سورة الإسراء

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): In the book Tafsir al-Qummi it is mentioned: وَ لا تَجْعَلْ یَدَکَ مَغْلُولَةً إِلی عُنُقِکَ وَ لا تَبْسُطْها کُلَّ الْبَسْطِ فَتَقْعُدَ مَلُوماً مَحْسُوراً [And do not make your hand to be shackled to your neck nor stretch it forth to the utmost (limit) of its stretching forth, lest you should (afterwards) sit down blamed, stripped off]. The reason for the revelation of this verse is that whenever someone asked something of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) had the ability to give it, he would never send him away empty-handed. One day someone came to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and asked for something. The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) had nothing at hand and said: "Insha'Allah, it will be arranged." The man said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Give me your shirt," and the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), who never turned anyone away empty-handed, gave him his shirt. Allah said: وَ لاَ تَجْعَلْ یَدَکَ مَغْلُولَةً إِلَی عُنُقِکَ وَ لاَ تَبْسُطْهَا کُلَّ الْبَسْطِ [And do not make your hand to be shackled to your neck nor stretch it forth to the utmost (limit) of its stretching forth]. And He forbade the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) from being extravagant and being left without a shirt." And Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "al-Mahsur means naked."

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated: The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) gave away everything he had, even his shirt, and sat naked in his house on a mat. Bilal came to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! Come for the prayer." Then Allah revealed this verse: وَ لاَ تَجْعَلْ یَدَکَ مَغْلُولَةً إِلَی عُنُقِکَ وَ لاَ تَبْسُطْهَا کُلَّ الْبَسْطِ فَتَقْعُدَ مَلُومًا مَّحْسُورًا [And do not make your hand to be shackled to your neck nor stretch it forth to the utmost (limit) of its stretching forth, lest you should (afterwards) sit down blamed, stripped off]; and Allah brought a garment (hulla) from Paradise for the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family).

