وَلَا يَأْتَلِ أُوْلُوا الْفَضْلِ مِنكُمْ وَالسَّعَةِ أَن يُؤْتُوا أُوْلِي الْقُرْبَى وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَالْمُهَاجِرِينَ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ وَلْيَعْفُوا وَلْيَصْفَحُوا أَلَا تُحِبُّونَ أَن يَغْفِرَ اللَّهُ لَكُمْ وَاللَّهُ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

Let the well off and the opulent among you not vow not to give to the relatives and the needy, and to those who have migrated in the way of Allah, and let them excuse and forbear. Do you not love that Allah should forgive you? And Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful.

EXEGESIS

Yaʾtali (vow) is generally understood to be the imperative of iʾtalā from alyah, meaning to vow, like in the verse, For those who forswear (yuʾlūna) their wives (2:226).[1]

Alternatively, it is said to be the imperative of āla[2] from alw, meaning to fall short, or to shun (qaṣṣara), like in the verse, they will spare nothing (yaʾlūna) to ruin you (3:118). In other words, they should not let down those who are relying on them for help.[3]

For this verse, both meanings may be considered appropriate,[4] although the first is what most exegetes have preferred.

Ulū al-Faḍl (well off) means those possessed of faḍl. Faḍl has a wide variety of usages such as grace, merit, good, remaining, honour, excess, and extensive wealth. The root meaning of the term is excess. It means some gift or benefit that has two qualities: 1. It is beyond one’s effort and deserts. 2. It is abundant.^[5]

In the Quran faḍl is used generally to refer to spiritual blessings from God beyond one’s efforts and merits, all grace is in Allah’s hand which He grants to whomever He wishes, and Allah is dispenser of a great grace (57:29). In other occasions it is used for worldly provision and wealth, as in the verse, When the prayer is finished disperse through the land and seek Allah’s grace (62:10).[6] Its combination with saʿah (opulent) and the context of giving charity leads us to understand that in this verse it is used in the sense of wealth. Although some have said faḍl here must mean spiritual blessing,[7] arguing that if it was wealth then saʿah (opulent) would be repetition,[8] but that is not a strong argument as repetition for emphasis is exceedingly common in the Quran.

Saʿah (opulent) comes from wusʿ. Like faḍl this word has a wide variety of usages, all of which share in the original meaning of vastness and that which encompasses, again either spiritual or material.[9] Here the meaning is material wealth, as in the verse, Let the affluent (saʿah) man spend out of his affluence (65:7), specifically vast and opulent material wealth.

Masākīn (needy) is the plural of miskīn, which is a hyperbolic noun from sākin. The root sukūn refers to stability as opposed to movement. The miskīn is then one who can no longer make any move to support themselves, either because of sickness, disability, a dire financial situation, or something else.[10] It is said that the miskīn is like the faqīr (poor), only he is even more destitute.[11]

Yaʿfū (excuse) from ʿafw is to intentionally overlook something that should generally be the object of focus.[12] In other words it means to not punish or take action against someone who has wronged you.[13] In short, it is to forgive, or excuse.

Yaṣfaḥū (forbear) is from ṣafḥ, which originally means to turn from something to its side and glance at it sidelong. From there it is used to mean to ignore faults and to forbear with regards to the one who has wronged you or others.[14]

It is said the difference between ṣafḥ and ʿafw is that ʿafw means to forgive something whilst being cognisant of it, and ṣafḥ is to act as if it had not happened at all.[15] In other words, as the English expression goes, to forgive and forget.

EXPOSITION

This verse lays out an important guideline for the Muslim community about forgiveness and charity. This is in the aftermath of the event of ifk, which caused divisions in the community and probably fostered enmity and distrust amongst the Muslims in Medina, with some of them reportedly refusing to give financial aid to anyone who was involved in spreading the rumours.[16] God commands the believers to forgive and let the issue go, for now is the time of healing and rebuilding the community. This verse is a powerful reminder with applications to many situations big or small, whether it be a nation rebuilding after civil war, or a family healing after a crisis, or friends and neighbours mending fences after a falling out.

Let the well off and the opulent among you not vow not to give to the relatives and the needy, and to those who have migrated in the way of Allah: as we understand from the verse, some of those who had engaged in spreading the rumours were in need of charity. Although they all were guilty of sin, there was of course a vast difference between those hypocrites who intentionally started the slanderous rumours and those Muslims who in their ignorance fell prey to their plot. They should not all be treated as one and the same.[17] In fact, causing such divisions was probably the goal of those hypocrites.[18] To counter that, God declared that the ignorant ones should be forgiven and their punishment forgone. Such is the importance of unity that despite all that happened and the greatness of the sin that those people engaged in, God exhorted them to stand together and be unified. How far that is from the attitude of some who wish to excommunicate someone for the slightest disagreement or mistake.

