58:12 Al-Mujaadila (The Pleading Woman)

يأمر تعالى المؤمنين بالصدقة، أمام مناجاة رسوله محمد صلى الله عليه وسلم تأديبا لهم وتعليما، وتعظيما للرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم، فإن هذا التعظيم، خير للمؤمنين وأطهر أي: بذلك يكثر خيركم وأجركم، وتحصل لكم الطهارة من الأدناس، التي من جملتها ترك احترام الرسول صلى الله عليه وسلم والأدب معه بكثرة المناجاة التي لا ثمرة تحتها، فإنه إذا أمر بالصدقة بين يدي مناجاته صار هذا ميزانا لمن كان حريصا على الخير والعلم، فلا يبالي بالصدقة، ومن لم يكن له حرص ولا رغبة في الخير، وإنما مقصوده مجرد كثرة الكلام، فينكف بذلك عن الذي يشق على الرسول، هذا في الواجد للصدقة، وأما الذي لا يجد الصدقة، فإن الله لم يضيق عليه الأمر، بل عفا عنه وسامحه، وأباح له المناجاة، بدون تقديم صدقة لا يقدر عليها.

يقول تعالى آمرا عباده المؤمنين إذا أراد أحدهم أن يناجي رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم أي يساره فيما بينه وبينه أن يقدم بين يدي ذلك صدقة تطهره وتزكيه وتؤهله لأن يصلح لهذا المقام ولهذا قال تعالى "ذلك خير لكم وأطهر" ثم قال تعالى "فإن لم تجدوا" أي إلا من عجز عن ذلك لفقره "فإن الله غفور رحيم" فما أمر إلا من قدر عليها.

The Order to give Charity before One speaks to the Prophet in private

Allah commanded His believing servants, when any of them wanted to speak with Allah's Messenger ﷺ in secret, to give away charity beforehand so that his charity cleanses and purifies him and makes him worthy of having a private counsel with the Prophet . This is why Allah the Exalted said,

ذَلِكَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ وَأَطْهَرُ

(That will be better and purer for you.) then He said,

فَإِن لَّمْ تَجِدُواْ

(But if you find not.) meaning, if he is unable to do so due to poverty,

فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

(then verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful.) He only commanded those who are financially able to give this type of charity. Allah the Exalted said,

أَءَشْفَقْتُمْ أَن تُقَدِّمُواْ بَيْنَ يَدَىْ نَجْوَكُمْ صَدَقَـتٍ

(Are you afraid of spending in charity before your private consultation) meaning, are you afraid that the order to give charity before speaking privately to the Prophet remains in effect forever

فَإِذْ لَمْ تَفْعَلُواْ وَتَابَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ فَأَقِيمُواْ الصَّلوةَ وَءَاتُواْ الزَّكَوةَ وَأَطِيعُواْ اللَّهَ وَرَسُولَهُ وَاللَّهُ خَبِيرٌ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ

(If then you do it not, and Allah has forgiven you, then perform Salah and give Zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger. And Allah is All-Aware of what you do.) Therefore, Allah abrogated the obligation of giving this charity. It was said that none has implemented this command before except its abrogation, `Ali bin Abi Talib. `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn `Abbas:

فَقَدِّمُواْ بَيْنَ يَدَىْ نَجْوَكُمْ صَدَقَةً

(spend something in charity before your private consultation.) "The Muslims kept asking Allah's Messenger ﷺ questions until it became difficult on him. Allah wanted to lighten the burden from His Prophet , upon him be peace. So when He said this, many Muslims were afraid to pay this charity and stopped asking. Afterwards, Allah sent down this Ayah,

أَءَشْفَقْتُمْ أَن تُقَدِّمُواْ بَيْنَ يَدَىْ نَجْوَكُمْ صَدَقَـتٍ فَإِذْ لَمْ تَفْعَلُواْ وَتَابَ اللَّهُ عَلَيْكُمْ فَأَقِيمُواْ الصَّلوةَ وَءَاتُواْ الزَّكَوةَ

(Are you afraid of spending in charity before your private consultation If then you do it not, and Allah has forgiven you, then perform Salah and give Zakah) Thus Allah made things easy and lenient for them." `Ikrimah and Al-Hasan Al-Basri commented on Allah's statement:

فَقَدِّمُواْ بَيْنَ يَدَىْ نَجْوَكُمْ صَدَقَةً

(spend something in charity before your private consultation.) "This was abrogated by the next Ayah:

أَءَشْفَقْتُمْ أَن تُقَدِّمُواْ بَيْنَ يَدَىْ نَجْوَكُمْ صَدَقَـتٍ

(Are you afraid of spending in charity before your private consultation...)." Sa`id bin Abi `Arubah reported from Qatadah and Muqatil bin Hayyan, "People kept questioning Allah's Messenger ﷺ until they made things difficult for him. Allah provided a way to stop their behavior by this Ayah. One of them would need to speak to Allah's Prophet about a real matter, but could not do so until he gave in charity. This became hard on people and Allah sent down relief from this requirement afterwards,

