23:60 Al-Muminoon (The Believers)

{ وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَا آتَوْا } أي: يعطون من أنفسهم مما أمروا به، ما آتوا من كل ما يقدرون عليه، من صلاة، وزكاة، وحج، وصدقة، وغير ذلك، { و } مع هذا { قُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ } أي: خائفة { أَنَّهُمْ إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ رَاجِعُونَ } أي: خائفة عند عرض أعمالها عليه، والوقوف بين يديه، أن تكون أعمالهم غير منجية من عذاب الله، لعلمهم بربهم، وما يستحقه من أصناف العبادات.

وقوله " والذين يؤتون ما آتوا وقلوبهم وجلة أنهم إلى ربهم راجعون " أي يعطون العطاء وهم خائفون وجلون أن لا يتقبل منهم لخوفهم أن يكونوا قد قصروا في القيام بشروط الإعطاء وهذا من باب الإشفاق والاحتياط كما قال الإمام أحمد حدثنا يحيى بن آدم حدثنا مالك بن مغول حدثنا عبد الرحمن بن سعيد بن وهب عن عائشة أنها قالت يا رسول الله الذين يؤتون ما آتوا وقلوبهم وجلة هو الذي يسرق ويزني ويشرب الخمر وهو يخاف الله عز وجل؟ قال " لا يا بنت الصديق ولكنه الذي يصلي ويصوم ويتصدق وهو يخاف الله عز وجل "وهكذا رواه الترمذي وابن أبي حاتم من حديث مالك بن مغول به بنحوه وقال " لا يا ابنة الصديق ولكنهم الذين يصلون ويصومون ويتصدقون وهم يخافون ألا يتقبل منهم ".

Description of the People of Good Deeds

إِنَّ الَّذِينَ هُم مِّنْ خَشْيةِ رَبِّهِمْ مُّشْفِقُونَ

(Verily, those who live in awe for fear of their Lord;) means, even though they have reached the level of Ihsan and have faith and do righteous deeds, they are still in awe of Allah and fear Him and His hidden plans for them, as Al-Hasan Al-Basri said, "The believer combines Ihsan with awe, while the disbelievers combine evil deeds with a sense of security."

وَالَّذِينَ هُم بِـَايَـتِ رَبَّهِمْ يُؤْمِنُونَ

(And those who believe in the Ayat of their Lord;) means, they believe in His universal and legislative signs, as Allah says about Maryam, peace be upon her:

وَصَدَّقَتْ بِكَلِمَـتِ رَبَّهَا وَكُتُبِهِ

(and she testified to the truth of the Words of her Lord, and His Scriptures) 66:12, meaning that she believed that whatever existed was by the will and decree of Allah, and that whatever Allah decreed, if it was a command, it would be something that He liked and accepted; if it was a prohibition, it would be something that He disliked and rejected; and if it was good, it would be true. This is like the Ayah:

وَالَّذِينَ هُم بِرَبِّهِمْ لاَ يُشْرِكُونَ

(And those who join not anyone (in worship) as partners with their Lord;) meaning, they do not worship anyone or anything else besides Him, but they worship Him Alone and know that there is no god except Allah Alone, the One, the Self-Sufficient Master, Who does not take a wife or have any offspring, and there is none comparable or equal unto Him.

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَآ ءاتَواْ وَّقُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ أَنَّهُمْ إِلَى رَبِّهِمْ رَجِعُونَ

(And those who give that which they give with their hearts full of fear, because they are sure to return to their Lord.) means, they give in charity, fearing that it may not be accepted from them because of some shortcoming or failure to meet the required conditions of giving. This has to do with fear and taking precautions, as Imam Ahmad recorded from `A'ishah: I said: "O Messenger of Allah ﷺ,

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَآ ءاتَواْ وَّقُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ

(And those who give that which they give with their hearts full of fear...) Are these the ones who steal and commit Zina and drink alcohol while fearing Allah" The Messenger of Allah ﷺ replied:

«لَا، يَا بِنْتَ أَبِي بَكْرٍ يَا بِنْتَ الصِّدِّيقِ، وَلَكِنَّهُ الَّذِي يُصَلِّي وَيَصُومُ وَيَتَصَدَّقُ وَهُوَ يَخَافُ اللهَ عَزَّ وَجَل»

