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Showing posts with label surah Baqarah. Show all posts
Showing posts with label surah Baqarah. Show all posts

Thursday 26 October 2023

What is better than charity that is followed by hurt

No two men are gifted equally when it comes to means of sustenance "Rizq - رزق". However, in Islam, a system of obligatory charity (Zakat) and voluntary charity (Sadaqat) has been instituted to narrow down the gap between the HAVEs and HAVE NOTs. We will not go into details as to what is being said on the importance of above said two categories of charity both in Qur'an and Sunnah as we have written a number of posts on these.

Please refer to our reference page on: Importance of Charity in Islam, to know more about charity, especially the post: Believers should never nullify their acts of charit which follows the verse being shared today.

But is there anything better than charity?

Today, we in this post, share a rather different view on charity as is mentioned in the 263rd verse of Surah 2. Al Baqarah (The Cow). This is specially meant for those who though apparently give lot in charity but may not be accruing the expected rewards from Allah.

قَوۡلٌ مَّعۡرُوۡفٌ وَّمَغۡفِرَةٌ خَيۡرٌ مِّنۡ صَدَقَةٍ يَّتۡبَعُهَاۤ اَذًى​ؕ وَاللّٰهُ غَنِىٌّ حَلِيۡمٌ‏ 
(2:263) To speak a kind word and to forgive people’s faults is better than charity followed by hurt. Allah is All-Sufficient (Al Ghani الغنى), All-Forbearing (Al-Halim (الحليم)).
This implies two things. First, Allah does not stand in need of anybody's charity, for He is Self-Sufficient. Secondly, He likes those people who are generous and large-hearted, but does not like frivolous and narrow-minded people, for He Himself is Generous, Clement and Forbearing. How, then Allah, Who bestows on the people the necessities of life without stint, and forgives and pardons them over and over again in spite of their errors, would like those who mar the self-respect of a person by sending repeated reminders of their charity and making pointed references to it even though they might have given only a farthing.

A Tradition of the Holy Prophet says that on the Day of Resurrection, Allah will neither speak a word nor even so much as look at a person who makes pointed references to the gift, he gave to someone.  

Yusuf Ali Explanation
A very high standard is set for charity. (1) It must be in the way of God. (2) It must expect no reward in this world. (3) It must not be followed by references or reminders to the act of charity. (4) Still less should any annoyance or injury be caused to the recipient; e.g. by boasting that the giver relieved the person in the hour of need. Indeed, kindness and the spirit which turns a blind eye to other people's faults or short-comings is the essence of charity: these things are better than charity if charity is spoilt by tricks that do harm. At the same time, while no reward is to be expected, there is abundant reward from God - material, moral, and spiritual - according to His own good pleasure and plan. If we spend in the way of God, it is not as if God was in need of our charity. On the contrary, our short-comings are so great that we require His utmost forbearance before any good that we can do can merit His praise or reward. Our motives are so mixed that our best may really be very poor if judged by a very strict standard.

Tafsir Qur'an Wiki:
This verse reasserts the idea that a charitable act followed by wicked behaviour is worthless. A pleasant word or a kind-hearted gesture would be far more favourable and likely to spread trust, confidence and love and to calm the hearts and souls. Charity, after all, is not a favour from the giver to the recipient, but an obligation towards God who is: “free of all wants, clement.” He neither needs these pitiful donations nor is He anxious to exact punishment on the ungrateful. All people owe their very existence to God Almighty. He overlooks many of their shortcomings, and they ought to learn from Him by showing forgiveness and compassion towards the poor and the needy.

The Qur’ān always reminds people of the attributes of God, which provide the perfect ideal Muslims should try to emulate, as far as they can, in their behaviour, and in their values and aspirations.

When the previous verses have given the believers a keen sense of their role and the need to give freely, for no purpose other than to earn God’s pleasure, the sūrah advises them not to undermine their charitable deeds with condescension or by hurting other people’s feelings. Again, it gives a vivid and lively illustration from nature, in which ideas and concepts are reflected in exciting movement and vivid scenery.

