إِنَّ المُصَّدِّقينَ وَالمُصَّدِّقاتِ وَأَقرَضُوا اللَّهَ قَرضًا حَسَنًا يُضاعَفُ لَهُم وَلَهُم أَجرٌ كَريمٌ

Indeed the charitable men and charitable women, and those who lend Allah a good loan – it shall be multiplied for them, and there is a noble reward for them.

EXEGESIS

The opening particle inna (indeed) is for emphasis as if to say, the charitable men and women, and those who spend in God’s way, they will most certainly and without a doubt see what they give multiplied for them, and there is a noble reward awaiting them as well.

The adjectives muṣṣaddiqīn (charitable men) and muṣṣaddiqāt (charitable women) are with an emphasis (tashdīd) on the letters ṣād and dāl and are constricted forms of the adjectives mutaṣaddiqīn and mutaṣaddiqāt, as used in 12:88 and 33:35. The latter adjectives are derived from taṣaddaqa, the fifth form of the verb ṣadaqa. Without the emphasis on the letter ṣād, these adjectives would become muṣaddiqīn and muṣaddiqāt and change to mean: the affirming (to the truth) men, as it occurs in 37:52, and: the affirming women, based on ṣaddaqa, the second form of the verb ṣadaqa, and taṣdīq (affirmation, attestation, faith, belief).

Charitable men and charitable women are mentioned separately, as in verse 12, to acknowledge the equal value and reward of their deeds before God. But those who lend (aqraḍū) Allah a good loan is not repeated separately for men and women since it is not given as an adjective (such as lenders), but as a verb in the perfect tense (fourth form, third person masculine plural) – aqraḍū. Yet both men and women of faith are included and implied. It is, in fact, an added quality of the same charitable men and charitable women because it is preceded by the conjunction and in and those who lend, and there is no explicit demonstrative pronoun al-ladhīna (those) given in the statement, to separate the two groups.

The additional mention of those who lend Allah a good loan after having mentioned the charitable, proves what was said in verse 11, that the Quran does not use the expression qarḍ ḥasan (good loan) in the jurisprudential sense of an interest-free loan to others, but instead uses it to refer to the spending to promote and defend God’s cause such as, for example, financial aid to the Muslim army. The mention of a multiplied payback (yuḍāʿaf) and a noble reward (ajrun karīm) for those who give such loans, was also given in verse 11 but as a rhetorical question.

It shall be multiplied for them is very apt given this contribution is portrayed as a loan because when one gives a loan, one usually expects a profit besides the return of the principal amount. God forbids usury and interest-taking (2:275, 4:161, 30:39) from others, and asks the faithful to give loans to God instead and let Him return it with rich profit and multiplied interest for, in what God gives, there is a noble reward for them. This multiplied return by God is explicitly described in other verses: The parable of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is that of a grain which grows seven ears, in every ear a hundred grains. Allah enhances severalfold whomsoever He wishes (2:261). See also 2:245, 4:40, 6:160, and 64:17.

The reward (ajr) of God is repeatedly mentioned in this surah (verses 7, 11, 18, 19, 27) as His grace, but the actual reward is not revealed, except perhaps with the hint of a double share of His mercy, a light to walk by, and His forgiveness (verse 28). But one can take a guess: great reward (verse 7) and noble reward (verses 11 and 18) is promised without details to magnify it as being a reward beyond anyone’s imagination. Like those who remember and supplicate God much and they spend out of what We have provided them, no soul knows what joy is kept hidden in store for them of comfort as a reward for what they used to do (32:16-17).

REVIEW OF TAFSĪR LITERATURE

Rāzī has argued the adjectives muṣṣaddiqīn (charitable men) and muṣṣaddiqāt (charitable women) should be read with an alternative reading as muṣaddiqīn and muṣaddiqāt (affirming men and affirming women) for two reasons: firstly because being charitable and giving a loan to others are both acts of generosity so it would not make sense to state them both in one verse as if they were different qualities. And secondly, being generous has no value without faith. So, necessarily, it must start with a mention of the affirming (to the truth) or believing men and women.^[1]

But his assertions for this alternate reading are not strong arguments, firstly because being charitable to the poor and the needy is not the same as giving a good loan in God’s way to support His religion. The latter requires, and implies, faith and conviction in God and His religion. Rāzī, as explained under verse 11, appears to interpret a good loan in the jurisprudential sense of offering others an interest-free loan, that may be equated to being charitable. And secondly, on Rāzī’s second argument on the aspect of faith being more important, this has not been neglected. It is covered in the next, connecting verse, that begins with Those who have faith in Allah and His apostles – it is they who are the truthful … (verse 19).

Nasr quotes Ibn ʿAjībah as interpreting those who lend Allah a good loan as those who strive in the way of God until they have removed the love of all that is other than God from their hearts and have thus given their very selves to Him. He will then multiply the divine lights and the knowledge of divine mysteries for them.[2] Appealing as it sounds, this, too, cannot be the interpretation for those who lend Allah a good loan because the Quran usually separates the mention of those who give their possessions versus those who give of themselves to God, even if both qualities are found in one person: Indeed Allah has bought from the faithful their souls and their possessions for paradise to be theirs (9:111). See also 3:186, 4:95, 8:72, 9:41, 9:44, 9:81, 9:88, 49:15, and 61:11.

[1] Razi, 29/461-462.
[2] Nasr, p. 1336.