Iron [Al-Hadid]: (24) Those who are stingy and enjoin...

There are issues concerning this verse:

The First Opinion: This phrase is a substitute (badal) for the preceding statement, {every boastful boaster} (Al-Hadid: 23). It is as if the verse means: Allah does not love the boastful, nor does He love those who are stingy—meaning those who rejoice with excessive joy. When they are granted wealth and a portion of this world, due to their love for it and its high status in their view, they become stingy with it. It is not enough for them that they are stingy; rather, they enjoin others to be stingy as well. All of this results from their joy upon attaining it. Then, after that, He says: {And whoever turns away} from Allah's commands and prohibitions, and does not refrain from what he has been forbidden—such as excessive grief over what is lost and excessive joy over what is coming—then surely Allah is free of need [of him].

The Second Opinion: The statement {Those who are stingy} is a new, independent clause (kalam musta'naf) with no connection to what preceded it. It describes the Jews who concealed the description of the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and were stingy in explaining his attributes. It is a subject (mubtada'), and its predicate (khabar) is omitted, indicated by the subsequent statement: {then surely Allah, He is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy} (Al-Hadid: 24). Omitting the predicate is common in the Qur'an, like in the verse: {And if there were a Qur'an by which mountains were moved...} (Al-Ra'd: 31).

Abu Ali al-Farsi said: Nafi' and Ibn 'Amir recited: {then surely Allah * the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy}, omitting the word {He is} (huwa). The word {He is} is also omitted in the Mus'hafs of the people of Medina and Sham. The rest of the reciters read: {then surely Allah, He is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy}.

Abu Ali commented: The word huwa (He is) in this verse should be treated as a separation/emphasis marker (fasl) rather than a subject (mubtada'), because omitting the fasl is easier. Do you not see that the fasl has no grammatical position (i'rab)? It is sometimes omitted without harming the meaning, as in the verse: {If you see me as less than you in wealth and children} (Al-Kahf: 39).

The meaning of {then surely Allah, He is the Self-Sufficient, the Praiseworthy} is that Allah is Self-Sufficient, so the harm of that miser's stinginess does not return to Him.

The statement {the Praiseworthy} (al-Hamid) seems to be an answer to a question that might be raised here: Since the Exalted knew that this person would be stingy with that wealth and would not spend it in acts of obedience, why did He grant him that wealth?

The answer is that Allah is Praiseworthy in that giving, and deserving of praise, as He opened the doors of His Mercy and Blessings upon him. If the servant falls short in obedience, the consequence returns to him.

< {Indeed, We sent Our messengers with clear proofs and sent down with them the Book and the Balance that mankind may uphold justice. And We sent down iron, in which is great military might and many benefits for mankind, and so that Allah may know who supports Him and His messengers unseen. Indeed, Allah is Powerful, Exalted in Might.} >