and in-laws among the Jews. Before they embraced Islam, they used to spend on them; but once they had embraced Islam, they disliked continuing to spend on them and wanted them to become Muslims. Saʿīd ibn Jubayr said: (1) They used to give charity to the poor among the People of the Covenant. But when the number of poor Muslims increased, the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, forbade giving charity to the polytheists, so that need might drive them to enter Islam. Then Allah revealed: “You are not responsible for their guidance”—that is, you should not withhold charity from them so that their need for it may make them enter Islam—“but Allah guides whom He wills.” What is meant here is guidance enabling one to attain success; as for guidance through clarification and calling, that was incumbent upon the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. Thus, after the verse was revealed, they gave to them.
“And whatever good you spend” means wealth; “is for yourselves,” meaning that you do it for your own benefit. “And you do not spend except seeking the Face of Allah”: the wording is negative, but its meaning is prohibitive—that is, spend only seeking the Face of Allah. “And whatever good you spend” is conditional, as in the first instance; this is why the final nūn is omitted from both verbs. “It will be repaid to you” means that its reward will be fully given to you; that is, it will be delivered to you, which is why it takes the preposition ilā, “to.” “And you will not be wronged”: nothing will be deducted from the reward of your deeds.
This concerns voluntary charity. Allah, Most High, permitted it to be given to Muslims and to the People of the Covenant. As for obligatory charity, it may be given only to Muslims—those entitled to the designated shares mentioned in Surat al-Tawbah.
“For the poor who have been constrained in the cause of Allah and are unable to travel through the land. The unaware deem them wealthy because of their restraint. You recognize them by their mark: they do not beg people persistently. Whatever good you spend, Allah surely knows it. Those who spend their wealth by night and by day, secretly and openly, will have their reward with their Lord. No fear will be upon them, nor will they grieve.” (273–274)
Concerning His saying, “For the poor who have been constrained in the cause of Allah”: the scholars differed regarding the function of this lām. It was said that it refers back to the lām in His saying, “is for yourselves,” as though He had said: Whatever good you spend is for the poor, while you spend only for your own benefit. It was also said that it refers to the charities mentioned previously. Another view is that its predicate is omitted, its implied meaning being: The poor who possess these qualities have a binding due.
They were the poor Emigrants, numbering approximately four hundred men. They had neither dwellings in Madinah nor clans, and they remained in the mosque, learning the Quran and crushing date pits by day. (2) They would go out with every expedition sent by the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him. They were the People of the Bench. Thus Allah, Most High, urged people to support them, and whoever had something to spare would bring it to them in the evening.
Regarding “who have been constrained in the cause of Allah,” there are several opinions. Qatādah said—and this is the strongest of them—that they had devoted themselves to jihad in the cause of Allah. “Unable to travel through the land” means that they could not free themselves for trade and the pursuit of a livelihood. They were the People of the Bench just mentioned. It was also said that they had devoted themselves to obedience to Allah. Another view is that poverty and destitution had prevented them from jihad in the cause of Allah.
Saʿīd ibn Jubayr said: They were people who had suffered wounds while fighting alongside the Messenger of Allah, peace and blessings be upon him, in jihad in the cause of Allah, and so became chronically disabled. Illness and disability had prevented them from travelling in the cause of Allah for jihad. Ibn Zayd said: It means that, because of the extent of their fighting, the entire land had become hostile territory to them, and they were unable to travel through the land because of their many enemies.
Abū Jaʿfar, Ibn ʿĀmir, ʿĀṣim, and Ḥamzah recited the verb yaḥsabuhum, and verbs of the same pattern, with the sīn pronounced with a fatḥah; the others recited it with a kasrah.