seventh call: expend of what we have provided

almighty allah says (what can be translated as): “o you who have believed, expend of that which we have provided you even before there comes up a day on which (there) will be no selling, nor (close) fellowship, nor intercession; and the disbelievers, they are the unjust.”(al-baqarah: 254)

almighty allah orders believers to expend of which he has provided to pay zakat¹ and sadaqah² from their wealth and fortunes. they should expend in the path of righteousness and goodness in this life to earn the reward of allah (awj)³ in the present life and his ultimate reward in the hereafter. so, when they come on the day of judgment, which is a day in which nothing benefits humans except their good deeds in the present life, no friendship, connections or intercession will benefit any soul, they will only find the reward of what they expended and indeed that will benefit them on the final day before allah (awj). no one is more unjust to himself on the final day than the one who comes disbelieving in the lord (swt)⁴. he will come as a miserly wretched tight-fisted soul, a non payer of zakat or expending in the path of allah (swt).

the verse starts with calling muslims with the characteristic which distinguishes them the most which is belief. they love this attribute very much because it links them with their caller and in him they believe “o you who have believed…”

it is a call to expend from what allah provides for them, to expend from the sustenance allah has given them. he is the giver and he is the caller to expend from what he has given: “expend of that which we have provided you”. it is a call to the chance which if they miss, it will never be available again: “even before there comes up a day on which (there) will be no selling, nor (close) fellowship, nor intercession.” it is the opportunity that they should never miss, because if they do they will not be able to make up for the goodness they lost, there will be no selling to increase fortunes and wealth, there will be no friendship or intercession before allah asking for forgiveness or a second chance to amend the shortcoming of miserliness in the present life.

the verse hints to the reason which they should expend for it as allah (awj) calls them to support it. it is expending in the path of allah or jihad to fight disbelief and the oppression represented in this disbelief: “and the disbelievers, they are the unjust.”

they are unjust because they deny righteousness and stand against it; they are also unjust to themselves as they lead their souls to destruction and doom. they are unjust because they oppressed people by repulsing them and fighting them off the road to guidance, they drove them away from belief, they deluded them, sent them astray, and they deprived them of the goodness that can never be replaced, the goodness represented in peace, mercy, tranquility, reform and certainty of the heart.

those who fight the truth of belief from entering hearts, fight the method of faith from settling in life, fight the sharia of faith from being established and applied in the society, those people are the worst enemies of humanity and the most unjust oppressing creatures. humanity, if it is reformed, should pursue those criminals to disable them from harming and doing injustice towards people and life. fighting unjust people who promote for disbelief and stand against faith should be a duty for which the souls and money have to be exerted. this is the duty of the muslim society that allah (awj) is calling with the attribute of belief in him “o you who have believed”, linking them to him through faith. he calls the muslim society with this suggestive deep call to respond and fight disbelief and their promoters who hate faith and hate to see people faithful and submissive to their lord after the signs have been shown clearly to them, i.e. the revelation of the qur’an, the message and prophethood of muhammad (peace be upon him), the defeat of disbelief and the establishment of the muslim ummah⁵.

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(1) zakat: (the term means "that which purifies" or "alms"), one of the five pillars of islam, is the giving of a fixed portion of one's wealth to charity, generally to the poor and needy.

(2) sadaqah: voluntary charity and donations.

(3) awj: aza-wa-jal [glorified and sublime be he].

(4) swt: subhanahu wa ta'ala  [glorified and exalted be he]

(5) ummah: is an arabic word meaning "community" or "nation".