Al-Baqarah: (254) O you who believe...

It should be known that the most difficult things for a person are spending one's life in combat and spending one's wealth in charity. Since the command for fighting was mentioned previously, it was followed by the command for spending.

There is another perspective: Allah, the Exalted, commanded fighting previously with His saying: {And fight in the way of Allah} (Al-Baqarah: 244). Then, He followed it with: {Who is it that would loan Allah a goodly loan?} (Al-Baqarah: 245). The intent of this was spending wealth in Jihad. Then, a second time, He emphasized the command to fight, mentioning the story of Talut, and followed it with the command to spend in Jihad, which is His saying: {O you who believe! Spend...}

Once the coherence of the verses is understood, we discuss several issues in this verse:

Issue 1:

The Mu'tazila used the verse {Spend from what We have provided for you} as evidence that sustenance (Rizq) can only be lawful (Halal).

We respond: By consensus, Allah, the Exalted, commanded spending from everything that constitutes sustenance. As for what is unlawful (Haram), spending it is not permissible. This definitively proves that sustenance cannot be Haram.

However, the Ash'ari scholars said: Although the apparent meaning of the verse indicates a command to spend from all sustenance, we restrict this command to spending only from lawful sustenance.

Issue 2:

There is a difference of opinion regarding whether the command {Spend} is specific to obligatory spending, like Zakat, or general to all expenditures, whether obligatory or recommended (Mandub).

1. Al-Hasan said: This command is specific to Zakat, because His saying: {Before there comes a Day in which there will be no trade, nor friendship, nor intercession} is like a promise and a threat, which applies only to what is obligatory.
2. The majority said: This command encompasses both the obligatory and the recommended. There is no threat mentioned in the verse; it is as if it is said: "Acquire the benefits of the Hereafter while you are in this world, for once you leave the world, you cannot acquire or earn them in the Hereafter."
3. A third opinion: What is meant is spending in Jihad. The evidence for this is that it is mentioned immediately after the command to fight (Jihad). This is the view of Al-Asamm.

Issue 3:

Ibn Kathir and Abu 'Amr recited {no trade, nor friendship, nor intercession} with the accusative case (Nasb). In Surah Ibrahim, He says: {in which there is no trade, nor friendship} (Ibrahim: 31). And in At-Tur: {In it there is no idle talk, nor sin} (At-Tur: 23). The rest of the reciters used the nominative case (Raf'). The difference between Nasb and Raf' has been explained in our commentary on His saying: {there is no sexual intercourse, nor sin, nor disputing} (Al-Baqarah: 197).

Issue 4:

The purpose of the verse is that a person will come alone, without anything they acquired in this world. Allah, the Exalted, says: {And certainly have you come to Us individually as We created you the first time, and you have left behind whatever We provided for you on your backs} (Al-An'am: 94). And He says: {And he will come to Us alone} (Maryam: 80).

As for His saying: {no trade}: There are two interpretations:

1. Trade here means ransom (Fidya), as in His saying: {So today no ransom will be accepted from you} (Al-Hadid: 15), and {Nor will any compensation be accepted from her} (Al-Baqarah: 123), and {And if he would offer every ransom, it would not be accepted from her} (Al-An'am: 7). It is as if He is saying: "Before the Day comes when there is no trade, use what you possess to ransom yourself from punishment."
2. The meaning is: Present for yourselves from the wealth that is in your possession before the Day comes when there will be no trade or buying and selling, so that one might acquire something with wealth.

As for His saying: {nor friendship}: What is meant is affection/intimacy (Mawaddah). Similar verses include: {Close friends, that Day, will be mutual enemies, except for the righteous} (Az-Zukhruf: 67), and {And their ties will be severed} (Al-Baqarah: 166), and {On the Day of Resurrection, some of you will disown others, and some of you will curse others} (Al-'Ankabut: 25). It is also recounted about the disbelievers: {So we have no intercessors, nor a close friend} (Ash-Shu'ara: 100), and {And the wrongdoers will have no helpers} (Al-Baqarah: 270).

As for His saying: {nor intercession}: This implies the negation of all forms of intercession.

