Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:177

Al-Birr (Righteousness) is a comprehensive term for all types of goodness and acts of obedience that draw one near to Allah, the Exalted. The address is directed toward the People of the Two Books. The intent by (towards the East and the West) is the two specific directions; for the Jews pray towards the West, facing the Bayt al-Maqdis (Jerusalem) from the horizon of Mecca, while the Christians face the East. The verse was revealed as a refutation of them, as they engaged in excessive argumentation regarding the Qibla (direction of prayer), and each sect claimed to restrict righteousness to its own Qibla in opposition to the other. Allah, the Exalted, refuted them all by negating the genus of "righteousness" from their Qiblas, for they are abrogated. Thus, the definite article (al-) is used for the genus to signify the generalization of the negation, not for restriction—since the intention is not to negate restriction or restrict the negation.

It is also possible that the address is general, including both them and the Muslims, acting as a return to the beginning. For the discourse regarding the Qibla and their criticism of the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) on that basis was the foundation of the discussion up to this point, so it was concluded with a universal statement that summarized what had been detailed. The mention of (the East and the West) is intended to denote generalization, not to specify the two directions. In that case, the definite article in (al-Birr) is either for the genus, thus signifying restriction—the intent being to negate the confinement of "righteousness" to the matter of the Qibla entirely, as required by the situation of frequent preoccupation with it, concern for it, and negligence of what is besides it—or it is for the covenant (al-ahd), meaning: "The great 'righteousness' that you have argued about excessively, while neglecting all else, is not that." The East was placed before the West, despite the later time of the Christian religion, in consideration of the order between them derived from the order of sunrise and sunset.

Hamza and Hafs read al-birra with a nasb (accusative) case, while the others read it with a raf' (nominative) case. The reason for the former is that it is a predicate placed in front (khabar muqaddam), as in the saying: "Ask, if you are ignorant, the people about us and them, for there is no equality between a learned man and an ignorant one." What makes this elegant is that the interpreted source (al-masdar al-mu’awwal) is more definite than the noun with the lam, because it resembles a pronoun in that it is not described, nor is it used to describe. The more definite is more entitled to be the subject. Furthermore, there is length in the subject; if the conventional order were observed, the rhythmic correspondence of the noble arrangement would be lost. The reason for the latter (the nominative) is that each group claims that this is righteousness; therefore, the refutation must be consistent with their claim, and that is only by making "righteousness" the subject, as is made clear by making it the predicate in the refutation.

Ibn Mas’ud (may Allah be pleased with him) read: (Laysa al-birru) in the nominative, with the ba in (an tuwallu).

(But righteousness is he who believes in Allah): This is the affirmation of the truth after explaining the invalidity of the falsehood. The al- in (al-Birr) is either for the genus—making the restriction idda’i (rhetorical/claim-based) due to the perfection of that genus in this individual—or for the covenant, meaning: "That which one ought to be concerned with, care for, and strive to attain." The speech is based on the omission of a genitive (mudaf), meaning: "The righteousness belongs to him who believes," for righteousness is not predicated of the essence. It is also permissible that there is no omission, and the source is treated as the agent noun, or it is said that "righteousness" is applied to the righteous one (al-barr) as a hyperbole. The first is more consistent with the saying: (It is not righteousness), and it is better in itself, for it is like taking off one’s shoes upon reaching the water. Also, because the intent of making the possessor of righteousness be the one who believes is to indicate that righteousness is his belief; thus, it leads to the first interpretation. This belief refers to belief free from the taint of associating partners (shirk), not like the belief of the Jews and Christians who said, "Ezra is the son of Allah." Nafi’ and Ibn ‘Amir read wa-lakin with a takhfif (lightening of the nun). Some read it as al-barr (the righteous one) in the form of an agent noun.

