Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:219
They ask you about wine and gambling. Say, "In them is great sin and [yet, some] benefit for people. But their sin is greater than their benefit." And they ask you what they should spend. Say, "The excess [beyond needs]." Thus Allah makes clear to you the verses [of revelation] that you might give thought.
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.
They ask you about wine (khamr) and gambling (maysir)
The discourse on the explanation of His exalted saying: They ask you about wine and gambling . By this He, exalted be His praise, means: your companions ask you, O Muḥammad, about wine (khamr) and the drinking of it. And khamr is every drink that befogs the intellect, covers it, and veils it. It is derived from one's saying: "khammartu al-ināʾ" (I covered the vessel) when he covers it. And "khamara al-rajul" when he enters into the wine. One also says: "he is in the khimār and the ghimār of the people," by which is meant: he has entered into the throng of the people. And to the hyena one says: "khāmirī umma ʿĀmir," that is: conceal yourself. And whatever befogs the intellect through sickness or intoxication, mingling with it and overwhelming it, that is khamr. To this also belongs the khimār (headscarf) of the woman, and that is because she thereby covers and veils her head. Of this one says: "he walks toward you in the khamr," that is: stealthily. As al-ʿAjjāj said: "In the gleaming of the war-banners — he does not come stealthily (al-khamr); it turns aside the face of the earth and drives the trees onward." By his saying "he does not come stealthily" he means: he does not come covertly or by stealth, but openly with banners and armies. And al-ʿiqbān is the plural of ʿuqāb, and these are the banners.
As for "al-maysir," it is the "mafʿil"-form of one's saying: "yasara lī hādhā al-amr" (this matter has fallen to me) when it accrues to me lawfully, so "yaysiru lī yusran wa-maysiran." And "al-yāsir" is the one to whom something is owed, whether it became owed by means of arrows (qidāḥ), or was permitted, or otherwise. Then the gambler was called "yāsir" and "yasir," as the poet said: "I passed the night as though I were a cheated gambler (yasir), who turns the arrows over after he has drawn them." And as al-Nābigha said: "Or a gambler (yāsir) whose abundance the arrows have taken away, a regretful one who devours the friend, brought to ruin." By "al-yāsir" he means: the gambler. And gambling was called "maysir." And Mujāhid said something along the lines of what we have said about this.
3275 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: They ask you about wine and gambling he said: it is gambling. And it was called maysir because of their saying "aysirū wa-ajzirū" (apportion into shares and slaughter), like your saying "lay down this and that."
3276 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: all gambling belongs to maysir, even children's play with nuts.
3277 — Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, he said: ʿAbdallāh said: beware of these marked dice with which you seek omens, for they belong to maysir.
3278 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, something similar. * — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Nāfiʿ related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Abī Ziyād, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, that he said: beware of these dice with which you seek omens, for they belong to maysir.
3279 — ʿAlī ibn Saʿīd al-Kindī related to me, saying: ʿAlī ibn Mushir related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, he said: gambling is maysir. * — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim al-Aḥwal, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, he said: everything to which a stake is attached, or that is put at risk — Abū ʿĀmir was uncertain — that belongs to maysir. * — Al-Walīd ibn Shujāʿ Abū Hammām related to us, saying: ʿAlī ibn Mushir related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, he said: all gambling is maysir, even the game with the dice (nard) at which one rises and shouts, and the feather that a man places on his head. * — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, he said: every game in which there is gambling, with drinking, or shouting, or rising up, that belongs to maysir.
3280 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Khālid ibn al-Ḥārith related to us, saying: al-Ashʿath related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, that he said: maysir is gambling.
3281 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: al-Muʿtamir related to us, on the authority of Layth, on the authority of Ṭāwūs and ʿAṭāʾ, both of whom said: all gambling belongs to maysir, even children's play with dice and nuts.
3282 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Ḥakkām related to us, on the authority of ʿAmr, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Saʿīd, he said: maysir is gambling.
3283 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik ibn ʿUmayr informed us, on the authority of Abū al-Aḥwaṣ, on the authority of ʿUbaydallāh, he said: beware of these two dice with which omens are sought, for they both belong to maysir.
3284 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿArūba, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: as for His saying "and maysir," it is all gambling.
