'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, exalted and majestic is He: "O you who have believed, spend from the good things which you have earned and from that which We have produced for you from the earth. And do not aim toward the defective thereof, spending from it while you would not take it yourselves except with disdain. And know that Allah is Free of need and Praiseworthy." This address is for all the Ummah of Muhammad, blessings and peace be upon him. This is a command to spend. The interpreters have differed - is the intended meaning of this spending the obligatory zakat or voluntary charity? Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him, and Ubaidah al-Salmani, and Muhammad ibn Sirin said: It is in the obligatory zakat - he prohibited the people from spending the bad in it instead of the good. As for voluntary charity, it is as if a person may give a little, so likewise he may give something of lesser value. A counterfeit dirham is better than a date, so the matter according to this statement is obligatory. The apparent meaning from the words of Al-Bara' ibn Azib, and Al-Hasan ibn Abi al-Hasan, and Qatadah is that the verse is about voluntary charity. Al-Bara' ibn Azib and Ata' ibn Abi Rabah narrated something similar: "The Ansar used to hang dates in a bag between two pillars in the mosque, and the poor of the emigrants would eat from that. A man hung a handful of bad dates, and the Messenger of Allah, blessings and peace be upon him, saw it and said: 'What a bad thing this man has hung!' Then the verse was revealed." The matter according to this statement is recommended, and likewise they were encouraged not to give except from good and selected things. The verse encompasses both meanings, but the one who gives zakat receives it as obligatory, while the one who gives voluntary charity receives it as recommended. All of these and the majority of the interpreters said: The meaning of "from the good things" is from the good and selected things which you have earned, and they made the bad mean the defective and worthless. Ibn Zayd said: Its meaning is from the lawful things which you have earned. He said: And His saying, "And do not aim toward the defective" means the unlawful. The saying of Ibn Zayd is not strong in terms of the context of the verse, nor in its meaning in itself. His saying, "from the good things which you have earned," it is possible that he does not mean by it either the good or the lawful, but the meaning could be as if he said: Spend from what you have earned, so it is an encouragement to spend only, then the mention of the good is a clarification of a good quality in the earnings in general, and an affirmation of the blessing, as when you say: I fed so-and-so from abundant bread, and I gave him drink from pure water. The good in this sense encompasses quality and lawfulness. This possibility is supported by the fact that Abdullah ibn Mughaffal said: "There is nothing bad in the wealth of a believer." And "what you have earned" means: you have made an effort in it, either by bodily labor or through trade. Inherited wealth is included in this, because the non-heir has earned it since the pronoun in "what you have earned" refers to the type of human or believers. "And from what We have produced for you from the earth" refers to plants, minerals, treasures, and what is similar to that. And "aim toward" means to intend and to seek. It is said: A man aimed at this and that if he sought it, and from it is the saying of Imru' al-Qais:

I aimed at the eye that is near Darij, under which the shade falls, and its heat is intense.

And from it is the saying of Al-A'sha:

I aimed at Qays, and how much is there before it from the land of a sandy plain with a rough surface.

And from it is the tayammum, which is the substitute for ablution in the absence of water. Thus, the majority of people read. And Al-Bazzi narrated from Ibn Kathir the emphasis on the letter 'ta' in thirty-one places, the first of which is this letter.

And Al-Tabari reported that in the reading of Abdullah ibn Mas'ud: "And do not aim for the filthy," from 'amamt, if I intended, and from it is the Imam of the building. The meaning in both readings is the same. And Al-Zuhri and Muslim ibn Jundub read: "And do not aim" with the 'ta' being pronounced with a damma and the 'mim' being broken. This is according to the dialect of those who said: I aimed at something, meaning I intended it.

And in the wording, there are dialects, including: 'amamt, with a light first 'mim', and 'ammamt' with a heavy one, and 'yammamtuhu' and 'tayammamtuhu'. And Abu Amr narrated that Ibn Mas'ud read: "And do not aim" with a hamza after the 'ta', and this is according to the dialect of those who said: I aimed with a heavy 'mim'. And the saying about the filthy has already been mentioned.

