All of Verses

The 365 · Verses · Day 260 · Justice


Qur'an 57:7

ءَامِنُوا۟ بِٱللَّهِ وَرَسُولِهِۦ وَأَنفِقُوا۟ مِمَّا جَعَلَكُم مُّسْتَخْلَفِينَ فِيهِ ۖ فَٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ مِنكُمْ وَأَنفَقُوا۟ لَهُمْ أَجْرٌ كَبِيرٌ

Believe in God and His Messenger, and give out of what He has made pass down to you: those of you who believe and give will have a great reward. (Quran 57:7)

Svenska: Tro på Gud och Hans sändebud och ge av det som Han har förlänat er som arvtagare. De av er som tror och ger har stor belöning att vänta. (Koranen 57:7)

A reflection to carry

Allah named your relationship to your wealth with one word that should change everything. 'Mim-mā jaʿalakum mustakhlafīn fīh.' Of which He has made you trustees. Mustakhlaf, from the same root as khilāfah, succession. You did not earn the wealth in absolute terms; you are the successor in its temporary custody. Allah was the owner before you arrived and will be the owner after you leave. The hundred-thousand-dollar account is His; you are signing as steward. The home is His; you are caretaking. The skills are His; you are using them under license. Ya akhī, ya ukhtī, this verse changes the chemistry of giving. The believer who knows he is mustakhlaf gives without the chest-tightening of 'losing what is mine.' He cannot lose what was never his. He can only return some of what Allah trusted him with, and Allah promised a 'great reward' for the return. Then 'amwālikum' becomes ʿariyyah, borrowed property. The zakat is a small rent paid by the steward to the Owner. The sadaqah is a discretionary tip the steward sends back. Both are paid out of trust-funds, not personal funds. The chest opens.

Read the longer reflection

Yā Rabb, You named me mustakhlaf. Not owner. Trustee. Successor. The wealth in my account was Yours before I touched it and will be Yours after I am gone. I am holding it briefly in transit. Forgive me, ya Allāh, for the years I have lived as if I were the owner. The pride in 'my' savings. The grip on 'my' salary. The hesitation in 'my' giving because the math felt like loss. Each was a small claim of ownership You never granted. Re-orient me. Make me a believer who, every fajr, recalibrates: this is not my wealth; I am its steward. The 2.5% zakat is the rent; the sadaqah is the tip; the spending on family is the steward's commission; the spending on Your path is the trust-return. And ya Rabb, You attached a promise to this verse: 'lahum ajrun kabīr.' For them, a great reward. The trustee who recognizes his stewardship and returns part of the trust to its true Owner earns ajran kabīran. Not just reward. GREAT reward. Place me, ya Rabb, in the category of believers-and-givers You named in this verse. And let me die a clean trustee, having returned the rent on time, having sent regular tips, having spent the commission on what You wanted. Āmīn ya Mālik.

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

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