3285 — Yūnus ibn ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Sālim informed me, on the authority of ʿUbaydallāh ibn ʿUmar, that he heard ʿUmar ibn ʿUbaydallāh say to al-Qāsim ibn Muḥammad: the dice (nard) is maysir; what do you think, is chess (shaṭranj) maysir? Then al-Qāsim said: everything that distracts from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer, that is maysir.
3286 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwud related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: maysir is gambling. In the time of ignorance (jāhiliyya) a man would stake his wife and his property, and whichever of the two defeated the other would carry off the other's wife and property.
3287 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: maysir is gambling. * — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: maysir is gambling.
3288 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of al-Layth, on the authority of Mujāhid and Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, both of whom said: maysir is all gambling, even the nuts with which children play.
3289 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh al-Faḍl ibn Khālid, he said: I heard ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān relate on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, his saying: maysir, he said: it is gambling. * — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: maysir is gambling.
3290 — Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Badr Shujāʿ ibn al-Walīd related to us, saying: Mūsā ibn ʿUqba related to us, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, that Ibn ʿUmar used to say: gambling belongs to maysir.
3291 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: maysir is the arrows (qidāḥ) of the Arabs and the dice of the Persians. He said: and Ibn Jurayj said: ʿAṭāʾ ibn Maysara claimed that maysir is all gambling.
3292 — Ibn al-Barqī related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Abī Salama related to us, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn ʿAbd al-ʿAzīz, he said: Makḥūl said: maysir is gambling. * — Al-Ḥasan ibn Muḥammad al-Dhāriʿ related to us, saying: al-Faḍl ibn Sulaymān and Shujāʿ ibn al-Walīd related to us, on the authority of Mūsā ibn ʿUqba, on the authority of Nāfiʿ, on the authority of Ibn ʿUmar, he said: maysir is gambling.
Say: in both there is a great sin
And as for His saying: Say: in both there is a great sin , by this He, exalted be His praise, means: say, O Muḥammad, to them: in both, that is in wine and gambling, there is a great sin. The great sin that is in both is what has been transmitted from al-Suddī, namely: 3293 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related this to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: as for His saying: in both there is a great sin , the sin of wine is that a man drinks and becomes intoxicated and inflicts harm upon people. And the sin of maysir is that a man gambles and withholds the due and commits injustice.
3294 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: Say: in both there is a great sin he said: this is the first thing by which wine was censured.
3295 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwud related to me, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his saying: Say: in both there is a great sin means: what is taken away of faith in the one who drinks them.
And the most fitting interpretation of the verse is that the great sin which Allah, exalted be His praise, mentioned as being in wine and gambling, in the case of wine is what al-Suddī said: the loss of the wine-drinker's intellect when he has become intoxicated by his drinking, until the knowledge of his Lord escapes him — and that is the greatest of sins. And that is the meaning of the saying of Ibn ʿAbbās, if Allah wills. And as for maysir, it is the occupation with it that distracts from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer, and the arising of enmity and hatred among the gamblers because of it, as our Lord, exalted be His praise, described it with His saying: Satan only wishes to cause enmity and hatred among you through wine and gambling, and to turn you away from the remembrance of Allah and from prayer (5:91).
And benefits for the people
And as for His saying: and benefits for the people , the benefits of wine were its sale-prices before its prohibition, and the pleasure they attain through drinking it, as al-Aʿshā described it: "From its morning draught we get a defilement of the soul and grief, and the remembrance of cares whose torment does not depart; but at the evening meal a delight of the soul and pleasure, and much wealth, standing ready for his rounds of drinking." And as Ḥassān said: "We drink it and it leaves us kings and lions, whom the encounter does not turn aside."
And as for the benefits of maysir, they are the shares of the slaughtered camel that they obtain. For they would gamble over the slaughtered camel, and when one of them defeated his fellow-player, he slaughtered it (the camel) and they would then divide it into tenths according to the number of arrows. Concerning this Aʿshā of the Banū Thaʿlaba says: "And a slaughter-camel of gamblers I invited to the banquet, and desert-distances whose straying I feared."
And along the lines of what we have said about this the people of interpretation have spoken. Mention of who said that: 3296 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, he said: the benefits here are what they obtain of the slaughtered camel.
3297 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: as for their benefits — the benefit of wine lies in its pleasure and its price, and the benefit of maysir lies in what is obtained through gambling.
3298 — Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Ibn Abī Zāʾida related to us, on the authority of Warqāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: Say: in both there is a great sin and benefits for the people he said: their benefits were before they were prohibited.
