إِن تُبْدُوا۟ ٱلصَّدَقَٰتِ فَنِعِمَّا هِىَ ۖ وَإِن تُخْفُوهَا وَتُؤْتُوهَا ٱلْفُقَرَآءَ فَهُوَ خَيْرٌ لَّكُمْ ۚ وَيُكَفِّرُ عَنكُم مِّن سَيِّـَٔاتِكُمْ ۗ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ
9:60, 103, 104.
4:32; 8:30; 29:8; 64:10; 66:9.
Important Words:
یکفر (will remove) is derived from کفر (kaffara) which again is derived from کفر (kafara) for which see 2:7. They say کفر عنه سیئته i.e. (1) He (God) covered or removed, or did away with his sin; (2) He expiated his sin; (3) He effaced or obliterated his sin (Lane).
Commentary:
Islam has most wisely recommended both forms of giving alms, i.e. open and secret. By giving alms openly, a man sets a good example to others and many begin to imitate him. Secret alms-giving is in many cases better, because in this way one refrains from exposing the poverty of his brethren and there is also little occasion for pride in secret giving. It should be noted that the word خیر (better) occurring in the verse is qualified by the words "for You", while the word نعما (well and good) is not so qualified, which points to the fact that whereas secret giving to the poor is better for the giver, open giving may often be conducive to more good for the Community in general.
Again, the particle من (many) in the clause, "many of your sins" may, according to Arabic idiom, either be redundant and used merely for the sake of emphasis, or used in the sense of "many" or "some"; or it denotes ابتداءالغایة i.e. the commencement of the limit. Following these different senses and also keeping in view the different meanings of the word یکفر (will remove), the clause ویکفر عنکم من سیآتکم may be rendered in four different ways: (1) He (God) will certainly remove from you your sins. (2) He will remove from you many or some of your sins. (3) He will expiate many or some of your sins for you. (4) He will certainly obliterate, or efface from you, your sins.
In the first and the fourth rendering, the particle من has been treated as redundant, used for the sake of emphasis only, and therefore it has been omitted in the translation and the word "certainly" has been added. But if we take the word من in the sense of "many" or "some", the meaning of the sentence will be as given in the second and the third rendering.
In the case of the second rendering, the idea is that if we practise charity, those of our sins which are committed against the rights of God will be pardoned, but not those which are committed against the rights of men for which other acts of virtue have been recommended. In the case of the third rendering, the idea is that on the basis of charity practised in accordance with the injunctions of the Quran, God will so arrange that sins committed by the giver of charity, against the rights of men, will be pardoned by the very men who are sinned against.
But as it is possible that even after a man has been pardoned, his sins may continue to rankle in his own mind, so God has promised to show a further favour to those who practise charity according to the teachings of Islam. This promise is implied in the word یکفر (efface and obliterate) which is intended to hint that God will make them forget their sins and thus obliterate and efface from their minds all traces of the sins committed by them. This idea has been expressed in the last rendering. Thus a single small sentence has been so worded as to cover all the possible forms of forgiveness, from its lowest phase to its highest manifestation.
4:32, 8:30; 29:8; 64:10; 66:9.
9:60, 103, 104.
Islam has most wisely recommended both forms of giving alms, open and secret. By giving alms openly a man sets a good example to others which they may imitate. Secret almsgiving in some cases is better, because then one refrains from exposing the poverty of his less fortunate brethren, and there is also little occasion for feeling proud in giving secretly.
The particle min either may have been used for the sake of emphasis, or in the sense of "many" or "some."