, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, who said: "the destruction": that the man withholds himself and his wealth from spending in the jihād in the way of Allah.
3165 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Wāḥid ibn Ziyād related to us, on the authority of Yūnus, on the authority of al-Ḥasan concerning His words: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," by abandoning spending in the way of Allah.
* * *
And others among them who directed the interpretation of this toward the meaning that spending is intended, said: the meaning of it is: and spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands by marching out in the way of Allah without provisions and without the means to bear it.
* Mention of who said this:
3166 — Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His words: "and spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: when you have nothing to spend, do not march out yourself without provisions and without the means to bear it, for then you cast yourself into destruction with your own hands.
* * *
And others said: rather, its meaning is: spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands — through the sins you have committed — so that you despair of the mercy of Allah; but hope for His mercy and perform good deeds.
* Mention of who said this:
3167 — Muḥammad ibn ʿUbayd al-Muḥāribī related to me; he said: Abū al-Aḥwaṣ related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib concerning His words: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: it is the man who commits sins and then casts himself into destruction with his own hands by saying: there is no repentance for me.
3168 — Abū Kurayb related to us; he said: Abū Bakr ibn ʿAyyāsh related to us; he said: Abū Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of al-Barāʾ, who said: a man asked him: if I attack the polytheists (mushrikīn) on my own and they kill me, have I cast myself into destruction with my own hands? He said: no, destruction lies only in spending. Allah sent His Messenger, and He said: فَقَاتِلْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ لا تُكَلَّفُ إِلا نَفْسَكَ [sūra al-Nisāʾ: 84] ("So fight in the way of Allah; you are not held responsible except for yourself.").
3169 — Al-Ḥasan ibn ʿArafa and Ibn Wakīʿ related to us; they both said: Wakīʿ ibn al-Jarrāḥ related to us, on the authority of Sufyān al-Thawrī, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq al-Sabīʿī, on the authority of al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib concerning the words of Allah: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: it is the man who commits a sin and then says: Allah will not forgive it for him.
3170 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us; he said: Abū Aḥmad related to us; he said: Isrāʾīl related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, who said: I heard al-Barāʾ = and a man asked him and said: O Abū ʿUmāra, what is your opinion concerning the words of Allah: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," is it the man who advances and fights until he is killed? = He said: no, but it is the man who commits sins and then casts himself down with his own hands and does not repent.
3171 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us; he said: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us; he said: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, who said: I heard al-Barāʾ, and a man asked him and said: the man who attacks a combat detachment on his own and fights, is he among those who cast themselves into destruction with their own hands? He said: no, but the destruction is that he commits a sin and then casts himself down with his own hands and says: no repentance is accepted for me.
3172 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us; he said: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of al-Jarrāḥ, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, who said: I said to al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib: O Abū ʿUmāra, the man who meets a thousand of the enemy and attacks them while he is on his own, is he among those who are meant by: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands"? He said: no, let him fight until he is killed! Allah said to His Prophet ﷺ: فَقَاتِلْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ لا تُكَلَّفُ إِلا نَفْسَكَ ("So fight in the way of Allah; you are not held responsible except for yourself.").
3173 — Mujāhid ibn Mūsā related to us; he said: Yazīd informed us; he said: Hishām informed us = and Yaʿqūb related to me; he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Hishām = on the authority of Muḥammad, who said: and I asked ʿAbīda concerning the words of Allah: "and spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," the whole verse. Then ʿAbīda said: the man would commit a sin — he said: I think he said: a great one — and then he would cast himself down with his own hands and perish = Yaʿqūb added in his narration: and they were forbidden this, and it was said: "spend in the way of Allah and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands."
3174 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me; he said: Hushaym related to us; he said: Hishām informed us, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, who said: I asked ʿAbīda al-Salmānī about that, and he said: it is the man who commits a sin and then surrenders himself and casts himself into destruction with his own hands, and says: there is no repentance for him! He means His words: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands."
3175 — Yaʿqūb related to me; he said: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us; he said: Ayyūb informed us, on the authority of Muḥammad, on the authority of ʿAbīda concerning His words: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: the man would commit a sin and then cast himself down with his own hands.
3176 — Ibn Wakīʿ related to us; he said: my father related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAwn, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿAbīda: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: despair.
3177 — Al-Muthannā related to us; he said: ʿAmr ibn ʿAwn related to us; he said: Hushaym informed us, on the authority of Yūnus and Hishām, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿAbīda al-Salmānī, who said: it is the man who commits a sin and then surrenders himself, saying: there is no repentance for me! And he casts himself down with his own hands.
