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In The Name of Allah,
the Beneficent and the Most Merciful
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Volume 3: Surah Baqarah, Verse
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 (188)
COMMENTARY
Qur'an: 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, etc. Acquiring food is his first natural action and willful
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.
Mal (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, (bayn) means the gap between two or
more things. Wrong (batil) is opposite of truth (haqq) haqq
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 Allah 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 (2:29).
Your property (amwalakum), 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, Allah confirms this right. This principle
has been mentioned in the Qur’an in more than a hundred places, in various
words like dominion (mulk) property (mal),
the preposition for (L) used for
possession, and istikhkaf (to make man Allah’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
recognize this right. example: and Allah has allowed trading
(2:275), do not swallow up your. Property among yourselves by
wrongful means, except that it be trading by your mutual consent
(4:29), and the trade dullness of which you fear (9:25)
and other such references. And mutawatir traditions support
it.
Qur’an: 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.
Idla (translated here as "to gain access")
literally means to send the bucket (dalu) down into the well for
drawing water. Its metaphorical use in this verse implies offering money,
etc., to the authorities to induce them to give judgment in favor of the
bribe‑giver. It is a very nice allegory. The desired judgment 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 (fariqan) 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" (wa) (the
conjunction word not appearing in the above translation) may be taken to
mean "with" (ma’), 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.
TRADITIONS
In a tradition, as-Sadiq (a.s.) says about this verse:
"The Arabs used to gamble with their wives and property. So, Allah
prohibited them to do so." [al-Kafi]
Abu Basir says: "I asked Abu 'Abdullah (a.s.) the
meaning of the words of Allah 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 Abu Basir! Verily
Allah 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 Abu Muhammad! (i.e. Abu Basir) 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 Judgment of the taghut (Satan). And it is the word of Allah:
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 Judgment of taghut (Satan), though they were
commanded to deny (reject) him ... (4:60)' "
[ibid.]
There is a tradition from Abu Ja'far (a.s.): "The
meaning of 'wrongful means' is the false oath with which property is
usurped.” [Majam u l-bayan]
The author says: All
the above traditions give some examples, but the verse is
general.
Discourse on Social
Science
All organic
things, vegetable, animal and human beings make use of other things to
sustain their lives. They actively take advantage of those surrounding
things which may help in their continued existence.
We have
never heard of a thing which exists but is not active, or an action which
is done without the doer expecting its benefit to return to him. Remark
the vegetable kingdom which does whatever it does with the single aim of
benefiting from it in its existence, growth, and reproduction. Similarly,
all animals and human beings do whatever they do with the aim of getting
benefit one way or another, even if that benefit be only in the
imagination and thought.
Plants have
been taught by the Creator, and animals and men know by their instinct
that they cannot use any material for the fulfillment of their natural
needs and the protection of their existence unless that material has a
very special relation to them; in other words, unless it belongs to them.
They know that one deed cannot be done by two doers. Accordingly, man and
animal etc. prohibit others from interfering in their affairs and do not
allow anything to utilize what they want to utilize for themselves. This
is the foundation of this special relation ‑ namely, possession which is
recognized by one and all. Hence the words 'my', 'your', etc. etc.
For a
further proof, look at any animal fighting to remove others from its
territory, its prey, or its mate. Again, see children quarrelling for, and
defending, whatever food, or toy, they have got. Even a suckling infant
does not allow another infant to suck at the same breast. This is the
lesson taught by nature. When man, being a social animal, established
society, that natural instinct was bound to become more pronounced; and
eventually became a well‑organized and well balanced system that took the
shape of social ethics and moral values; gradually the basic concept of
that special relation branched off into various kinds with different
names: the monetary relation was named 'property', the non-monetary,
'right', and so on.
Human
beings may have different views on the legality of various means of
acquiring property, like inheritance, trade, confiscation by the ruling
authority, etc., or on the suitability of the owner, whether he is adult
or minor, sane or idiot, a single person or a group, and so on. But there
is no escape from recognizing the basic principle of ownership. That is
why even those who apparently reject the idea of ownership, have only
transferred it from the individual to the society or the state.
Even then,
they have not been able to abolish private ownership totally; and they
will never be able to do so, because it is the verdict of nature, and if
nature. is rejected, man will perish.
We shall
discuss, God willing, in their proper places the details of this basic
principle, according to the means of its acquirement, such as trade,
profit, inheritance, war‑booty, collection, etc. and according to the
status of the owner, Le. adult or minor, etc.
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