An-Nisa · Madani · ayah 5 of 176

An-Nisa 4:5

وَلَا تُؤْتُوا۟ ٱلسُّفَهَآءَ أَمْوَٰلَكُمُ ٱلَّتِى جَعَلَ ٱللَّهُ لَكُمْ قِيَـٰمًا وَٱرْزُقُوهُمْ فِيهَا وَٱكْسُوهُمْ وَقُولُوا۟ لَهُمْ قَوْلًا مَّعْرُوفًا

“And do not give the weak-minded your property,[163] which Allāh has made a means of sustenance for you, but provide for them with it and clothe them and speak to them words of appropriate kindness.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Wealth is what Allah made you stand on: keep it from hands that would scatter it, yet feed, clothe and speak kindly to them.

A reflection

The ground you stand on was laid for you

A trader sits at his screen one afternoon. Between lunch and the closing bell, the savings he calls 'mine' lose a third of their value. The cause is a decision announced on another continent, by people he will never meet.

The ayah describes wealth with one word: qiyām. The commentators explain it as what you stand on, what keeps your life upright. One early commentator calls it 'your support, after Allah'. Another classical scholar notes the boldness of the phrasing. The ayah does not say wealth is a means to your standing. It calls wealth your standing itself, as if without it you would fall.

Then notice who did the making. Allatī jaʿala Allāhu: which Allah made. The ground under your feet was set there. You did not lay it.

This is where the ego shrinks. We speak of 'my money', 'my savings', 'what I built'. The ayah agrees that wealth matters enormously. It is not a sermon against money. But it puts the verb in the right place. Allah made it a support. He can make it hold, and He can let it shift in an afternoon.

The early Muslims held both truths together. They called wealth the believer's weapon. One of them kept a little trade going and said: without it, rulers would have wiped their hands on me. Another said of his business: if it has brought me near the world, it has also protected me from it.

So value what you have, guard it, grow it. But stand on it humbly. The One who made it your support is the One who keeps you standing.

The full entry has 6 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.