(The Last Day): Meaning the Resurrection, which the Muslims profess, and what accompanies it according to them. (And the angels): Meaning, they believe in them and acknowledge that they are honored servants, not described by male nor female, and among them are those who act as intermediaries between Him, the Exalted, and His prophets (peace and blessings be upon them) by delivering the revelation and sending down the Books. (And the Book): Meaning its genus, thus including all the Divine Books, for righteousness is the belief in all of them. This is the apparent meaning consistent with its parallel and what has been narrated in the Hadith: "That you believe in Allah, His angels, His books, and His messengers." Or it refers to the Quran, because it is the object of the call and the perfect one that deserves to be called "the Book," and belief in it is belief in all the Books, as it is a confirmer of what came before it. It has been said that it means the Torah, but this is weakened by the lack of an apparent context specifying it, and the fact that belief in it does not necessitate belief in all of them unless it is via the fact that it necessitates belief in the Quran. Belief in the Books means to believe that they are the speech of the Lord, Glorified be His Majesty, transcending creation, revealed to their recipients, manifest to them according to what wisdom demanded in terms of languages.

(And the prophets): Meaning all of them, without differentiation between any of them as the People of the Two Books did. Belief in them is to acknowledge that they are infallible, purified, and that they are the most noble of people in character and lineage, and that there is no stain or repulsive defect in them, and to believe that their master and seal is Muhammad (may Allah bless him and grant him peace), and that his law abrogates all previous laws, and holding fast to it is incumbent upon all those who are burdened with divine law until the Day of Resurrection.

(And gives wealth upon his love for it): "Upon his love" is a circumstantial qualifier (hal) from the pronoun in "gives," and the genitive pronoun refers to the wealth; meaning: he gives the wealth while it is beloved to him. This restriction is to explain the most virtuous types of charity. Al-Bukhari, Muslim, and others narrated from Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "The most virtuous charity is that you give while you are healthy, hoping for longevity, and fearing poverty; and do not delay until when it reaches the throat, then you say: 'To so-and-so is this, and to so-and-so is that,' when it has already become so-and-so's." In this is an indication that the degrees of reward vary according to the variation of one’s rank in love, such that the charity of the poor or the miser is more virtuous than the charity of the rich and the generous, unless the latter two love the wealth more than the former. This is supported by his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "The most virtuous of deeds are those that are the most difficult." It is permissible that the pronoun refers to Allah, the Exalted, or to the source understood from the verb. The restriction then is for completion and to explain the consideration of sincerity or the cheerfulness of the soul in charity, and to refute the idea that giving wealth absolutely is "righteousness." The first interpretation is what has been narrated from the righteous predecessors and is perhaps what was narrated from the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace).

(To the relatives): The first object of "gives," placed before its second object for the sake of importance, or because it, along with what is conjoined to it, possesses length; if the order were observed, the correspondence of the ends would be lost. This is also what necessitated the placing of the circumstantial qualifier (hal) earlier. It is said that it is the second object. The intent by "relatives" is those related to the giver, but specifically the needy among them, not absolutely, due to the flow of the discourse and the enumeration of the recipients of Zakat, indicating that the intent is charity and benevolence; giving to the wealthy is a gift, not charity. This category was placed first because giving to them is more important. It is authentically reported from Umm Kulthum bint ‘Uqba that she said: I heard the Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) saying: "The most virtuous charity is to a relative who hides his enmity." Ahmad, Al-Tirmidhi, and others narrated from Salman ibn ‘Amir that he said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "Charity to the poor is charity, and to the relative is two: charity and keeping the ties of kinship."

(And the orphans): Conjoined to "the relatives." It is said it is conjoined to "the kinship," since it is not correct to convey wealth to someone who does not have intellect. The giver is then the one providing for them on their behalf. In this, there is what is hidden [of wisdom].

(And the needy): The plural of maskin (needy/destitute), who is one whose movement is permanently stilled because his need has stilled him so that he has no movement, or one who is constantly still and seeking refuge with people. Restricting it to one who has nothing or one who does not possess enough to satisfy his needs is outside its linguistic concept.

(And the wayfarer): Meaning the traveler, as Mujahid said. He is named this because of his adherence to the path in travel, or because the path "brings him forth," as if it gave birth to him. As if his singling out is because of his separation from his loved ones, his homeland, and his companions; he is always longing for reunion and yearning for his neighborhood. The noble person longs for his home as the sharif (camel) longs for its watering place. Or, because since there is generally no prior acquaintance between the wayfarers and the giver, the act of giving is easier and one is encouraged towards it. They are singled out to make the act of giving to them easy and to indicate that even if they are a group, they should be considered as a single soul, so one should not be annoyed by giving to them due to a lack of knowledge of them or the remoteness of their benefit. Let this be understood. It is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbas, Qatada, and Ibn Jubayr that it is the guest who arrives among the Muslims.