فَإِن لَّمْ تَجِدُواْ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ غَفُورٌ رَّحِيمٌ

(But if you find not, then verily, Allah is Oft-Forgiving, Most Merciful)." Ma`mar reported from Qatadah that the Ayah,

إِذَا نَـجَيْتُمُ الرَّسُولَ فَقَدِّمُواْ بَيْنَ يَدَىْ نَجْوَكُمْ صَدَقَةً

(When you (want to) consult the Messenger in private, spend something in charity before your private consultation.) was abrogated after being in effect for only one hour of a day. `Abdur-Razzaq recorded that Mujahid said that `Ali said, "No one except me implemented this Ayah, until it was abrogated," and he was reported to have said that it remained in effect for merely an hour.

O you who believe when you converse in secret with the Messenger when you wish to converse with him privately offer some voluntary alms before your secret talk. That is better for you and purer for your sins. But if you find nothing to offer as alms then God is indeed Forgiving of your secret conversation Merciful to you. In other words nothing will be held against you for holding a secret conversation without having offered some voluntary alms beforehand. However He God abrogated this later by saying

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا إِذَا نَاجَيْتُمُ الرَّ‌سُولَ (0 those who believe, when you consult the Messenger of Allah, ...58:12) The Messenger of Allah ﷺ was preoccupied day and night with educating the people and improving their quality of life. In his general assemblies, all the members of the audience benefited from his teachings. However, there were people who wanted private meetings with the Holy Prophet ﷺ and he would grant them that. Obviously, it was not possible to grant everyone's request as it required time and effort, and that was difficult. The hypocrites made matters worse when they asked for private audiences with the Holy Prophet ﷺ in order to hurt the sincere Muslims. Besides, the hypocrites held protracted conferences with him. Some of the illiterate Muslims also held private audiences with him for a longer time than normal or necessary. This made things difficult for him. Allah provided a way to stop their irksome behaviour by this verse which lightened the burden of the Holy Prophet ﷺ . Initially, the verse provided that anyone who wishes to hold a private conference with him must advance a freewill charity, the amount or measure of which is not specified in the Qur'an. However, when this verse was revealed Sayyidna ` Ali رضی اللہ تعالیٰ عنہ was the first Companion to act upon it: He offered one Dinar in charity and requested a private audience with the Prophet ﷺ .

Only Sayyidna ` Ali ؓ Acted upon the verse

It is a remarkable co-incidence that most of the blessed Companions ؓ ، because of financial constraints, were unable to act upon this verse. Its provision was repealed. Sayyidna Ali ؓ used to say that there is a verse in the Qur'an that none before me and none after me has ever acted upon it. The meaning of the phrase 'none before me' is obvious. The phrase 'none after me' means 'none after me will practise it' because the verse is abrogated. Although the ordinance is repealed, it achieved its basic purpose. The Muslims, because of the dictates of their sincere love, avoided their protracted audiences with the Prophet ﷺ so that he is not inconvenienced in any way. The hypocrites avoided protracted audiences with him because they feared that they would be recognized for what they are and their hypocrisy would be exposed. Allah knows best!

O you who have faith, when you whisper with the Messenger, offer charity before you whisper. It is narrated that the Commander of the Faithful ʿAlī said that when this verse came down, he gave one dinar in charity and asked ten questions from God's Messenger. He said, “'O Messenger of God! How should I supplicate God?': How should I call upon God and worship Him?” The Messenger answered, “'With truthfulness and loyalty': Be loyal to the covenant that was made with Him on the Day of Alast and be truthful in your speaking and doing. Have what you show, do what you say, and be whence you call out.” ʿAlī said, “What should I ask for from God?” He answered, “'For safety in this world and the next:' In this world and the next the safety of the heart from the blights of mortal nature and the well-being of the body in the varieties of trial.” ʿAlī said, “'What should I make ready for my salvation?': What should I do so that in the gathering place of the resurrection I may be delivered, secure from the terrors of the resurrection and arrived at the degrees of the Garden?” He answered, “'Eat the permitted and speak with truthfulness': When you eat something, eat the permitted, and when you speak, speak with truthfulness. Do not give the forbidden access to yourself, for the forbidden has a bad outcome. Avoid lying, for anyone who lies will have a bad name in the two worlds.” He said, “'What is the stratagem?': What stratagem should I use so that things will come out as I want?” He answered, “'The stratagem is to abandon stratagems': Let go of stratagems and know that everything is as God wants and that the stratagems and governance of the servant will never over- come God's predetermination.” He said, “'What must I do?': What are the rules that I must discharge?” He answered, “'The command of God and His Messenger': Everything mandatory and oblig- atory commanded by God, and everything set down as Sunnah and recommended by the Mes- senger.” He said, “'What is ease?': What is ease and comfort?” He answered, “'The Garden': Ease is that you settle down in paradise and its blessings and that you stay secure from hell and its punishment.