2:254 Al-Baqara (The Cow)

وهذا من لطف الله بعباده أن أمرهم بتقديم شيء مما رزقهم الله، من صدقة واجبة ومستحبة، ليكون لهم ذخرا وأجرا موفرا في يوم يحتاج فيه العاملون إلى مثقال ذرة من الخير، فلا بيع فيه ولو افتدى الإنسان نفسه بملء الأرض ذهبا ليفتدي به من عذاب يوم القيامة ما تقبل منه، ولم ينفعه خليل ولا صديق لا بوجاهة ولا بشفاعة، وهو اليوم الذي فيه يخسر المبطلون ويحصل الخزي على الظالمين، وهم الذين وضعوا الشيء في غير موضعه، فتركوا الواجب من حق الله وحق عباده وتعدوا الحلال إلى الحرام، وأعظم أنواع الظلم الكفر بالله الذي هو وضع العبادة التي يتعين أن تكون لله فيصرفها الكافر إلى مخلوق مثله، فلهذا قال تعالى: { والكافرون هم الظالمون } وهذا من باب الحصر، أي: الذين ثبت لهم الظلم التام، كما قال تعالى: { إن الشرك لظلم عظيم }

يأمر تعالى عباده بالإنفاق مما رزقهم في سبيله سبيل الخير ليدخروا ثواب ذلك عند ربهم ومليكهم وليبادروا إلى ذلك في هذه الحياة الدنيا "من قبل أن يأتي يوم" يعني يوم القيامة "لا بيع فيه ولا خلة ولا شفاعة" أي لا يباع أحد من نفسه ولا يفادى بمال لو بذله ولو جاء بملء الأرض ذهبا ولا تنفعه خلة أحد يعني صداقته بل ولا نسابته كما قال "فإذا نفخ في الصور فلا أنساب بينهم يومئذ ولا يتساءلون" ولا شفاعة: أي ولا تنفعهم شفاعة الشافعين وقوله "والكافرون هم الظالمون" مبتدأ محصور في خبره أي ولا ظالم أظلم ممن وافى الله يومئذ كافرا وقد روى ابن أبي حاتم عن عطاء بن دينار أنه قال: الحمد لله الذي قال "والكافرون هم الظالمون" ولم يقل والظالمون هم الكافرون.

Allah commands His servants to spend for His sake, in the path of righteousness, from what He has granted them, so that they acquire and keep the reward of this righteous deed with their Lord and King. Let them rush to perform this deed in this life,

مِّن قَبْلِ أَن يَأْتِىَ يَوْمٌ

(before a Day comes) meaning, the Day of Resurrection,

لاَّ بَيْعٌ فِيهِ وَلاَ خُلَّةٌ وَلاَ شَفَـعَةٌ

(when there will be no bargaining, nor friendship, nor intercession.)

This Ayah indicates that on that Day, no one will be able to bargain on behalf of himself or ransom himself with any amount, even if it was the earth's fill of gold; nor will his friendship or relation to anyone benefit him. Similarly, Allah said,

فَإِذَا نُفِخَ فِى الصُّورِ فَلاَ أَنسَـبَ بَيْنَهُمْ يَوْمَئِذٍ وَلاَ يَتَسَآءَلُونَ

(Then, when the Trumpet is blown, there will be no kinship among them that Day, nor will they ask of one another) 23:101.

وَلاَ شَفَـعَةٌ

(Nor intercession) meaning, they will not benefit by the intercession of anyone.

Allah's statement,

وَالْكَـفِرُونَ هُمُ الظَّـلِمُونَ

(and it is the disbelievers who are the wrongdoers) indicates that no injustice is worse than meeting Allah on that Day while a disbeliever. Ibn Abi Hatim recorded that `Ata' bin Dinar said, "All thanks are due to Allah Who said,

وَالْكَـفِرُونَ هُمُ الظَّـلِمُونَ

(and it is the disbelievers who are the wrongdoers) but did not say, `And it is the wrongdoers who are the disbelievers."'

O you who believe expend of what We have provided you with what is due of it as alms before there comes a day in which there shall be neither commerce ransom nor friendship that can be of any benefit nor intercession without His permission a variant reading has all three nouns in nominative inflection bay‘un khullatun shafā‘atun as opposed to lā bay‘a lā khullata lā shafā‘ata this is the Day of Resurrection. And the disbelievers those that disbelieve in God or in the obligations He has imposed on them — they are the evildoers for not respecting God’s command.

Commentary

Many injunctions relating to acts of worship and dealings with human beings have been taken up in this Surah, especially all those a person dislikes to obey finding them burdensome. Then, the most difficult act is to 'spend' one's life and possessions; and when you look at Divine injunctions relating to most situations they either relate to a man's life or his possessions. And when a man falls into the trap of sin, it is either caused by his love of life or expediency of possessions in most cases. As such, the love for these two is the root of sins, and the defence against and the deliverance from it is the object of all acts of obedience. It is for this reason that, following the injunctions relating to worship and social transactions, the subject of 'fighting' and 'spending' in the way of Allah were taken up. The first appeared in وَقَاتِلُوا فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّـهِ (And fight in the way of Allah) (244) and the second in مَّن ذَا الَّذِي يُقْرِ‌ضُ اللَّـهَ (Who is the one who would give Allah a good loan?) (245) After that, the former was emphasized by the story of Talut طالوت ، and now, emphasis is being laid on the later by أَنفِقُوا مِمَّا رَ‌زَقْنَاكُم (Spend from what We have given to you) (254). Since a large number of affairs relating to the worship of Allah and dealings with human beings depend on spending out of what Allah has given, this subject has been dealt with in a greater detail. Therefore, the sections that follow have, in most of them, a discussion of the second aspect, which is, the 'spending' out of one's possessions. To sum up, it means: The time to act is still there. In the Hereafter, deeds are not on sale. They cannot be borrowed from a friend either. Once caught by the punishment, one cannot be released on someone's intercession, unless Allah Himself forgives.