All of Verses

The 365 · Verses · Day 253 · Justice


Qur'an 2:273

لِلْفُقَرَآءِ ٱلَّذِينَ أُحْصِرُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ ضَرْبًا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ يَحْسَبُهُمُ ٱلْجَاهِلُ أَغْنِيَآءَ مِنَ ٱلتَّعَفُّفِ تَعْرِفُهُم بِسِيمَـٰهُمْ لَا يَسْـَٔلُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ إِلْحَافًا ۗ وَمَا تُنفِقُوا۟ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِهِۦ عَلِيمٌ

Give to those needy who are wholly occupied in God's way and cannot travel in the land for trade. The unknowing might think them rich because of their self-restraint, but you will recognize them by their characteristic of not begging persistently. God is well aware of any good you give. (Quran 2:273)

Svenska: Allmosorna [bör ges] till de behövande som verkar för Guds sak och för vilka det inte är möjligt att vandra omkring på jorden [för att tjäna sitt bröd]. Den som inte känner dem tror att de är väl försedda eftersom de drager sig för att be andra om hjälp. (Koranen 2:273)

A reflection to carry

Allah closed the long sadaqah cluster (2:261-274) with a portrait of the truest recipient. 'Li-l-fuqarāʾi al-ladhīna uḥṣirū fī sabīli Allāh.' For the poor who are restricted in Allah's path. 'Lā yastaṭīʿūna ḍarban fī al-arḍ.' Cannot move freely in the land for trade. 'Yaḥsabuhumu al-jāhilu aghniyāʾa min al-taʿaffuf.' The ignorant assume they are wealthy because of their restraint. 'Taʿrifuhum bi-sīmāhum.' You recognize them by their sign. 'Lā yasʾalūna al-nāsa ilḥāfan.' They do not beg insistently. Stop and absorb the portrait. Allah described the BEST recipient of sadaqah as the one who does NOT ask for it. The dignified believer who is stuck in Allah's path (studying, teaching, raising orphans, doing service), who cannot easily earn for himself, but whose pride and modesty prevent him from begging. The professional fundraisers do not represent these people. The most visible poor are often not these people. These are quiet. They eat less than they should. They wear what they have. They do not stand in lines. They are recognized by sign: the worn clothing, the thin frame, the gentle restraint, the eye that does not ask. Ya akhī, ya ukhtī, these are Allah's chosen recipients of your sadaqah. The cluster closes here. Seek them out. Find them in your masjid, in the back of your community. The hafiz who works two jobs and still cannot make rent. The widow caring for orphans who never tells anyone of her struggle. The student of dīn whose tuition is paid with prayers. The convert disowned by family and stretched thin. They will not beg. You must look.

Read the longer reflection

Yā Rabb, You closed the sadaqah cluster (2:261-274), eleven verses of giving-theology, with a portrait of the recipient most often missed. The dignified poor. The one who does not beg. The one whom the ignorant assumes is wealthy because of his restraint. The one You named with sign, not voice: 'taʿrifuhum bi-sīmāhum.' You recognize them by their sign. Ya Allāh, the world chases the loudest causes. The viral fundraiser. The headline orphan. The well-marketed cause. And Your verse pulls our gaze sideways, toward the quiet believer who has been struggling without saying so. The hafiz with three children whose wife works because his teaching does not pay. The convert whose family cut him off and who eats once a day without telling anyone. The widow raising boys on a thin pension and gentle refusal. The student of ʿilm who is building the next generation of teachers but cannot afford his rent. Forgive me, ya Allāh, for the cluster of giving I have done while missing this category. The verse closed with their portrait so I would notice. Open my eyes. Open my masjid network. Open my ear to the quiet stories in my community. The sadaqah You taught me to give in the previous ten verses was always pointed, in this closing verse, at these specific people. Let me find them. Let me give them, anonymously, what they will not ask for. Let me cover a rent, drop off a bag of groceries, pay a tuition, fix a car, supplement a marriage cost, without my name attached. And ya Rabb, You closed the verse with 'wa mā tunfiqū min khayr fa-inna Allāha bihi ʿalīm.' Whatever good you give, Allah is aware of it. He sees who you found. He sees the recipient You guided me toward. He sees the niyyah of finding the one who did not ask. And He records it as the highest form of sadaqah. The cluster closes here, ya Rabb. The architecture is complete. Let me build my giving life around its frame. Āmīn ya ʿAlīm.

A verse, a healing, and a Sunnah, every morning.

Subscribe, free