Surah Hadid Ayat 7 (57:7 Quran) With Tafsir

Ala-Maududi

(57:7) Believe in Allah and in His Messenger^[7] and expend^[8] of what He has entrusted to you.^[9] A great reward awaits those of you who believe and spend their wealth.^[10]

7. The addressees here are not the non-Muslims, but, as is borne out by the whole subsequent discourse, the Muslims who had affirmed the faith and joined the ranks of the believers, but were not fulfilling the demands of the faith and conducting themselves as true believers should. It is obvious that non-Muslims cannot be invited to affirm the faith and then immediately asked to subscribe generously to the cause of jihad for the sake of Allah, nor can they be told that whoever would fight and spend his wealth in the cause of Allah before the victory, would attain to a higher rank than him who would perform these services later, For, when a non-Muslim is invited to the faith, the preliminary demands of it only are presented before him and not the ultimate once, Therefore, in view of the context, the meaning of saying: “Believe in Allah and His messenger,” here would be: O people, who profess to have affirmed the faith and have joined the ranks of the Muslims, believe in Allah and Messenger (peace be upon him) sincerely and conduct yourselves as the true and sincere believers should.

8. Here, by spending is not implied spending on public welfare, but, as is clearly borne out by the words of verse 10, it implies subscribing to the cause of the war effort that was being waged at that time under the leadership of the Prophet (peace be upon him) to uphold Islam against paganism. Two things, in particular, were such for which the Islamic Government at that time stood in great need of financial help. First, the war equipment; second, supporting and sustaining the oppressed Muslims, who, due to persecution by the disbelievers had emigrated, and were still emigrating, to Al-Madinah from every corner of Arabia, The sincere Muslims were trying their best to render as much help as they could but meeting the entire expenses in this regard was much beyond their means and resources, and their this same spirit of sacrifice has been commended in verses 10, 12, 18 and 19 below. But among the Muslims there were quite a number of well-to-do people, who were watching this struggle between Islam and paganism as mere spectators and had no feelings whatsoever that the faith they claimed to believe in also imposed certain rights on their life and wealth. This second kind of people are the addressees of this verse, They have been exhorted to believe sincerely, and to spend their wealth in the cause of Allah.

9. This has two meanings and both are implied here. The first meaning is: The wealth that you possess is not, in fact, your personal property but has been given to you by Allah. You are not its exclusive master and owner. Allah has given you proprietary right over it as His vicegerent. Therefore, you should have no hesitation in spending it in the service of the real Master. It is not for the vicegerent to withhold the Master’s wealth from being spent for the Master’s own sake. The second meaning is: Neither has this wealth been with you since ever, nor will it remain in your possession for ever, Yesterday it was in some other people’s possession; then Allah made you their successor and entrusted it to you, A time will come when it will not remain with you but some other people will succeed you as its owners, Therefore, in this short-lived ownership, when you are its trustees, spend it in the cause of Allah so that in the Hereafter you may be rewarded for it permanently and eternally. This same thing has been stated by the Prophet (peace be upon him) in a Hadith. Tirmidhi relates that once a goat was slaughtered in the Prophet’s (peace be upon him) house and its flesh was given away to the poor. When he came to the house and asked: What remains of the goat? Aishah replied: Nothing but a shoulder. Thereupon the Prophet (peace be upon him) remarked: Nay, the whole goat but the shoulder. That is, whatever has been given away for the sake of Allah, has, in fact, been saved. According to another Hadith, a person asked: O Messenger (peace be upon him) of Allah, what kind of charity brings the highest reward? He replied: That you should give away a thing in charity when you are hale and hearty: When you feel it could be saved and may like to invest it in the hope of earning more. Do not wait till death when you may say: Give this to so and so and that to so and so, for at that time the wealth has in any case to pass on to so and so. (Bukhari, Muslim). According to another Hadith, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said: Man says: My wealth! My wealth! whereas his own share in his wealth is no more than what he has eaten up, or worn away, or passed on in charity? Whatever remains will leave him and will be passed on to others (Muslim).

10. Here again, spending wealth in the cause of jihad has been regarded as an essential demand of the faith and a proof of one’s sincerity in it, as if to say: The true and sincere believer is he who does not shirk spending wealth on such an occasion.

Ibn-Kathir

7. Believe in Allah and His Messenger, and spend of that whereof He has made you trustees. And such of you as believe and spend, theirs will be a great reward. 8. And what is the matter with you that you believe not in Allah! While the Messenger invites you to believe in your Lord; and He has indeed taken your covenant, if you are real believers. 9. It is He Who sends down manifest Ayat to His servant that He may bring you out from darkness into light. And verily, Allah is to you full of kindness, Most Merciful. 10. And what is the matter with you that you spend not in the cause of Allah And to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth. Not equal among you are those who spent and fought before the conquering. Such are higher in degree than those who spent and fought afterwards. But to all Allah has promised the best. And Allah is All-Aware of what you do. 11. Who is he that will lend Allah a handsome loan: then He will increase it manifold to his credit, and he will have a honorable reward.