3299 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwud related to us, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: and benefits for the people he said: it means what they obtain of pleasure and joy from it when they drink it.
And the reciters differed concerning its reading. The majority of the people of Medina and some of the Kūfans and Baṣrans read qul fīhimā ithmun kabīr (in both there is a great sin) with the bāʾ, in the meaning of: say, in the drinking of this and this gambling there is a great one of the sins. And others among the people of the two garrison-towns, Baṣra and Kūfa, read "qul fīhimā ithmun kathīr" (in both there are many sins), in the meaning of a large number of sins, as if they were of the view that "the sin" (al-ithm) has the meaning of "sins" (al-āthām), and although it is singular in wording, they described it with the meaning of multitude. And the more correct of the two readings is the reading of him who read it with the bāʾ: qul fīhimā ithmun kabīr , on account of their unanimous agreement concerning His saying: and the sin of both is greater than their benefit with the reading with the bāʾ. Therein lies a clear indication that that with which the first sin was described is its enormity and greatness, not its multitude in number. For if that with which it was described were multitude, it would have been said: "and the sin of both is more than their benefit."
And the sin of both is greater than their benefit
The discourse on the explanation of His exalted saying: and the sin of both is greater than their benefit . By this He, mighty is His remembrance, means: and the sin of the drinking of this and this gambling is greater and more enormous in harm to them than the benefit they obtain through both. And that was so because, when they became intoxicated, they would leap upon one another and fight, and when they gambled, evil would befall among them on account of it, leading them to that whereby they commit sin. And this verse was revealed concerning wine before its prohibition was expressly declared. Thus He, exalted be His praise, ascribed the sin to both, while the sin arose only through their causes, since it issued from their cause.
And a number of the people of interpretation have said: its meaning is: and the sin of both after their prohibition is greater than their benefit before their prohibition. Mention of who said that: 3300 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: and the sin of both is greater than their benefit he said: their benefits were before the prohibition, and their sin after their prohibition.
3301 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ: and benefits for the people and the sin of both is greater than their benefit : He places the benefits before the prohibition, and the sin after the prohibition.
3302 — It was related to me on the authority of al-Ḥusayn, he said: I heard Abū Muʿādh, he said: ʿUbayd ibn Sulaymān informed me, he said: I heard al-Ḍaḥḥāk say concerning His saying: and the sin of both is greater than their benefit : he says: their sin after the prohibition is greater than their benefit before the prohibition.
3303 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwud related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his saying: and the sin of both is greater than their benefit means: what is lost of faith — and the sin therein is greater than what they obtain of joy when they drink it.
And we have chosen only that which we have said about this as interpretation, on account of the abundance and the concordance of the reports that this was revealed before the prohibition of wine and gambling. By this it became known that the sin which Allah mentioned in this verse and ascribed to both means only the sin that arises from their causes, as we have described, not the sin after the prohibition. Mention of the reports that indicate what we have said, namely that this verse was revealed before the prohibition of wine: 3304 — Aḥmad ibn Isḥāq related to us, saying: Abū Aḥmad related to us, saying: Qays related to us, on the authority of Sālim, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, he said: when there was revealed: They ask you about wine and gambling, say: therein is a great sin and benefits for the people , some people then abhorred it on account of His saying: therein is a great sin , and some drank it on account of His saying: and benefits for the people , until there was revealed: O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying (4:43). He said: so they would leave it during prayer and drink it outside the time of prayer, until there was revealed: Verily, wine, gambling, the sacrificial altars, and the arrows are an abomination of the work of Satan, so shun it (5:90). Then ʿUmar said: ruin upon you! Today you have been coupled with maysir.
3305 — Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀmir related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Abī Ḥumayd related to us, on the authority of Abū Tawba al-Miṣrī, he said: I heard ʿAbdallāh ibn ʿUmar say: Allah, mighty and exalted, revealed concerning wine three times. The first thing revealed was: They ask you about wine and gambling, say: in both there is a great sin , the verse. Then they said: O Messenger of Allah, we enjoy it and drink it, as Allah, mighty and exalted, has said in His Book. Then this verse was revealed: O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated (4:43), the verse. Then they said: O Messenger of Allah, we will not drink it near prayer. He said: then there was revealed: Verily, wine, gambling, the sacrificial altars, and the arrows are an abomination of the work of Satan, so shun it (5:90), the verse. He said: then the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Wine has been prohibited."
