From the benefits of Our Weekly Study of the Noble Quraan based on the book “Tafseer Ibn Katheer” Verses 178- 179 of Surah Baqarah

) وعن أبي فراس رجل من أسلم قال نادى رجل فقال يا رسول الله ما الإيمان قال الإخلاص
وفي لفظ آخر قال قال رسول الله صلى الله عليه وسلم:
سلوني عما شئتم فنادى رجل يا رسول الله ما الإسلام قال إقام الصلاة وإيتاء الزكاة
قال فما الإيمان قال الإخلاص
قال فما اليقين قال التصديق
رواه البيهقي وهو مرسل
From Abu Firaas who said a man called the Prophet, and he asked O! Messenger of ALLAAH what is Al-Emaan (Faith) then the Prophet said “Al-Iklaas (Sincerity of actions to wards ALLAAH) and in another narration the Messenger of ALLAAH said “Ask me whatever questions you wish” so a man asked, O! Messenger of Allaah what is Islaam? The Prophet said “establishing the prayers and give Zakat” then he asked what Al-Emaan is? The Prophet said “Al-Iklaas (Sincerity of actions to wards ALLAAH)” then he asked what Yaqeen is (Attaining certainty of belief)? The Prophet said “ At-Tasdeeq (affirming the truthfulness of ALLAAH and His Messenger’s information)” narrated by Al Baihaqi…classified as authentic by Shayk Nasser Al-bani in the Book of Sincerity of Actions of Sahih At-Targheeb wa At-Tarheeb.


Bismillaah Ar-Rahmaan Ar-Raheem
Amma’ Baa’d
Salaam alaykum wa rahmatulLaah

** لّيْسَ الْبِرّ أَن تُوَلّواْ وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ وَلَـَكِنّ الْبِرّ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الاَخِرِ وَالْمَلآئِكَةِ وَالْكِتَابِ وَالنّبِيّينَ وَآتَى الْمَالَ عَلَىَ حُبّهِ ذَوِي الْقُرْبَىَ وَالْيَتَامَىَ وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَابْنَ السّبِيلِ وَالسّآئِلِينَ وَفِي الرّقَابِ وَأَقَامَ الصّلاةَ وَآتَى الزّكَاةَ وَالْمُوفُونَ بِعَهْدِهِمْ إِذَا عَاهَدُواْ وَالصّابِرِينَ فِي الْبَأْسَآءِ والضّرّاءِ وَحِينَ الْبَأْسِ أُولَـَئِكَ الّذِينَ صَدَقُوآ وَأُولَـَئِكَ هُمُ الْمُتّقُونَ 
177. it is not Al-Birr (piety, righteousness, and each and Every act of obedience to Allâh, etc.) that You turn your faces towards east and (or) west (in prayers); but Al-Birr is (the quality of) the one who believes In Allâh, the Last day, the angels, the Book, the Prophets and gives his wealth, In spite of love for it, to the kinsfolk, to the orphans, and to Al-Masâkin (the poor), and to the wayfarer, and to those who ask, and to set slaves free, performs As-Salât (Iqâmat-as-Salât), and gives the Zakât, and who fulfill their Covenant when they make it, and who are As-Sâbirin (the patient ones, etc.) In extreme poverty and ailment (disease) and at the time of fighting (during the battles). Such are the people of the Truth and they are Al­Muttaqûn (pious - see V.2:2).

• Imaam Al-Thaury says: This verse comprises of all kind of righteous acts and deeds
• The word Al-Birr is more encompassing in meaning and it connotes that righteous deeds are vast and numerous.
• The outward turning towards the east and west is not considered as piety; rather the real piety is the turning towards the east and west out of the fear of ALLAAH.
• The Verse can be divided into three states and these states have been explained in this verse, they are as follows:
o The state of carrying out and giving
o The state of refraining,
o The middle state ( in between carrying out and giving and refraining)
• The verse establishes that apart from obligatory zakat, there are other rights to be fulfilled by a person’s wealth.

