The Heifer (Al-Baqarah) البقرة 267–269
267
يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُواْ أَنفِقُواْ مِن طَيِّبَاتِ مَا كَسَبْتُمْ وَمِمَّا أَخْرَجْنَا لَكُم مِّنَ الأَرْضِ وَلاَ تَيَمَّمُواْ الْخَبِيثَ مِنْهُ تُنفِقُونَ وَلَسْتُم بِآخِذِيهِ إِلاَّ أَن تُغْمِضُواْ فِيهِ وَاعْلَمُواْ أَنَّ اللّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَمِيدٌ
Believers, give charitably from the good things which you have earned and what We produce for you from the earth; not worthless things which you yourselves would only reluctantly accept. Know that God is self-sufficient and praiseworthy.
268
الشَّيْطَانُ يَعِدُكُمُ الْفَقْرَ وَيَأْمُرُكُم بِالْفَحْشَاء وَاللّهُ يَعِدُكُم مَّغْفِرَةً مِّنْهُ وَفَضْلاً وَاللّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ
Satan threatens you with the prospect of poverty and commands you to do foul deeds. But God promises His forgiveness and His bounty. God is bountiful and all knowing.
269
يُؤتِي الْحِكْمَةَ مَن يَشَاء وَمَن يُؤْتَ الْحِكْمَةَ فَقَدْ أُوتِيَ خَيْرًا كَثِيرًا وَمَا يَذَّكَّرُ إِلاَّ أُوْلُواْ الأَلْبَابِ
He grants wisdom to whom He will; and whoever is granted wisdom has indeed been granted abundant wealth. Yet none bear this in mind except those endowed with understanding.
No class discussions published for this verse group yet.
(a) There are two ways of spending one’s earnings in this world. One is to spend in ways shown by Satan. Another is to spend in ways shown by God. What Satan does is to impress on the minds of human beings the importance of personal requirements, and bring about conviction that all their earnings are best spent on personal comforts and luxuries. When Satan sees that any individual has more wealth than is necessary for his personal needs, he kindles in him another desire, that of indulging in showy activities. At the instigation of Satan, man spends all his money on ostentatious living and feels happy that he has spent his money in the best possible way. What is desired of man is that he should not regard his wealth as his personal possession but rather as something that belongs only to God. He should spend as much of his wealth as is necessary for his actual needs and the rest he should spend on achieving higher goals. He should give this surplus wealth to the weaker of God’s servants and also spend for the cause of God’s religion. When he spends for the weaker section of society, he hopes that in the Hereafter, when he appears empty- handed before God, he will not be deprived of God’s blessings. Similarly, when he spends his wealth for the cause of God’s religion, he allies himself with God’s mission.