And Al-Jurjani said (in the book of the arrangement of the Qur'an): A group of people said: The statement was completed in His saying: "the filthy." Then he began another report in describing the filthy, saying: "From it you spend," and you do not take it except if you turn a blind eye, meaning you make it easy.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This meaning seems to be a reproach to the people and a reprimand. And the pronoun in "from it" refers back to "the filthy." Al-Jurjani said: And another group said: Rather, the statement is connected to His saying: "in it," so the pronoun in "from it" refers back to "what you have earned," and "you spend" comes in the position of a noun in the state, similar to His saying: I go out to strive in the way of Allah.

And the interpreters differed in the meaning of His saying: "And you do not take it except if you turn a blind eye to it." Al-Bara' ibn Azib, Ibn Abbas, Al-Dahhak, and others said: Its meaning is: And you do not take it in your debts and rights with people except by being lenient in that, and you leave some of your rights, and you dislike it and do not accept it, meaning do not do with Allah what you do not accept for yourselves. And Al-Hasan ibn Abi Al-Hasan said: The meaning of the verse is: "And you do not take it if you find it in the market being sold except if it is made easy for you from its price."

And a similar narration was reported from Ali ibn Abi Talib, may Allah be pleased with him. And these two sayings resemble the verse regarding obligatory zakat. Al-Bara' ibn Azib also said: Its meaning is: And you do not take it if it is gifted to you except if you turn a blind eye, meaning you feel shy of the giver and accept from him what you do not need, and it has no value to him. And this resembles the verse regarding voluntary acts. And Ibn Zayd said: The meaning of the verse is: And you do not take the forbidden except if you turn a blind eye to its dislike.

And the majority of the people read "except that you close your eyes" with a dammah on the ta, a sukoon on the ghain, and a kasrah on the meem. Al-Zuhri read it with a fathah on the ta, and a kasrah on the meem in a softened form. It was also narrated from him "you close your eyes" with a dammah on the ta, a fathah on the ghain, and a shaddah on the meem.

Makki narrated from Al-Hasan Al-Basri: "you close your eyes" with a shaddah on the meem and a fathah. Qatadah read it with a dammah on the ta, a sukoon on the ghain, and a fathah on the meem in a softened form. Abu Amr said: Its meaning is: except that it is closed for you.

Qadi Abu Muhammad, may Allah have mercy on him, said: This word is derived either from the saying of the Arabs: "the man closed his eyes on such a matter" when he was lenient in it, accepted part of his right, and overlooked, from which is the saying of Al-Tirmidhi ibn Hakim:

"We were not missed by the night prayer, and there are people who are content with overlooking."

Or it may be derived from closing the eyes, because the one who intends to be patient with something disliked closes his eyes to it. From this is the poet's saying:

"How many things from you trouble me, yet I close my eyes to them, I am not blind to them?"

And this is like overlooking when faced with something disliked. Al-Naqqash mentioned this meaning in this verse and Makki referred to it. Or it may be from the saying of the Arabs: "the man closed his eyes" when he came in a concealed manner regarding a matter, as you say: "he became blind" when he came to Amman, and "he became drenched" when he came to Iraq, and "he became lost" when he came to Najd, and the ghawr which is Tihamah. From this is the saying of the female slave: "And if he is concealed, he closes his eyes."

So the reading of the majority can be explained as: on the basis of overlooking, and on the closing of the eyes, because "to close" is like "to conceal," and that it means until you come concealed in interpretation and consideration of taking that, either because it is forbidden according to the saying of Ibn Zayd, or because it is a gift or taken in debt according to the saying of others.

As for Al-Zuhri's first reading, its meaning is: you take the price from the seller among you, and it reduces you. Abu Amr said the meaning of Al-Zuhri's two readings is: until you take with a reduction. As for his second reading, this is the position of Abu Amr Al-Dani in it, and it is possible that it is from closing the eyes.

As for Qatadah's reading, I have mentioned Abu Amr's interpretation of it, and Ibn Jinni said: Its meaning is: you find that you have closed your eyes regarding the matter with your interpretation, or with your leniency, and you have acted contrary to what was previously in the souls. This is like saying: I praised the man, I found him praiseworthy, and other examples of this kind.

Then Allah, the Exalted, pointed out the attribute of richness, meaning He has no need for your charity. So whoever draws near and seeks reward, let him do so with his wealth in moderation. And "Hamid" means: praised in every situation, and it is an attribute of essence.