ﱺ ﱻ ﱼ ﱽ ﱾ ﱿ ﲀ ﲁ ﲂ ﲃ ﲄ ﲅ ﲆ ﲇ ﲈ ﲉ ﲊ ﲋ ﲌ ﲍ ﲎ ﲏ ﲐ ﲑ
And when it is said to them, "Spend from that which Allah has provided for you," those who disbelieve say to those who believe, "Should we feed one whom, if Allah had willed, He would have fed? You are not but in clear error."
Tafsir
Verse range: 36:47
The heretics (zanādiqa) among them used to hear the believers attributing the actions of God Almighty to His will. They would say mockingly: "If God willed, He would have enriched so-and-so; if He willed, He would have honored him; if He willed, such-and-such would have happened."
They framed this response as a mockery of the believers and their habit of attributing matters to the will of God. The meaning is: "Shall we feed those whom God has spoken of in this way?" This is because they denied that wealth and poverty come from God, as they were Mu‘aṭṭila (deniers of divine attributes) who did not believe in a Creator.
It is narrated from Ibn ‘Abbās (may God be pleased with them both) that there were heretics in Mecca. When they were commanded to give charity to the poor, they would say: "No, by God! Does God make them poor, and then we feed them?"
It is also said: They were implying that since God is capable of feeding them but does not will to do so, then we are more entitled [to withhold].
This was revealed regarding the polytheists of Quraysh when the poor companions of the Messenger of God (peace be upon him) said: "Give us from the wealth you claim belongs to God"—referring to His saying: {And they assigned to God from that which He created of crops and livestock a share} (Al-An‘ām: 136). They denied them and said: "If God willed, He would have fed you."
This is either God’s statement to them, or a narration of the believers' response to them, or it is part of the [heretics'] own response to the believers.
