…The proof for that position is the verse, “And give its due on the day of its harvest” (al-Anam 141). The “due” here means zakah, and the entire surah is Makkan. The same applies to His words, “And in their wealth there is an acknowledged right for the beggar and the deprived” (al-Ma‘arij 24-25); this surah too is Makkan, and the “acknowledged right” is zakah. Hence, according to this view, the obligation itself was revealed in Mecca, while its detailed rules were laid out later in Medina. The second view—which is what the shaykh’s words here seem to indicate—is that zakah was only imposed in Medina, and that in Mecca nothing was prescribed besides the first pillar, tawhid (the affirmation of divine oneness), and the second pillar, the prayer. This is the apparent sense of the shaykh’s statement. (62) Concerning his words, “After that he was commanded to migrate to Medina”: When Quraysh’s persecution became severe, their obstruction of God’s path intensified, and they harassed the Muslims—especially those weak believers who lacked tribal protection—God permitted the Muslims to emigrate to Abyssinia in the first migration, for there was a king under whom no one was wronged.