zaqat

[ghuzoor]

I don't remember the surat where it says that a muslim should give away everything except what he and his family need for the day. I think I read Dr. Shabbir Ahmed on his QXP translation also stating this fact. If this is true then why we have so many muslims with so much money and also one of the Sahaba was very wealthy. I need an honest answer not a twisted explanation. Thanks.

[abshoeb]

Salam

.” And they ask you what they should give. Say, "All that is surplus."

2:219 [Certain things that hinder humans from attaining the aforementioned Noble Objective are now mentioned.] They ask you (O Messenger), concerning alcohol, intoxicants, games of chance, and gambling and money earned without labor. Say, “There is great detriment in these things as well as some benefits for mankind. But the detriment of them is much greater than the benefit of them. They drag down the individual and collective social potential.” And they ask you what they should give. Say, "All that is surplus." Thus Allah makes His Messages plain for you, that you may reflect -

Ali Bin Ali Alharbi (Al Madina)
Fee Amanillah

[Ahmed Mateen]

If this is true then why we have so many muslims with so much money and also one of the Sahaba was very wealthy. I need an honest answer not a twisted explanation. Thanks.

Being a wealthy person is one thing and not keeping your provisions open for the society is another. A 'Muslim' (The one who has submitted to Allah) has to take an oath for his 'self' and 'provisions' to keep them according to will of Allah and not according to his own desires, see the following verse:

9:111 Allah has bought from the believers their persons and their goods, for (in return) theirs is the Garden.

The one behaviour which is extremely discouraged in Quran is to keep your possessions to yourself, and not taking care of the society:

104:2 Whose efforts revolve around gathering material possessions and counting them. (Devoid of a higher goal, he opposes any semblance of reform 70:18).

not only they keep gathering these things but also they put dams before the sources of nourishment and deprive others:

107:7 And, with all this, they put dams before the Spring of Sustenance. ('Ma'n' = Running water. 'Mu'in' = Source of sustenance with plenty of fresh water springs. 23:50).

The other behaviour which is higly encourged is to keep yourself under your oath (9:111) and thus keep whatever Allah has provided you open for the needy, for the society:

14:31 (O Prophet) "Tell My servants to establish and consolidate the Divine System and spend of the provision We have given them, on others, secretly and publicly, before a Day comes wherein there shall be no trading of deeds nor friendship be of avail.” (2:254).

If you truely believe that whatever you have is not yours but its Gods, so at some point of time if the society needs you to give everything which is surplus, you should have no hesitation doing so. 2:219 is for such circumstances and truly according to needs of the time, and it is upto society when to apply it.

If you want to know about the Exalted Prophet and his companions, just ask Quran. Quran was their character!

Salaams

[abshoeb]

Respected Gulzar.

Salam

Ponder these verses and think over.

57:7 Believe in Allah and His Messenger. And spend of what He has made you trustees (your wealth and persons), on others. Those of you who believe and spend, theirs will be a Great Reward.

Therefore you should believe Allah and believe His Rasool, through whom He has sent His Laws to mankind. (The practical manifestation of this Eiman is that you should) Keep the means of wealth that you have inherited from others open for the nourishment of all.

Remember there is great reward for those of you who have faith in the truthfulness of Divine Laws and who keep their wealth open for the nourishment of others.

3:92 You humans will never attain exponential growth of the personality unless you open up for others the possessions you cherish. And whatever you spend, verily, Allah is well Aware thereof.

2:254 O You who have chosen to be graced with belief! Use Our Provision to satisfy the needs of fellow human beings, and for the betterment of the society. Do that before the day comes when no bargaining, friendship or intercession shall be of any avail. Those who reject such sensible admonition, do grave injustice to themselves.

Differences amongst human beings can be overcome if they subordinate their wills to Divine Guidance and establish a Quranic Order. To do that financial support is required.

O Jama’at-ul-Momineen! make every effort to establish this order before it is too late and the time comes when no bargaining, friendship, or intercession will be possible. And those who deny the truth are the ones who bring suffering to themselves.

63:6 It is the same for them whether you pray for their forgiveness, or not pray for their forgiveness. Allah will not forgive them. For, behold, Allah does not guide those who keep drifting away from reason.

63:7 They it is who say, “Spend nothing on those with Allah’s Messenger, so that they disperse (and leave the city).” However, to Allah belong the Treasures of the heavens and the earth, but the hypocrites comprehend not. (‘Ansar’ the Muslim residents of Madinah were supporting the needy ‘Muhajirin’ or immigrants from Makkah).