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Ajlan said: I was with Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) and a beggar came. The Imam (peace be upon him) went to a basket of dates and filled his hand with dates and gave them to him. Then another came and asked the Imam (peace be upon him) for help and the Imam (peace be upon him) rose and took dates with his hand and gave them to him. Shortly after, another came and asked for something, and the Imam (peace be upon him) took dates with his hand and gave them to him, and then another came and asked for something, and the Imam (peace be upon him) took dates with his hand and gave them to him. Then another came. The Imam (peace be upon him) said: "May Allah grant sustenance and provision to you and to us." Then he said: "Whenever anyone asked something of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family), the Prophet would never send him away empty-handed and would certainly give him something. A woman sent her son to the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) and told him: 'Go and ask the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) for something, and if he says I too have nothing, say: give me your shirt.' The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) took off his shirt and threw it towards that boy. So Allah taught him moderation and balance and said: وَ لاَ تَجْعَلْ یَدَکَ مَغْلُولَةً إِلَی عُنُقِکَ وَ لاَ تَبْسُطْهَا کُلَّ الْبَسْطِ فَتَقْعُدَ مَلُومًا مَّحْسُورًا [And do not make your hand to be shackled to your neck nor stretch it forth to the utmost (limit) of its stretching forth, lest you should (afterwards) sit down blamed, stripped off]."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Umar ibn Yazid narrated that Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said regarding the verse: وَ لا تَجْعَلْ یَدَکَ مَغْلُولَةً إِلی عُنُقِکَ وَ لا تَبْسُطْها کُلَّ الْبَسْطِ فَتَقْعُدَ مَلُوماً مَحْسُوراً [And do not make your hand to be shackled to your neck nor stretch it forth to the utmost (limit) of its stretching forth, lest you should (afterwards) sit down blamed, stripped off]: "Hasrat means poverty and destitution [that whatever they have, they lose, and they themselves are left unable to engage in the activity and work of life]."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Abdullah ibn Sinan narrates: Regarding the word of Allah: "And those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor stingy" (Furqan/67), he opened his hand and bent his fingers with some space between them, [meaning: the way of sustaining life and the endurance of blessing is in this manner]. Then he recited this verse: وَ لا تَبْسُطْها کُلَّ الْبَسْطِ [nor stretch it forth to the utmost of its stretching forth], and then he opened the palm of his hand and said: meaning, in this way that you place whatever you have at the disposal of others. Then he said: "The sustenance of life, endurance, and the continuation of well-being is that some [of what one has] falls through the gaps between the fingers and some remains in the palm of the hand."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Sufyan al-Thawri came into the presence of Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) [and matters passed between him and Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) concerning the wearing of fine clothing]. ... Then a group of Sufyan al-Thawri's fellow-thinkers, who outwardly presented themselves as ascetics and used to call people to join them in wearing coarse wool, came and said, "Our companion could not answer you and was unable to bring proof." He said, "Bring your proofs, then." They said, "Our proof is from the Quran." He said, "Argue from it, for the Quran is the most deserving programme to be acted upon." They said, "Allah relates the state of a group of the companions of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): 'They give them preference over themselves, though they themselves are in dire need. Those who are guarded from the greed and covetousness of their own souls — they are the successful ones!' (Hashr/9). Allah praises this group for preferring others over themselves. In another verse He says: 'And they give food, despite their love [and need] for it, to the poor and the orphan and the captive!' (Insan/8)." They said, "We are content with these two verses." One of those present said, "We see that you abstain from delicious foods, and along with that you command people to give up their wealth so that you may enjoy their wealth!?" The Imam (peace be upon him) said, "Leave aside useless talk. Now tell me: do you have knowledge of the abrogating and the abrogated in the Quran, and do you recognise the clear and the ambiguous? For whoever went astray did so because he had no grasp of the abrogating and the abrogated and the clear and the ambiguous." They said, "We do not know all of them, but we know some of the abrogating and the abrogated and the clear and the ambiguous." He said, "It is precisely from this that you have been afflicted, and the hadiths of the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) are likewise." Then he said, "My father narrated from the noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) that he said, 'Begin your help with those who are your relatives — the nearest of them, then the one who comes after him.' Moreover, the glorious Quran is a witness to the refutation of your talk and forbids this practice severely: 'And those who, when they spend, are neither wasteful nor miserly, but keep to a just balance between the two.' (Furqan/67). You note that Allah, in this verse, contrary to your view that people should prefer others over themselves, commands otherwise, and whoever acts on what you say Allah calls a squanderer. In several verses of the Quran He says: Allah does not love the squanderers. He has forbidden both excess in spending and miserliness. He has commanded the middle course ... Then Allah teaches His Prophet how to spend, for a quantity of gold was with His Eminence (peace be upon him) and he did not want to keep it overnight, so he gave it all in charity. In the morning a beggar came and made a request, but there was nothing to give him. The beggar rebuked the Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) for not having anything, and His Eminence (peace be upon him and his family) became sad, since he was very soft-hearted and merciful. Allah disciplined His Prophet and said: لا تَجْعَلْ یَدَکَ مَغْلُولَةً إِلی عُنُقِکَ وَ لا تَبْسُطْها کُلَّ الْبَسْطِ فَتَقْعُدَ مَلُوماً مَحْسُوراً [And do not make your hand to be shackled to your neck nor stretch it forth to the utmost of its stretching forth, lest you should sit down blamed, stripped off]. He is saying, 'People will ask of you and will not excuse you; when you have given away everything, your hand becomes empty and you grieve over the wealth.'"

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said to his son Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "O my son! A good deed between two sins wipes out the effect of those sins." He asked: "O father! How does it wipe them out?" Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) said: "Like the word of Allah in the Qur'an: وَ لا تَجْهَرْ بِصَلاتِکَ وَ لا تُخافِتْ بِها وَ ابْتَغِ بَیْنَ ذلِکَ سَبِیلًا [And do not be loud in your prayer, nor speak too low in it, but seek a way between]. Here لا تَجْهَرْ بِصَلاتِکَ [do not be loud in your prayer] is one sin, and لا تُخافِتْ بِها [nor speak too low in it] is also one sin, but وَ ابْتَغِ بَیْنَ ذلِکَ سَبِیلًا [but seek a way between] is counted as a good deed. Or like: 'And those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor niggardly, but hold a just balance between the two.' (Furqan/67). Here being extravagant is one sin and being niggardly is also one sin, and moderation is counted as a good deed. So the good deed is placed between two sins."