Lissa-ili walmahroom (surah Maarij: 25)

Tafseer Tafheem-ul-Quran by Syed Abu-al-A'la Maududi

(70:25) for those that ask and those that are dispossessed, *16

Lissaaa `ili walmahroom

*16) In Surah Adh-Dhariyat: 19, it has been said: "In their wealth there is a right of the beggar and the needy", and here: "In their wealth there is a due share of the beggar and the needy. " Some people have understood this to mean that the "due share" implies the obligatory zakat, for in the zakat both the exemption limit and the rate have been fixed. But this commentary cannot be accepted on the ground that the Surah AI-Ma`arij is unanimously a Makkan Revelation, and the zakat with its specific exemption limit and rate was enjoined at Madinah. Therefore, the correct meaning of the "due share' is that they have of their own accord set aside a share in their possessions of the beggar and needy, which they discharge regularly and honestly. This same meaning of this verse has been given by Hadrat 'Abdullah bin `Abbas, Hadrat `Abdullah bin `Umar, Mujahid, Sha`bi and Ibrahim Nakha`i. Here, sail dces not imply a beggar but a needy person, who asks someone for help, and mahrum implies a person who is jobless, or the one who tries to earn a living but does not earn enough to meet his needs, or the one who has become disabled because of an accident or calamity, and is unable to make a living. About such people when it becomes known that they are destitute, a God - worshipper dces not wait that they should ask for help, but helps them of his own accord as soon as he comes to know that they are needy and stand in need of help. (For further explanation, see E.N. 17 of Surah Adh-Dhariyat).