Quran Garden

Session 297

Chapter 2

Verses 270 & 271

Whatever you spend, or vow to do, God knows it well, and those who do wrong will have no one to help them. (Chapter 2: Verse 270)

In the previous session, we covered matters of charity and giving.  But what is the issue of a vow? To vow –translated from the Arabic Nuthr- is to make a promise to yourself, or assign yourself a duty of a specific good deed beyond what God has obligated you with.  For example, you can vow to pray every night a specific number of prayers.  This goes above and beyond the five obligatory prayers.  By vowing to pray more, you make it incumbent upon yourself to perform these extra prayers nightly.  

When you make a vow, it shows that you have tasted the sweetness of worship and you love to get closer to the Lord.  It is an acknowledgment that Allah is worthy of far more than what He obligated you with.  Allah has been extremely generous and merciful because if He had imposed what He deserved from us, no one could have fulfilled His right.  He says:

Can He who creates be compared to one who cannot create? Why do you not take heed? And should you attempt to count God’s blessings, you could not compute them. God is indeed All-Forgiving, All-Compassionate (16:17,18)

You have the freedom to make a vow or not.  However, if you choose to make a one, it becomes an obligation. Why? Because you freely made that choice.   Thus, it is wise not to get carried away and make a vow that is difficult to abide by.   

Righteous people who have true knowledge of God say to those who violate a vow: Didn’t you find God worthy of your continuous love?  There is no one among us who has any doubt that God is deserving of deep affection.  Therefore, it is better to take your time and think deeply before making a vow.

Take note of the ending of the verse.  God says: ‘and those who do wrong will have no one to help them.’  Wrongdoers are those who have been unjust to themselves.  Allah explains:

God does not wrong people at all- it is they who wrong themselves. (10:44)

Some of the more serious ways you can do injustices unto yourself are to brag about helping others, to spend your money in sin, or to fail to fulfill a vow.  Be careful, because the consequences of such actions are dire.   

Now we move to the next verse in ‘The Cow.’  God says:

If you give charity openly, it is good, but if you keep it secret and give to the needy in private, that is better for you, and it will atone for some of your bad deeds: God is well aware of all that you do. (Chapter 2: Verse 271)

When you give charity openly, it is good because it may serve as an example for others to follow.  And when you give to the poor privately, God will expiate your sins.  God is the only One who knows the true intention behind the declaration or concealment of your charity.  

We generally advise that if you are rich, it might be better for you to give to charity openly now and then.  This will help protect you from society’s gossip.  When people see that someone is rich, they should also see him or her spending on the poor. Otherwise, they will hold grudges in their hearts.  People would often gossip that so and so has much wealth but he or she does not help anybody.  However, if a person is not outwardly rich, we generally advise concealing charitable donations.

Either way, if you give openly to be a good role model, then that is praiseworthy.  God says: “God is well aware of all that you do.”