...Spend Out Of What We Have provided...

[psyah]

Re: …Spend Out Of What We Have provided…

@lethal_kamikaze

Peace psyah,

I don’t think if there is any huge difference between ‘spending’ and ‘giving away/charity’, hence both is same like:

I spent out an amount to gain good deeds/reward in return from my Lord on the day of resurrection
I given away/charity and hope the reward of it from my Lord on the day of resurrection

Basically, I think, we after spending some amount, usually ‘save’ remaining for any purpose in the future rather than spending or giving away in charity. The Chapter 104 caution us about collecting and counting of wealth.

In conclusion what I understood from the verse quoted in post #1 is that to be among “Al-Muttaqun [the pious and righteous persons who fear Allah]”, it is necessary to spend wealth/amount in the way of Almighty Allah.

Peace lethal kamikaze

I’lll explain my reasoning. The context of this verse is not “instructive” but “informative” … The beginning verses of the Qur’an are telling us about “the traits of people” … Although one can use reflective logic to deduce that if such people have such traits - then we should avoid the traits of bad people and apply the traits of good people. (making a guidance for ourselves through the reflective meaning).

So, the Qur’an is explaining the traits of those who fear God. Here the meaning must mean all people who have a sense of God and those who are seeking Him and those who already have God in their lives. The reason being of the use of the term “Allazdeena” - Meaning “the ones who” - not forgetting that the previous verse said “This Book is a Guidance … to the Muttaqun” and then in this verse proceeds to explain who are these Muttaqun that this Book Guides …

So the people who become Muslim, or who are Muslim, are all in this group. It means there are a variety of degrees … Those people who are doing the bare minimum and those who are doing a lot more.

We cannot assume that the Qur’an is only a Guidance for the Muhsinoon - so in one sense it is giving us the limit of what a believer will do in this verse also.

Now coming back to the actual question … “who spend out of what We have provided them” - What Allah (SWT) has provided us is a halal criteria … the believers will not spend anything which is knowingly haram. The term OUT OF means - that some or all is spent from halal means, but NONE is spent in haram ways, for haram things, from haram sources. It includes the bare minimum - i.e. those who buy for themselves only as long as they don’t steal, don’t go unnecessarily in to debt - (i.e. don’t take unnecessary credit) and purify their savings wealth with zakat. But it also includes the people who spend all they have towards goodness … the greatest being the example of Sayyiduna Abu Bakr As-Siddique (RA), who gave all he had in material possessions to the cause of RasoolAllah (SAW).

All other things are reflexive in meaning or derivative … such as the idea that “all we have is given by Allah (SWT)” - this is true and we can extract that from here - but the more apparent meaning here is about the halal and haram criteria - that Muttaqun do not overstep that barrier. What Allah (SWT) has provided us is what we have obtained by halal means and that what He has not provided us is what we have gained from haram means.