The 365 · Verses · Day 142 · Charity
Give and forget. Mention destroys the reward.
Qur'an Quran 2:262
ٱلَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَٰلَهُمْ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ثُمَّ لَا يُتْبِعُونَ مَآ أَنفَقُوا۟ مَنًّا وَلَآ أَذًى ۙ لَّهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ
“Those who spend their wealth in God's cause, and do not follow their spending with reminders of their benevolence or hurtful words, will have their rewards with their Lord: no fear for them, nor will they grieve. (Abdel Haleem)”
Svenska: De som ger av vad de har för Guds sak och som inte låter gåvan följas av [stora ord om] frikostighet eller [uttryck] som sårar, skall få sin lön av sin Herre. (Knut Bernström)
The story
Ibn Kathīr cites the Prophetic hadith preserved by Muslim 106: 'Three to whom Allah will not speak on the Day of Resurrection, nor will He purify them: ... and the one who gives charity and follows it with mann.' The hadith places the mann-giver alongside the most condemned categories.
In the language
Mann is the reminder-of-gift: 'I gave you X.' Adhā is the hurtful follow-up: 'You should be grateful that I gave you X.' Both are post-act behaviors; both invalidate. The verse promises the alternative: lahum ajruhum ʿinda rabbihim, no fear, no grief.
Why this verse
Q 2:262 names two structural disqualifiers that void the charity-reward: mann (reminding the recipient of the gift) and adhā (hurting the recipient with words about it). The verse is structurally severe: the act of giving may be perfect, but the post-giving reminder or hurt destroys the reward. Cross-ref Q 2:264: 'Do not invalidate your charity by mann and adhā.'
Bring it into today
After giving charity, the discipline is structural silence about it: do not mention to the recipient, do not remind them, do not bring it up. Even mentioning to others (not the recipient) borders on sumʿah (Tazkiyah Day 99).
A reflection to carry
Mann (reminding the recipient) and adhā (hurting them with words about it) are structural disqualifiers. The Prophet ﷺ named the mann-giver among the three Allah will not speak to on the Day. The discipline: give and forget.
Read the longer reflection
The classical scholars treat mann as one of the most subtle riyāʾ-related diseases. The believer gives a real charity-act with apparent ikhlāṣ; weeks later, the recipient does something that displeases the giver; the giver mentions or implies: 'After all I did for you...' The single sentence retroactively voids the entire act. The cure: train the discipline of immediate forgetting after charity. The believer who has given truly does not remember to whom or what; only Allah's record holds it.
Sources: Ibn Kathir. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
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