(16–18) “So fear Allah as much as you are able; listen and obey; and spend—it is better for yourselves. Whoever is protected from the avarice of his own soul—it is they who are successful. * If you lend Allah a goodly loan, He will multiply it for you and forgive you. Allah is Most Appreciative, Most Forbearing. * Knower of the unseen and the seen, the Almighty, the All-Wise.”
He Most High commands that He be feared, which means complying with His commands and avoiding His prohibitions, and He qualifies (1) this according to one’s ability and capacity.
This verse therefore indicates that any obligation a servant is incapable of fulfilling is waived for him. If he can fulfill part of what he has been commanded to do but is incapable of the rest, he must do what he can, while what he cannot do is waived for him. The Prophet—peace and blessings be upon him—said: “When I command you to do something, do as much of it as you are able.”
Countless subsidiary rulings fall under this legal principle. His words, “listen,” mean: listen to Allah’s admonitions and to the rulings He prescribes for you; learn them and submit to them. “And obey” Allah and His Messenger in all your affairs, “and spend” in the obligatory and recommended ways prescribed by the Sacred Law. This conduct will be better for you in this world and the Hereafter. All good lies in complying with Allah Most High’s commands, accepting His counsel, and submitting to His law, while all evil lies in opposing this.
There is, however, an impediment that prevents many people from spending as commanded: the avarice ingrained in most souls. They are miserly with wealth, love to possess it, and utterly detest letting it leave their hands.
Whoever Allah protects from the evil of his own soul’s avarice, so that his soul readily spends in ways that benefit it—“it is they who are successful,” for they attain what is sought and escape what is feared. Indeed, this may encompass everything the servant is commanded or forbidden to do. If his soul is avaricious, refuses to submit to what it is commanded to do, and will not relinquish what it possesses, he will not succeed; rather, he will lose both this world and the Hereafter. But if his soul is generous, tranquil, receptive to Allah’s law, and desirous of His good pleasure, nothing stands between it and fulfilling its duties except learning of them, acquiring knowledge of them, and recognizing that they are pleasing to Allah ⦗869⦘ Most High. Through this, it prospers, succeeds, and attains complete triumph.
Allah Most High then encourages spending, saying: “If you lend Allah a goodly loan.” This means every expenditure made from lawful wealth when the servant seeks the countenance of Allah Most High and His good pleasure and places it where it properly belongs. “He will multiply it for you”—from ten times the amount spent to seven hundred times, and even many times beyond that.
“And,” in addition to multiplying it, “He will forgive you” your sins because of your spending and charity, for Allah expiates sins through charitable deeds and good works: “Indeed, good deeds erase bad deeds.”
“Allah is Most Appreciative, Most Forbearing.” He does not hasten to punish those who disobey Him; rather, He grants them respite, though He does not neglect them. “If Allah were to take people to task for what they have earned, He would not leave a single creature upon its surface, but He defers them until an appointed term.” Allah Most High is Most Appreciative: He accepts even the smallest deed from His servants and rewards them abundantly for it. He shows appreciation to whoever, for His sake, endures hardships and heavy burdens and shoulders (2) onerous obligations. Whoever gives up something for Allah, Allah compensates him with something better.
“Knower of the unseen and the seen”—that is, the hosts hidden from His servants, which no one but He knows, and the created beings they can see. “The Almighty,” whom none can overcome or resist and who has subdued all things; “the All-Wise” in His creation and command, who places all things in their proper places.
The commentary on Surah al-Taghābun is complete [and to Allah belongs all praise].