Tafsir of Al-Baqarah 2:195

(And spend in the way of Allah) is a conjunction to [the command] "Fight," meaning: let there be from you spending in His way. (And do not throw [yourselves] with your hands into destruction) by abandoning the struggle (Ghazw) and the spending therein. Thus, it is linked to the sum of the conjoined [verb] and the verb to which it is conjoined, acting as a prohibition against the opposites of both, as an affirmation of them.

This is supported by what more than one person narrated from Abu Imran, who said: "We were in Constantinople, and a great line of Byzantines emerged. A Muslim man charged until he entered their midst. The people said: 'He has thrown himself with his hands into destruction.' Then Abu Ayyub al-Ansari stood up and said: 'O people, you interpret this verse with this interpretation, yet it was only revealed regarding us, the group of the Ansar. When Allah exalted His religion and its supporters became numerous, some of us said to others privately, without the Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace): "Our wealth has been lost, and Allah has exalted Islam and its supporters have become numerous. So, if we stay with our wealth and repair what has been lost of it [that would be better]." Then Allah revealed to His Prophet (may Allah bless him and grant him peace) that which refutes what we said: "(And spend)..." Thus, 'destruction' was [interpreted as] remaining with wealth, repairing it, and abandoning the struggle."

Al-Jubba’i said: "Destruction" is extravagance in spending. The intent of the verse is to prohibit it after commanding spending, in order to seek the middle path between excess and negligence therein. Al-Bayhaqi narrated in al-Shu’ab from al-Hasan that it is stinginess, because it leads to eternal destruction, so the prohibition acts as an affirmation of the previous command. Al-Balkhi favored the view that it is plunging into war without care, casting the self into danger and ruin; thus, the speech is linked to "Fight," prohibiting excess and negligence in courage.

Sufyan ibn ‘Uyaynah and a group narrated from al-Bara’ ibn ‘Azib that he was asked: "Does 'And do not throw with your hands into destruction' mean a man who meets the enemy and fights until he is killed?" He replied: "No, rather it is a man who commits a sin, then throws [himself] with his hands [into despair], saying: 'Allah will never forgive me'." A similar report was narrated from ‘Ubaydah al-Salmani. Based on this, it would be linked to His saying, the Exalted: (For Allah is Forgiving, Merciful), which is extremely far-fetched. I have not seen anyone who authenticated the report from al-Bara’ (may Allah be pleased with him) except al-Hakim, and his authentication is not to be relied upon.

The outward sense of the wording is generality. "Al-ilqa’" (throwing) is the moving of a thing towards a lower direction. "Alqa 'alayhi mas'alah" (he cast a question upon him) is a metaphor. It is said of everyone who begins a task that he "cast his hands into it." From this is the saying of Labid regarding the sun: Until it cast a hand into a disbeliever [the night], and the darkness of it covered the private parts of the frontiers. It is made transitive with ila (to) because it contains the meaning of "directing toward" or "ending at." The ba (in "bi-aydikum") is redundant in the object to emphasize the meaning of the prohibition, because alqa is transitive by itself, as in: "So Musa threw his staff." Its redundancy in the object is not a set analogy.

"Hands" (aydi) refers to the selves metaphorically; it is expressed this way because the appearance of one’s actions is mostly through them. It is said: It is possible that it is redundant, and aydi is in its [literal] meaning, and the sense is: "Do not let destruction take hold of your hands and seize them." Or [it is possible] that it is not redundant, and "hands" are also in their literal sense, and the object is omitted, meaning: "Do not throw with your hands [yourselves] into destruction." The benefit of mentioning the hands in that case is to explicitly forbid the act of throwing [yourselves] into it by intention and choice.

"Al-tahlukah" (destruction) is a verbal noun like al-tahluk and al-halak. There is no verbal noun in the speech of the Arabs on the pattern of taf’ulah with a damma on the ‘ayn except this, according to the well-known view. Sibawayh narrated from the Arabs tadhrurah and tasurah (meaning harm and joy). It has been permitted that its origin is tahlikah with a kasra on the lam, as a verbal noun for halaka (intensive form), like al-tajribah (experience) and al-tabsirah (enlightenment), then the kasra was changed to a damma. [The objection to] this is that the appearance of taf’ulah with a kasra from a sound, non-hamzated intensive verb is anomalous; the analogy is taf’il. The substitution of the kasra with a damma without a cause is extremely anomalous. Representing it with al-jiwar (neighborhood) with a damma on the jim while it is also [pronounced with] a kasra is nothing [substantial], as it is not a textual evidence for the substitution; it is possible that the construction of the verbal noun therein is fi’al with a damma on the fa’ as an anomaly. This is supported by what is in al-Sihah: "I was his neighbor (jawartuhu), mujawarah and jiwar and juwar," and the kasra is more eloquent.

Some differentiated between al-tahlukah and al-halak by saying that the first is that which can be guarded against, and the second is that which cannot. It is said: Al-halak is the verbal noun, and al-tahlukah is the destructive thing itself. Both views contradict the well-known [consensus]. The verse has been used as evidence for the prohibition of venturing into that which is feared to cause the destruction of the self, and the permissibility of peace with the disbelievers and the rebels if the leader fears for himself or for the Muslims.

(And do good): meaning, by helping the needy, as stated by ‘Ikrimah. It is said: [It means] hold a good opinion of Allah, the Exalted. (And do good) in your deeds by fulfilling acts of obedience; perhaps this is more appropriate. (For Allah loves the doers of good) and rewards them.