Book of Lending for Use

On Lending for Use

Lending possessions is an act of kindness and a characteristic of believers. People should therefore pass this practice down among themselves and deal with one another accordingly, rather than being miserly and refusing to lend. Whoever refuses out of miserliness incurs neither sin nor blame, but has turned away from noble, praiseworthy character and chosen what is base and blameworthy. For the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, said: “A Muslim’s property is not lawful to take without his willing consent.”

The assistance whose withholding Allah, Mighty and Majestic, threatens to punish in His words:

“So woe to those who pray” [al-Māʿūn: 4], “those who are heedless of their prayer” [al-Māʿūn: 5], “those who make a show of their deeds” [al-Māʿūn: 6], “and withhold assistance” [al-Māʿūn: 7],

means the obligatory zakah. This is the view adopted by Mālik, may Allah have mercy on him, and the majority of scholars. It has also been reported from ʿAbd Allāh ibn ʿAbbās and ʿAbd Allāh ibn Masʿūd that they said it means lending household utensils that people share with one another, such as axes, buckets, ropes, cooking pots, and similar things.

According to what has been reported, “woe” refers to a valley in Hell containing the discharge of the inhabitants of the Fire. Allah Most High thus declares that it is for those who pray yet are heedless of their prayer, who make a show of their deeds and withhold assistance. These are the characteristics of the hypocrites, for only a hypocrite makes a show of his deeds, seeking through them something other than Allah’s countenance. The passage was therefore revealed concerning the hypocrites, and the warning applies to them, according to