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from Sa'id ibn Jubayr, from Ibn Abbas.
Mujahid said: “Al-ma'un means lending.” Ikrimah said: “Its highest form is the well-known zakah, and its lowest form is lending household items.” (1) (2)
Muhammad ibn Ka'b and al-Kalbi said: “Al-ma'un is the kindness that people extend to one another.”
Qutrub said: The root meaning of al-ma'un is smallness. The Arabs say, “He has neither abundance nor means,” meaning, he has only a little. Thus zakah, charity, and acts of kindness are called al-ma'un because they are a small portion of something much greater.
It was also said: “Al-ma'un is that which it is not lawful to withhold, such as water, salt, and fire.” (3) (4)
(1) The text within parentheses is omitted in Manuscript B.
(2) Al-Hafiz Ibn Hajar said in Fath al-Bari, 8:731: “As for Ikrimah’s statement, Sa'id ibn Mansur narrated it with a connected chain to him, using the wording mentioned above. Al-Tabari and al-Hakim also narrated something similar through Mujahid from Ali.”
(3) The text within parentheses is an addition found in Manuscript B.
(4) The author of al-Bahr al-Muhit said, 8:518: “What is meant by al-ma'un is zakah. This view accords with what Qutrub mentioned: that its origin is al-ma'n, meaning a small thing. Zakah was thus called ma'un because it is a small portion taken from a large amount; the same applies to voluntary charity and other such acts.”
سَعِيدِ بْنِ جُبَيْرٍ عَنِ ابْنِ عَبَّاسٍ.
قَالَ مُجَاهِدٌ: "الْمَاعُونُ" [الْعَارِيَةُ. وَقَالَ عِكْرِمَةُ] (١) أَعْلَاهَا الزَّكَاةُ الْمَعْرُوفَةُ [وَأَدْنَاهَا عَارِيَةُ الْمَتَاعِ (٢) .
وَقَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بْنُ كَعْبٍ وَالْكَلْبِيُّ: "الْمَاعُونُ": الْمَعْرُوفُ الَّذِي يَتَعَاطَاهُ النَّاسُ فِيمَا بَيْنَهُمْ.
قَالَ قُطْرُبٌ: أَصْلُ الْمَاعُونِ مِنَ الْقِلَّةِ، تَقُولُ الْعَرَبُ: مَا لَهُ: سَعَةٌ وَلَا مَنَعَةٌ، أَيْ شَيْءٌ قَلِيلٌ فَسَمَّى الزَّكَاةَ وَالصَّدَقَةَ وَالْمَعْرُوفَ مَاعُونًا لِأَنَّهُ قَلِيلٌ مِنْ كَثِيرٍ.
وَقِيلَ: "الْمَاعُونُ": مَا لَا يَحِلُّ مَنْعُهُ مِثْلُ: الْمَاءِ وَالْمِلْحِ وَالنَّارِ] (٣) (٤) .
(١) ما بين القوسين ساقط من "ب".
(٢) قال الحافظ ابن حجر في فتح الباري: ٨ / ٧٣١: "وأما قول عكرمة فوصله سعيد بن منصور بإسناد إليه باللفظ المذكور، وأخرج الطبري والحاكم من طريق مجاهد عن علي مثله".
(٣) ما بين القوسين زيادة من "ب".
(٤) قال صاحب البحر المحيط: ٨ / ٥١٨: "يعني بالماعون الزكاة وهذا القول يناسبه ما ذكره قطرب من أن أصله من المعن، وهو الشيء القليل فسميت الزكاة ماعونا لأنها قليل من كثير، وكذلك الصدقة وغيرها".