3306 — Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Wāḍiḥ related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, on the authority of Yazīd al-Naḥwī, on the authority of ʿIkrima and al-Ḥasan, both of whom said: Allah said: O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying (4:43) and They ask you about wine and gambling, say: in both there is a great sin and benefits for the people, and the sin of both is greater than their benefit . Then the verse in al-Māʾida abrogated it, for He said: O you who believe, verily wine and gambling (5:90), the verse.
3307 — Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Wahhāb related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of Abū al-Qamūṣ Zayd ibn ʿAlī, he said: Allah, mighty and exalted, revealed concerning wine three times. The first thing He revealed was His saying: They ask you about wine and gambling, say: in both there is a great sin and benefits for the people, and the sin of both is greater than their benefit . He said: then whoever of the Muslims Allah willed drank it, on that condition, until two men drank and entered into prayer and began to utter gibberish that ʿAwf did not know. Then Allah, mighty and exalted, revealed concerning the two of them: O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying . Then whoever of them drank it drank it, and they began to shun it at the time of prayer, until — so Abū al-Qamūṣ claims — a man drank it, and he began to lament the dead of Badr: "Greet me with peace, O mother of ʿAmr, and is there for you, after your tribe, any peace? Let me be, that I may take my morning draught of young wine, for I have seen death pierce Hishām; and the Banū al-Mughīra wished that they had ransomed him with a thousand men or cattle. How many I see at the well, the well of Badr, of wooden vessels crowned with camel-hump; how many I see at the well, the well of Badr, of the youths and the noble robes." He said: then that reached the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, and he came in dismay, dragging his cloak behind him out of dismay, until he reached him. When the man saw him, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ raised something that was in his hand to strike him. The man said: I seek refuge in Allah from the wrath of Allah and His Messenger; by Allah I will never partake of it again! Then Allah revealed its prohibition: O you who believe, verily wine, gambling, the sacrificial altars, and the arrows are an abomination ... up to His saying: will you then desist? (5:90-91). Then ʿUmar ibn al-Khaṭṭāb, may Allah be pleased with him, said: we desist, we desist.
3308 — Sufyān ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: Isḥāq al-Azraq related to us, on the authority of Zakariyyā, on the authority of Simāk, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: concerning wine four verses were revealed: They ask you about wine and gambling, say: in both there is a great sin and benefits for the people , and they left it. Then there was revealed: you take from it an intoxicant and a goodly provision (16:67), and they drank it. Then the two verses in al-Māʾida were revealed: Verily, wine, gambling, the sacrificial altars, and the arrows up to His saying: will you then desist? (5:90-91).
3309 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: this verse was revealed: They ask you about wine and gambling , the verse, and they kept on drinking it, until ʿAbd al-Raḥmān ibn ʿAwf prepared food and invited some people of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, among them ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib, and he recited: Say: O you disbelievers but did not understand it. Then Allah, mighty and exalted, revealed, by way of intensification concerning wine: O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying (4:43). Thus it was permitted to them; they would drink from the morning prayer until the day climbed high or midday drew near, and then they would rise for the noon prayer while sober. After that they would not drink it until they had performed the ʿatama prayer, that is the night prayer (ʿishāʾ), and then they would drink it until the night was halfway through, and they would sleep, and then they would rise for the morning prayer having become sober. Thus they kept on drinking it, until Saʿd ibn Abī Waqqāṣ prepared food and invited some people of the companions of the Prophet ﷺ, among them a man of the Anṣār. He roasted for them a camel's head and invited them to it, and when they had eaten and drunk of the wine, they became intoxicated and began to boast. Saʿd said something, and the Anṣārī became angry, and he raised the jawbone of the camel and broke Saʿd's nose. Then Allah revealed the abrogation of wine and its prohibition, and said: Verily, wine, gambling, the sacrificial altars, and the arrows up to His saying: will you then desist? (5:90-91).
3310 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, and on the authority of a man, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: They ask you about wine and gambling he said: when this verse was revealed, some people drank it and others left it, until its prohibition was revealed in Sūrat al-Māʾida.
3311 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid: Say: in both there is a great sin he said: this is the first thing by which wine was censured.