63:8 And they say (upon returning from Banu Mustaliq in 5 A.H.), “Indeed, when we return to Al-Madinah, we the honored ones will expel there from those contemptible ones.” However, all honor belongs to Allah and to His Messenger and those who believe. But the hypocrites know not.

63:9 O You who have chosen to be graced with belief! Let not your wealth nor your children distract you from the Reminder of Allah. For, any who does so, it is they, they who are the losers.

63:10 And spend on others of what We have provided you with, before death comes to one of you. And he then says, “My Lord! If only You would delay this for a short while, so that I could give in charity and be among the righteous.”

O Rasool! (We know how much your heart desires to somehow save them from disaster but) Your wishes cannot save them from destruction. It makes no difference to them whether you pray for them or not. They have transgressed and gone so far away that they will surely be punished according to Allah’s Law of Mukafat. Accordingly to the Divine Law, avenues of peace and prosperity do not open for those who leave the right path and go astray (without any intention of changing their attitude).

Such is their plight (that let alone helping the Divine Order), they even tell others not to give any financial help to those who are with this Rasool. In this way they hope (that when they start dying of hunger) the followers would leave the Rasool and disperse, whereby his mission would fail.

Tell them that treasures of the heavens and earth are with Allah the Almighty. He does not need your help; but most certainly these hypocrites do not comprehend!

These people say, "Wait till we go back to Madina. You will see how the chieftains of Madina drive these weak and contemptible people out of the city.” Little do they know that respect and authority are reserved for the associates of the Divine Order; and therefore for Momineen. These Munafiqeen do not understand this reality.

These are the designs of Munafiqeen. Therefore) O Jamat-ul-Momineen! Beware and do not get trapped into their plans lest your plight becomes similar to theirs (the Munafiqeen); and the love of wealth and your children makes you oblivious to Divine Laws. Whoever behaves like this should remember that he will suffer a grave loss.

Before death approaches any of you, keep whatever Allah has given you open for the establishment of Divine Order. Otherwise you shall say in sheer desperation, "O my Rabb, if you had given me some respite I would have testified my claim to the faith. I would have been among those who are busy completing your beneficial programme, thus improving the lot of humanity as well as their own personalities.”

And now imagine are Companions of the Prophet(S) go against commandments of Quran? No way. And their character also confirmed by Allah how harmonious with the Quran.

59:9 Also those who resided in the city (Madinah) before them and attained faith. They love those who immigrated to them, and find no hesitation in their hearts in helping them. But rather give them preference over themselves, even though poverty be their own lot. And whoever is saved from greediness of the heart, such are the ones who truly prosper.

8:63 Allah has brought together the hearts of the believers. If you (O Messenger) had spent all that is in the earth, you could not have produced that affection, but Allah has done it. (The Divine Ideology has attuned the believers). Surely, He is Almighty, Wise.

8:74 Those who believed and emigrated, and strove in the Cause of Allah, and those who hosted them and supported them, are True believers. For them is protection of forgiveness and honorable provision.

Ali Bin Ali Alharbi (Al Madina)

[noman waseem]

Salam Aleikum,

I believe a distinction needs to be made between people who (regardless of whether they call themselves Muslims, Christians, Jews, etc.) support the economic system of capitalism versus people who support the economic system as defined in the Quran.

A common misconception is that profit motive is the cause of the vastly unequal distribution of wealth across all societies that implement the capitalistic system. Consider this, if a steadily growing business is generating a million dollars of profit per year and the owners decide to give 90% or more of their profit back to the community from which it came (or the central government when the Islamic State is established), than who did the generation of such wealth hurt? Such people would be "giving all that is surplus".

This should be contrasted with the vast majority of business today throughout the world that support the backbone of the capitalistic system via the act of privatization. Thus it is privatization, not the profit motive that ultimately causes a society to default to the unequal distribution of wealth as we see today (whether it be among supposed “Islamic” states or any other state that supports the economic system of capitalism). If anything, one can consider it to be “unrestrained” profit motive building on the tendency of people devoid of Devine Guidance to be victims of their selfish desires.

Going back go your original question, assuming that by “ ’Muslims’ with so much money‘ you are talking about tyrants no better than any in the west calling themselves Muslims, my understanding is that such people, treating the Quran as a mere religious book that dictates for them daily rituals, ignore the possibility that the Quran itself clearly defines an economic system expected to be implemented in the Islamic State. Instead they choose to implement the prevailing “practical” economic system of capitalism in their daily lives.

So it's not wealth that's the issue, but rather the hoarding of wealth (i.e. privatization).

[tammyswofford]

2:219 must also be taken in context. The observation is made that finances are used to purchase intoxicants, engage in games of chance, etc. In such case, the individuals involved in these activities have developed a cavalier attitude toward the resources in their hands. And they have already allocated these funds as a "surplus" in their lack of management skills, when in fact, a surplus may have been non-existent.