Allah the Exalted and Blessed orders having perfect faith in Him and in His Messenger, and that one should persist on this path adhereing firmly to it. Allah encourages spending from what He has made mankind trustees of, the wealth that you – mankind – have, that He has lent you. This wealth was in the hands of those before you and was later transferred to you. Therefore, O mankind, spend as Allah commanded you from the wealth that He entrusted to you for His obedience. Otherwise, He will hold you accountable and punish you for your ignoring what He ordained on you in this regard. Allah’s statement,

(of that whereof He has made you trustees.), indicates that you – mankind — will surrender this wealth to someone else. In this case, those who will inherit from you might obey Allah with their wealth, and thus acquire more happiness than you on account of what Allah has granted them. They might disobey Allah, and in this case you will have helped them commit evil and transgression. Imam Ahmad recorded that `Abdullah bin Ash-Shikhkhir said, “I came to Allah’s Messenger as he was reciting and saying,

((abundance diverts you.)( The Son of `Adam claims, “My wealth, my wealth.” But is there anything belonging to you, except that which you consumed, which you used, or which you wore and then it became worn or you gave as charity and sent it forward) Muslim also collected with the addition:

(Other than that, you will go away from it and leave it behind for other people.) Allah’s statement,

(And such of you as believe and spend, theirs will be a great reward.) encourages having faith and spending in acts of obedience. Allah the Exalted said,

(And what is the matter with you that you believe not in Allah! While the Messenger invites you to believe in your Lord;) meaning, “what prevents you from believing, while the Messenger is among you calling you to faith and bringing forward clear proofs and evidences that affirm the truth of what he brought you” And we have reported the Hadith through different routes in the beginning of the explanation on the chapter on Faith in Sahih Al-Bukhari, wherein one day the Messenger of Allah said to his Companions,

(Who do you consider among the believers as having the most amazing faith) They said, “The angels.” He said,

(And what prevents them from believing when they are with their Lord) They said, “Then the Prophets.” He said,

(What prevents them from believing when the revelation comes down to them) They said, “Then us.” He said,

(What prevents you from believing, when I am amongst you Actually, the believers who have the most amazing faith, are some people who will come after you; they will find pages that they will believe in.) We mentioned a part of this Hadith when explaining Allah’s statement in Surat Al-Baqarah,

(who believe in the Ghayb (unseen).)(2:3) Allah’s statement,

(and He has indeed taken your covenant,) is similar to another of His statements,

(And remember Allah’s favor to you and His covenant with which He bound you when you said: “We hear and we obey.”)(5:7), which refers to giving the pledge of allegiance to the Prophet . Ibn Jarir said that the covenant mentioned here, is that taken from mankind, when they were still in Adam’s loin. This is also the opinion of Mujahid, and Allah knows best. Allah said,

(It is He Who sends down manifest Ayat to His servant) clear proofs, unequivocal evidences and plain attestations,

(that He may bring you out from darkness into light.) from the darkness of ignorance, disbelief and contradictory statements to the light of guidance, certainty and faith,

(And verily, Allah is to you full of kindness, Most Merciful.) by revealing the Divine Books and sending the Messengers to guide mankind, eradicating doubts and removing confusion. After Allah commanded mankind to first believe and spend, He again encouraged them to acquire faith and stated that He has removed all barriers between them and the acquisition of faith. Allah again encouraged them to spend,

(And what is the matter with you that you spend not in the cause of Allah And to Allah belongs the heritage of the heavens and the earth.) means, spend and do not fear poverty or scarcity. Surely, He in Whose cause you spent is the King and Owner of the heavens and earth and has perfect control over their every affair, including their treasuries. He is the Owner of the Throne, with all the might that it contains, and He is the One Who said,

(And whatsoever you spend of anything, He will replace it. And He is the best of providers.)(34:39), and,

(whatever is with you, will be exhausted, and whatever is with Allah will remain.)(16:96) Therefore, those who trust in and depend on Allah will spend, and they will not fear poverty or destitution coming to them from the Owner of the Throne. They know that Allah will surely compensate them for whatever they spend.

Allah’s statement,

(Not equal among you are those who spent before the conquering and fought.) meaning those who did not fight and spend before the Conquest are not equal to those who spent and fought. Before Makkah was conquered, things were difficult for Muslims and only the righteous ones embraced Islam. After Makkah was conquered, Islam spread tremendously throughout the known world and people embraced the religion of Allah en masse. Similarly He said:

(Such are higher in degree than those who spent and fought afterwards. But to all Allah has promised the best (reward).) The majority considers the Conquest here to be the conquest of Makkah. Ash-Sha`bi and several others said that the Ayah refers to the treaty at Al-Hudaybiyyah. There is proof for this opinion found in a Hadith from Anas, collected by Imam Ahmad. Anas said, “Khalid bin Al-Walid and `Abdur-Rahman bin `Awf had a dispute. Khalid said to `Abdur-Rahman, `You boast about days (battles) that you participated in before us.’ When the news of this statement reached the Prophet he said,