It is also an important lesson that if some in the Muslim community do make sins and mistakes, they should not be immediately ostracised so that they further distance themselves from the Muslim community, but rather the door of forgiveness and return should be left open. The verse is witness to Islam’s dual approach of harshness and softness. The main guilty individuals should be dealt with severely, whilst the others should be brought back into the fold.[19]

It is good to also note the usage of the expression those who have migrated in the way of Allah, which carries with it a tone of praise. Considering the context, it is significant that God would use such a term despite what some of them had done. This is grand testament to the scale and extent of God’s forgiveness.

And let them excuse and forbear: they should forgive their mistake and forget it.

Do you not love that Allah should forgive you?: the forgiveness of God is available in exchange for your forgiveness.[20] This is of course reminiscent of the so-called ‘golden rule’, which states ‘do unto others as you wish them to do unto you’,[21] except in this case it is about doing to others as one wishes to see from God.

This rhetorical question serves as a reminder that forgiveness and mercy should be extended to others if one hopes to receive the forgiveness of God. It emphasises the reciprocal nature of forgiveness and encourages believers to embody mercy and forgiveness in their interactions with others.

The main theme of the surah was about how God guides the community of believers to become orderly and successful. This beautiful reminder is a very powerful and moving one. Virtually every believer who has committed sins and mistakes wishes and hopes for God’s forgiveness. God commands them to adopt those divine attributes of mercy and forgiveness by being willing to forgive those who have wronged them. The community of believers will become orderly and successful when they are willing to accept, take care, help, and love one another. This cannot happen if they hold feelings of animosity towards one another.

And Allah is all-forgiving, all-merciful: this is a beautiful reminder in the end to those believers who were incensed by the actions of the ones spreading slanderous rumours, effectively telling them that they should not be more outraged or angry than God, for it was His Messenger who was targeted with these slanders. When He is ordering you to forgive and to continue your financial aid, who are you to deny Him?[22]

INSIGHTS FROM HADITH

1. It is reported that Imam Ali (a) said on his deathbed, after being struck a lethal blow: ‘If I am to remain alive, then I am the one who has legal right over my blood.[23] If I am to perish, then death was always my appointed time. If I forgive, forgiveness is a means for me to seek closeness [to God] and a good deed for you. So forgive! Do you not love that Allah should forgive you?’[24]
2. Reportedly, before the event of ifk Abū Bakr used to give charitably to Misṭaḥ ibn Athāthah as they were kin. After Misṭaḥ’s alleged role in the spread of the slanderous rumours against ʿĀʾishah, Abū Bakr stopped, only resuming after this verse was revealed, saying that he too hoped for God’s forgiveness for himself.[25] Some of those who accept these reports have said that the plural is used in the verse to indicate honour for Abū Bakr.[26]
3. In another report it is mentioned that the verse was revealed about an orphan who was living in the care of Abū Bakr and he then swore to stop providing for him.[27]

Note: These reports ignore the fact that Abū Bakr was one of the migrants to Medina and not only was he not as opulent as he was in Mecca, he needed to be helped by the Anṣār. Be as it may, as we discussed in verse 11, the reports about the event of ifk being related to ʿĀʾishah are problematic. Because of this some have thought it best to understand this verse as a general address, especially considering the usage of plural throughout.[28] In any case, a reported specific reason or occasion of revelation should not be understood to restrict the meaning of a general verse. Having said that, as we discussed in the Exposition, there is no doubt that the event of ifk left lingering effects in Medinan society and the verse is of course addressing that.

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Rāzī asserts that this verse has been established through multiply attested reports (tawātur)[29] to have been revealed about Abū Bakr. He then argues that this verse is proof that Abū Bakr is the best of mankind after the Prophet. He has lengthy arguments for this,[30] but his main argument is that the verse mentions ulū al-faḍl (well off) in an unqualified manner and this should mean faḍl of the hereafter not this world, and because it is unqualified it should mean he is the very best.[31] This of course makes little sense, since there is no reason for such a claim. If every unqualified description should mean that person is the very best of that attribute, then language would make little sense. Not to mention that four times in the surah God has mentioned in an unqualified manner that He has bestowed His faḍl on the believers as a whole (verses 10, 14, 20 and 21), and that in this verse He also uses the plural. It is far more appropriate considering the context and the usage of the plural that one person only is not intended, and that faḍl is referring to wealth, as they are commanded to give of it in charity.

