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wa-lladhīna ʾidhā ʾanfaqū lam yusrifū wa-lam yaqturū wa-kāna bayna dhālika qawāman
Those who are neither wasteful nor tightfisted when spending, but balanced between these [two extremes].
— Ali Quli Qarai
25Al-FurqānالفرقانVerse 67 of 77
The Criterion25. Al-Furqānالفرقان
Al Furqān
The Criterion
MeccanVerse 67 of 77
Surah al-Furqan - Verse 67
67. “And those who when they spend, are neither extravagant nor niggardly, and are stationed between the two (extremes).”
The Arabic word /qawam/ means moderation and the word /qiwam/ means something as a help for standing. Imam Rida (as) announced that moderate prodigality and expenditure is the famous criterion that is mentioned in Surah Al-Baqarah, No. 2, verse 236:
Imam Sadiq (as) in a tradition said:
“To spend for the sake of the falsehood is extravagance (though it is a little), and to be stingy in the path of the Truth is thrifty and frugal (/’iqtar/).” 22
There is another verse that says:
In this holy verse, the fifth attribute of the servants of the Beneficent, which is moderation and avoiding any excess and defect in jobs and affairs, especially the issue of alms-giving, is mentioned. It says:
It is interesting that this verse speaks in a way that it takes the issue of spending something which is certain and exists, so that it does not need mentioning, for it is one of the given duties of any man. Thus it talks about the way and manner of the spending. It indicates that they have a just spending and are neither prodigal nor grudging. They neither spend so much that their wife and offspring gets hungry, nor they are so economical that other persons do not get help from them, and there is ever a firm station between the two.
Commentators have various opinions about the Qur’anic words /’israf/ (extravagance) and /’iqtar/ (to be economical). All these opinions say one matter that /’israf/ is to spend too much, undue, and for the sake of none-Allah, and /’iqtar/ is to be less than what is necessary and right.
Footnotes