3312 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his saying: They ask you about wine and gambling, say: in both there is a great sin and benefits for the people : Allah reproached them both but did not prohibit them, on account of the term and span of time He wished to let elapse thereby. Then Allah revealed in Sūrat al-Nisāʾ something stricter than that: Do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying (4:43). Thus they would drink it, but when prayer arrived they would abstain from it; and intoxication was forbidden to them. Then Allah, mighty and exalted, revealed in Sūrat al-Māʾida after the Battle of al-Aḥzāb: O you who believe, verily wine and gambling up to: that you may be successful (5:90-91). Thus in this verse came its prohibition, of the little of it and the much of it, of what of it intoxicates and what does not intoxicate; and there was for the Arabs in that time no enjoyment of life dearer to them than that.
3313 — And it was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, his saying: They ask you about wine and gambling, say: in both there is a great sin and benefits for the people, and the sin of both is greater than their benefit he said: when this verse was revealed, the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "Verily, your Lord is proceeding toward the prohibition of wine." He said: then there was revealed: O you who believe, do not approach prayer while you are intoxicated, until you know what you are saying (4:43). The Prophet said: "And verily, your Lord is proceeding toward the prohibition of wine." He said: then there was revealed: O you who believe, verily wine, gambling, the sacrificial altars, and the arrows are an abomination of the work of Satan, so shun it (5:90). And then wine was prohibited.
3314 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: They ask you about wine and gambling , the whole verse, he said: three matters were abrogated in Sūrat al-Māʾida, and by the prescribed penalty (ḥadd) that the Prophet ﷺ instituted and the flogging that the Prophet ﷺ applied. He said: the Prophet ﷺ used to flog them for it with a ḥadd, but he acted therein according to his own judgment, and it was not a fixed ḥadd, although it is a ḥadd. And he recited: Verily, wine and gambling (5:90), the verse.
And they ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus
The discourse on the explanation of His exalted saying: And they ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus (al-ʿafw) . By this He, mighty is His remembrance, means: and your companions ask you, O Muḥammad: what thing should we spend of our property to give charity with it? Say to them, then, O Muḥammad: spend of it the surplus. And the people of interpretation differed concerning the meaning of al-ʿafw in this place. Some said: its meaning is: the surplus (al-faḍl). Mention of who said that: 3315 — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī al-Bāhilī related to us, saying: Wakīʿ related to us — and (by another route) Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us — on the authority of Ibn Abī Laylā, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Miqsam, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: al-ʿafw is what remains after need.
3316 — Bishr ibn Muʿādh related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: "say: the surplus" that is: the surplus (al-faḍl). * — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: it is the surplus (al-faḍl).
3317 — Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Malik informed us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, concerning His saying: al-ʿafw, he said: the surplus (al-faḍl).
3318 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, he said: al-ʿafw, he says: the surplus (al-faḍl).
3319 — Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said concerning His saying: And they ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus he said: the people worked each day at what that day brought; if on that day something remained over and above the household's need, they would carry it forth and not leave their household hungry, and would give it as charity to the people.
3320 — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Yūnus related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His saying: And they ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus he said: it is the surplus, the surplus of property.
And others said: its meaning is: what is surplus, so that it is not noticed by the one who spent it or gave it as charity. Mention of who said that: 3321 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwud related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: And they ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus he says: what is not noticed in your properties.
3322 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, on the authority of Ṭāwūs, concerning the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted: And they ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus he said: the modest amount of everything.
And others said: its meaning is: the moderate course in spending, which is neither prodigality nor stinginess. Mention of who said that: 3323 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAbdallāh ibn Bazīʿ related to us, saying: Bishr ibn al-Mufaḍḍal related to us, on the authority of ʿAwf, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His saying: And they ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus he says: do not exhaust your property until it is exhausted for the people.
3324 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: I asked ʿAṭāʾ about His saying: They ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus he said: al-ʿafw in spending is that you do not exhaust your property until it is gone, so that you must ask the people for something.
3325 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to us on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: I asked ʿAṭāʾ about His saying: They ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus he said: al-ʿafw: what they do not squander and in which they are not stingy with respect to the due. He said: and Mujāhid said: al-ʿafw is charity from an abundance of wealth. * — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Yaḥyā ibn Saʿīd related to us, saying: ʿAwf related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, concerning His saying: And they ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus he said: it is that you do not exhaust your property.