(Do not bother my Companions, for by He in Whose Hand is my soul! If you spend an amount of gold equal to (Mount) Uhud, (or equal to the mountains), you will not reach the level of their actions.)” It is a known fact that Khalid bin Al-Walid, whom the Prophet addressed this statement to, embraced Islam during the period between the treaty of Al-Hudaybiyyah and the conquering of Makkah. The dispute between Khalid and `Abdur-Rahman occurred because of the battle of Bani Jadhimah. The Prophet sent Khalid bin Al-Walid to them after the conquest of Makkah, and they said, “Saba’na,” instead of saying, “Aslamna” (we embraced Islam). So Khalid ordered their execution and the execution of their prisoners (of war); `Abdur-Rahman bin `Awf and `Abdullah bin `Umar opposed him. This is the reason behind the dispute that occurred between Khalid and `Abdur-Rahman. But in the Sahih, the Messenger of Allah said,

(None should revile my Companions, for by He in Whose Hand is my soul! If one of you were to spend as much gold as Uhud, it would not reach the level of them equal to an amount as much as one Mudd of one of them or half of it.) Allah said,

(But to all Allah has promised the best (reward).) meaning, those who spent before and after the conquest of Makkah; they all will gain a reward for their good deeds, even though some of them vary in rank and earn a better reward than others as Allah said,

(Not equal are those of the believers who sit (at home), except those who are disabled, and those who strive hard and fight in the cause of Allah with their wealth and their lives. Allah has preferred in grades those who strive hard and fight with their wealth and their lives above those who sit (at home). Unto each, Allah has promised good, but Allah has preferred by a great reward those who strive hard and fight, above those who sit (at home).)(4:95) There is a Hadith in the Sahih that states,

(The strong believer is better and more beloved to Allah than the weak believer; both have goodness in them.) The Prophet ended his statement this way to draw attention to the second type of believer, so that their own qualities are not forgotten in the midst of preferring the former type. In this way, the latter is not dismissed as being degraded in the Hadith. Therefore, the Prophet ended his statement by praising the second type — the weak believers — after giving preference to the first type. Allah said:

(And Allah is All-Aware of what you do.) meaning, since Allah is perfectly aware of all things, He made distinctions between the rewards of the believers who spent and fought before the Conquest and those who spent and fought afterwards. Surely, Allah does this by His knowledge of the intention of the former type and their perfect sincerity to Him, all the while spending in times of hardship, poverty and dire straits. This is found in the Hadith,

(Spending one Dirham is preceded over a hundred thousand.) There is no doubt that the people of faith consider Abu Bakr As-Siddiq to be the person who has the best share according to the meaning of this Ayah. He was the chief of those who implemented it, among all followers of all Prophets. He spent all of his wealth seeking the Face of Allah, the Exalted and Most Honored. He did it voluntarily too, not to repay a debt or a favor that anyone from mankind had on him. May Allah be pleased with him.

Allah said,

(Who is he that will lend Allah a handsome loan:) `Umar bin Al-Khattab said that this Ayah refers to spending in Allah’s cause. It was also said that it pertains to spending on children. What is correct is that it is more general than that. So all those who spend in the cause of Allah with good intentions and a sincere heart, then they fall under the generality of this Ayah. This is why Allah the Exalted said in another Ayah:

(Who is he that will lend Allah handsome loan: then (Allah) will increase it manifold to his credit (in repaying),) and in another Ayah,

(many times) (2:245), meaning, being handsome reward and tremendous provisions: Paradise on the Day of Resurrection. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that `Abdullah bin Mas`ud said, “When this Ayah,

(Who is he that will lend Allah handsome loan: then (Allah) will increase it manifold to his credit (in repaying),) was revealed, Abu Ad-Dahdah Al-Ansari said, `O Allah’s Messenger! Does Allah ask us for a loan’ The Prophet said,

(Yes, O Abu Ad-Dahdah.) He said, `Give me your hand, O Allah’s Messenger,’ and the Prophet placed his hand in his hand. Abu Ad-Dahdah said, `Verily, I have given my garden as a loan to my Lord.’ He had a garden that contained six hundred date trees; his wife and children were living in that garden too. Abu Ad-Dahdah went to his wife and called her, `Umm Ad-Dahdah!’ She said, `Here I am.’ He said, `Leave the garden, because I have given it as a loan to my Lord, the Exalted and Most Honored.’ She said, `That is a successful trade, O Abu Ad-Dahdah!’ She then transferred her goods and children. The Messenger of Allah said,

(How plentiful are the sweet date clusters that Abu Ad-Dahdah has in Paradise!)” In another narration, the Prophet said,

(How many a date tree that has lowered down its clusters, which are full of pearls and gems in Paradise for Abu Ad-Dahdah!)