Quran Garden

Some people are so stingy, they'd breathe through one nostril if they could!  Stinginess isn't just holding onto wealth; it's a mindset.  Curious about its depths?  We invite you to spend the next 10 minutes with QuranGarden as we discuss stories of the Ansar's generosity versus the peril of being tight-fisted.  Grab a coffee, sit back, and listen. 

Session 607

Chapter 4

Verse 37

As for those who are tight-fisted, direct others to be miserly, and hide the bounty Allah has given them.  We have prepared a humiliating punishment for the disbelievers.

(Chapter 4: Verse 37)

What does stinginess mean?  It's when someone finds it tough to give; parting with something from their wealth feels like a huge burden.  A generous person, on the other hand, gives freely in total comfort.  Being tight-fisted can reach a level where a person withholds something whose giving causes no harm and whose withholding brings no benefit, simply because they do not like to give.  This trait is deeply rooted in one's soul; often, the miserly person is stingy even with themselves.  So, how can we expect them to be generous with others?  A poet said about a man he knew named Isa: 

Isa is stingy with himself, though he will neither endure nor live forever.

If he could, out of stinginess, he would breathe through one nostril.

Another poet paints a picture of how a stingy person deprives themselves of humanity, saying:

If your house, O son of Muhammad's uncle, were filled to the brim with needles

And Yusuf came asking to borrow one to mend the tear in his shirt, you would not give it.

The poet imagines that Prophet Joseph came to this stingy person and said, "Can I borrow one of your million needles to sew the tear in my shirt torn by Zulaykha?" This tight-fisted person could not bring himself to part with a single needle for an hour.  This example embodies the stingy person's difficulty in giving, even when giving causes no harm and withholding brings no benefit.  God says,

Those who are tight-fisted with the bounty God has given them should not think that that is better for them.  No indeed, it is worse for them!  What they were tight-fisted with will be hung around their necks on the Day of Rising.  It is God who will inherit the heavens and earth: God is well aware of everything you do.  (Chapter 3: Verse 180)

Allah will punish the stingy individuals who withhold their help from others with a heavy collar around their neck on the Day of Resurrection.  If they had only given just a little, that burden would have been much lighter.  Listen to the following Aya about those who hoard money, gold, and silver,

You who believe, many of the rabbis and monks devour people's property under false pretences and bar people from access to the Way of Allah.  As for those who hoard up gold and silver and do not spend it in the Way of God, give them the glad tidings of a painful punishment.  On the Day it is heated up in Hell's Fire and used to brand their foreheads, sides, and backs, they will be told, "This is what you hoarded up for yourselves!  Now feel the pain of what you hoarded!" (9:34-35)

At the end, a miserly person only harms themselves.  Sadly, more often than not, such people are not content with this despicable trait; they also wish to spread it to others.  Why?  It's as if they see stinginess as a praiseworthy quality; they are deeply pained to see a generous person giving to the needy.  They whisper, "Do not spend.  You can do so much with this money." They want everyone to be stingy so that no one is better than them.  Deep down, everyone knows generosity is better. 

We ask: Is stinginess just about money?  Not at all.  It's about every blessing you've received that someone else might lack and need.  You can withhold help from someone who is disabled or your knowledge from the ignorant.  It could be as simple as withholding your kindness and patience from a child or a fool.  In short: If you have the capacity for help in any way, do it!  The phrase, "those who are tight-fisted and direct others to be miserly, and hide the bounty Allah has given them," encompasses every material and moral matter.  For example, a teacher who tries to hide the secrets of his craft from the students is miserly. 

We also understand this Aya in its more profound sense.  Those who were given the Book knew Prophet Muhammad's description as well as they knew their own sons, yet, when he, peace be upon him, came to them, confirming what they already knew, they rejected his message.  Then went a step further and concealed their knowledge of the Bible from their followers.  This is stinginess on a personal level, compounded by urging others to be stingy as well.

When the Muhajiroon –the Muslim immigrants from Mecca- arrived in Medina, its Muslim residents, the Ansar, had warmly opened their hearts and homes to them.  They generously shared their homes, wealth, and even the blessings Allah made dear to their hearts: the precious blessing of a woman.   

A man, even if he dislikes his wife, feels jealous if another looks at her.  Yet the Ansar shared their wives, so that if one of them were married to more than one woman, he would divorce one so his brother in faith from the Muhajiroon could marry.  Is there any more ease and comfort in generosity than this?  If you have a large home or a luxurious car, you might love to share or give them in charity, but a wife!?  Why would anyone do that?  We answer that among the Muhajiroon were many young men brimming with energy, but Quraysh had held back their families, leaving them without wives.  An Ansari would generously propose, "Let me divorce one of my wives so my Muhajer brother can marry her to help ease his emotional burden.  At the very least, this will keep his gaze from straying toward the forbidden."

The Jews of Medina, the polytheists, and especially the hypocrites said to them, "Do not spend on those with the Messenger of Allah." Listen to God's answer,

They are the ones who say, 'Give nothing to those who follow God's Messenger, until they abandon him', but to God belong the treasures of the heavens and earth, though the hypocrites do not understand this. (63:7)

The enemies of Islam misjudged the believers, thinking that if the Ansar did not spend or help, the Muhajiroon would abandon their faith.  They forgot that the Muhajiroon willingly left behind their wealth, families, and homes for Allah.  Would someone who sacrificed everything for God turn away from faith only because others did not help?  Not a chance.  

We hope you've felt the warmth of generosity today.  If QuranGarden has left a mark on you, please drop a positive review.  Your generous words can open hearts to our Quran journey and spread God's light to others.  Let's keep the spirit of giving alive!