And others said: its meaning is: say: the surplus accept from them what they bring you, little or much. Mention of who said that: 3326 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to me, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: And they ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus he says: what they bring you of anything, little or much, accept it from them.
And others said: its meaning is: what is good of your properties. Mention of who said that: 3327 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of al-Rabīʿ, his saying: They ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus he said: he says: the good of it, he says: the best of your property and the purest of it.
3328 — It was related to me on the authority of ʿAmmār ibn al-Ḥasan, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Qatāda, he said: he used to say: al-ʿafw is the surplus (al-faḍl). He says: the best of your property.
And others said: its meaning is the prescribed charity (zakāh). Mention of who said that: 3329 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of ʿĪsā, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd, or ʿĪsā on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Mujāhid — Abū ʿĀṣim was uncertain — the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted: say: the surplus he said: the prescribed charity (al-ṣadaqa al-mafrūḍa).
And the most correct of these statements is the statement of him who said: the meaning of al-ʿafw is: the surplus of a man's property above what he and his household need for their sustenance and what they cannot do without. And that is the surplus concerning which the reports from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ abundantly testify, with the permission to give charity and to give it in the way of good. Mention of some reports transmitted concerning this from the Messenger of Allah ﷺ: 3330 — ʿAlī ibn Muslim related to us, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, on the authority of Ibn ʿAjlān, on the authority of al-Maqburī, on the authority of Abū Hurayra, he said: a man said: O Messenger of Allah, I have a dīnār! He said: "Spend it on yourself." He said: I have another! He said: "Spend it on your household." He said: I have another! He said: "Spend it on your child." He said: I have another! He said: "Then you see best yourself."
3331 — Muḥammad ibn Maʿmar al-Baḥrānī related to me, saying: Rawḥ ibn ʿUbāda related to us, saying: Ibn Jurayj related to us, saying: Abū al-Zubayr informed me that he heard Jābir ibn ʿAbdallāh say: the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: "When one of you is poor, let him begin with himself; and if there is a surplus, let him begin with those whom he supports; and if after that he finds a surplus, let him give charity to others than them."
3332 — ʿAmr ibn ʿAlī related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Hārūn related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Isḥāq related to us, on the authority of ʿĀṣim, on the authority of ʿUmar ibn Qatāda, on the authority of Maḥmūd ibn Labīd, on the authority of Jābir ibn ʿAbdallāh, he said: a man came to the Messenger of Allah ﷺ with an egg of gold that he had found in one of the mines, and said: O Messenger of Allah, take this from me as charity, for by Allah, I possess nothing else! But he turned away from him. Then he came from his right side and said the same to him, but he turned away from him. Then he said the same to him again, but he turned away from him. Then he said the same to him again, and he said: "Hand it here!" in displeasure, and he took it and hurled it at him with such a throw that, had it struck him, it would have wounded or hurt him. Then he said: "One of you comes with the whole of his property and gives it as charity and then sits down to beg from the people! Verily, charity is from an abundance of wealth."
3333 — Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of Ibrāhīm al-Makhramī, he said: I heard Abū al-Aḥwaṣ relate on the authority of ʿAbdallāh, on the authority of the Prophet ﷺ, that he said: "Give generously from the surplus, and begin with those whom you support, and you will not be blamed for what is just sufficient."
And what resembles this of reports whose exhaustive enumeration would make the Book too long. Now then, if that which he ﷺ permitted to his community — namely charity from their properties with the surplus above the giver's need, that surplus thereof — is the ʿafw of a man's property, since the ʿafw in the language of the Arabs with respect to property and with respect to everything is the increase and the abundance — and to this belongs His saying, exalted be His praise: until they grew numerous (ʿafaw) (7:95), in the meaning of: they increased in number above what they had been and grew numerous; and to this belongs the saying of the poet: "But among us the sword bites into shanks abundant with fat, high-humped camels," by which he means: rich in fats; and of this one says to a man: take what falls to you of such-and-such without effort, by which is meant: what remains over and comes to you purely without trouble, without your wearing yourself out for it — then it is clear that that which Allah permitted in His saying say: the surplus to His servants concerning spending, and the spending of which He permitted to them when they wished to spend, is that which the Messenger of Allah ﷺ made clear to his community with his saying: "The best charity is what you spend out of wealth," and what He permitted to them.
