Al-Hajj · Madani · ayah 58 of 78

Al-Hajj 22:58

وَٱلَّذِينَ هَاجَرُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ثُمَّ قُتِلُوٓا۟ أَوْ مَاتُوا۟ لَيَرْزُقَنَّهُمُ ٱللَّهُ رِزْقًا حَسَنًا ۚ وَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ لَهُوَ خَيْرُ ٱلرَّٰزِقِينَ

“And those who emigrated for the cause of Allāh and then were killed or died - Allāh will surely provide for them a good provision. And indeed, it is Allāh who is the best of providers.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Whoever leaves home for Allah and then dies, by the sword or in bed, is promised good provision by the best of all providers.

A reflection

Every other provider is a middleman

The ayah ends by praising its Speaker: 'and Allah is truly the best of providers'. The sentence is doubly emphatic, with inna and la-huwa. Why would He compare Himself with other providers at all?

One classical commentary gives several answers. Others provide only from what Allah first provided to them. Others move provision from one hand to another; they do not create it. Others give for a return: to discharge a duty, to earn praise, or to ease their own discomfort at someone's need. Allah gains nothing from giving, so His giving is pure generosity. And being indebted to Allah is lighter to carry than being indebted to people.

A biscuit factory owner tells the local paper that he feeds three hundred families. He means it kindly, and he does pay the wages. But the wheat in his biscuits grew from rain he did not send. The hands that work his machines were made by Someone else, and so were the appetites of his customers. He is one link in a chain whose first link he never saw.

This is where the ego shrinks. Most of us carry some version of that owner's sentence. 'I put food on this table.' 'Without me this team would collapse.' The ayah does not deny the effort. It places it. Our giving is a pipe; the source is elsewhere.

A doubt follows: does Allah need to be called 'the best'? He does not. Praise adds nothing to Him. The comparison is for the listener: for the emigrant who has just lost his trade, his house and his customers. He needs to know that the One he left them for provides better than everything he left behind.

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.