Surah al-Baqarah (The Cow) 2 : 272

Overview (Verses 272 - 274)
 
Charity Benefits the Charitable
 
At this point the sūrah addresses the Prophet personally, setting out a number of essential facts bearing on the formulation of Islamic principles and scope of behaviour: “It is not for you to make people follow the right guidance. It is God who guides whom He wills. Whatever good you may spend in charity is for your own good. You should only spend out of pure dedication to God. And whatever good you give in charity will be repaid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged.” (Verse 272)
 
Ibn Abī Ĥātim reports on the authority of Ibn `Abbās that until this verse was revealed, the Prophet (peace be upon him) used to instruct the Muslims to give in charity only to fellow Muslims, but then he ordered that charity should be extended to all who need it, regardless of their religion.
 
Guidance is a matter for God alone. Not even the Messenger of God could be held responsible for whether individuals heed the truth or not. God is the Creator, and He alone has power over people’s hearts and minds. The mission of God’s Messenger is to convey His message, and then it is up to God how He gives guidance to individual human beings, as they deserve to be guided. In taking this crucial issue out of the human domain, an important principle is established that a believer should seek and receive guidance from God alone. It also impresses upon the Messenger a need to show understanding, tolerance and perseverance in the face of any rejection or resistance he meets in conveying God’s message to the public. He is to appeal to God to grant them guidance and show them the light.
 
“It is not for you to make people follow the right guidance. It is God who guides whom He wills.” (Verse 272) Prophet Muĥammad is directed to open his heart to people, to show kindness, and to offer all possible help, leaving judgement and reward to God Almighty.
 
With such tenets and principles, Islam opens the widest possible horizons of compassion and tolerance. It goes beyond the recognition of religious freedom and rejection of compulsion and coercion. It demands universal human compassion and establishes the right of all needy members of society to help and support, regardless of their religious faith, as long as they do not pose any threat to the community. It further asserts that the rewards of those who give for the sake of God are safely guaranteed. No other religious faith has risen to or achieved such high standards of human or social morality.
 
The sūrah emphasizes that: “Whatever good you may spend in charity is for your own good. You should only spend out of pure dedication to God. And whatever good you give in charity will be repaid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged.” (Verse 272) Only a believer gives for the sake of God and no other. He does not give to charity in order to gain influence or praise, nor does he exploit his generosity to achieve personal ends or satisfy his ego, nor does he seek the favour or pleasure of people in power or authority. A believer gives to charity in the full knowledge and satisfaction that he will be rewarded by God; and that his life, character, and standing will be enhanced and that, furthermore, God’s generosity in the hereafter is guaranteed and will be all the more fulfilling..
 
The sūrah then refers to a specific form of giving, the beneficiary of which is an honest and honourable section of society who are not ashamed of being poor and who are prevented by their dignity and self-esteem from degrading themselves by begging: “[Alms are] for the needy who, being wholly preoccupied with God’s cause, are unable to go about earning their livelihood. The unthinking take them for men of wealth on account of their restrained behaviour. You can recognize them by their special mark: they do not importune people for alms. Whatever good you give is certainly known to God.” (Verse 273)
 
The description fitted a. group of Makkan Muslims (Muhājirūn) who had migrated with the Prophet to Madinah, leaving behind all their belongings and members of their families. They settled in Madinah; some of them, known as Ahl al-Şuffah, lived in and around the Prophet’s Mosque, and devoted their lives completely to the service of the community, volunteering for military missions and expeditions or guarding the Prophet and his household and mosque. These people were not able to work and earn a living, but behaved with dignity and propriety, refusing to beg or ask for charity, so much so that only a few people were aware of their plight.
 
Nevertheless, the directive has a universal application. In every generation there will be people not able, for various reasons, to earn their livelihood, but who insist on preserving their modesty and personal dignity by not becoming a burden on anyone else. They do their utmost to hide their poverty and distress, and only a few people are able to detect and appreciate their predicament.
 
Thus, in its unique and inimitable style, the Qur’ān depicts in a few words a full and deeply poignant picture of human dignity and self-respect. The highly expressive syntax brings the features of those people gradually to life, and puts the reader face to face with their human characters.
 
Those honourable people who hide their want, as eagerly as they would their nakedness, could only be offered assistance privately and in such a way as would not offend their dignity. The verse closes with the appropriate comment that: “Whatever good you give is certainly known to God.” (Verse 273) He will certainly not let it go unrewarded.
 
Finally, the next verse gives a concise summary of the whole subject of charity and reiterates, reassuringly, the pledge made to those who give out of sheer humanity and altruism: “Those who give their property by night and by day, in private and in public, shall have their reward with their Lord. They have nothing to fear and they shall not grieve.” (Verse 274) They will have their reward which includes an increase of what they have in this life, other life blessings, and a reward in the hereafter. But they also have what is more than that, namely earning God’s pleasure. Hence they need fear nothing whatsoever in this life or in the life to come.
 
There is a striking harmony between this closing comment and the earlier detailed statements. It provides a fitting final note for the Islamic ethical code of charity which represents a vital aspect of Islamic community and social life.
 
A Perfectly Integrated System
 
Despite the attention given to charity, life under Islam is in no way based or dependent on it. Social and economic life in Islam is based, first and foremost, on the provision of work and a decent means of earning a living for all those who are able to do so. It is also based on the fair and equitable distribution of wealth in the community, with the aim of achieving a proper balance between input and reward. Nevertheless, there will always be times when people fall short for various exceptional reasons, and it is these that need to be dealt with through charity. This comes in two forms: obligatory and voluntary.
 
Obligatory contributions are levied only by Muslim state authorities that implement Islamic law in its entirety. They form an important source of public revenue for the Islamic state, although it is allocated for a specified purpose which cannot be exceeded.
 
Giving to charity voluntarily is not limited or restricted. It is up to those who can afford it to make directly to the poor and needy, following the ethics and codes given earlier so that the recipients may preserve their dignity and self-esteem, as the sūrah illustrates very clearly.
 
Al-Bukhārī relates on the authority of Abū Hurayrah that the Prophet said: “A needy person is not the one who is satisfied with a date or two, or a mouthful or two; but it is he that refrains from begging,” and cited the words of verse 273: “You can recognize them by their special mark: they do not importune people for alms.”
 
Aĥmad ibn Ĥanbal reports that a mother asked her son to go and ask the Prophet for some money, as other people were doing. The son went and found the Prophet addressing a crowd of people, saying: “He who refrains from begging, God shall spare him the need to beg, and he who refrains from taking charity will be amply provided for by God. If you beg while you possess the equivalent of five ounces of silver, you will be importuning for alms.” The man thought for a moment and remembered that he owned a she-camel and his servant owned a she-camel, each of which was worth far more than five ounces of silver. He went away without asking the Prophet for anything.
 
Al-Ţabarānī relates that a man from the Quraysh called al-Ĥārith was in Syria and heard that Abū Dharr al-Ghifārī, a Companion of the Prophet, was in need of help, so he sent him three hundred dīnārs. When the money arrived, Abū Dharr was taken aback and asked, “Did this man not find anyone else less fortunate than myself? I heard the Prophet say, If someone begs and he has forty dirhams, he is importuning for alms.’ My family has forty dirhams, a sheep and two servants.”
 
Islam has a fully integrated and comprehensive socio-economic system whose rules and ethics work harmoniously together, supporting and reinforcing each other. It was this feature of Islam that enabled it to establish that unique and pioneering society, the like of which the world has yet to see.