and those who can find nothing to give but their own labour.” ⦗9:79⦘

The verb “yalmizūn” means “they find fault,” while “al-muṭṭawiʿīn” refers to the voluntary donors who give in charity. The clause “and those who can find nothing to give but their own labour” is conjoined to “the voluntary donors,” meaning that the hypocrites disparage both groups: those who give generously and those who possess nothing but their hard-earned effort. Allah then says, “so they ridicule them; but Allah will ridicule them, and for them is a painful punishment.” They mocked the believers, so Allah mocked them—may Allah protect us.

This passage shows how keen the Companions were to race toward good deeds and how they strove against themselves to achieve them. It also shows that Allah, exalted is He, defends the believers. Reflect on how He revealed a verse in His Book to champion the believers whom those hypocrites were maligning.

It likewise proves the intense enmity the hypocrites harbour toward the believers: the believers are never safe from them—if they do much, they are reviled; if they do little, they are reviled. Yet the matter is not in the hypocrites’ hands but in Allah’s. Hence He mocked them and threatened them with “a painful punishment.”

As for the ruling in this case, Allah Most High says: “So whoever does an atom’s weight of good shall see it, and whoever does an atom’s weight of evil shall see it” ⦗99:7-8⦘. Whether one’s good is great or small, he will see it and be rewarded for it; and whether one’s evil is great or small, he will see it and be requited for it.

It is authentically reported from the Prophet ﷺ that “when a person gives in charity the equivalent of a single date from lawful earnings—and Allah accepts only that which is lawful—Allah, Blessed and Exalted, takes it with His Right Hand and nurtures it just as one of you nurtures….”