Quran Garden

Session 275

Chapter 2

Verse 254

O you who believe! Spend some of what We have provided for you before a Day arrives on which there is no trading, no close friendship and no intercession.. And the faithless—they are the wrongdoers. (Chapter 2: Verse 254)

When you hear any verse starting with “O you who believe,” you should know that whatever follows is a command from God to the believers.  Allah does not issue commands of ‘do’ and ‘do not do’ to all mankind, He only addresses those who willingly believed and declared their faith in Him.  Once you declare your faith in God, you entrust Him as your Lord, the All-Wise, All-Knowledgeable.  Only then, does He address you with ‘do so’ and ‘do not do so.’

This concept is the very essence of every act in religion.  We fast the month of Ramadan not because it makes us experience the hunger of the poor, but because God, our trusted Lord, instructed us to do so.  I perform ablution before prayer not to cleanse my skin, but because God, my Lord, instructed me to do so.  I entrust my Lord with my affairs and follow His commands even when –at times- I may not understand the wisdom behind these commands. 

Take the example of a man with liver disease.  His physician may instruct him to refrain from drinking any Alcohol because it will worsen his condition.  The man –fearful for his health- stops all wines and alcoholic drinks, which also happens to be the command of our Lord.  Did this man stop because God instructed him? No he did not.  He had more faith in his physician’s advice and more concern for his own liver than anything else.  As for the believer, he or she does not drink any Alcohol because God had instructed so.  Being spared liver damage is an additional mercy from God.

This brings us back to the verse.  God says:  ‘O you who believe! Spend some of what We have provided for you.’  Your earnings come from your work in life.  Work requires a thinking mind; a mind that God provided for you.  It requires a skill; a skill performed by the hands God provided for you.  It requires energy such as oil, coal or sunrays; all provided by God.  Any materials you use are also from God.  So how much of your work is really from you, and how much is from God? All is from our Lord.  He says:

Consider the seeds you sow in the ground- is it you who make them grow or We? (56:63, 64)

Allah is not asking you to give back what is His.  He is not asking you to take over the responsibility of providing for others.  He is only asking you to allocate a small portion of your wealth to help your brothers and sisters in need.  He says:

I want no provision from them, nor do I want them to feed Me- God is the Provider, the Lord of Power, the Ever Mighty. (51:57,58)

Here you may ask: Why wouldn’t Allah provide for the poor directly?  We answer that Allah wants to foster the spirit of cooperation, support, and love in society.  Here we should stress that the weak and the needy are those who are overwhelmed by life’s circumstances, not those who are too lazy to work, or those who are professional beggars. 

Do not ever say: “Why should I be concerned with the poor? Can’t they work hard just like I did?”  I like to remind you that poverty is a circumstance, and like many circumstances it is subject to change.  Do not assume that you will always be OK, or that your job, income, or health is secure and guaranteed.  God advises you: give to the poor out of your wealth today, because, in the future, if you happen to run into trouble, I will ask everyone to come and help you.  Giving is a two way street. 

Imagine how a person in financial trouble would feel when he or she sees wealthy Muslims taking time, effort and money to help.  In a society where the rich help the poor and the strong help the weak, there are no feelings of hate and resentment.  When you help a person in need, he or she would love to see you do better in your business. 

 Take note that when God asks you to: “Spend some of what We have provided for you.”  He is appreciating your work, and the effort you put in to earn money.  God will repay you in full.  He says:   

Who will lend God a good loan, which He will increase for him many times over? It is God who withholds and God who gives abundantly, and it is to Him that you will return (2:245)

Allah is advising you to ‘Spend some of what We have provided for you before a Day arrives on which there is no trading.’  The word spend is translated from Arabic origin ‘Anfiqoo.’  The linguistic root ‘Na Fa Qa’ means a market that is all sold out of good.  When you and I trade, we exchange goods for money.  Goods are what directly benefits to you, while money cannot directly benefit you.  Say, for example, that you are very hungry, and you have a pile or Gold.  Does that pile do your hunger any good? It does not.  But if you had a loaf of bread, you would benefit directly.  Likewise, if you had millions in cash and you were dying of thirst in the desert, would your cash offer you any direct benefit? No, but a bottle of water would save your life.  In other words, true benefit and value come from the goods that you have, whether food, drink, or clothes; not from money. 

Allah, the All-Wise, is alerting and warning you not to have pride in wealth.  He says: ‘O you who believe! Spend some of what We have provided for you before a Day arrives on which there is no trading, no close friendship and no intercession. And the faithless—they are the wrongdoers.’  There will come a day where money can no longer be exchanged for any goods.  Your wealth will not help you or anyone else.  So make sure to use your wealth now to secure your salvation on the Day of Judgment. 

Not only will your wealth be useless, but even your close family and friends would be unavailable to help on the Day of Resurrection.  There will be no one to intercede on your behalf.  God says:

The Day man will ?ee from his own brother, his mother, his father, his wife, his children: each of them will be absorbed in concerns of their own on that Day- (80:34-37)

All doors of help and aid will be closed before you on the Day of Judgment.  Your wealth will be worthless and the door of trade is closed.  There will be no friends around to help either.  The door of friendship and personal connections is also closed.  There is no one to intercede on your behalf.  God Almighty holds all the keys of intercession on that day.  He is the only one to offer mercy and forgiveness.  Wouldn’t it then, make sense to listen to His advice now?  Allah is advising you to spend out of your wealth today to help the needy and, more importantly, to help yourself on the Day of Resurrection.

Allah, the All-Merciful, has given you ample warning.  He informed you in detail of how to avoid the terrible calamities of the Day of Judgment.  He outlined what you can do now to earn salvation and success.  Thus, if you find yourself in trouble on the day of Judgement, you only have yourself to blame.   God did not wrong anybody.  He says: ‘And the faithless—they are the wrongdoers.’