Quran Garden

Do you know the story of how Abu Hanifa, the renowned Muslim scholar, helped a man find lost buried treasure in the desert?  Join us in today’s Tafsir as we explore charity, the dangers of hoarding wealth, and tell you this remarkable story.  Let’s begin.

Session 610

Chapter 4

Verse 38

a continuation

and also for those who spend their wealth to show off to people, who do not believe in Him or the Last Day.  Whoever has Satan as his companion has an evil companion!

(Chapter 4: Verse 38)

When you withhold charity from others, you achieve two things: First, you deprive yourself of God’s reward, and second, you open the way for other people to give and win.  How so? Suppose there is a generous man who is well known for giving.  Many people seek him for help.  Yet his income is not enough to meet his generosity.  If he owns two acres of land, he may sell one to give to the poor.  Who usually buys it? The hoarders do.  Thus, the hoarder facilitates God’s path for the generous while blocking themselves from it.  What a terrible deal!  Keep in mind that you will never be able to deceive your Creator, who owns the universe and has granted you every blessing.  Nothing escapes Him, and nothing will go unanswered.

You often find that much good in the world comes from people who have indulged in sin which they later regretted and repented from.  Take the example of a woman who has a weakness for gossip and bad-mouthing people behind their backs.  After many years, this woman repents from her sin and vows never to speak ill of anyone.  Allah, the All-Merciful, forgives her.  However, she may still be haunted by her sin and feel a constant urge to do good deeds to make up for her past.  For years, this long-forgiven sin pushes the woman to be generous to her neighbors and volunteer to help the poor.  Similarly, much of the goodness around you may be coming from those who have wronged themselves in the past.  Thus, we advise you to be very careful not to pass judgment against someone who has indulged in sin and repented.  God says,

Establish prayer at each end of the day and in the first part of the night. Surely, good deeds eradicate bad deeds. This is a reminder for people who pay heed.  (11:114)

To the miser, we say: You are paving the way for a generous soul to help others. Why would anyone choose to harm themselves by hoarding and leave the easy rewards to someone else? Allah gives you the reason at the end of the verse.  He says, “Whoever has Satan as his companion has an evil companion!”  While the causes of stinginess are many, they can all be summed up under one word: "Satan." Anyone, or anything, that leads you away from God's path is a devil, including your own desires and the constant distractions of your mind.  The devil tricks you by making sin look attractive or simply by keeping you from doing what’s right.  There are devils from the jinn, and many from humankind.  When your self talks you into abandoning God’s teachings, like skipping or delaying your Salat prayers, in exchange for something you want right now, that desire becomes a devil.  Why? because it made you lose sight of the true goal of life: attaining the unlimited pleasures of the Hereafter.  Likewise, the desire to hoard money and property now is the work of the devil because it distances you from your goal.

There was a man who buried some of his money in the desert, then forgot where he had buried it.  His friend advised him: “Go to Abu Hanifa, for he has a solution to every problem.”  The man went to Abu Hanifa –a renowned Muslim scholar- and said: “I buried my money in such-and-such area, but forgot where it is. What should I do?”  Abu Hanifa replied: “There is no specific knowledge about this matter, but I may have a way –a workaround- for you. When the night comes, stand in prayer before Allah, for the Messenger of God used to rush to prayer whenever something distressed him.” The man went home and did as instructed.  Shortly after he began his prayers, Satan started whispering, reminding him of the exact spot where the money was hidden, until he finally recalled it.

The next morning, the man rushed to Abu Hanifa with a big smile on his face and told him he found the buried treasure!  Abu Hanifa laughed and said, “By Allah, I knew Satan would not let you spend the whole night with your Lord.  But will you dedicate tonight to giving thanks to Allah?” The man replied: “I will do so, God willing.”

At some point, if you listen long enough, the devil becomes your best friend, a companion that Allah refers to as Qareen.  The word “qarn” is also used for a specific period of time: a hundred years, because it links generations to one another.  So, Satan is a qareen, means he is a constant companion attached to his buddy.  And what a wretched friend! He neither benefits you, nor allows you to benefit, nor even keeps away from harm!

That is why disobedient people who love one another in this world will be enemies in the Hereafter.  God says,

On that Day, intimate friends will turn into foes one against another, except the God-revering, pious. (43:67)

A good and righteous friend helps you do what is right. He or she might say, “You used to help me obey God and remind me when I forgot.” Because of this, the love and friendship grow stronger in the Hereafter.  But a friend with a bad influence is different. You may like them now, but you will surely end up blaming and cursing them for leading you down the wrong path. On the Day of Judgment, the first one people will curse is Satan.  Satan will quickly return the favor, turn on his friends, and deny ever supporting them.  Listen to the following Aya,

When everything has been decided, Satan will say, "God gave you a true promise. I too made promises, but they were false ones: I had no power over you except to call you, and you responded to my call, so do not blame me; blame yourselves. I cannot help you, nor can you help me. I reject the way you associated me with God before." A bitter torment awaits such wrongdoers. (14:22)

The Power referred to in the phrase “I had no power over you” is translated from the Arabic “Sultan” which means a superior force that compels, leaving you with no choice.  A person much stronger than you can compel you physically or by torture into doing something you do not want.  Physical coercion controls your body, but not your heart.  It is a material sultan. On the other hand, an intelligent or eloquent person may convince you to do something with evidence and proof.  This is compulsion by persuasion; it affects your mind and body, making you act willingly.  

Satan says to those who followed him: You made me your Qareen companion; you are the fools! I had no sultan over you; I had no physical power to force you into sins, nor did I have any logic or proof to convince you to commit sins.  But you were careless. I only made suggestions, and you rushed to do them.  If you want someone to blame, look in the mirror.  The biggest tragedy is the next thing Satan says,

I cannot help you, nor can you help me.

You are now alone before Allah, facing your sins.  You cannot call for help, and even if you do, no one will show up.  Others cannot call to help you either.  No one will save you or remove your cries.  God says,

We have bound each human being’s destiny to his neck. On the Day of Resurrection, We shall bring out a record for each of them, which they will find spread wide open.  "Read your book! Your own self suffices you this day as a reckoner against you." (17:13-14)