Tafseer of The Cow · Al-Baqara · 2:267
O you who have believed, spend from the good things which you have earned and from that which We have produced for you from the earth. And do not aim toward the defective therefrom, spending [from that] while you would not take it [yourself] except with closed eyes. And know that Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy.
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 statement on the interpretation of His saying: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْفِقُوا ("O you who believe, spend")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means by His words "O you who believe": you who have held to be true Allah and His Messenger and the signs of His Book.
* * *
And He means by His words "spend": give the obligatory alms (zakāh) and perform charity, as in:
6120 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying "spend from the good things you have earned," he says: perform charity.
* * *
The statement on the interpretation of His saying: مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ ("from the good things you have earned")
He — exalted is His praise — means by it: give the zakāh of the good that you have earned through your activity — whether by trade or by craft — in gold and silver.
And He means by "the good things" (al-ṭayyibāt) the high-quality items. He says: give the zakāh of your possessions that you have earned in a permissible (ḥalāl) manner, and give in your zakāh the gold and the silver, the high-quality of it and not the inferior, as in:
6121 – Muḥammad ibn al-Muthannā related to us, saying: Muḥammad ibn Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning this verse: "O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned," he said: from trade.
6122 – Mūsā ibn ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to me, saying: Zayd ibn al-Ḥubāb related to us, saying: and Shuʿba informed me, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
6123 – Ḥātim ibn Bakr al-Ḍabbī related to me, saying: Wahb related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
6124 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Ādam related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying "spend from the good things you have earned," he said: the permissible trade.
6125 – Muḥammad ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ ibn al-Sāʾib, on the authority of ʿAbd Allāh ibn Maʿqil, concerning "spend from the good things you have earned," he said: in the possession of the believer there is nothing impure, but do not deliberately seek out the impure of it in order to spend it.
6126 – ʿIṣām ibn Rawwād ibn al-Jarrāḥ related to me, saying: my father related to us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿUbayda, he said: I asked ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib — may Allah's blessings be upon him — concerning His saying "O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned," he said: from the gold and the silver.
6127 – 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 Mujāhid, concerning His saying "from the good things you have earned," he said: trade.
6128 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: Abū Ḥudhayfa related to us, saying: Shibl related to us, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, the same.
6129 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Ṣāliḥ related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to me, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying "spend from the good things you have earned," he says: from the best and most precious of your possessions.
6130 – Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, concerning "O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned," he said: from this gold and silver.
* * *
The statement on the interpretation of His saying — mighty and exalted is He: وَمِمَّا أَخْرَجْنَا لَكُمْ مِنَ الأَرْضِ ("and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means by it: and spend also from what We have brought forth for you from the earth; so perform charity and give the zakāh of the date palms, the grapevines, the wheat, the barley, and everything for which charity has been made obligatory among the crops of the earth. As in:
6131 – ʿIṣām ibn Rawwād related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿUbayda, he said: I asked ʿAlī — may Allah's blessings be upon him — concerning the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted is He, "and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth," he said: that means: from the grain and the fruit and everything upon which zakāh is due.
6132 – 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 Mujāhid, concerning His saying "and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth," he said: the date palms.
6133 – 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: "and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth," he said: from the fruits of the date palms.
6134 – Al-Qāsim related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: Shuʿba related to us, on the authority of al-Ḥakam, on the authority of Mujāhid, concerning His saying: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْفِقُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ ("O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned"), he said: from trade — "and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth," from the fruits.
6135 – Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth," he said: this concerns the dates and the grain.
* * *
The statement on the interpretation of His saying — mighty and exalted is He: وَلا تَيَمَّمُوا الْخَبِيثَ ("and do not deliberately seek out the impure")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means by His words "and do not deliberately seek out the impure": do not make it your aim, do not intend it.
* * *
It has already been mentioned that this, in the reading of ʿAbd Allāh, reads: (wa-lā taʾummū), derived from "amamtu," whereas this [other reading] is derived from "yammamtu," and the meaning is one, even though the wordings differ.
* * *
One says: "taʾammamtu fulānan," and "tayammamtuhu," and "amamtuhu," with the meaning: I aimed at him and made him my purpose, as Maymūn ibn Qays al-Aʿshā said:
I made Qays my aim, and how much lay before him of land, of deserted wilderness with rugged ground.
