لِلْفُقَرَآءِ ٱلَّذِينَ أُحْصِرُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ لَا يَسْتَطِيعُونَ ضَرْبًا فِى ٱلْأَرْضِ يَحْسَبُهُمُ ٱلْجَاهِلُ أَغْنِيَآءَ مِنَ ٱلتَّعَفُّفِ تَعْرِفُهُم بِسِيمَٰهُمْ لَا يَسْـَٔلُونَ ٱلنَّاسَ إِلْحَافًا ۗ وَمَا تُنفِقُوا۟ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِهِۦ عَلِيمٌ
48:30.
Important Words:
ضرباً (move) is from ضرب. They say ضرب الشیء i.e. the thing moved. ضربه means, he struck or beat him with a sword or a stick, etc. ضرب فی الارض means, he set out on a journey through the country or he journeyed through it (Aqrab).
تعفف (abstaining) is derived from عف i.e. he abstained from doing what is unlawful or improper. تعفف in verb form also gives the same meaning with greater effort. عفة means, abstaining from the gratification of low desires. So تعفف means, abstaining from what is improper or unlawful (Aqrab).
سیما (appearance) is derived from سوم which is again derived from سام. They say سوم الفرس i.e. he branded the horse with some distinguishing mark or sign. سیما or سیمة or سومة means, a distinguishing sign or mark, or general appearance serving as such (Aqrab).
إلحافاً (with importunity) is derived from لحف. They say لحفه i.e. he covered him with a sheet or a blanket, etc. الحفه also gives the same meaning. الحف السائل means, the beggar begged with importunity, as if sticking to one like a covering (Aqrab & Mufradat).
Commentary:
Circumstances sometimes compel people to remain confined in a place where they are unable to earn their living. Such men deserve help from the better-off members of the community. Two kinds of people come particularly under this verse: (1) Those who voluntarily stick to a place owing to the love of a holy man and never quit his company so that they may listen to whatever he says and observe whatever he does and then impart the knowledge thus acquired to others. A remarkable example of persons of this class was Abu Hurairah, who embraced Islam only three years before the death of the Holy Prophet, but thereafter clove to the Mosque at Medina so that he might remain in constant contact with his beloved Master. The result was that he reported to the world a much larger number of the sayings and acts of the Holy Prophet than those reported by even such Companions as had embraced Islam long before him. (2) Sometimes a Muslim becomes confined to a place owing to the hostility of disbelievers and, being surrounded by persecutors, he has often to suffer extreme hardships and remain without the necessities of life. Such men are also among the fittest objects of help.
People generally help those who beg for help, ignoring those who need help but, through modesty or shyness, do not ask for it. The Quran exhorts Muslims not to confine their charity to those who beg, but also to look for those who are really needy and whom a sense of honour or modesty prevents from begging.
The words, thou shalt know them by their appearance, contain a tribute to the Holy Prophet, who is here spoken of as being able to know such persons as are in want but refrain from disclosing their needs to others; and believers are exhorted to follow the example of the Holy Prophet in this respect. Abu Hurairah relates a personal incident which beautifully brings out this characteristic of the Prophet. He says that one day he was suffering from extreme hunger but, as Islam did not approve of begging, he could not ask anybody for food, and at the same time he would not leave the Prophet’s mosque for fear of losing his company. At that time Abu Bakr happened to pass by and, in order to draw his attention to his own famished condition, Abu Hurairah asked him to explain a verse of the Quran which dealt with charity. Abu Bakr, failing to understand his real object, explained to him the verse and passed on. Then came ‘Umar, and the hunger-stricken Abu Hurairah approached him also with the request to explain the verse. ‘Umar too failed to catch his purpose and, explaining to him the verse, went on his way. The Holy Prophet, who at that time happened to be within hearing inside his house, opened his window and with a bowl of milk in his hand, called Abu Hurairah and smilingly asked him whether he was hungry. And, receiving a reply in the affirmative, he further asked him to invite all the seven men who happened to be present in the mosque at that time. Before handing the cup of milk to Abu Hurairah, the Holy Prophet offered it to those seven men who were also hungry like Abu Hurairah. All the seven drank milk out of the bowl but, says Abu Hurairah, it remained as full as ever. Then the Prophet gave it to Abu Hurairah who drank his fill. When Abu Hurairah could drink no more, the Holy Prophet took the bowl and drank the remaining milk (Tirmidhi ch. on Zuhd).
The verse incidentally praises those who abstain from begging and hints at the impropriety of begging as the words تعفف (abstaining from an improper or unlawful thing) and الحافا (with importunity) clearly indicate. The Holy Prophet greatly disapproved of begging and there are diverse sayings of his to that effect.
48:30.
Circumstances sometimes compel people to remain confined to a place where they are unable to earn their living. Such persons particularly deserve help from the better off members of the community. Two kinds of people particularly fall under this category; (a) Those who voluntarily remain attached to a Man of God, never quitting his company in order to benefit spiritually from it. (b) Those, who being confined to hostile environments, are deprived of necessities of life.
Sima means, a distinguishing sign or mark, or general appearance serving as such (Aqrab).
The verse incidentally praises those self-respecting persons who abstain from begging and implies the impropriety of begging, as the words, Ta‘affuf (abstaining from an improper or unlawful thing) and Ilhaf (with importunity) indicate. The Holy Prophet has condemned begging.
Khair means, wealth; abundant wealth; wealth honestly earned (Mufradat).
There are two categories of charity—obligatory Zakat and supererogatory (Sadaqah). Zakat is collected by the State from every Muslim possessing a certain amount of money or property and is spent by the State on the poor, the needy, and on orphans, widows and wayfarers, etc.; the recipients not knowing the real source of charity are beholden to no individual. Zakat is a State cheque and not charity. Sadaqah is voluntary and is given to individuals out of a desire to help them. It engenders feelings of sympathy among the well-to-do towards their poor brethren and feelings of gratefulness among the poor for their benefactors. It also serves to distinguish sincere believers from the insincere.