The Quran

267

Preface

يا أَيُّهَا الَّذينَ آمَنوا أَنفِقوا مِن طَيِّباتِ ما كَسَبتُم وَمِمّا أَخرَجنا لَكُم مِنَ الأَرضِ ۖ وَلا تَيَمَّمُوا الخَبيثَ مِنهُ تُنفِقونَ وَلَستُم بِآخِذيهِ إِلّا أَن تُغمِضوا فيهِ ۚ وَاعلَموا أَنَّ اللَّهَ غَنِيٌّ حَميدٌ

Yusuf Ali

O ye who believe! Give of the good things which ye have (honourably) earned¹, and of the fruits of the earth which We have produced for you, and do not even aim² at getting anything which is bad, in order that out of it ye may give away something, when ye yourselves would not receive it except with closed eyes³. And know that God is Free of all wants, and worthy of all praise⁴.

According to the English proverb “Charity covers a multitude of sins”. Such a sentiment is strongly disapproved in Islam. Charity has value only if (1) something good and valuable is given, (2) which has been honourably earned or acquired by the giver, or (3) which is produced in nature and can be referred to as a bounty of God. (1) may include such things as are of use and value to others though they may be of less use to us or superfluous to us on account of our having acquired something more suitable for our station in life: for example, discarded clothes, or an old horse or a used motor car; but if the horse is vicious, or the car engine so far gone that it is dangerous to use, then the gift is worse than useless; it is positively harmful, and the giver is a wrongdoer. (2) applies to fraudulent company-promoters, who earn great credit by giving away in charity some of their ill-gotten gains, or to robbers (even if they call themselves by high-sounding names) who “rob Peter to pay Paul”. Islam will have nothing to do with tainted property. Its economic code requires that every gain should be honest and honourable. Even “charity” would not cover or destroy the taint. (3) lays down a test in cases of a doubtful gain. Can we refer to it as a gift of God? Obviously the produce of honest labour or agriculture can be so referred to. In modern commerce and speculation there is much of quite the contrary character, and charity will not cover the taint. Some kinds of art, skill or talent are God-given: it is the highest kind of charity to teach them or share their product. Others are the contrary: they are bad or tainted. In the same way some professions or services may be tainted, if these tend to moral harm.
he preceding note tries to indicate some of the things which are bad or tainted. We should not even think of acquiring them for ourselves, soothing our conscience by the salve that we shall practise charity out of them.
Closed eyes imply disgust or connivance because of some feature which we would not openly acknowledge.
To dedicate tainted things to God is a dishonour to God. Who is independent of all wants, and who is worthy of all honour and praise. (Cf. 22:64).