سورة الأنعام

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): وَ هُوَ الَّذِی أَنْشَأَ جَنَّاتٍ مَعْرُوشاتٍ وَ غَیْرَ مَعْرُوشاتٍ [And He it is Who produces gardens, trellised and untrellised]; that is, orchards.

Imam Ali (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): A Jewish man said to Imam Ali (peace be upon him): "Inform me about the first tree that grew on the surface of the earth." Imam Ali (peace be upon him) said: "As for the first tree that grew on the surface of the earth, the Jews suppose that it is the olive tree, and they lie; rather, it is the ajwa date-palm, which Adam (peace be upon him) brought down with him from Paradise, along with its male counterpart. So the origin of all date-palms is the ajwa." The Jew said: "I take Allah as witness that you have spoken the truth."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): When Allah the Exalted created Adam (peace be upon him) from clay, some of that clay was left over, so He created the date-palm from it. For this reason, when the top of the date-palm is cut off it does not grow again, and it needs to be pollinated.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Muawiya ibn Shurayh said: I heard Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) say: "In crops, there are two obligatory dues: a due that is obligatory upon you, and a due which you give." I said: "What is obligatory upon me, and what must I give?" He said: "As for what is obligatory upon you, it is one-tenth or one-half of one-tenth; and as for what you must give, it is this word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَ آتُوا حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]; meaning from every harvest after another harvest." And he kept repeating this: "A portion from every bundle harvested, a portion from every bundle harvested, until it is finished."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): وَ آتُوا حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]; his due on the day of reaping is obligatory upon you, and it is not from zakat. You give a handful after a handful and a bundle after a bundle of ears of grain to the one who asks. Do not reap the crop at night, and likewise refrain from picking dates at night. Indeed Allah the Mighty and Majestic says: یَوْمَ حَصادِهِ [on the day of its reaping]; so if you reap at night, no one will be present to ask for help, and likewise do not offer sacrifice at night.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abd al-Karim ibn Utba said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the word of Allah the Exalted: وَ آتُوا حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]. He said: "It is other than the obligatory zakat which you take out [from your harvest]. You give a bundle [of ears] after another bundle and a handful after another handful." The Imam (peace be upon him) forbade harvesting [the crop] and offering sacrifice at night, and said: "If you harvest at night, no beggar will come to you, and if you sacrifice at night, no needy person will come to you."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): It has been narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) concerning this word of Allah: وَ آتُوا حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]; that is not zakat. Do you not see that He said: وَ لا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لا یُحِبُّ المُسْرِفِینَ [and do not act extravagantly; surely He does not love the extravagant].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Concerning the word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَ آتُوا حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping], his obligatory due is from zakat. And to the needy is given a bundle, a handful and the like of that, and that is voluntary and not an obligatory due like the zakat which Allah the Mighty and Majestic has made obligatory."

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Give them a bundle of the crop and a handful of dates. Give it to the poor who present themselves before you.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): وَ آتُوا حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]; a bundle from the ears of grain and a handful of dates, when it is harvested.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Musadif said: I was with Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) on one of his lands, and the farmers were gathering and harvesting the crop. A poor man came and asked for help. I said: "May Allah provide for you." He said: "Be quiet, you have no right to do this until you give three handfuls of the harvest. Then, if you give, whatever you give is for you, and whatever you withhold is for you."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Muhammad ibn Muslim said: I asked Imam Baqir (peace be upon him) about the reaping [of crops] and the picking of dates. He said: "Reaping [of crops] and picking of dates should not be at night; because Allah says: وَ آتُوا حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping], and from every thing there is a bundle."

Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him): It is narrated from Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Imam Sajjad (peace be upon him) said to his steward (the one in charge of finances, after news reached him that he had begun picking the dates from the late part of the night): "Do not do this. Do you not know that the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) forbade reaping and picking at night?" And he used to say: "You give the bundle of ears to the one who asks, and that is his due on the day of reaping."