So be very generous, brothers and sisters in Islam. Give out to charities, especially voluntary ones, to help people smilingly, rather than hurting them by scorn remarks after throwing a few coins on them. And remember, speaking softly to people and forgiving them for hurting you is better charity than a show-off charity or the one followed by some hurtful remarks.
May Allāh (سبحانه و تعالى‎) help us understand Qur'ān and follow the Sunnah of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ, which is embodiment of commandments of Allah contained in the Qur'ān. May Allah help us to be like the ones He loves and let our lives be lived helping others and not making others' lives miserable or unlivable. May all our wrong doings, whether intentional or unintentional, be forgiven before the angel of death knocks on our door. 
وَمَا عَلَيۡنَاۤ اِلَّا الۡبَلٰغُ الۡمُبِيۡنُ‏ 
(36:17) and our duty is no more than to clearly convey the Message.”
That is Our duty is only to convey to you the message that Allah has entrusted us with. Then it is for you to accept it or reject it. We have not been made responsible for making you accept it forcibly, and if you do not accept it, we shall not be seized in consequence of your disbelief, you will yourselves be answerable for your actions on Day of Resurrection.

Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully. It will also help the Muslims to have grasp over social issues and their answers discussed in the Qur'an and other matter related to inter faith so that they are able to discuss issues with non-Muslims with authority based on refences from Qur'an.

May Allah forgive me if my posts ever imply a piety far greater than I possess. I am most in need of guidance.

Note: When we mention God in our posts, we mean One True God, we call Allah in Islam, with no associates. Allah is the Sole Creator of all things, and that Allah is all-powerful and all-knowing. Allah has no offspring, no race, no gender, no body, and is unaffected by the characteristics of human life.

You may read more posts on similar theme in our series of posts related to: Importance of charity in Islam

For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'anYou may also refer to our Reference Pages  and Understanding Al Qur'an for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
Photo | Tafsir References: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4

An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that the exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.  
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from the following sources: 
  • Tafsir Ibn Khatir
  • Muhammad Asad Translation
  • Yusuf Ali Translation
  • Translation Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
  • Qur'an Wiki
  • Towards Understanding the Quran
In addition, references of other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.

Disclaimer: The material for this post has been collected from the references given above. If anyone differs with the material contained in this post, one may consult the references and their authors.  If someone has more material about the subject, he/she is most welcome to share in the comments box to make the post all encompassing.

If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook

Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on social media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Qur'ān - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

Thursday 8 April 2021

One of My Favourite Verses of Qur'an: So remember Me and I shall remember you


Remembering Allah is the essence of Islam. However to my reckoning it is far different form the zikr of Sufi Islam wherein believers sit in seclusion and repeat names of Allah repeatedly. In fact remembering Allah in the real life when one is to carry out daily chores is more important that cutting off from the world and then doing so. And remembering Allah means whatever we do, we must remember that we do not do anything that displeases Allah - if we just keep this in mind, the entire canvas of our life would change. 

This is what is the central idea of the verse selected from Qur'an today. In fact this is one of my favourite verses, which is simple, short but carrying a far greater message for the believers. Just ponder over it with a deep thought and it would reveal its deep meaning instantly:

فَاذۡكُرُوۡنِىۡٓ اَذۡكُرۡكُمۡ وَاشۡکُرُوۡا لِىۡ وَلَا تَكۡفُرُوۡنِ‏ 
So remember Me and I shall remember you; give thanks to Me and do not be ungrateful to Me for My favours. (Surah 2 Al Baqarah:152) 
Let us now see how different scholars of varying time periods have tried to unfold its meaning and implications for our real life:

Tafsir Ibn-Kathir
Al-Hasan Al-Basri commented about Allah's statement: (فَاذْكُرُونِى أَذْكُرْكُمْ Therefore remember Me. I will remember you), "Remember Me regarding what I have commanded you and I will remember you regarding what I have compelled Myself to do for your benefit (i.e., His rewards and forgiveness).''

An authentic Hadith states: (Allah the Exalted said, `Whoever mentions Me to himself, then I will mention him to Myself; and whoever mentions Me in a gathering, I will mention him in a better gathering.)'

