And He says: “Among them are those who pledged to Allah, ‘If He grants us of His bounty, we shall most certainly give in charity and be among the righteous.’ Yet when He did give them of His bounty, they grew stingy with it, turned away, and kept back in aversion.” (at-Tawbah 9:75–76)

⦗ق 55⦘ And He says in the same surah: “O you who believe, many of the rabbis and monks consume people’s wealth unjustly and bar others from the path of Allah. And those who hoard gold and silver and do not spend it in the way of Allah—give them tidings of a painful punishment: on the Day when it will be heated in the Fire of Hell and their foreheads, flanks, and backs will be branded with it. ‘This is what you hoarded for yourselves, so taste what you used to hoard.’” (at-Tawbah 9:34–35)

This verse, then, covers anyone who takes wealth without right or withholds it from those entitled to it, whoever they may be, for the ahbār are scholars and the ruhban are devotional worshippers. Allah has informed us that many of them devour people’s wealth unlawfully and “bar”—that is, they themselves turn away and they prevent others; one says ṣadda ʿan al-ḥaqq ṣudūdan (“he turned away from the truth”) and ṣadda ghayrahu saddan (“he kept someone else back”) (1).

Included under this heading is every kind of wealth consumed unlawfully under the guise of religion—whether from an endowment or a pious donation, such as regular stipends (2) and vows made for religious figures, or from communal funds like the Bayt al-Māl and the like.

Such, then, is the case of one who devours wealth unjustly while cloaking it in a semblance of piety.