Know that His saying: {nor friendship, nor intercession} is general for everyone. However, other proofs indicate the establishment of affection and love among the believers, and the establishment of intercession for the believers. We have explained this in the exegesis of His saying: {And fear a Day when you will return to Allah} (Al-Baqarah: 281), {No soul shall compensate for another soul, nor will any intercession be accepted from him} (Al-Baqarah: 48).

Know that the reason for the absence of friendship and intercession on the Day of Resurrection involves several matters:

1. Everyone will be preoccupied with themselves, as He says: {On that Day, every man among them will have a matter that will occupy him} ('Abasa: 37).
2. Intense fear will dominate everyone, as He says: {The Day you will see it, every nursing mother will forget what she was nursing, and every pregnant woman will drop her load, and you will see people as if they were intoxicated, but they will not be intoxicated} (Al-Hajj: 2).
3. When punishment descends due to disbelief and transgression, the person becomes hated for these two traits. If one becomes hated for these traits, they become hated for anyone characterized by them.

As for His saying: {And the disbelievers, they are the wrongdoers}: It is narrated from 'Ata' ibn Yasar that he used to say: "Praise be to Allah Who said: {And the disbelievers, they are the wrongdoers} and did not say: 'The wrongdoers, they are the disbelievers.'"

Several interpretations are offered for this verse:

1. Interpretation 1: Since Allah said: {nor friendship, nor intercession}, this might suggest the negation of friendship and intercession absolutely. Therefore, He followed it with: {And the disbelievers, they are the wrongdoers} to indicate that this negation is specific to the disbelievers. Under this interpretation, the verse would indicate the establishment of intercession for the sinners (Fussaq). Al-Qadi rejected this interpretation, stating that {And the disbelievers, they are the wrongdoers} is an independent statement, and it is not necessary to connect it to what preceded it.
   • The Response: If we treat this statement as independent, it opens the door to ambiguity in the Word of Allah, because those who are not disbelievers can also be wrongdoers. However, if we connect it to what preceded it, the ambiguity is removed, so we must adopt the connection to the preceding statement.

2. Interpretation 2: When disbelievers enter the Fire, they become incapable of escaping that punishment. Thus, Allah has not wronged them with that punishment; rather, they wronged themselves by choosing disbelief and transgression, making them deserving of this punishment. Similar to this is His saying: {And they will find what they did present [before them]. And your Lord does not wrong anyone} (Al-Kahf: 49).

3. Interpretation 3: The disbelievers are the wrongdoers because they neglected to present good deeds for the Day of their need and destitution. O those present, do not imitate them in this wretched choice, but present for yourselves what you can use as a ransom for yourselves from Allah's punishment on the Day of Resurrection.

4. Interpretation 4: The disbelievers are the wrongdoers because they put things in the wrong places by expecting intercession from those who cannot intercede for them with Allah. They used to say about idols: {These are our intercessors with Allah} (Yunus: 18), and they also said: {We only worship them that they may bring us nearer to Allah in closeness} (Az-Zumar: 3). Whoever worships an inanimate object and expects it to be an intercessor for him with Allah has wronged himself by expecting good from one from whom it is impossible to expect good.

5. Interpretation 5: What is meant by wrongdoing (Dhulm) is the abandonment of spending. Allah says: {It yielded its produce and did not fall short in anything} (Al-Kahf: 3), meaning it gave and did not withhold. Thus, the meaning of the verse is: The disbelievers are those who abandon spending in the way of Allah, whereas the Muslim must spend something, whether little or much.

6. Interpretation 6: {And the disbelievers, they are the wrongdoers} means they are the perfected ones in wrongdoing, reaching the highest degree of it, just as it is said: "The scholars are the speakers," meaning they are perfected in knowledge. So too here. Most of these interpretations were mentioned by Al-Qaffal, may Allah have mercy on him. And Allah knows best.

7 < { Allah! There is no deity except Him, the Ever-Living, the Self-Subsisting by Whom all things stand. Neither drowsiness overtakes Him, nor sleep. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. Who is it that can intercede with Him except by His permission? He knows what is before them and what is behind them, and they encompass not a thing of His knowledge except for what He wills. His Kursi extends over the heavens and the earth, and He feels no fatigue in preserving them, and He is the Most High, the Great. } > 7 !