Al-Baqarah · Madani · ayah 43 of 286

Al-Baqarah 2:43

وَأَقِيمُوا۟ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ وَءَاتُوا۟ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ وَٱرْكَعُوا۟ مَعَ ٱلرَّٰكِعِينَ

“And establish prayer and give zakāh[24] and bow with those who bow [in worship and obedience].”

Saheeh International

Essence

Prayer for the body, zakah for wealth, and bowing alongside others: faith made visible, practised together.

A reflection

The cut that makes it grow

Every March a retired man cuts his roses back hard, almost to the ground. His new neighbour watches from the fence, appalled, certain he has killed them. By June the bushes are taller than either of them, heavy with flowers. The cutting was what made them grow.

The ayah names two acts together. A classical theologian calls prayer the greatest act of worship of the body, and zakah the greatest act of worship of wealth. Between them, they cover the whole of a person: what you are, and what you have.

The word zakāh holds a paradox. Its root means growth. The Arabs said crops zakā when they yielded well. Yet zakah is money leaving your hands. One classical commentator explains the puzzle. It is called growth, though it reduces wealth, because it grows through blessing, or through the reward it earns. Another commentator adds a second root meaning, purity. It cleanses the wealth from what is impure, and the soul from miserliness.

None of this is for Allah's benefit. He is free of all need (35:15). 'Whoever strives, strives only for himself' (29:6). Prayer steadies the one who prays. Zakah frees the one who gives from the grip of what he owns.

Many people today feel owned by their possessions, and restless in their bodies. They work to buy, and buy to feel better, and feel worse. The ayah offers a different rhythm. Several times a day, put your body down before your Lord. Once a year, cut back what you hold, and give it to those it belongs to. 'Truly, in the remembrance of Allah hearts find rest' (13:28).

The neighbour eventually asks the old man why he cuts so hard. 'You have to give some away,' he says, 'or the whole plant chokes.'

The full entry has 5 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.