3178 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us; he said: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us; he said: Maʿmar informed us; he said: Ayyūb related to me, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿAbīda, that he said: it concerns the man who commits a great sin and then casts himself down with his own hands and supposes that he has perished.
* * *
And others said: rather, its meaning is: and spend in the way of Allah, and do not abandon the jihād in His way.
* Mention of who said this:
3179 — Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: Ḥaywa informed me, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb, on the authority of Aslam Abū ʿImrān, who said: we carried out a campaign from Medina — he means toward Constantinople — and over the people of Egypt was ʿUqba ibn ʿĀmir, and over the entire army was ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn Khālid ibn al-Walīd. He said: and we arrayed ourselves in two ranks; I have never seen two ranks broader or longer than these, while the Byzantines stood with their backs against the wall of the city. He said: then a man of ours attacked the enemy, and the people said: Hold! There is no god but Allah, he is casting himself into destruction with his own hands! Then Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī said: you interpret this verse only in this way — that a man attacks and fights seeking martyrdom or testing himself! This verse was revealed only concerning us, the company of the Anṣār! When Allah aided His Prophet and made Islam victorious, we said among ourselves, the company of the Anṣār, in secret from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: we have neglected our families and our wealth; let us now stay with them and put them in order, now that Allah has aided His Prophet! Come, let us remain with our wealth and tend to it! Then Allah revealed the report from heaven: "and spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," the whole verse. So casting oneself into destruction with one's own hands is: that we remain with our wealth and tend to it and abandon the jihād. Abū ʿImrān said: and Abū Ayyūb continued fighting in the way of Allah until he was buried at Constantinople.
3180 — Muḥammad ibn ʿUmāra al-Asadī and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Abī Ziyād related to me; they both said: Abū ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ʿAbd Allāh ibn Yazīd related to us; he said: Ḥaywa and Ibn Lahīʿa informed me; they both said: Yazīd ibn Abī Ḥabīb related to us; he said: Aslam Abū ʿImrān, the freedman of Tujīb, related to me; he said: we were at Constantinople, and over the people of Egypt was ʿUqba ibn ʿĀmir al-Juhanī, the companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and over the people of al-Shām was Faḍāla ibn ʿUbayd, the companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ. Then there came out from the city a great rank of the Byzantines, and we arrayed a great rank of the Muslims. Then a man of the Muslims attacked the rank of the Byzantines until he penetrated among them, and afterward he returned to us. The people cried out and said: Glory be to Allah! He has cast himself into destruction with his own hands! Then Abū Ayyūb al-Anṣārī, the companion of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, stood up and said: O people, you interpret this verse according to this interpretation! But this verse was revealed only concerning us, the company of the Anṣār! When Allah made His religion strong and made His helpers numerous, we said among ourselves, one to another, in secret from the Messenger of Allah: our wealth has been lost; if only we could stay with it and restore what has been lost of it! Then Allah revealed in His Book, refuting us in what we had resolved upon, and said: "and spend in the way of Allah, and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," through remaining with the wealth to tend to it, which we wanted — and He commanded us the campaign. And Abū Ayyūb continued fighting in the way of Allah until Allah took him to Himself.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: and the correct of what has been said concerning this, in my view, is that one says: truly Allah, exalted be His praise, commanded spending in His way with His words: "and spend in the way of Allah" — and His way is His path which He has prescribed for His servants and made clear to them. And the meaning of it is: and spend in making strong My religion which I have prescribed for you, through jihād against your enemy who has set up war against you on account of disbelief in Me; and He forbade them to cast themselves into destruction with their own hands, and said: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands."
* * *
And that is a metaphor. The Arabs say of one who surrenders himself to a matter: "so-and-so gave with his hands," and likewise it is said of one who exposes himself to that which is intended against him: "he gave with his hands."
* * *
The meaning of His words: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands" is thus: do not surrender yourselves to ruin, so that you give your reins over to it and perish.
And whoever abandons spending in the way of Allah while that is obligatory for him surrenders himself to ruin by abandoning the fulfillment of the obligation that Allah has imposed upon him regarding his wealth. That is because Allah, exalted be His praise, has designated one of the eight shares of the obligatory alms as "in His way," and said: إِنَّمَا الصَّدَقَاتُ لِلْفُقَرَاءِ وَالْمَسَاكِينِ up to His words: وَفِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَاِبْنِ السَّبِيلِ [sūra al-Tawba: 60] ("The alms are only for the poor and the needy ... and in the way of Allah and the wayfarer."). So whoever abandons spending of what was obligatory for him of that in the way of Allah, as it was obligatory for him, has surrendered himself to ruin and has cast himself into destruction with his own hands.