And if someone were to say to us: and why do you deny that this ʿafw is the prescribed charity (zakāh)? Then it is said: I have denied that on account of the existence of the proof that whoever becomes obligated in his property for the obligatory zakāh, and then his entire property perishes except the amount that his property owed to those entitled to the shares of charity (sahmān al-ṣadaqa), it is incumbent upon him to convey that to them, if the loss of his property occurred after his negligence in discharging the obligatory due that they had owing in his property. And that is, without doubt, his exertion (juhd) when he conveys it to them, not his ʿafw (surplus). And in the fact that Allah, exalted be His praise, named that of which He taught His servants the manner of spending from their properties "ʿafw," lies the proof that it is improper that it should deserve the name "juhd" (exertion) in a particular state. And if that is so, then the untenability is clear of the statement of him who claimed that the meaning of al-ʿafw is what the owner of the property surrenders to his imam and gives him, regardless of whether it is little or much of his property, and of the statement of him who claimed that it is the prescribed charity.
And likewise there is no basis for the statement of him who says: its meaning is what is not noticed in your properties, for when Abū Lubāba said to the Prophet ﷺ: verily, part of my repentance is that I divest myself of my property in favor of Allah and His Messenger as charity, the Prophet ﷺ said: "A third of it suffices for you." And likewise it is transmitted from Kaʿb ibn Mālik that the Prophet ﷺ said something similar to him. And the loss of a third is, without doubt, noticeable from the property of its owner; but it is, in my view, as He, exalted be His praise, said: and those who, when they spend, are not prodigal and not stingy, but hold a middle course between that (25:67), and as He, exalted be His praise, said to Muḥammad ﷺ: and do not make your hand chained to your neck, nor extend it entirely, lest you sit blamed and exhausted (17:29). And that is what he ﷺ established in what lies below it, according to the measure of the property and its capacity.
Then the people of knowledge differed concerning this verse: is it abrogated, or does its ruling stand established for the servants? Some said: it is abrogated; the prescribed zakāh abrogated it. Mention of who said that: 3334 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwud related to me, saying: ʿAbdallāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭalḥa, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, his saying: They ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus he said: this was before charity (zakāh) was made obligatory.
3335 — Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: They ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus he said: therein no known obligation was prescribed; then He said: take the surplus, and enjoin what is proper, and turn away from the ignorant (7:199); then the fixed obligations were revealed thereafter.
3336 — Mūsā ibn Hārūn related to me, saying: ʿAmr ibn Ḥammād related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, his saying: They ask you what they should spend, say: the surplus this was abrogated by the zakāh.
And others said: no, its ruling stands established and is not abrogated. Mention of who said that: 3337 — Muḥammad ibn ʿAmr related to me, saying: Abū ʿĀṣim related to us, saying: ʿĪsā related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Qays ibn Saʿd — or ʿĪsā on the authority of Qays, on the authority of Mujāhid; Abū ʿĀṣim was uncertain, he said — he said: al-ʿafw is the prescribed charity.
And the correct view concerning this is what Ibn ʿAbbās said according to what ʿAṭiyya transmitted from him, namely that His saying: say: the surplus is not the imposition of an obligation that Allah has imposed as a due in his property. Rather, it is an announcement from Him concerning what pleases Him in spending and what displeases Him, as an answer therein to him who asked His Prophet Muḥammad about that in which there is pleasure for him. It is thus an instruction from Allah to all His creatures, in the manner in which He instructed them in non-obligatory charity; its ruling stands established, it abrogates no ruling that preceded it in contradiction to it, and it is not abrogated by any ruling that arose after it. It therefore does not befit a man of piety and faith, in voluntary charities (ṣadaqāt al-taṭawwuʿ), his gifts, and the offerings of voluntary contribution and his charity, to overstep that with which his Prophet ﷺ instructed them with his saying: "When one of you has a surplus, let him begin with himself, then with his household, then with his child," and then in the surplus to walk his ways that please Allah and that He loves. And that is the middle course between prodigality and stinginess that Allah, mighty and exalted, mentioned in His Book, if Allah, exalted is He, wills.
