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Verse 188
وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَكُمْ بَيْنَكُمْ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتُدْلُوا بِهَا إِلَى الْحُكَّامِ لِتَأْكُلُوا فَرِيقًا مِنْ أَمْوَالِ النَّاسِ بِالْإِثْمِ وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ ١٨٨
(2:188) And do not swallow up your property among yourselves by wrongful means; neither seek to gain access thereby to the authorities, so that you may swallow up a portion of the property of men wrongfully while you know .
Commentary
And do not swallow up your property among yourselves by wrongful means: Akl (to eat, to swallow up) metaphorically means ‘to take hold of, or to make use of.’ The reason of this metaphorical use is that eating is the most common and the earliest natural desire; as soon as his life begins, man feels the need of food and then gradually proceeds to other needs like clothing, habitation and marriage, and so on. Acquiring food is his first natural action and wilful doing. That is why if one uses or takes a thing it is said one has eaten it, and especially so in the case of wealth and property. And this figure of speech is common to all languages.
Māl (wealth, property) literally means the possession which is desired. It seems that its root is mayl (inclination, desire, bent), because it is one of those things to which the heart is inclined, which it desires. Baynakum (among yourselves) and bayn means the gap between two or more things.
Wrong (bāṭil) is opposite of truth (ḥaqq); ḥaqq means a thing which is confirmed.
The proviso among yourselves added after the command do not swallow up your property shows that wealth is for all the people; but God has distributed it among them—a just distribution—by promulgating laws based on justice and equity, which cut at the roots of corruption and immorality. If anybody trespasses the limits put by these laws, it will be invalid and wrong. This verse, in a way, explains the verse: He it is who created for you all that is in the earth ().
Your property (amwālakum): History and ancient tradition show that ever since man put his foot on this globe, society has recognized the right to property and upheld it in one way or other. By using this possessive pronoun, God confirms this right. This principle has been mentioned in the Qur’an in more than a hundred places, in various words like kingdom (mulk), property (māl), the preposition ‘for’ (l…) used for possession, and istikhlāf (to make man God’s deputy on earth); but there is no need to quote the references here. Likewise all the verses which regulate selling, trade and other commercial dealings implicitly recognise this right. For example: and Allah has allowed trading (), do not swallow up your property among yourselves by wrongful means, except that it be trading by your mutual consent (), and the trade dullness of which you fear () and other such references. And authentic (mutawātir) traditions support it.
… neither seek to gain access thereby to the authorities, so that you may swallow up a portion of the property of man wrongfully while you know: Idlāʾ (translated here as “to gain access”) literally means to send the bucket (dalūʾ) down into the well for drawing water. Its metaphorical use in this verse implies offering money, and so on, to the authorities to induce them to give judgement in favor of the bribe-giver. It is a very nice allegory. The desired judgement is the water in the depth of the well; the bribe is the bucket which is sent down to bring the desired result.
A portion (farīqan): It is a part separated from the whole. This sentence is in conjunction with the word swallow up; therefore, grammatically it is a prohibitory verb, and hence the sign of quiescence.
Another possibility: The “and” (w…) (the conjunction word not appearing in the above translation) may be taken to mean “with” (maʿ), and further it may be presumed that after it, the word that (inna) is implied. In this case the whole verse will be one sentence and will mean: “… by wrongful means with seeking to gain access …” Thus, the verse prohibits the mutual understanding between the bribe-giver and bribe-taker so that they wrongfully swallow up the property of the people by sharing it between themselves—the bribe-taker taking the portion which has been offered to him, and the giver usurping the other portion—while they know that it is wrong and unjust.
Examining Narrations
- In a tradition, Imam al-Ṣādiq says about this verse: “The Arabs used to gamble with their wives and property. So, God prohibited them to do so.” (al-Kāfī)
- Abū Basīr says: “I asked Abū ʿAbdullāh the meaning of the words of God in His book: and do not swallow up your property among yourselves by wrongful means; neither seek to gain access thereby to the authorities. He (the Imam) said: ‘O Abū Basīr! Verily God knew that there would be in this ummah judges who would do injustice. Verily, He did not mean (here) judges of a just authority, but He meant those of an unjust authority. O Abū Muḥammad! (that is, Abū Basīr) If you had a right against someone and you summoned him to the judges of a just authority, but he did not agree to it and compelled you to put your case before the judges of an unjust authority, so that they might decide in his favor, then that man would be among those who had resorted to the judgement of the ṭāghūt (Satan). And it is the word of God: Have you not observed those who think that they believe in what has been sent down unto you and what was sent down before you? They intend to resort to the judgement of ṭāghūt (Satan), though they were commanded to deny [reject] him … ()’ ” (ibid.)
- There is a tradition from Abū Jaʿfar: “The meaning of ‘wrongful means’ is the false oath with which property is usurped.” (Majmaʿ al-bayān)
Author’s comment: All the above traditions give some examples, but the verse is general.
Discourse
The discussion “On Social Science” appears here in the printed volume. Read it in the Al-Mizan App.