Allah says,

﴿يُوفُونَ بِالنَّذْرِ وَيَخَـفُونَ يَوْماً كَانَ شَرُّهُ مُسْتَطِيراً ﴾

(They fulfill vows, and they fear a Day whose evil will be wide-spreading.) meaning, they devote to worship Allah using that which He made obligatory upon them from actions of obligatory obedience that is based on Islamic legislation. They also worship Him by fulfilling their vows. Imam Malik reported from Talhah bin `Abdul-Malik Al-Ayli, who reported from Al-Qasim bin Malik, from `A'ishah that the Messenger of Allah said,

«مَنْ نَذَرَ أَنْ يُطِيعَ اللهَ فَلْيُطِعْهُ، وَمَنْ نَذَرَ أَنْ يَعْصِيَ اللهَ فَلَا يَعْصِه»

(Whoever makes a vow to obey Allah, then he should obey Him. And whoever makes a vow to disobey Allah, then he should not disobey Him.) Al-Bukhari also recorded this Hadith from Malik. These people also abandon those forbidden things which He (Allah) has prohibited for them, due to their fear of having an evil reckoning on the Day of Return. This is the Day when the evil will spread out among all people except for those upon whom Allah has had mercy. Ibn `Abbas said, "Spreading.'' Qatadah said, "By Allah! The evil of that Day will spread until it fills the heavens and the earth.'' Concerning Allah's statement,

﴿وَيُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَى حُبِّهِ﴾

(And they give food, inspite of their love for it,) It has been said that this means the love of Allah, the Most High. In their view the pronoun refers to Allah. However, the most apparent meaning is that the pronoun refers to the food. This would mean, they give food while they themselves love it and desire it. This was stated by Mujahid and Muqatil, and it was the preferred opinion of Ibn Jarir. This is similar to Allah's statement,

﴿وَءَاتَى الْمَالَ عَلَى حُبِّهِ﴾

(And gives his wealth, in spite of love for it.) (2:177) Allah also says,

﴿لَن تَنَالُواْ الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنفِقُواْ مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ﴾

(By no means shall you attain Al-Birr unless you spend of that which you love.) (3:92) In the Sahih, there is a Hadith which states,

«أَفْضَلُ الصَّدَقَةِ أَنْ تَصَدَّقَ وَأَنْتَ صَحِيحٌ شَحِيحٌ، تَأْمُلُ الْغِنَى وَتَخْشَى الْفَقْر»

(The best charity is that which you give while you are healthy, covetous, hoping for wealth and fearing poverty.) This means in the condition of your love for wealth, your eagerness for it and your need for it. Thus, Allah says,

﴿وَيُطْعِمُونَ الطَّعَامَ عَلَى حُبِّهِ مِسْكِيناً وَيَتِيماً وَأَسِيراً ﴾

(And they give food, inspite of their love for it, to the poor, the orphan and the captive,) Concerning the poor person and the orphan, an explanation of them and their characteristics has already preceded. In reference to the captive, Sa`id bin Jubayr, Al-Hasan and Ad-Dahhak all said, "He is the captive among the people of the Qiblah (i.e., the Muslims).'' Ibn `Abbas said, "At that time (when this Ayah was revealed) their (the Muslims') captives were idolators.'' Proof for this is that on the day of Badr the Messenger of Allah commanded his Companions to treat the captives respectfully. They (the Companions) would give them preference over themselves when eating their meals. `Ikrimah said, "They (captives) are the slaves.'' Ibn Jarir preferred this opinion since the Ayah generally refers to both the Muslim and the idolators. Sa`id bin Jubayr, `Ata', Al-Hasan and Qatadah all made similar statements. The Messenger of Allah advised treating servants well in more than one Hadith. This held such importance with him that the last statement of advice that he gave (before dying) was his saying,

«الصَّلَاةَ وَمَا مَلَكَتْ أَيْمَانُكُم»

(The prayer (As-Salah) and what your right hand possesses (slaves).) Mujahid said, "He (the captive) is the prisoner.'' This means that these (righteous) people give food to others even though they themselves desire it and love it, saying at the same time,

﴿إِنَّمَا نُطْعِمُكُمْ لِوَجْهِ اللَّهِ﴾

(We feed you seeking Allah's Face only.) meaning, hoping for the reward of Allah and His pleasure.

﴿لاَ نُرِيدُ مِنكُمْ جَزَآءً وَلاَ شُكُوراً﴾

(We wish for no reward, nor thanks from you.) meaning, `we do not seek any reward from you in return for it. We also are not seeking for you to thank us in front of the people.' Mujahid and Sa`id bin Jubayr both said, "By Allah! They do not say this with their tongues, but rather, Allah knows it in their hearts and He commends them for it. Every seeker should seek after this.''

﴿إِنَّا نَخَافُ مِن رَّبِّنَا يَوْماً عَبُوساً قَمْطَرِيراً ﴾

(Verily, We fear from our Lord a Day that is `Abus and Qamtarir.) meaning, `we only do this so that perhaps Allah may have mercy on us and treat us with gentleness on the Day that is `Abus and Qamtarir.' `Ali bin Abi Talhah reported from Ibn `Abbas, "`Abus means difficult and Qamtarir means long.'' `Ikrimah and others said from Ibn Abbas,

﴿يَوْماً عَبُوساً قَمْطَرِيراً﴾

(a Day that is `Abus and Qamtarir (hard and distressful, that will make the faces look horrible from extreme dislike to it.)) "The disbeliever will frown on that day until sweat will flow between his eyes like tar.'' Mujahid said, "Abus `Abis means (frowning with) the two lips and Qamtarir means drawing up the face in a scowl.'' Sa`id bin Jubayr and Qatadah said, "Faces will be made to frown due to dismay. Qamtarir is the contraction of the forehead and what is between the two eyes due to dismay.'' Ibn Zayd said, " `Abus is the evil and Qamtarir is the severity.''