Living The Quran
From Issue: 936 [Read full issue]
Reminders of Generosity
Al-Baqara (The Cow) Sura 2: Verse 264
"O you who believe! Do not render your charity worthless by reminders of your generosity or by injury as one who spends his wealth to show off to others and believes neither in Allah nor in the Last Day. Such a person is like a hard, barren rock, on which is a little soil and a torrent of heavy rain smites it, and leaves it just a bare stone. Such people will gain no reward for their works. And Allah guides not the ungrateful."
It is not uncommon to find soil collecting on a rocky surface, particularly on the sides of mountains. Finding it fertile, some farmers begin to cultivate on this thick layer of soil. Such farmlands are often exposed to the danger of landslide, especially when it rains heavily in the higher parts of mountains. The downward flow of the rain water is so strong that it carries along with it the entire thick layer of soil pushing it down to the valley below and leaving the rock naked and bare. The above parable depicts such a landslide.
Those who spend and then remind others of their generosity and cause them hurt, the Quran says, will find all their charitable works wasted away; they will have no reward for their charity in the Hereafter. Despite their belief, these good works of theirs will be wasted away like those of the person who spends only to show off and has no belief either in Allah or in the Hereafter. This demonstrates the exceptional gravity of reproaching others by reminding them of one's generosity to them and thus causing injury to their feelings. These two are almost similar to unbelief or kufr in their disastrous effect on one's charitable deeds.
Such a person is likened here to a farmer who cultivates a field with a hard and barren rock underneath. One heavy shower of rain is enough to sweep away the entire farm and its produce leaving behind just barren, hard rock protruding like a bald man's head. The efforts of such an unfortunate farmer are wasted. So is the charity of a person who follows it with reminders of generosity and injury to others. All charitable deeds of such people are wasted and of no benefit.
Compiled From:
"Pondering Over The Qur'an: Surah al-Fatiha and Surah al-Baqarah" - Amin Ahsan Islahi