Surah 1-2 - YasSarNal QuR'aN

∩⊄∠⊆∪ šχθçΡt“ós tƒOverviewThe last three passages centred mainly on ideological concepts of the Islamic faith,clarifying its aspects and ensuring its firm establishment in people’s hearts. Thesepassages constituted an interval in the line followed in this long sūrah whichprepares the Muslim community to undertake its role of leadership of mankind.From this point and up to its concluding verses, the sūrah is largely devoted tosetting out some fundamental features of the socioeconomic system that the Muslimcommunity should adopt. It is a system based on social cooperation and welfarethrough the established financial obligation of zakāt and other unspecified voluntarycontributions and donations. We learn in this passage that, in contrast to the systemprevalent in pre-Islamic Arabia, the Islamic socioeconomic system is fundamentallyopposed to usury and encourages fundamentally different financial dealings. Thus,the sūrah speaks of a proper method of charity, denounces usury and outlines theIslamic principles of lending and trade which complement the social and economicprinciples according to which Islamic social life is organized and conducted. All thisis spread over three closely interrelated passages.In the present passage we learn that contributing financially to charitable causes isakin to jihād, in the sense that its purpose is to serve the cause of God. Jihād isprescribed for Muslims to fulfil their duty of implementing God’s message andconveying it to the rest of mankind and protecting its followers against persecutionand oppression.The call to spend of one’s money is frequently made in this sūrah, and this part ofit lays down the basic principle underlying that call. Its social and psychologicalethics are presented in terms of both compassion and benefit, so that charity becomesa means of financial and spiritual exaltation and refinement for both donor andrecipient. It is an act that spreads the spirit of brotherhood, empathy and cooperationamong members of the community and makes them feel and behave as equalmembers of the same family.It is important to point out that although the directives given in this section of thesūrah are universal and general, one can, nevertheless, detect that they were revealedin response to specific situations faced by the Muslims at the time, though these often366