Imam Ahmad reported that Anas narrated that Allah's Messenger said: 
(Allah the Exalted said, `O son of Adam! If you mention Me to yourself, I will mention you to Myself. If you mention Me in a gathering, I will mention you in a gathering of the angels (or said in a better gathering). If you draw closer to Me by a hand span, I will draw closer to you by forearm's length. If you draw closer to Me by a forearm's length, I will draw closer to you by an arm's length. And if you come to Me walking, I will come to you running).
Its chain is Sahih, it was recorded by Al-Bukhari. 

Then Allah said: (... وَاشْكُرُواْ لِي وَلاَ تَكْفُرُونِ and be grateful to Me (for My countless favors on you) and never be ungrateful to Me.) - In this Ayah, Allah commands that He be thanked and appreciated, and promises even more rewards for thanking Him. 

Allah said in another Ayah: (And (remember) when your Lord proclaimed: "If you give thanks (by accepting faith and worshipping none but Allah), I will give you more (of My blessings); but if you are thankless (i.e., disbelievers), verily, My punishment is indeed severe.)

Abu Raja' Al-`Utaridi said: `Imran bin Husayn came by us once wearing a nice silken garment that we never saw him wear before or afterwards.  He said, "Allah's Messenger said: (Those whom Allah has favored with a bounty, then Allah likes to see the effect of His bounty on His creation), or he said, "on His servant'' - according to Ruh (one of the narrators of the Hadith).
Yusuf Ali  Explanation
The word "remember" is too pale a word for zikr, which has now acquired a large number of associations in our religious literature, especially Sufi literature. In its verbal signification it implies: to remember; to praise by frequently mentioning; to rehearse; to celebrate or commemorate; to make much of; to cherish the memory of as a precious possession. In Sufi devotions zikr represents both a solemn ritual and a spiritual state of mind or heart, in which the devotee seeks to realise the presence of God. Thus there is zikr of the mind and zikr of the heart. For beginners the one may lead to the other, but in many cases the two may be simultaneous. There is a subtler distinction, between the zikr that is open, and the zikr that is secret, corresponding to the two doors of the heart, the fleshly and the spiritual. In English some account (very imperfect) of zikr will be found in Hughe's Dictionary of Islam, covering over 14 columns.

Javed Ahmad Ghamidi Explanation: Remembrance is like a covenant. Remembrance of God and in return God’s remembrance of His creatures imply that Muslims should fulfill their duties and responsibilities and as its reward the Almighty will fulfill His promise of granting them success in this world and in the Hereafter.

The implication is that Muslims must truly fulfill their obligations of the rights imposed upon them by being granted the leadership of mankind for which they were bestowed with the shari‘ah – a favour of the Almighty.

What is implied is that Muslims should not be ungrateful to God regarding this favour the way the Jews were. Such an attitude would deprive them of this favour just as it deprived the Jews. The law of the Almighty is the same for all and no one will be spared from its application.

Abbas - Tanwîr al-Miqbâs min Tafsîr Ibn ‘Abbâs:
(Therefore remember Me) through the performance of acts of obedience, (I will remember you) by granting you Paradise; and it is also said that this means: remember Me in time of ease, I will remember you in times of hardship. (Give thanks to Me) for the blessings I bestowed upon you, (and reject not Me) do not stop giving thanks for these blessings.

Jalal - Al-Jalalayn:
So remember Me, through prayer, glorification and the like, I will remember you: this is said to mean, ‘I will reward you’; in a hadīth about God [that He says]: ‘whoever remembers Me in himself, I will remember him in Myself, and whoever remembers Me in an assembly, I will remember him in an Assembly more excellent than his’; and be thankful to Me, for My grace, by being obedient, and be not ungrateful towards Me, through disobedience.

Kashani - Kashani:
So remember Me, by responding [to the call], through obedience and out of [a positive] will, and I will remember you, by granting you more and successive wayfaring and the effusion [from Me] of the light of certainty, and be thankful to Me, for the grace of sending a Messenger and guidance by wayfaring along the path to Me out of love, and I will increase you in gnosis from Me and love of Me, and be not ungrateful towards Me, by being indifferent and veiling yourselves by the grace of religion from the Grace-giver, as this is ingratitude, nay, disbelief [itself].

