Tafsir Ibn Kathir -> Surah Al-An'am -> Prohibiting Extravagance |
Allah said, ﴿وَلاَ تُسْرِفُواْ إِنَّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ﴾ (And waste not by extravagance. Verily, He likes not the wasteful.) It was said that the extravagance prohibited here refers to excessive charity beyond normal amounts. Ibn Jurayj said, "This Ayah was revealed concerning Thabit bin Qays bin Shammas, who plucked the fruits of his date palms. Then he said to himself, `This day, every person who comes to me, I will feed him from it.' So he kept feeding (them) until the evening came and he ended up with no dates. Allah sent down, ﴿وَلاَ تُسْرِفُواْ إِنَّهُ لاَ يُحِبُّ الْمُسْرِفِينَ﴾ (And waste not by extravagance. Verily, He likes not the wasteful.)'' Ibn Jarir recorded this statement from Ibn Jurayj. However, thhe apparent meaning of this Ayah, and Allah knows best, is that; ﴿كُلُواْ مِن ثَمَرِهِ إِذَآ أَثْمَرَ وَءَاتُواْ حَقَّهُ يَوْمَ حَصَادِهِ وَلاَ تُسْرِفُواْ﴾ (Eat of their fruit when they ripen, but pay the due thereof on the day of their harvest, and waste not...) refers to eating, meaning, do not waste in eating because this spoils the mind and the body. Allah said in another Ayah, ﴿وكُلُواْ وَاشْرَبُواْ وَلاَ تُسْرِفُواْ﴾ (And eat and drink but waste not by extravagance.) ﴿7: 31﴾ In his Sahih, Al-Bukhari recorded a Hadith without a chain of narration; a «كُلُوا وَاشْرَبُوا وَالْبَسُوا مِنْ غَيْرِ إِسْرَافٍ وَلَا مَخِيلَة» (Eat, drink and clothe yourselves without extravagance or arrogance.) Therefore, these Ayat have the same meaning as this Hadith. and Allah knows best.
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