And as in:
6136 – Mūsā related to us, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī: "and do not deliberately seek out the impure," do not make it your aim.
6137 – Al-Ḥasan ibn Yaḥyā related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Razzāq informed us, saying: Maʿmar informed us, on the authority of Qatāda: "and do not deliberately seek out," do not make it your aim.
6138 – I was told on the authority of ʿAmmār, he said: Ibn Abī Jaʿfar related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Qatāda, the same.
* * *
The statement on the interpretation of His saying: وَلا تَيَمَّمُوا الْخَبِيثَ مِنْهُ تُنْفِقُونَ ("and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means by "the impure": the inferior, the non-high-quality. He says: do not deliberately aim at the inferior of your possessions for your charity in order to give from it, but perform charity from the good and high-quality.
* * *
And that is because this verse was revealed concerning a man of the Anṣār who hung up a cluster of spoiled dates (ḥashaf) — at the place where the Muslims used to hang the charity of their fruits — as charity from his dates.
* Mention of those who said that:
6139 – Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnqazī related to me, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of ʿAdī ibn Thābit, on the authority of al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib, concerning the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted is He: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْفِقُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ وَمِمَّا أَخْرَجْنَا لَكُمْ مِنَ الأَرْضِ ("O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth") up to His saying أَنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ ("that Allah is Free of need, Praiseworthy"), he said: it was revealed concerning the Anṣār. When the days of harvesting the date palms arrived, the Anṣār would bring from their gardens the clusters of unripe dates (busr), and hang them on a rope between the two pillars in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ, so that the poor among the Muhājirūn would eat of them. Then a man among them would deliberately add the spoiled dates (ḥashaf) and join them to the clusters of unripe dates, supposing that that was permissible.
Then Allah, mighty and exalted is He, revealed concerning whoever did that: "and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend," he said: do not make the spoiled dates of it your aim to spend them.
6140 – Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, al-Suddī asserted, on the authority of ʿAdī ibn Thābit, on the authority of al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib, something similar — except that he said: some of them would deliberately add the cluster of spoiled dates — supposing that it would be accepted from him — amid the multitude of clusters that were being laid down. Then concerning whoever did that it was revealed: "and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend," [namely] the cluster that is spoiled, while you, were it offered to you, would not accept it.
6141 – Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Mālik, on the authority of al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib, he said: they came with the worst of their dates and the worst of their food for charity. Then it was revealed: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْفِقُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ ("O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned"), the verse.
6142 – ʿIṣām ibn Rawwād related to me, saying: my father related to us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī related to us, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿUbayda al-Salmānī, he said: I asked ʿAlī concerning the saying of Allah: "O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth, and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend," he said: and ʿAlī said: this verse was revealed concerning the obligatory zakāh. The man used to deliberately pick the dates and set the good aside. Then when the collector of charity came, he would give him from the inferior. Thereupon He — mighty and exalted is He — said: "and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend."
6143 – Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: ʿAbd al-Jalīl ibn Ḥumayd al-Yaḥṣubī related to me, that Ibn Shihāb told him, he said: Abū Umāma ibn Sahl ibn Ḥunayf related to me, concerning the verse in which Allah, mighty and exalted is He, said: "and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend," he said: that is the jaʿrūr and the lawn ḥubayq [two kinds of inferior dates], and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ forbade that that be taken in charity.
6144 – 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 Mujāhid: "and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend," he said: they used to give as charity — namely from the date palms — the spoiled dates and the worst of it. That was forbidden them and they were commanded to give charity from the good of it.
6145 – Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْفِقُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ ("O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned") up to His saying وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ ("and know that Allah is Free of need, Praiseworthy"): we were told that a man in the time of the Prophet of Allah ﷺ owned two gardens, and he would deliberately take the worst dates of the two and give them as charity, and he would mix spoiled dates among them. Then Allah condemned that of them and forbade it them.
6146 – 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 "and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend," he said: you deliberately aim at the worst of your possession and give it as charity, while I would not take it unless I would close one eye to it.
6147 – Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Yazīd ibn Ibrāhīm, on the authority of al-Ḥasan, he said: the man used to give the worst of his possession as charity, then it was revealed: "and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend."