You may now like to listen to eminent Muslim scholar Nouman Ali Khan explaining the above said verse:

May Allah help us remember Him so that He remembers us and help us understand Qur'ān and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. Aameen.

For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'anYou may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Qur'ān.
Photo | Reference: | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |  5
Reading the Qur'ān should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully.

An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Qur'ān from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
  • The plain translation has been taken from the Qur'ān officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 
  • The exegesis of the chapters of the Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi.  
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided, additional input has been interjected from following sources: 
  • Towards Understanding the Quran
  • Tafsir Ibn Khatir
  • Muhammad Asad Translation
  • Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
  • Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
  • Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
In addition the references of  other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.

If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook

Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Qur'ān - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

Tuesday 20 October 2020

Charity: Who to Give?


Man is always finding excuses when it comes to spend or sacrifice in the name of Allah. Remember the anecdote in Surah al Baqarah (The Cow) when the Israelites were asked by Prophet Musa (Moses, peace be upon him) that they should sacrifice a cow to find a murderer of an innocent. And the reluctant  Israelites asked Prophet Moses umpteen number of questions as to how the cow should look like, its age, colour and its health. And it was after number of irritating and tiring questions did they finally agree to slaughter a cow.

Likewise, when it comes to charity, knowing fully well who is a deserving case for charity and Zakat, even believers want some concrete answers and guidelines to "facilitate" their decision to spend in the way of Allah. In fact such question arise in the minds of hypocrites and believers weak in faith who still love worldly wealth more than to spend it to please Allah. Here in this 215th verse of Surah 2. Al Baqarah, Allah responds to one such question:

يَسۡـئَلُوۡنَكَ مَاذَا يُنۡفِقُوۡنَ ؕ قُلۡ مَآ اَنۡفَقۡتُمۡ مِّنۡ خَيۡرٍ فَلِلۡوَالِدَيۡنِ وَالۡاَقۡرَبِيۡنَ وَالۡيَتٰمٰى وَالۡمَسٰكِيۡنِ وَابۡنِ السَّبِيۡلِ​ؕ وَمَا تَفۡعَلُوۡا مِنۡ خَيۡرٍ فَاِنَّ اللّٰهَ بِهٖ عَلِيۡمٌ‏ 
People ask you what they should spend. Say: “Whatever wealth you spend let it be for your parents and kinsmen, the orphans, the needy and the wayfarer; Allah is aware of whatever good you do.”

The implication is that why do they ask from God? It is their own people whom they are spending upon and their needs are also evident to them. So they should spend as much as they can according to the grit and courage they can muster in this regard. Whatever they spend is in the knowledge of God and He never forgets anything; hence He will fully reward them for this in the Hereafter.

Three questions arise in charity: (1) What shall we give? (2) to whom shall we give? and (3) how shall we give? The answer is here. Give anything that is good, useful, helpful, valuable. It may be property or money; it may be a helping hand; it may be advice; it may be a kind word; "whatever ye do that is good" is charity. On the other hand, if you throw away what is useless, there is no charity in it. Or if you give something with a harmful intent, e.g., a sword to a madman, or a drug or sweets or even money to someone whom you want to entrap or corrupt, it is no charity but a gift of damnation. To whom should you give? It may be tempting to earn the world's praise by a gift that will be talked about, but are you meeting the needs of those who have the first claim on you? If you are not, you are like a person who defrauds creditors: it is no charity. Every gift is judged by its unselfish character: the degree of need or claim is a factor which you should consider; if you disregard it, there is something selfish behind it. How should it be given? As in the sight of God; thus shuts out all pretence, show, and insincerity.

This simple verse then very clearly explains who to give charity to and how to spend in the way of Allah. May Allah help us understand Qur'an and help us to act upon the commandments of Allah contained therein. Aameen.

For more Selected Verses, please refer to our reference page: Selected Verses from the Qur'an

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.
Photo | Reference: | 1 | 2 | 3 |
Reading the Holy Quran should be a daily obligation of a Muslim - Reading it with translation will make it meaningful. But reading its Exegesis / Tafsir will make you understand it fully.


