Verses and Translation

وَٱلَّذِينَ تَبَوَّءُو ٱلدَّارَ وَٱلۡإِيمَـٰنَ مِن قَبۡلِهِمۡ يُحِبُّونَ مَنۡ هَاجَرَ إِلَيۡہِمۡ وَلَا يَجِدُونَ فِى صُدُورِهِمۡ حَاجَةً۬ مِّمَّآ أُوتُواْ وَيُؤۡثِرُونَ عَلَىٰٓ أَنفُسِہِمۡ وَلَوۡ كَانَ بِہِمۡ خَصَاصَةٌ۬‌ۚ وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفۡسِهِۦ فَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُفۡلِحُونَ (٩)

“And [also for] those who were settled in al-Madinah and [adopted] the faith before them. They love those who emigrated to them and find not any want in their breasts of what the emigrants were given but give [them] preference over themselves, even though they are in privation. And whoever is protected from the stinginess of his soul – it is those who will be the successful.”

Commentary

Those who were well-settled in Madinah and accepted Islam (i.e. the ansar) loved the emigrants came into Madinah from Makkah (i.e. the muhajirun) and did not feel any discomfort or rancour for whatever the muhajirun received (unlike the hypocrites, i.e. the munafiqun).

The ansar gave preference to the muhajirun over themselves, despite being of straitened circumstances themselves. Whoever is protected from the inherent stinginess of his soul has truly attained success.

When the muhajirun came from Makkah and other places to their city, they offered their gardens and oases to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) with the request that he distribute them among their emigrant brethren-in-faith.

Narrated Abu Huraira: The Ansar said to the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him), “Distribute the date palm trees between us and our emigrant brothers.” He replied, “No.” The Ansar said (to the emigrants), “Look after the trees (water and watch them) and share the fruits with us.” The emigrants said, “We listen and obey.” [Sahih Bukhari]

The muhajirun said, “Messenger of Allah! the ansar got the entire reward.” He said, “No, so long as you pray to Allah for them and praise them.” [Abu Dawud]

Then, when the territory of the Bani an-Nadir was taken, the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) made this proposal to the ansar, “Now one way of managing it is that your properties and the gardens and the oases left by the Jews be combined together and then the whole distributed among you and the muhajirun. The second way is that you take back your properties, and the lands vacated by the Jews be distributed among the muhajirun.” The ansar said, “Sir, you may please distribute these evacuee properties among the muhajirun and may give them of our properties also as you please.”

At this Abu Bakr (may Allah be pleased with him) cried out, “May Allah reward you, O assembly of the ansar, with the best of everything!” (Yahya bin Adam. Baladhuri).

Thus, with the willing consent of the Ansar the properties left by the Jews were distributed only among the muhajirun, and from among the ansar only Abu Dujanah, Sahl bin Hunaif and (according to some) Harith bin as-Simmah were given shares, for they were poor people. (Baladhuri. Ibn Hisham Ruh al-Ma ani)

The same self-sacrificing spirit was shown by the ansar when the territory of Bahrain was annexed to the Islamic State. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) wished that the conquered lands of that territory be given to the ansar, but they submitted, “We would not take any share from it unless a similar share was given to our emigrant brothers.” (Yahya bin Adam). Allah has praised the ansar for this-very spirit of self-sacrifice.

The word used here means “are saved” and not “were safe”, for without Allah’s help and succor no one can attain to the wealth of the heart (liberal-mindedness) by his own power and effort. This is a blessing of God, which one can attain only by God’s bounty and grace The word shuhh is used for stinginess and miserliness in Arabic. But when this word is attributed to the self it becomes synonymous with narrow-mindedness, niggardliness, mean-spiritedness and small-heartedness, and not mere stinginess: it is rather the root cause of stinginess itself.

Because of this very quality, man avoids acknowledging even the good qualities of another, not to speak of recognizing his rights and discharging them. He wants that he alone should gather up everything in the world, and no one else should have anything of it. He never feels content with his own right, but usurps the rights of others, or at least wants to have for himself all that is good in the world and should not leave anything for others.

On this very basis, one’s being saved from this evil has been described in the Qur’an as a guarantee for success. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) has counted it among the most evil qualities of man which are the root cause of corruption and mischief. Jabir bin Abdullah has reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said, “Be on your guard against committing oppression, for oppression is a darkness on the Day of Resurrection, and be on your guard against stinginess for stinginess destroyed those who were before you, as it incited them to shed blood and make lawful what was unlawful for them.” [Sahih Muslim]

The tradition of Abdullah bin Umar contains the following words, “It led them to commit wickedness and they committed it; it commanded them to commit sins and they committed sin; it urged them to break off all connections with the kindred and they broke off all connections with them. ” (Musnad Ahmad, Abu De ud Nasa i).

Abu Hurairah has reported that the Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said. “The dust in the cause of Allah and the smoke of Hell will never be combined in the lungs of a slave, and the stinginess and faith can never be combined in a slave’s heart.” [Sunan An-Nasa’i]

It is as a result of this very teaching of Islam that, apart from individuals, the Muslim people as a nation are still the most generous and liberal-minded people in the world. There are millions and millions of Muslims living side by side with those non-Muslim people from among whom they sprung who have become proverbial for their narrow-mindedness and miserliness. The clear distinction existing between the two peoples in respect of liberal-mindedness and miserliness cannot be explained in any other way than that it is the moral teaching of Islam that has made the Muslims so large-hearted and liberal-minded.

Foundational Attributes

character, charity, generosity, friendship, love, co-existence, compassion