6148 – Al-Muthannā related to us, saying: al-Ḥusayn related to us, saying: Ḥajjāj related to me, on the authority of Ibn Jurayj, he said: ʿAbd Allāh ibn Kathīr informed us: that he heard Mujāhid saying: "and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend," he said: this concerns the clusters that were hung up, and he [the Prophet ﷺ] saw among them spoiled dates and said: what is this? Ibn Jurayj said: I heard ʿAṭāʾ saying: a person hung up spoiled dates among the clusters that were hung up in Medina, and the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said: what is this? How evil is what this man has hung up! Then it was revealed: "and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend."
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: and do not deliberately seek out the impure of the forbidden (ḥarām) to spend it, and refrain from spending the permissible, good.
* Mention of those who said that:
6149 – Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Ibn Zayd said — and I asked him concerning the saying of Allah, mighty and exalted is He: "and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend" — he said: the impure is the forbidden; do not deliberately seek it out to spend anything of it, for Allah, mighty and exalted is He, does not accept it.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: and the interpretation of the verse is the interpretation that we have conveyed from those from whom we have transmitted it among the companions of the Messenger of Allah ﷺ — because of the soundness of its isnād — and because of the consensus of the people of interpretation concerning it — and not that which Ibn Zayd said.
* * *
The statement on the interpretation of His saying: وَلَسْتُمْ بِآخِذِيهِ إِلا أَنْ تُغْمِضُوا فِيهِ ("and you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it")
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means by it: and you would not take the impure for your rightful claims. And the "hāʾ" in His words "take it" (bi-ākhidhīhi) refers back to "the impure" — "unless you closed an eye to it," that means: unless in taking it you would forgo a portion of what is rightfully yours, and would permit it to yourselves.
One says of this: "aghmaḍa fulān li-fulān ʿan baʿḍi ḥaqqihi" ("so-and-so closed an eye for so-and-so concerning a portion of his right"), and "fa-huwa yughmiḍ." To this belongs the saying of al-Ṭirimmāḥ ibn Ḥakīm:
No people escaped us through blood-vengeance, and for injustice there are men who content themselves with turning a blind eye.
* * *
Abū Jaʿfar said: and the people of interpretation differed concerning its interpretation.
Some of them said: the meaning of it is: and you would not accept the inferior from your debtors as your rightful claims upon them, except out of overlooking on your part toward them concerning what is due to you from them.
* Mention of those who said that:
6150 – ʿIṣām ibn Rawwād related to us, saying: my father related to us, saying: Abū Bakr al-Hudhalī related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, on the authority of ʿUbayda, he said: I asked ʿAlī about it, and he said: "and you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it," he says: and not one of you would accept this inferior, unless something of it is remitted for him.
6151 – Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: Muʾammal related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of Abū Mālik, on the authority of al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib: "and you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it," he says: if a man had something due from another and he gave it to him [in inferior form], he would not accept it, unless he would realize that it [the debtor] would be shortchanging something of his right.
6152 – Al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd Allāh related to us, saying: Muʿāwiya related to us, on the authority of ʿAlī, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying "and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend, and you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it," he says: if you had something due from someone, and he came to you with something more inferior than your right, you would not accept it at the value of the good without appraising it lower — that is His saying "unless you closed an eye to it." How then do you consent for Me to what you would not accept for yourselves, while My right upon you [consists] of the best and most precious of your possessions?
And that is His saying: لَنْ تَنَالُوا الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنْفِقُوا مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ ("You will not attain righteousness until you spend from what you love") [Surah Āl ʿImrān: 92].
6153 – 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 Mujāhid: "and you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it," he said: you would not accept it from your debtors nor in your commercial transactions, except with an addition over the good in the measure.
6154 – Muḥammad ibn Saʿd related to me, saying: my father related to me, saying: my uncle related to me, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of his father, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, concerning His saying "O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth, and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend, and you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it": and that is because there were men who would give the zakāh of their possessions in the form of dates, and they would give the spoiled dates in the zakāh. He said: if one would demand something from another and he would then settle it for him [in that manner], he would not accept it, unless he would realize that he was overlooking for him something of his right.
6155 – I was told 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, concerning His saying "and you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it," he says: if you had a debt to claim from a man and he settled for you something worse than what you were owed by him, would you accept that from him except with reluctance?