Rāzī further adds that Do you not love that Allah should forgive you cannot be referring to Abū Bakr since Abū Bakr does not have any sins, and therefore it is addressed to the people who slandered ʿĀʾishah. He concludes that God is then saying that ‘Abū Bakr, if you forgive them then I too will forgive them’, whereby God has granted Abū Bakr a station of intercession in the world.[32] Notwithstanding the flimsiness of the argument, Rāzī’s reasoning is contrary to the report he is basing it on, according to which Abū Bakr said that he wished for God’s forgiveness for himself. It is difficult to understand why Rāzī has embroiled himself in such futile polemics with such feeble arguments which are far below a man of his calibre.

Scholars have also discussed relating to this verse the principle that if a person swears to do something and then realises that another course of action is better, they should forgo the oath and pay its expiation in favour of the better option.[33] For more on this, see the commentary on verses 5:89 and 66:2.

INSIGHTS FROM OTHER TRADITIONS

1. And when you stand praying, forgive if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father who is in heaven may also forgive you your sins. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father who is in heaven forgive your sins.[34]
2. Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.[35]
3. Do unto others as you would have others do unto you … Be therefore merciful, even as your Father is merciful. Judge not, and you shall not be judged. Condemn not, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you shall be forgiven.[36]
4. And be kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, just as God in Christ also forgave you.[37]
5. Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall I forgive my brother who sins against me? Up to seven times?” Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.”[38]

[1] Tibyan, 7/421; Tabari, 18/8; Lisan, 14/40; Qurtubi, 12/208; Alusi, 9/320-321; Nemuneh, 14/415; Tantawi, 10/102; Munyah, 19/91-92.
[2] In which case it is yaʾtalī, but the final yā has been shortened because of the negative imperative.
[3] Razi, 23/349; Lisan, 14/40; Qurtubi, 12/208; Alusi, 9/321; Nemuneh, 14/415.
[4] See Mizan, 15/94.
[5] ʿAskarī, al-Furūq fī al-Lughah, bāb 14; Maqayis; Raghib, under f-ḍ-l.
[6] See also 4:32, 4:34, and 73:20.
[7] For example, Alusi, 9/321; Mudarrisi, 8/285.
[8] Razi, 23/349; Alusi, 9/321. The reason for that assertion is that Rāzī wishes to argue for the superiority of Abū Bakr based on this verse, so we must also consider his motives. See the Review of Tafsīr Literature section.
[9] Tahqiq, 13/112, w-s-ʿ.
[10] Tahqiq, 5/197-200, s-k-n.
[11] Raghib, p. 417.
[12] Tahqiq, 8/221-222, ʿ- f-w.
[13] Tibyan, 7/422; Mudarrisi, 8/284.
[14] Tahqiq, 6/300, ṣ-f-ḥ.
[15] Munyah, 19/92.
[16] Tibyan, 7/421; Tabari, 18/82; Qurtubi, 12/208.
[17] See Nemuneh, 14/415-416.
[18] See Mudarrisi, 8/284.
[19] Nemuneh, 14/416.
[20] Alusi, 9/321.
[21] See Luke 6:31.
[22] Nemuneh, 14/416.
[23] Walī damī. Meaning usually the one who is next of kin to a victim who has been killed and may demand blood money or punishment.
[24] Nahj, letter 23. See also Kafi, 1/299; Haythami, 9/139; Tabarani, 1/96, h. 167.
[25] Tibyan, 7/421; Tabari, 18/74, 81-82; Thalabi, 7/75; Bukhari, 3/157; Zamakhshari, 3/222; Qurtubi, 12/208. Tabrisi, 7/210-211, also relates this, albeit with the dismissive qīla initially, although he then apparently accepts it as the authentic account.
[26] Razi, 23/349; Sharawi, p. 10229.
[27] Tibyan, 7/421; Tabari, 18/82.
[28] Tibyan, 7/42.
[29] Generally, other Sunni scholars have only graded the reports as authentic, not multiply attested (see for example Tantawi, 10/101).
[30] Most of these arguments are polemical and farfetched, to the extent that even those inclined to agree with his conclusions are dismissive of them. See for example Alusi, 9/321.
[31] Razi, 23/349.
[32] Razi, 23/351.
[33] See for example Alusi, 9/322.
[34] Mark 11:25-26. See also Matthew 6:15 and Luke 11:4.
[35] Matthew 5:7.
[36] Luke 6:31-37.
[37] Ephesians 4:32.
[38] Matthew 18:21-22.