Al-Hashr · Madani · ayah 7 of 24

Al-Hashr 59:7

مَّآ أَفَآءَ ٱللَّهُ عَلَىٰ رَسُولِهِۦ مِنْ أَهْلِ ٱلْقُرَىٰ فَلِلَّهِ وَلِلرَّسُولِ وَلِذِى ٱلْقُرْبَىٰ وَٱلْيَتَـٰمَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَـٰكِينِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ كَىْ لَا يَكُونَ دُولَةًۢ بَيْنَ ٱلْأَغْنِيَآءِ مِنكُمْ ۚ وَمَآ ءَاتَىٰكُمُ ٱلرَّسُولُ فَخُذُوهُ وَمَا نَهَىٰكُمْ عَنْهُ فَٱنتَهُوا۟ ۚ وَٱتَّقُوا۟ ٱللَّهَ ۖ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ شَدِيدُ ٱلْعِقَابِ

“And what Allāh restored to His Messenger from the people of the towns - it is for Allāh and for the Messenger and for [his] near relatives[1654] and orphans and the needy and the [stranded] traveler[1655] - so that it will not be a perpetual distribution among the rich from among you. And whatever the Messenger has given you - take; and what he has forbidden you - refrain from. And fear Allāh; indeed, Allāh is severe in penalty.”

Saheeh International

Essence

Wealth that comes without a fight was never meant to settle in one set of hands, and the Messenger's word was never optional.

A reflection

Wealth that keeps moving, resting with nobody

A family trust is written so that no single generation can hoard the principal. Money is forced to keep moving, released to whoever in the family actually needs it next, rather than piling up untouched in one account. The design assumes something true about wealth left alone: it tends to settle, and settling is rarely fair to whoever arrives later.

Dūla, the word this ayah uses, pictures something passed hand to hand round a circle, resting with nobody. That is the explicit purpose for dividing this wealth among several categories rather than one. It should never become dūla among the rich alone, changing hands only between people who already have enough.

This is a striking thing to find written into how spoils gained without a fight were distributed. It predates the language of wealth concentration by fourteen centuries. The ayah does not leave generosity to individual conscience alone. It builds circulation into the structure itself. God, the Messenger, kin, orphans, the poor, the traveller, named in order, so that money moving through a community keeps on moving.

The lesson travels well past this one historical case. Any system, a household budget, a profit-sharing scheme, a tax code, can be built either way. Wealth can pool wherever it first lands, or stay in circulation toward whoever needs it next. The ayah states plainly which design it is describing, and why.

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.