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): Allah made obligatory and appointed that on the day and time of harvest, from every piece of land, a handful of the produce be given to the poor and the destitute; and likewise from the picking of the date palm and from the [picked] dates, and likewise at the time of scattering the seed.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Halabi asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about the words of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَ آتُوا حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]: "How should I give it?" He said: "You take a bundle in your hand and give it to one destitute person after another until you finish with it."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir narrates: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said regarding this word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَ آتُواْ حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]: "You take the bundles with your hand and give them, and Allah has called it a due." I said: "And what is its due on the day of its reaping?" He said: "The bundles which you give to the special ones (Shia) who are present with you."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): وَ آتُوا حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping] — you give from it bundle after bundle, and from the ears of wheat handful after handful.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Shu'ayb al-Aqarqufi said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) about this word of Allah the Blessed and Exalted: وَ آتُواْ حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]. He said: "An amount of [the grains from] the ears remaining on the ground after they have been gathered and harvested, and a handful of dates whose amount has been estimated." I asked him: "After it has been taken into the house, can it be given to the destitute?" He said: "No — the more generous course is that he give it before he takes it into his house."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): وَ آتُواْ حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]; you gather the piled-up clusters from various places one after another and give them to the destitute.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Hasan ibn Ali said: I asked him about this word of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَ آتُواْ حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]. He said: "From the piled amount (heap) and two handfuls that you give to the poor who are present." And he said: "The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family) forbade reaping at night."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): You give some of it to the destitute who are present with you. You give with your hand, handful by handful, until it is finished.

Ali ibn Ibrahim (may Allah have mercy on him): It is narrated from the Imams (peace be upon them) that regarding the interpretation of the word of Allah the Exalted: وَ آتُوا حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping], they said: "It is that which is given in charity on the day of harvest to the destitute and others among the passers-by and beggars, giving a bunch or two bunches, and a handful or two handfuls."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): At the time of reaping, give to the Muslims who are present, and if no one is present except a polytheist, give to him as well.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): You give from it to the poor and destitute who are present, even if [only] a polytheist is present [you give to him too].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): وَ آتُوا حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ [And pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]; give to whoever is present at the time of harvest, whether polytheist or non-polytheist.

Imam Rida (peace be upon him): Sa'd ibn Sa'd said: I asked Imam Rida (peace be upon him): "If the poor are not present at the time of harvest, what should he do?" He said: "Nothing is upon him."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): This is a sadaqah (charity); in this way, that he gives a handful of the harvest after another handful to the poor, and from the date harvest, two handfuls after two handfuls from each harvest, until it is finished; and you give the guard a specified wage, and from the date palms you leave aside [the low-value varieties of dates], and for the guard one, two, and three clusters of the date clusters on the wall are kept.

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): This is a due other than sadaqah (charity). From it is given to one poor person after another, a handful after a handful, and from the plucked dates a handful after a handful [is given] until it is finished, and for the one who plucks a specified wage is left.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Abu Basir narrates: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: "Do not cut the branches of trees at night, do not reap at night, do not sacrifice at night, and do not sow seed at night, for if you do this at night, the qani' and the mu'tarr (the poor passer-by) will not come to you." I said: "Who are the qani' and the mu'tarr?" He said: "The qani' is the one who is content with what you give him, and the mu'tarr is the one who passes by and asks you for help. And if you reap at night, no one will come to ask you for help. And this is the saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَ آتُواْ حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]; meaning a handful after another handful at the time of reaping. And if its grains are separated, then two handfuls after two handfuls. And likewise at the time of the ripening of fruits and produce, and likewise at the time of sowing seed. And do not sow seed at night; because from the seed, you must give the same amount as you give from the reaping."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): Reaping and harvesting cannot be done at night, for Allah says: وَ آتُواْ حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping], and the due that is obligatory upon that produce is a quantity from the ears of grain.