I once saw an individual at a gas station put three dollars of gas in their old vehicle and then purchase a total of 5, one dollar scratch off lottery tickets when they paid for their gas. I stayed around to watch them scratch off the tickets and receive nothing in recompense. They treated as surplus, what could have been an additional five dollars of gasoline in their vehicle.

When all bills are paid, children clothed, fed and educated, parents cared for and money given to zakat, then "surplus" may be released. As such, setting aside money for college for children, or to pay for the burial of an elderly parent, is not hoarding but wise stewardship.

Once again, the foolish will treat as surplus, what the wise will maintain as a fenced financial asset or an allocated resource. Prosperity is not condemned in al-Qur'an, but rather a test of the character of man. That distinct difference was pointed out in 2:219. Once again, read in context. smile

Tammy Swofford

[Arnold Yasin Mol]

Good day Tammy,

Very good explanation, but to limit this verse only to the context is not logical. Because what you explained of what surplus is, is an example for all matters in life. There are many other things which are spend on that is not gambling or intoxicants, but is spending surplus money. If the verse was only limited to the context alone, then it would not have said 'give what is surplus', it would have said, buy a nice house in Spain, take a holiday instead of gambling it away.

If you say with your post that only gamblers and drunks must give up their surplus, it would mean 80% of the other people, who do not gamble or drink, do not have to pay? This is illogical. The verse gives an example to ALL people, give away your surplus and do not spend it on matters which you do not need, pay for the benefit of all.

You have 2 people in the Quran, people who receive Zakat and person who pay the goverment all of their surplus.

The Quran is not against prosperity, it tries to create a Paradise on Earth! If that isn't promoting prosperity, I do not know what is....

[tammyswofford]

Dear Arnold,
I am trying to limit the words in my post. As such, I trust others to expand on my thoughts. I do think we can be too judgmental, based on our own history and background. I grew up in very humble surroundings, so what I may consider excess on the one hand, may be the bare minimal need, of the next man.

For instance, a businessman who is required to entertain extensively as part of his networking in sales may receive a stipend for his housing and be expected to live on a certain level to not offend his clientele, who are many times much more wealthy than him or his family tree.

But he may also take his home as Allah's blessing, and open his doors to house international students in graduate programs, evenings of socialization or teaching members of the masjid, etc. He makes his home a multi-purpose dwelling.

All receive different gifts, talents and stations in life. But all are to maximize what is given into their hand for the benefit of mankind. The same can be applied to employers. If they consistently see profit margins which are healthy and their business is on solid footing even after moving through all the financial alleys of tax law, capital gains, or depreciating equipment, yet never give their employees a small raise, they are hoarding. They are not maximizing surplus.

Tammy Swofford

[noman waseem]

Dear Tammy,

Prosperity is not condemned in al-Qur'an, but rather a test of the character of man.

I don't think anybody here argued or would argue against this. I think that there is some miscommunication due to your temporally narrow concept of surplus, relative to mine. When I say surplus, I am not talking about taking an instantaneous measurement of one's wealth to see how much one doesn't need immediately. It should be reasonably understood that I mean surplus taken over some time period. Generally, based on one's income, a person should be able to pre-plan and manage a budget over some period of time that has a Zakat portion built into it. And maintaining such a budget, would, like you said, be a test of the character of man.

[tammyswofford]

Dear Mr. Waseem,
I do not disagree with you. There is nothing in al-Qur'an which would also denote allowable negligence in long term planning. Long term planning would be seen in the alliances of Prophet Muhammad prior to arrival at Makkah, medium term planning would be the assistance of al-Ansar to help the immigrant from Madinah get on their feet financially. Short term planning would be the feedind and watering of two camels by Abu Bakr four months prior to his departure with Prophet Muhammad for the trip to Madinah. All of the above, required a level of planning and patient cultivation of goals.

All creation is based on the concept of growth. Things grow, or they die. Unfortunately, we are not always able to look at our finances as a small seed requiring growth. And while receiving interest (riba) is forbidden because it somewhat denotes allowing seed to remain dormant in the ground, collecting "fruit" without effort, there is no forbiddance of a rightful harvest for the laborer, the one who has tilled the soil and watched the seed sprout in the ground. As such, there is also the acknowledgment of the fifth of the spoils of war for Allah, to be taken into the state treasury, and the dispersal of the remaining to the troops. Albeit, was it under Caliph Umar that receipt of land was denied, so as not to create a feudal, landowning class? Either Umar or Uthman.... my memory fails me. smile

Tammy Swofford