the predicate of an omitted subject, the implied wording being, “It is freeing a slave.” Freeing a slave has two meanings:
The first meaning is freeing a person from bondage: a person manumits enslaved people, whether they are in his own possession and he sets them free, or in someone else’s possession and he purchases and frees them.
The second meaning is securing a captive’s release. Securing the release of a captive is among the finest deeds in the sight of Allah, Glorified and Exalted. The enemy may refuse to release a captive except for a monetary ransom, and that ransom may be extremely costly—one that none would venture to pay except a person who has faith in Allah, Glorified and Exalted, trusting that He will compensate him for what he has spent and reward him for the charity he has given.
“Or giving food on a day of famine.” Here, “or” presents an alternative, meaning: or else “giving food on a day of famine”—that is, during a severe famine. People may be afflicted by severe famine either because of a poor yield of fruit and crops or because bodily illnesses cause a person to eat without ever becoming full. According to reports we have heard, this has occurred in the lands of Najd and perhaps elsewhere as well. People would eat without becoming full; one person would consume enough food for ten people yet still not be satisfied. They would die of hunger in the marketplaces and collapse there from hunger. These are among the forms of severe famine. Alternatively, produce may become so scarce that the trees bear no fruit and the crops do not grow. The yield then diminishes, famine ensues, and people die of hunger and may even migrate from their lands.
“An orphan”: an orphan is one whose father dies before he or she reaches puberty, whether male or female. Once the child reaches puberty, he or she is no longer an orphan, having attained maturity and independence. Likewise, if the child’s mother dies, the child is not considered an orphan, contrary to the belief of some ordinary people who think that an orphan is someone whose mother has died. This is incorrect. An orphan is one whose father has died, because when the father dies, the child has no one among created beings to earn a living for him.
His words, “an orphaned relative,” mean an orphan who is related to the person giving the food, because, as an orphan, he has a share