SURAH AL-IMRAN THE FAMILY OF IMRAN.

. TAFSIR BY AMINA ELAHI VERSES 92-96 Never can you attain piety until you spend of that which you love and whatever good you spend, Allah knows it well. All food was lawful to the children of Israel except what Israel made unlawful for himself before the Torah was revealed. Say bring the Torah here and recite it if you are truthful. Then after that whomsoever shall invite a lie against Allah such shall be the wrongdoers. Earlier we read about the different kinds of spending. Allah swt told us how we should spend, that it should be done in a spirit of generosity, it should be done for Allahs sake alone. After spending we should not remind or taunt the person to whom we have given that amount or whatever we gave him. Allah swt purified our concept of spending that we should only give that which we like. We should not give something we would hate to take ourselves. Now here we find Allah swt takes this concept of spending one step further. The ultimate degree of spending what is that? You can never attain birr. What is birr? Birr has been defined as righteousness, as piety. As the essence of goodness. Allah says if you wish to attain the essence of goodness you have to make sacrifices, until you spend from that which you love. Now here we can see, Allah is not asking us to sacrifice everything, that give up everything, like some people have a very extremist notion, that they want to give all their money away for sadaqah. Allah swt doesnt say that. He says from that which you love. Now what could this be? Does this simply mean our wealth? It is all that which we love, whether tangible such as our wealth, such as our clothes, or shoes, anything we possess which we dearly. And it can be intangible aswell such as our time, our talents, our energies, our knowledge. Allah swt says if you wish to reach the peaks of goodness (if youre content to remain at a lesser degree then youll just be giving that which you would not mind taking yourself but if you want to reach the zenith of goodness then you have to make sacrifices, not everything but some of the time. Not we find that when this ayah was revealed, the companions response was instantaneous. See when we read an ayah in the Quran, we think how beautiful and then we forget all about it. Allah swt showed us by means of the companions that when they used to hear an ayah they would act upon it. We find that amongst the most famous instances, Asad Abu Talhas garden was opposite the mosque; it was a very beautiful garden and often we find that the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam would pray in the garden. And he came forward and he said to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam that i have thought about it and out of all my possessions the one that i love the most is this garden so i donate it in Allahs path and i entrust it to you. That is true iman, that when we hear an ayah we internalise it, we think about how we can implement this ayah, not that o say and so doesnt even spend at all, but we should be thinking how can we act upon this ayah. The Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam was delighted. Why? Because he was planning to take it for himself? No. He told this companion Hadrat Abu Talha, distribute this garden amongst your needy relatives. Now he didnt even keep it for the general Muslims. He said donate it to your needy relatives. And the relatives he gave it to were his distant relatives, they werent even that close relatives. In another instance we find Hadhrat Zayd bought his favourite horse forward and his own son Hadhrat Osama was placed on that horse by the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Now the principle here is that when youre making that sacrifice, when youre giving that most beloved thing for Allahs sake, the

most deserving people are your own relatives. Why are relatives most deserving? Because it is most difficult to give sometimes to our own relatives because we know that our relatives arent going to take it for granted anyway and they might not appreciate it so much. Now Allah says that you have to spend from that which you love. Why does Allah want us to spend from that which we love, not from that which is expensive, or that which is costly but that which you love, which hurts you to part with. Because Allah tells us in the Quran those who believe are most intense in their love for Allah and its easy to talk, but true actions prove our love of Allah. And Allah goes on to say Whatever you spend (whether your time or your talent or you give away a favourite picture that you possessed or a favourite suit that your possessed, even if the other person doesnt thank you properly for it, they dont value it they dont appreciate it) Allah knows it well. Allah is reassuring us here, even if you fear the other person has not valued your gift remember Allah knows it. Allah knows how much pain it cost you to make that sacrifice and Allah will reward you for it. Now Allah goes on to say All good was lawful to the children of Israel except what Israel made unlawful for himself before the Torah was revealed. This refers to a Jewish objection that when they saw the Muslims were eat camels meat they came forward and said why do you eat camels meat when it is haram. Allah swt reveals that the source of this haram was not that their shariah had forbidden camels meat, it was a personal vow made by Yaqub AS who was Israel And Allah says tell them bring the Torah here and recite it if you are truthful, in other words bring your Torah and show your proof that this is haram. Now this proves something very important to us; that we should not take our deen on hearsay, based on opinion or assumptions. We should have proof for it. Our source should be the Quran or the sunnah of the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Now some things in the sunnah we find were the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallams personal likes and dislikes; he never imposed them on the people. For example we know how much he adored honey but nowhere does it say that you all have to eat honey or you cant eat things he didnt like because they were his personal likes and dislikes. Allah does on to say then after that whomsoever shall invent a lie against Allah, such shall be the wrongdoers. What is inventing a lie against Allah? When we just come up with an opinion, that I think that Islam doesnt allow this or I think that Islam doesnt do this without having any basis for our opinions Tell them Allah has spoken the truth. Follow the religion of Ibrahim, upright, unswerving and he was not of those who did shirk. Now why is Ibrahim ASs name being mentioned here suddenly? Because he was the ultimate epitome of sacrifice. In the Surah Baqarah we read, when Ibrahim was tested by him Lord in certain matters he passed the test with flying colours. He was the epitome of the ayah on sacrifice. He sacrificed everything he held most dear. He sacrificed his father when it was a choice between his father and Allah he chose Allah. When it was a choice between his clan and Allah he chose Allah. When it was a choice between life and death when the king threatened to throw him in the fire, he chose Allah. When he was told to slaughter his son he obeyed Allah. When he was told to leave his wife and child in a barren valley he obeyed Allah. So Allah mentions his friend over here.

O people follow the creed of Ibrahim. In other words Allah is not just giving us a principle, hes given us an example, a practical demonstration of this ayah. He was not of those who did shirk because when we love something dearly sometimes that thing can become an obstacle in the path of us obeying Allah. Sometimes when women say O mu husband doesnt let me pray O my husband doesnt let me do this, maybe their love for their husband has become an obstacle in the way of their obeying Allah. So Allah reminds us Ibrahim never did shirk. Not with people, not with his own nafs for desires. Whar was Ibrahim ASs greatest achievement? Til the end of time, indeed the first house appointed for mankind was that at Makkah, full of blessing a guidance for the world. Allah swt reminds of the kaaba, built by Ibrahim AS built by Ibrahim AS.