(And the beggars): Meaning those asking for food, whether they are rich—except that what they have is not sufficient for their needs—or poor, as is indicated by the appearance of what was narrated by Imam Ahmad, Abu Dawud, and Ibn Abi Hatim from Al-Husayn ibn ‘Ali (may Allah be pleased with them both) who said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "The beggar has a right, even if he comes on a horse," for the one who comes on a horse is in most cases rich. It is said that it refers to the "needy" who ask, so their condition is known by their asking; and "the needy" previously mentioned are those who do not ask, and their need is known by their condition even if they appear rich. According to this, the restriction in the Hadith is to emphasize the observance of the right of the beggar and to affirm that asking is a cause for entitlement, even if it is supposed to exist from a rich person, like kinship and orphanhood.

(And for the freeing of slaves): Related to "gives"; meaning, I give the wealth for the saving of necks and their release by assisting the mukatabin (slaves under contract of manumission), or freeing captives, or purchasing slaves for their emancipation. "Neck" (raqaba) is a metaphor for the person. The inclusion of the word fi (in/for) is to indicate that what is given to these is spent in their liberation and they do not own it, as is the case in other expenditures.

(And establishes prayer): Conjoined to the "gives" (of min). The intent is the obligatory prayer, like Zakat in "and gives Zakat," based on the fact that the intent of what passed regarding giving wealth is the supererogatory charities. It was placed before the obligatory duty to emphasize the urgency in exhorting it, or [it refers to] rights that were in the wealth, not estimated, other than Zakat. Al-Tirmidhi, Al-Daraqutni, and a group narrated from Fatima bint Qays that she said: The Messenger of Allah (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) said: "In wealth, there is a right other than Zakat," then he read the verse. Al-Bukhari narrated in his Tarikh from Abu Huraira (may Allah be pleased with him) something similar. There is a disagreement whether this right remains or not. One group went to the second [opinion], and they used as evidence what was narrated from ‘Ali (may Allah honor his face) as a marfu’ (attributed) hadith: "The sacrifice (Adha) abrogated every slaughter, Ramadan every fast, bathing from major ritual impurity every bath, and Zakat every charity." A group said the first [opinion], because of the saying of the Exalted: (And in their wealth is a right for the beggar and the deprived), and his saying (peace and blessings be upon him): "He does not believe in Allah and the Last Day, the one who sleeps full while his neighbor is hungry by his side," and because of the consensus that if need reaches the point of necessity, it is incumbent upon people to give the amount to repel that necessity even if Zakat is not obligatory upon them, and if they refrain from paying, it is permissible to take it from them. They responded to the Hadith by saying it is strange (gharib) and contradicted, and in its chain is Al-Musayyab ibn Sharik, who is not considered strong by them, and that the intent is that Zakat abrogated every specified charity. It is also permissible that the intent of what passed is also the obligatory Zakat, and there is no repetition because the purpose of the former is to explain its recipients, and this is to explain its performance and the exhortation to it. The mention of some recipients was omitted because the purpose here is to explain the doors of goodness, not to restrict them. The explanation of the recipient was put forward out of concern for its importance, for charity is only considered if it is in its recipient and place, as indicated by the saying of the Exalted: (Say, whatever you spend of good is for the parents and relatives), and according to this, it is determined that "beggars" refers to the poor.

(And those who fulfill their covenant when they make a covenant): Conjoined to (those who believe). He did not say "and fulfill" (wa-awfa) as he did before, a sign of the necessity of the steadfastness of fulfillment. It is said: a symbol that it is an affair intended in its essence. It is said: an indication of its difference from what passed, for it is from the rights of Allah, and the former is from the rights of the people. According to this, the intent by the "covenant" is what does not make lawful a forbidden thing or forbid a lawful thing, from the covenants existing between people. The apparent meaning is to carry the "covenant" to what includes the rights of the Truth and the rights of the creation, and the omission of the object indicates that. The restriction by the adverbial phrase is to indicate that their fulfillment of the covenant does not delay from the time of the covenanting. It is said: to indicate that the covenant is not from the necessities of religion and is not for emphasis, as was said regarding it.