6156 – Yaḥyā ibn Abī Ṭālib related to me, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Juwaybir related to us, on the authority of al-Ḍaḥḥāk, concerning His saying: يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا أَنْفِقُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ ("O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned") up to His saying "unless you closed an eye to it," he said: when Allah commanded that they discharge the zakāh, there came a man of the hypocrites with the worst food he had of dates and the like. Allah found that detestable and said: أَنْفِقُوا مِنْ طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ وَمِمَّا أَخْرَجْنَا لَكُمْ مِنَ الأَرْضِ ("spend from the good things you have earned and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth"), He says: "you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it," He says: there was no man among you who had something due from another and who then gave him less than his right, but he would only accept it while knowing that he was shortchanging him — so do not consent for Me to what you do not accept for yourselves — so that he accepts something, while overlooking in it, that is less than his right.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: and you would not take this inferior, impure — when you would buy it from the owners — at the price of the good, except out of overlooking on their part toward you concerning its price.
* Mention of those who said that:
6157 – Ibn Wakīʿ related to us, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of ʿImrān ibn Ḥudayr, on the authority of al-Ḥasan: "and you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it," he said: if you found it for sale in the market, you would not take it until something of its price was remitted for you.
6158 – Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning His saying "and you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it," he says: you would not take this inferior at the price of this good, except when it is overlooked for you in it.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: and you would not take this inferior, impure if it were given to you as a gift, except when you would close an eye to it and accept it with reluctance, out of shame on your part toward the one who gave it to you.
* Mention of those who said that:
6159 – Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnqazī related to me, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of ʿAdī ibn Thābit, on the authority of al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib: "and you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it," he said: if it were given to you as a gift, you would not accept it except out of shame toward the giver, [namely that] he sent to you what he himself did not need.
6160 – Mūsā related to me, saying: ʿAmr related to us, saying: Asbāṭ related to us, he said: al-Suddī asserted, on the authority of ʿAdī ibn Thābit, on the authority of al-Barāʾ, something similar — except that he said: except out of shame toward the giver, and out of annoyance that he sent to you what he himself did not need.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: and you would not take this inferior as your right, except when you would forgo your right.
* Mention of those who said that:
6161 – Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Jarīr related to us, on the authority of ʿAṭāʾ, on the authority of Ibn Maʿqil: "and you would not take it," he says: and you would not take it as a right due to you — "unless you closed an eye to it," he says: I forgo for you something of my right.
* * *
And others said: the meaning of it is: and you would not take the forbidden, except when you would close an eye to the sin that lies for you in taking it.
* Mention of those who said that:
6162 – Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb related to us, saying: Ibn Zayd said: and I asked him concerning His saying "and you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it" — he said: He says: you would not take that forbidden thing until you close an eye to the sin that lies in it — he said: and in the speech of the Arabs there is [the expression]: "indeed, by Allah, he has truly taken it, and he has truly closed an eye to what lay in it" — while he knows that it is forbidden and void.
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Abū Jaʿfar said: and that which, in our view, is most fitting for its interpretation, is that one says: Allah, mighty and exalted is He, has urged His servants to charity and the discharge of the zakāh from their possessions, and made that obligatory upon them therein. Thus what He made obligatory of it in their possessions became a right for the people who have a share in the charity. Then He commanded them — exalted is His mention — that they discharge from the good — namely the high-quality of their possessions — the good. And that is because the people who have a share [in the zakāh] are partners of the owners of the possessions in their possessions, on account of the charity that has become obligatory for them therein after it was made obligatory.
There is no doubt that each of two partners in a possession is entitled in proportion to his ownership, and that neither of them may withhold from his partner his right in the property in which he is his partner, by giving him — at the value of his share therein — something else that is worse or less. Likewise Allah has forbidden the people who burden their possession with zakāh from giving to the people who have a share — out of what has become obligatory for them in his possession of the good, high-quality right, so that they have become partners therein — something else of the impure, inferior, and withholding from them what is rightfully theirs of the good of his high-quality possession. Just as, were the possession of the owner entirely inferior and non-high-quality, and the zakāh became obligatory therein and the people who have a share in the charity became partners therein on account of what Allah made obligatory for them therein: then it would not be his to give them the good, high-quality from a possession of his other than that from which their right arises.
