Tafseer of The Ascending Stairways · Al-Ma'aarij · 70:24
And those within whose wealth is a known right
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 statement of the Exalted: "And in whose wealth there is a fixed right" (70:24).
The Exalted, whose praise is exalted, says: and except those in whose wealth there is a defined right, and that is the obligatory alms (zakāh) for the beggar who asks him from his wealth, and for the destitute (al-maḥrūm) who is denied wealth, so that he is poor and does not beg.
The people of interpretation differed over what is meant by the "fixed right" that Allah mentions here. Some said: it is the obligatory alms (zakāh).
* Mention of who said that:
Ibn Bashshār related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Aʿlā related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: "And in whose wealth there is a fixed right * for the beggar and the destitute" — he said: the fixed right is the zakāh.
Bishr related to us, saying: Yazīd related to us, saying: Saʿīd related to us, on the authority of Qatāda, concerning his statement: "And in whose wealth there is a fixed right" — he said: the obligatory alms (zakāh).
And others said: no, that is a right besides the zakāh.
* Mention of who said that:
ʿAlī 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, concerning his statement: "And in whose wealth there is a fixed right * for the beggar and the destitute" — he says: it is something besides the alms (ṣadaqa), with which he maintains his ties of kinship, or with which he hosts a guest, or with which he bears a burden, or with which he assists a destitute person.
Ibn al-Muthannā related to me, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, on the authority of Shuʿba, on the authority of Abū Yūnus, on the authority of Rabāḥ ibn ʿUbayda, on the authority of Qazaʿa, that Ibn ʿUmar was asked about his statement: "And in whose wealth there is a fixed right * for the beggar and the destitute" — is that the zakāh? He said: indeed, there are rights upon you besides that.
Abū Hishām al-Rifāʿī related to us, saying: Ibn Fuḍayl related to us, saying: Bayān related to us, on the authority of al-Shaʿbī, he said: indeed, in wealth there is a right besides the zakāh.
Ibn Bashshār related to us, saying: ʿAbd al-Raḥmān related to us, saying: Sufyān related to us, on the authority of al-Aʿmash, on the authority of Ibrāhīm, he said: in wealth there is a right besides the zakāh.
Ibn Ḥumayd related to us, saying: Mihrān related to us, on the authority of Sufyān, on the authority of Mujāhid: "In their wealth there is a fixed right" — he said: besides the zakāh. And they agreed that the beggar is the one whose characteristic I have described.
They also differed over the meaning of the destitute (al-maḥrūm) in this place, in the same way as their difference concerning it in [Sūrat] al-Dhāriyāt. And we have already mentioned what they said about it there, and we have indicated which of those is, in our judgment, the correct one, except that we mention here some reports that we did not mention there.
* Mention of who said: it is the needy one who has no prosperity in his earning (al-muḥāraf).
Yaʿqūb ibn Ibrāhīm related to me, saying: Hushaym related to us, saying: al-Ḥajjāj informed us, on the authority of al-Walīd ibn al-ʿAyzār, on the authority of Saʿīd ibn Jubayr, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, that he said: the destitute (al-maḥrūm) is the one who has no prosperity in his earning (al-muḥāraf).
Yūnus related to me, saying: Ibn Wahb informed us, saying: Muslim ibn Khālid informed me, on the authority of Ibn Abī Najīḥ, on the authority of Mujāhid, on the authority of Ibn ʿAbbās, he said: the destitute is the one who has no prosperity in his earning (al-muḥāraf).