(And those who are patient in poverty and illness): In the accusative case as praise, by estimating "I specifically mean" or "I praise." Its lack of being conjoined to what preceded it is an alert to the virtue of patience and its merit over all other deeds, even as if it were not of the genus of the former. The arrival of the interruption in conjunction is something the leading Imams have established, and it has occurred in the Book as well. The great scholars have approved of it and made it more eloquent than following [the sequence]. It also came in the indefinite, like the saying of the Hudhali: "He shelters with women who are idle, and disheveled, nursing, like the ghouls." Al-ba’sa’ is misery and poverty; al-darra’ is sickness and pain. Both are nouns built on the form of fa’la’ and they do not have the superlative af’al, because af’al and fa’la’ are for descriptions and attributes, and they did not come as nouns that are not attributes. It was read "And those who are patient" (al-sabiruna) just as it was read "And those who fulfill" (al-mufina).

(And during the time of fighting): Meaning the time of battle and striving against the enemy. This is from the category of advancement in patience, from the severe to the most severe, because patience in sickness is above patience in poverty, and patience in battle is above patience in sickness. Patience was qualified by the first two with "in" (fi), because a person is not considered among the praised if he is patient in something of that unless poverty and sickness become like a container for him. As for if they afflict him for a time and he is patient, there is no great praise in it, for most people are like that. He brought "time" (hin) in the latter because fighting is a state that does not last in most times.

(Those are the ones who have been truthful): In their faith or their seeking of righteousness. (And those are the God-fearing): [Those who fear] the punishment of Allah, the Exalted, by avoiding His prohibitions and complying with His commands. He brought the predicate of the first "those" connected with a past verb to indicate the certainty of their characterization by it, and that this has already occurred from them and is established. He varied the predicate of the second to indicate that this is not newly acquired but has become like a habit for them. Also, if he had brought it in the same pattern as the previous one, it would not have been appropriate as a verse ending. This is the verse, as you see, consisting of fifteen qualities, returning to three categories: The first five relate to human perfections that are of the category of correctness of belief; the last of them is his saying: (And the prophets). He opened it with belief in Allah and the Last Day because they are an indication of the beginning and the end, which are the East and the West in reality; thus it reconciles with what he negated first with the utmost reconciliation. The six that follow relate to the perfections of the soul, which are of the category of good association with the servants; the first of them is (And gives wealth), and the last of them is (And for the freeing of slaves). The last four relate to human perfections that are of the category of the refinement of the soul; the first of them is (And establishes prayer), and the last of them is (And during the time of fighting). By my life, whoever acts according to this verse has perfected faith and attained the highest ranks of certainty.

(It is not righteousness that you turn your faces towards) the east of the world of spirits and the west of the world of bodies, for that is limitation and veiling. (But righteousness is) the righteousness of the monotheist who believes in Allah and the Resurrection in the station of gathering, and witnessed the Gathering in the details of the plurality, and was not veiled by the Gathering from the detail which is the interior of the world of angels and the exterior of the world of the prophets and the Book, the connector between the exterior and the interior. (And gives) the knowledge which is the wealth of the heart while being beloved to the relatives of the spiritual powers close to it, and the orphans of the psychological powers cut off from the true Father, which is the light of the spirit, and the needy of the natural powers which have not ceased to be permanently still towards the dust of the body, and the wayfarers who are travelers to the stations of the Truth, and the beggars who are those asking with the tongue of their readiness for what is nourishment for their spirits, and in the freeing of the necks of the slaves of the world and the captives of the desires by preaching and guidance. And he established the prayer of presence, and gave that which purifies his soul by the negation of thoughts and the erasing of attributes, and those who fulfill the covenant of eternity by leaving opposition in servitude and turning away from all that is besides the Truth in the station of knowledge. And those who are patient in the misery of the neediness to Allah, the Exalted, always, and the harm of breaking the soul, and in the time of fighting against the greatest enemy. Those are the ones who were truthful to Allah, the Exalted, in the journey towards Him and the sacrifice of existence. (And those are the God-fearing), those protected from associating partners, purified from all other vices.