An effort has been made to gather explanation / exegesis of the surahs of the Holy Qur'an from authentic sources and then present a least possible condensed explanation of the surah. In that:
  • The plain translation has been taken from the Holy Quran officially published by the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. [1]
  • The exegesis of the chapters of the Holy Quran is mainly based on the "Tafhim al-Qur'an - The Meaning of the Qur'an" by one of the most enlightened scholars of the Muslim World Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi. [2]  
In order to augment and add more explanation as already provided by [2], additional input has been interjected from following sources: 
  • Towards Understanding the Quran
  • Tafsir Ibn Khatir
  • Muhammad Asad Translation
  • Javed Ahmad Ghamidi / Al Mawrid
  • Al-Quran, Yusuf Ali Translation
  • Verse by Verse Qur'an Study Circle
In addition the references of  other sources which have been explored have also been given above. Those desirous of detailed explanations and tafsir (exegesis), may refer to these sites.

If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook

Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

Wednesday 18 March 2020

Scholars' Viewpoint: Last Two Verses of Surah Al Baqarah - The Cow


Sürah Al Baqarah - The Cow is said to have taken the longest t be revealed. It is generally believed that the essence of the entire Qur'an has been summed in the 286 verses of this Sürah.

The last two verses of Surah al-Baqarah, 285-286 are said to have great importance. These talk of the true belief of Prophets and Muslims and Believer's supplication.
( 285 )   The Messenger has believed in what was revealed to him from his Lord, and [so have] the believers. All of them have believed in Allah and His angels and His books and His messengers, [saying], "We make no distinction between any of His messengers." And they say, "We hear and we obey. [We seek] Your forgiveness, our Lord, and to You is the [final] destination."
( 286 )   Allah does not charge a soul except [with that within] its capacity. It will have [the consequence of] what [good] it has gained, and it will bear [the consequence of] what [evil] it has earned. "Our Lord, do not impose blame upon us if we have forgotten or erred. Our Lord, and lay not upon us a burden like that which You laid upon those before us. Our Lord, and burden us not with that which we have no ability to bear. And pardon us; and forgive us; and have mercy upon us. You are our protector, so give us victory over the disbelieving people."
In fact, these last two verses are  the conclusion of the surah. It has been first of all explained that everything in this Universe is under the control of the Almighty; He shall take account of everything whether hidden or visible and punish and bless according to His law whomsoever He wills. It has subsequently been elaborated that whether anyone else believes or not, the Prophet (pbuh) and his followers firmly believe that this Book has been revealed by the Almighty. The surah ends with a prayer in which every word speaks of the tremendous responsibilities of this Book which the Jews and the Christians were unable to fulfill and which now have been passed on to the followers of this new religion.

The Holy Prophet (Peace be upon him) has been reported as saying that one who recites these two verses during the night, these will be sufficient for him.

We have already presented the detailed explanation of these two verses in the Section IV of the exegesis of the Sürah Al Baqarah. 

We now present the tafsir / exegesis of these two verses by Nouman Ali Khan, who, born to a Pakistani family, is an American Muslim speaker and Arabic instructor who founded the Bayyinah Institute for Arabic and Qur’anic Studies, after serving as an instructor of Arabic at Nassau Community College. He has been named one of the 500 most influential Muslims in the world by the Royal Islamic Strategic Studies Centre of Jordan.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in the video above are that of the concerned scholar . We have shared these view as added information in better understanding of Islam. The reader may or may not agree with the view owing to their own perception. If any one differs with the material contained in this post, one may consult the references and their authors.  If someone has more material about the subject, he/she is most welcome to share in the comments box to make the post all encompassing.

For more Scholarly views and videos, please read our reference page: Scholars' Viewpoint on Important Issues Related to Islam.

You may also refer to our Reference Pages for knowing more about Islam and Quran.
If you like Islam: My Ultimate Decision, and to keep yourself updated on all our latest posts to know more about Islam, follow us on Facebook

Please share this page to your friends and family members through Facebook, Twitter, WhatsApp or any means on Social Media so that they can also be benefited by it and better understand Islam and the Holy Qur'an - Insha Allah (Allah Willing) you shall be blessed with the best of both worlds.

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