And to him who claims that it is abrogated, it is said: what is the proof of its abrogation? For all are agreed, without disagreement among them, that a man may spend from his property a third in charity, gift, and bequest. What then is that which indicates that this is abrogated? If he claims that by his saying that it is abrogated he means that the bringing forth of the ʿafw from the property is not necessary as an obligation, and that the obligatory portion thereof lapses with the existence of the zakāh in the property, then it is said to him: and what is the proof that the bringing forth of the ʿafw was obligatory, so that the obligation of the zakāh caused it to lapse? There is in the verse no indication that that was obligatory, since there was in it no command of Allah, mighty is His remembrance; on the contrary, therein lies the indication that it is an answer to that about which the people asked, by way of acquainting them with what of charities holds pleasure for Allah. And the proponent of that claim has no way to an indication that necessitates the correctness of what he claims.
And as for the reciters, they differed concerning the reading of al-ʿafw. The generality of the reciters of the Ḥijāz, the reciters of the two sacred cities (al-Ḥaramayn), and the majority of the Kūfans read qul al-ʿafwa in the accusative (naṣb), and some Baṣrans read "qul al-ʿafwu" in the nominative (rafʿ). He who read it in the accusative regarded "mādhā" as one word and placed it in the accusative on account of His saying yunfiqūn , in the manner I have previously explained, and then placed al-ʿafw in the accusative thereby; the meaning of the sentence is then: and they ask you: what thing should they spend? And he who read it in the nominative regarded "mā" as joined with "dhā" and placed al-ʿafw in the nominative; the meaning of the sentence is then: what is it that they spend, say: that which they spend is the ʿafw. And if one were to place al-ʿafw in the accusative and then regard "mādhā" as two words, in the meaning of: they ask you what they spend? Say: they spend the ʿafw; and those who regarded "mādhā" as one word were to place it in the nominative, in the meaning of: what do they spend? Say: that which they spend — as a statement — then that would be correct and sound in Arabic. And with whichever of the two readings it is read in my view, it is correct, on account of the closeness of their two meanings, with the wide currency of the reading with each of the two. Except that the more pleasing to me of the two readings, even so, is the reading of him who read it with the accusative, because those of the reciters who read it thus are more numerous, and it is better known and more renowned.
Thus Allah makes clear to you the signs, that you may reflect
The discourse on the explanation of His exalted saying: Thus Allah makes clear to you the signs, that you may reflect . He means by the saying, mighty is His remembrance: Thus Allah makes clear to you the signs : thus do I make clear — that is: just as I have made clear to you My signs and My proofs, and these are His signs in this sūra, and I have made known to you therein wherein lies your deliverance from My chastisement, and have made clear to you My limits and My prescribed obligations, and have pointed you therein to the proofs of My oneness, and thereafter to the proofs of My Messenger to you, and have thus guided you to the manifestation of the guidance — so too do I make clear to you in the rest of My Book that I have sent down upon My Prophet Muḥammad ﷺ My signs and My proofs, and make them clear to you, that you may reflect upon My promise and My threat, My reward and My chastisement, and so prefer My obedience, whereby you obtain My reward in the Hereafter and the winning of eternal felicity over the little of enjoyments and the paltry of desires — through the committing of My disobedience in the perishable world; for whoever commits it, his return is to Me and his destination is to that which he cannot withstand of My chastisement and My torment.
And along the lines of what we have said about this the people of interpretation have spoken. Mention of who said that: 3338 — ʿAlī ibn Dāwud related to us, saying: Abū Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya ibn Ṣāliḥ related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās: Thus Allah makes clear to you the signs, that you may reflect upon the world and the Hereafter he said: it means: upon the passing and vanishing of the world, and the coming and abiding character of the Hereafter.
3339 — Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying: that you may reflect upon the world and the Hereafter he says: that you may reflect upon the world and the Hereafter, so that you may know the excellence of the Hereafter over the world.
3340 — Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: His saying: Thus Allah makes clear to you the signs, that you may reflect upon the world and the Hereafter he said: as for the world, you know that it is an abode of trial and then of perishing, and the Hereafter an abode of recompense and then of permanence; so come to your senses, and act for the abiding of the two. He said: and I heard Abū ʿĀṣim also mention something similar.
3341 — Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, his saying: Thus Allah makes clear to you the signs, that you may reflect upon the world and the Hereafter : and verily, whoever reflects upon both knows the excellence of the one over the other, and knows that the world is an abode of trial and then an abode of perishing, and that the Hereafter is an abode of recompense and then an abode of permanence. Be, then, among those who cut off the need of the world in favor of the need of the Hereafter.