At this point it is essential to explain some of the wordings used in this verse:

A. The Book:
• This is a collective adjective, which encompasses all heavenly revealed books to the prophets including the last and the most honored of them all The Quraan,
o The Quraan contains the messages from the previous books, has additional messages that were not previously mentioned and its revelation nullifies the rulings in any other book.

B. Gives His Wealth, In Spite Of Love For It;

• He spends the wealth in charity, while he has love for it and desire to spend it in the nearest future.
• A higher level than the previous is to have love for it, desire and spend it in charity while being in need of the wealth at the time he spent it.
o Like the narration of the Prophet in Sahih Muslim “the best of charity is that you spend when you are healthy and in need (of the wealth), fearing poverty and hoping to be self sufficient”
• The highest level of giving in charity is to give while preferring others to your self even though giving out will have some financial harm on you.
o Like Q59 v 9. “and those Who, before them, had homes (in Al-Madinah) and had adopted the Faith, love those who emigrate to them, and have no jealousy in their breasts for that which they have been given (from the booty of Banî An-Nadîr), and give them (emigrants) preference over themselves, even though they were in need of that. And whosoever is saved from his own covetousness, such are they who will be the successful”.
• To the Kinsfolk,:

o These are the relatives of a man,
o Charity given to a relative is better than charity given to the needy, because the former is combines the reward of giving in charity and binding the ties of kinship, while the latter is just reward of charity
o And people of today fall short in this regard, a man at times will not give to his needy relative but readily gives to a needy stranger and this is a sign of lack of priority.

• To The Orphans

o The orphan is some one that has the following traits
 There is no one to provide for him,
 His legitimate father is dead and
 He is young, yet to reach the age of maturity

• Al-Masâkin (The Needy and The Poor)

o There is a difference between the needy and the poor
 The Needy is the person who has some wealth or earnings but it is not sufficient for his genuine needs (e.g. feeding, clothing and shelter).
 The poor person is some one that does not have any thing.
o A poor person in Arabic means Faqeer (the plural is Fuqaraa) and a needy person means Miskin (the plural is Masakin as stated in this verse)
o Allaah used the word “Masakin” without mentioning the poor
 The scholars have agreed that the usage of Masakin in this verse also includes the poor, because if a needy person is to be given charity then a poor is more deserving of this charity since he doesn’t have anything at all.
o The miskin is not some one that goes around begging the people for a grain or two, rather the miskin is the person that does not have what will suffice him. (Sahih Muslim from Abu Hurairah).

• To The Wayfarer

o The wayfarer comprises of the following
 The needy traveler whose provisions finish while he his on a journey, he should be given what will assist him to return to his home town.
 The person who is embarking a journey of obedience to ALLAAH (e.g seeker of knowledge, traveling to mend the broken ties between two parties etc) should be given in charity before he leaves his land.
• There is a difference between the two above mentioned cases, the former is given charity because of his current situation while on his journey and the latter is given in charity before he embarks the journey because, it is anticipated that he may eventually be in need while on the journey.
 The strange and unannounced guest that enter upon the Muslims in their community or land. (like we used to have guests unannounced coming in O.A.U)

• To Set Slaves Free

o These are captives that entered an agreement with their masters to free them if they paid them an agreed amount, he should be assisted to gain his freedom.

                                         
178. O You who believe! Al-Qisâs (the Law of Equality In punishment) is prescribed for you In case of murder: the free for the free, the slave for the slave, and the female for the female. But if the killer is forgiven by the brother (or the relatives, etc.) of the killed against blood money, Then adhering to it with fairness and payment of the blood money, to the heir should be made in fairness. This is alleviation and a Mercy from Your Lord. So after this whoever transgresses the limits (i.e. kills the killer after taking the blood money), He shall have a painful torment.

To Be Contd….

These are the points I was made to remember, whatever is correct and good, then this is from ALLAAH‘s favor and whatever mistake occurs there in, then it is from me& my Shaitan,

May ALLAAH forgive me for my errors and I ask Him to forgive you all also