The Prophet (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The Noble Prophet (peace be upon him and his family) disliked the plucking of dates at night and the reaping of crops at night, because Allah says: وَ آتُواْ حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping]. They said: "O Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family)! What is the due obligatory upon it?" He said: "Give some of it to the destitute and the one who asks."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): [That is,] you give some of the harvest on the day of reaping, if it is heaped up on the threshing floor. And if it is placed in a measure, one-tenth and half of one-tenth is given.

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) was asked about the saying of Allah the Mighty and Majestic: وَ آتُوا حَقَّهُ یَوْمَ حَصادِهِ وَ لا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لا یُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِینَ [and pay the due of it on the day of its reaping, and do not act extravagantly; surely He does not love the extravagant]. He said: "Extravagance is that he gives with both his hands together."

Imam Baqir (peace be upon him): وَ لاَ تُسْرِفُواْ إِنَّهُ لاَ یُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِینَ [And do not act extravagantly; surely He does not love the extravagant] — so-and-so, son of so-and-so, the Ansari — he named him — had a field, and at harvest time he would give the entire crop away as charity, leaving himself and his family with nothing. Allah called this act of his extravagance.

The Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): It is narrated from Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): My father narrated to me from the Messenger of Allah (peace be upon him and his family): Begin by helping those who are your kin — the closest of them, then the next closest. Moreover, the noble Quran is a witness refuting your words and forbids this act severely: وَ الَّذِینَ إِذا أَنْفَقُوا لَمْ یُسْرِفُوا وَ لَمْ یَقْتُرُوا وَ کانَ بَیْنَ ذلِکَ قَواماً [And those who, when they spend, are neither extravagant nor niggardly, but hold a just balance between the two] (Furqan/67). Do you notice that Allah in this verse, contrary to your view — which says give people preference over yourselves — commands otherwise, and one who acts on what you say, Allah calls him an extravagant one. In several verses of the Quran He says: إِنَّهُ لا یُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِینَ [surely He does not love the extravagant]. He forbade both going to excess in spending and being tight-fisted. He commanded the middle course — not that one should spend all that he has and then raise his hands in prayer saying, 'O Allah, grant me sustenance'; Allah will not answer his prayer either.

Imam Kazim (peace be upon him): Ibn Abi Nasr narrates: Imam Kazim (peace be upon him) said: 'Among the instances of extravagance at the time of harvesting and picking fruit is that a person gives charity with both of his fists together. Whenever my father was present at the harvest scenes and saw one of his servants giving charity with both his fists, he would call out to him in a loud voice and say: "Give with one hand — handful after handful, and bundle after bundle of the ears of grain." You people call it bidar (the threshing floor).'

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Aban says: Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him) said: 'Do you think what Allah has given to anyone is out of honour for him, and what He has withheld from anyone is out of disdain for him? No — rather, wealth belongs to Allah, and He places it with a person as a trust, and He permits them to eat in measure, to dress in measure, to marry with it in measure, and to ride in measure, and to return whatever is beyond that to the poor believers, and to relieve the disarray of their lives. Whoever acts in this way, whatever he eats and drinks and rides and marries is lawful; and whatever is beyond that is unlawful for him.' Then he said: 'وَ لا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لا یُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِین [And do not act extravagantly; surely He does not love the extravagant] — do you see that Allah has entrusted wealth to a man and permitted him to buy a horse for ten thousand dirhams, when a horse for twenty dirhams would suffice him, or to buy a maidservant for a hundred gold pieces, when a maidservant for ten gold pieces would suffice him?' And he said: وَ لا تُسْرِفُوا إِنَّهُ لا یُحِبُّ المُسْرِفِین [And do not act extravagantly; surely He does not love the extravagant].

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): Sulayman ibn Salih said: I asked Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): "What is the least thing that amounts to israf (extravagance)?" He said: "That you wear your fine clothes [meant to be preserved] for work, that you pour out what is left over in your vessel, that you eat dates and throw the pits here and there."

Imam Sadiq (peace be upon him): The extravagant person has three signs: he buys what does not belong to him, he wears what does not belong to him, and he eats what does not belong to him.