The 365 · Verses · Day 252 · Justice
Qur'an 2:272
۞ لَّيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَىٰهُمْ وَلَـٰكِنَّ ٱللَّهَ يَهْدِى مَن يَشَآءُ ۗ وَمَا تُنفِقُوا۟ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلِأَنفُسِكُمْ ۚ وَمَا تُنفِقُونَ إِلَّا ٱبْتِغَآءَ وَجْهِ ٱللَّهِ ۚ وَمَا تُنفِقُوا۟ مِنْ خَيْرٍ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تُظْلَمُونَ
“It is not for you, Prophet, to guide them; it is God who guides whoever He will. Whatever charity you give benefits your own soul, provided you do it for the sake of God: whatever you give will be repaid to you in full, and you will not be wronged. (Quran 2:272)”
Svenska: Det är inte din uppgift att förmå dem att följa den räta vägen, det är Gud som leder den Han vill på rätt väg. Och vad ni än ger som allmosor så är det för ert eget väl. (Koranen 2:272)
A reflection to carry
Read the verse like a tax receipt from Allah. 'Wa mā tunfiqū min khayr fa-li-anfusikum.' Whatever good you spend is for your own selves. Then: 'wa mā tunfiqūna illā ibtighāʾa wajhi Allāh.' And you do not spend except seeking Allah's face. Then: 'wa mā tunfiqū min khayr yuwaffa ilaykum wa antum lā tuẓlamūn.' Whatever good you spend will be repaid to you in full, and you will not be wronged. Three clauses, all reinforcing one truth: the sadaqah is for the giver. The recipient receives the dunyā benefit; the giver receives the akhirah benefit. And the giver's benefit is so direct that Allah called it 'fa-li-anfusikum,' for your own souls. Ya akhī, ya ukhtī, this reverses every dunyā economic instinct. We think we are losing when we give. Allah says we are receiving. We think the recipient is enriched; Allah says we are. We think we are emptying ourselves; Allah says we are filling our own akhirah account. The verse also closed the door on a subtle riyāʾ: 'it is not on you to guide them.' If you give to a non-Muslim or someone who later does not change, do not regret. You were never the guide; you were the giver. The transaction stands. Allah received your niyyah; Allah will pay you in full.
Read the longer reflection
Yā Rabb, You corrected our economic intuition in one verse. We think we lose when we give. You said: whatever good you spend is FOR YOURSELVES. The recipient is a passage. The destination of the sadaqah is the giver's own akhirah account. And You promised: yuwaffa ilaykum. You will be repaid IN FULL. Not partially. Not 80%. Not 100% minus some processing fee. In full. And you will not be wronged. Ya Allāh, forgive me for the years I have given with a quiet sigh at the diminishing balance. The donation I made while mentally calculating its impact on my monthly margin. The check I wrote while feeling the smallness of my remaining funds. Each was a small misperception of Your math. Realign me, ya Rabb. Make me give knowing the money is moving from one of my accounts to another of my accounts (my dunya account to my akhirah account). The recipient is the courier. You are the bank. Yuwaffa ilaykum: paid in full. And ya Allāh, the verse also corrected my outcome-attachment. 'It is not on you to guide them.' Some of the people I have helped, mentored, supported, did not become the believers I hoped. Some did not even thank me. Some forgot. The verse says: that is not the variable. The variable is whether I gave 'ibtighāʾa wajhi Allāh.' Strip me of the attachment to recipients' outcomes. Place me in the niyyah of Your face alone. And on the Day, when my giving is repaid in full, let me find that the dollars I scattered while alive built a Jannah I cannot yet imagine. Āmīn ya Karm.
A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.
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