Thus He — blessed and exalted is He — said to the owners of the possessions: give the zakāh of the high-quality of your high-quality possessions, and do not deliberately seek out the impure, inferior to give it to the people who have a share in the charity and withhold from them the obligatory that is rightfully theirs of the high-quality, good in your possessions. And you would not take for yourselves the inferior in place of the high-quality that is rightfully yours from the one against whom that is obligatory toward you — of your partners, your debtors and others — except out of overlooking on your part and remitting something for them and with reluctance on your part in taking it. He says: and do not deal with the one to whom a right is due in your possessions in a manner that you would not accept from another that he deal toward you concerning your rights that are due to you in their possessions.
But as for when a man gives a voluntary, non-obligatory charity: even though I find it detestable for him that he give therein something other than the best and good of his possession — for Allah, mighty and exalted is He, is most worthy that one draw near to Him with the noblest and good of possessions, and charity is the offering (qurbān) of the believer — yet I do not forbid him from giving therein something other than the high-quality, because the less than high-quality is sometimes of more general benefit on account of its abundance or on account of its great significance, and is more suitable for the needy and for the one to whom one gives it as drawing near to Allah, mighty and exalted is He, than the high-quality, on account of its small quantity or its small weight and the small benefit it yields to the one to whom one gives it.
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And as we have said concerning it, so too a group of the people of knowledge have said.
* Mention of those who said that:
6163 – Muḥammad ibn ʿAbd al-Malik ibn Abī al-Shawārib related to us, saying: Yazīd ibn Zurayʿ related to us, saying: Salama ibn ʿAlqama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, he said: I asked ʿUbayda concerning this verse: "O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth, and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend, and you would not take it, unless you closed an eye to it," he said: that concerns the zakāh; a counterfeit dirham is more agreeable to me than a [spoiled] date.
6164 – Yaʿqūb related to me, saying: Ibn ʿUlayya related to us, saying: Salama ibn ʿAlqama related to us, on the authority of Muḥammad ibn Sīrīn, he said: I asked ʿUbayda about it, and he said: that concerns only the zakāh, and a counterfeit dirham is more agreeable to me than a [spoiled] date.
6165 – Abū Kurayb related to us, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Hishām, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, he said: I asked ʿUbayda concerning this verse: "O you who believe, spend from the good things you have earned and from what We have brought forth for you from the earth, and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend, and you would not take it," and ʿUbayda said: this concerns only the obligatory, and there is no objection to a man voluntarily giving the [spoiled] date, and a counterfeit dirham is better than a [spoiled] date.
6166 – Abū al-Sāʾib related to me, saying: Ibn Idrīs related to us, on the authority of Hishām, on the authority of Ibn Sīrīn, concerning His saying وَلا تَيَمَّمُوا الْخَبِيثَ مِنْهُ تُنْفِقُونَ ("and do not deliberately seek out the impure of it to spend"), he said: this concerns only the obligatory zakāh; but as for the voluntary, there is no objection to a man giving the counterfeit dirham as charity, and a counterfeit dirham is better than a [spoiled] date.
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The statement on the interpretation of His saying: وَاعْلَمُوا أَنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ ("and know that Allah is Free of need, Praiseworthy") (267)
Abū Jaʿfar said: He — exalted is His praise — means by it: and know, O people, that Allah, mighty and exalted is He, is free of need with respect to your charity and with respect to all else. He has only commanded it to you and made it obligatory in your possessions out of mercy from Him toward you, so that by it He may bring your needy to prosperity, and by it strengthen your weak, and grant you for it in the Hereafter an abundant reward — not on account of any need He would have for it toward you.
And He means by His saying "Praiseworthy" (ḥamīd) that He is praised among His creatures for the favors He has bestowed upon them and the abundance of His grace that He has spread out for them. As in:
6167 – Al-Ḥusayn ibn ʿAmr ibn Muḥammad al-ʿAnqazī related to me, saying: my father related to us, on the authority of Asbāṭ, on the authority of al-Suddī, on the authority of ʿAdī ibn Thābit, on the authority of al-Barāʾ ibn ʿĀzib, concerning His saying "that Allah is Free of need, Praiseworthy," [namely] with respect to your charity.