(No, O daughter of Abu Bakr. O daughter of As-Siddiq, the one who prays, fast and gives in charity, fearing Allah.) This was recorded by At-Tirmidhi, and Ibn Abi Hatim recorded something similar in which the Prophet said:

«لَا يَا بِنْتَ الصِّدِّيقِ، وَلَكِنَّهُمُ الَّذِينَ يُصَلُّونَ وَيَصُومُونَ وَيَتَصَدَّقُونَ وَهُمْ يَخَافُونَ أَلَّا يُقْبَلَ مِنْهُمْ:

أُوْلَـئِكَ يُسَـرِعُونَ فِى الْخَيْرَتِ»

(No, O daughter of As-Siddiq, they are the ones who pray and fast and give in charity while fearing that it will not be accepted from them, (It is these who hasten in the good deeds.)) This is also how Ibn `Abbas, Muhammad bin Ka`b Al-Qurazi and Al-Hasan Al-Basri interpreted this Ayah.

and who give what they give of voluntary alms and righteous deeds while their hearts tremble with awe fearful lest it not be accepted from them because the particle lām ‘for’ is taken as implied before annahum ‘that they’ they are going to return to their Lord —

Commentary

وَالَّذِينَ يُؤْتُونَ مَا آتَوا وَّقُلُوبُهُمْ وَجِلَةٌ (And those who give whatever they give with their hearts full of fear - 23:60.) The word يُؤْتُونَ is derived from اِیتا meaning "to give, to spend", and is used in commentaries in the sense of صَدَقَات (alms to the poor). Another reading of this verse reported from Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ is يُؤْتُونَ مَا آتَوا (They do whatever they do - 23:60) and this covers all good deeds such as charity, prayers, fasting etc. As for the generally accepted reading of the verse, although it mentions alms to the poor only, yet it would include all good deeds also as is borne out by a hadith. Sayyidah ` A'ishah ؓ asked the Holy Prophet ﷺ the meaning of this verse whether those who do these deeds are the ones who drink wine and steal things. The Holy Prophet ﷺ replied, "0 daughter of Siddiq! It is not as you say. These are the people who observe fasts, say their prayers and give alms, yet they are apprehensive lest, due to some mind lapse on their part, all their good deeds may not be accepted by Allah. They hasten to do good deeds and are foremost, in accomplishing them." (Ahmad, Tirmidhi, Ibn Majah, Mazhari)

Hasan a1-Basri (رح) says that he knew people who did virtuous deeds, yet were more fearful than people who committed evil deeds. (Qurtubi)

Surely those who tremble in fear of their Lord… it is they who hurry to good deeds. When an intelligent man ponders the meaning of these verses, he will come to know that the obedi- ent are more fearful in their obedience than the disobedient are fearful in their disobedience. Just as the disobedient need His curtaining, so also the obedient need His curtaining. The Real says, “And repent all together to God, O you who have faith! [24:31]. O faithful, you who are obedient and you who are disobedient! All of you return to Our threshold with the attribute of pleading! In the state of poverty and brokenness ask for Our forgiveness, so that We may cover you with the curtain of Our mercy.” I wonder at the empty-headed Qur'an-reciter who makes two cycles of prayer at night and the next day knits the knot of self-seeing on his brow and places the favor of his own being on heaven and earth. All the motes of existence say to him, “What a simpleton you are! It is here that they make a Kaabah into an idol-temple, turn a seven hundred thousand-year worshiper into the forever accursed Satan, and bind Balaam son of Beor-who had God's greatest name in his breast and whose every prayer was answered-in a kennel for dogs. But you make two cycles of prayer one night and the next day you want the whole world to be full of talk of your prayer!” You poor wretch! The realizer fills the east and the west with prostrations of self-purification. Then he dips everything into the water of unneediness and returns with two empty hands to the end of the street of Muhammad MuṣṬafā's intercession and says, “O exalted man, harm has touched us and our folk, and we come with scant goods” [12:88]. The Pir of the Tariqah said, “O God, I have come with two empty hands. I have burned in the hope of better days. What harm if You place a balm on this wounded heart of mine?”