And likewise: whoever despairs of the mercy of Allah on account of a sin he has committed casts himself into destruction with his own hands, for Allah has forbidden that and said: وَلا تَيْأَسُوا مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ إِنَّهُ لا يَيْئَسُ مِنْ رَوْحِ اللَّهِ إِلا الْقَوْمُ الْكَافِرُونَ [sūra Yūsuf: 87] ("And do not despair of the relief of Allah; truly, none despairs of the relief of Allah except the disbelieving people.").
And likewise: whoever abandons the campaign against the polytheists (mushrikīn) and the jihād against them, in a situation in which that is obligatory for him and in which the Muslims have need of him, neglects an obligation and casts himself into destruction with his own hands.
Since all these meanings can be borne by His words "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," and Allah, mighty and exalted, has not singled out any of them above another, the correct view concerning this is that one says: truly Allah has forbidden us to cast ourselves down with our own hands into that in which our ruin lies, and to surrender ourselves to ruin — namely the punishment (ʿadhāb) — by abandoning the obligations that He has imposed upon us. It is therefore not permitted for any of us to engage in anything that Allah disapproves of from us, that by which, by entering into it, we deserve His punishment.
Nevertheless, even though the matter is so, the predominant interpretation of the verse is: and spend, O believers, in the way of Allah, and do not abandon spending in it, so that you perish by deserving — through abandoning that — My punishment. As:
3181 — Al-Muthannā related to me; he said: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us; he said: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās concerning His words: "and do not cast yourselves into destruction with your own hands," he said: the destruction is the punishment of Allah.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: that is then a notification from Him to them — after His command to them to spend — concerning what awaits, of punishment in the hereafter, whoever abandons the spending prescribed for him in His way.
* * *
If someone were to say: what then is the reason for the insertion of the "bāʾ" in His words "and do not cast yourselves with your own hands (bi-aydīkum)," when you know that it is customary in well-known Arabic usage to say: "I threw so-and-so a dirham (alqaytu ... dirhaman)," and not: "I threw so-and-so with a dirham (bi-dirham)"?
Then it is answered: it has been said that it is added, just as the speaker adds the "bāʾ" in his words: "I pulled at the garment (jadhabtu bi-l-thawb)" and "I pulled the garment (jadhabtu al-thawb)," and "I clung to it (taʿallaqtu bihi)" and "I clung it (taʿallaqtuhu)," and تَنْبُتُ بِالدُّهْنِ [sūra al-Muʾminūn: 20] ("which brings forth oil"), while it is in fact: tunbitu al-duhna.
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And others said: the "bāʾ" in His words "and do not cast yourselves with your own hands (bi-aydīkum)" is the basis for the indication (kunya), for every transitive verb for which one uses an indicating word is directed by it, just as your saying about a man "I addressed him (kallamtuhu)": if you want the indication of his action, you say, when you want that: "I did it with him (faʿaltu bihi)." They said: since the "bāʾ" is the basis, it is permissible to insert the "bāʾ" or to omit it with every verb whose nature is that of its indication.
* * *
And as for "the destruction" (al-tahluka): it is the pattern "al-tafʿula" from "perishing" (al-halāk).
* * *
The explanation of the words of the Exalted: وَأَحْسِنُوا إِنَّ اللَّهَ يُحِبُّ الْمُحْسِنِينَ ("and do good; truly, Allah loves those who do good.")
Abū Jaʿfar said: the Exalted, praised be His praise, means by His words "and do good": do good, O believers, in fulfilling the obligations that I have imposed upon you, and in avoiding what I have commanded you to avoid of acts of disobedience to Me, and in spending in My way, and in the returning of the strong among you to the weak who is in need; for I love those who do good in that. As:
3182 — Al-Muthannā related to me; he said: Isḥāq related to us; he said: Zayd ibn al-Ḥubāb related to us; he said: Sufyān informed us, on the authority of Abū Isḥāq, on the authority of a man from the companions (ṣaḥāba) concerning His words: "and do good; truly, Allah loves those who do good," he said: the fulfillment of the obligations.
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And some of them said: its meaning is: have a good opinion of Allah.
* Mention of who said this:
3183 — Al-Muthannā related to me; he said: Isḥāq related to us; he said: Ḥafṣ ibn ʿUmar related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam ibn Abān, on the authority of ʿIkrima: "and do good; truly, Allah loves those who do good," he said: have a good opinion of Allah, and He will be good to you.
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And others said: do good by returning to the needy.
* Mention of who said this:
3184 — Yūnus related to me; he said: Ibn Wahb informed us; he said: Ibn Zayd said concerning His words: "and do good; truly, Allah loves those who do good": return to whoever has nothing in his hand.
