Fasting & The Rights of Others

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2:188

وَلَا تَأْكُلُوٓا۟ أَمْوَٰلَكُم بَيْنَكُم بِٱلْبَـٰطِلِ وَتُدْلُوا۟ بِهَآ إِلَى ٱلْحُكَّامِ لِتَأْكُلُوا۟ فَرِيقًۭا مِّنْ أَمْوَٰلِ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْإِثْمِ وَأَنتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ ١٨٨

Do not consume one another’s wealth unjustly, nor deliberately bribe authorities in order to devour a portion of others’ property, knowing that it is a sin.

— Dr. Mustafa Khattab, The Clear Quran

And do not consume one another's wealth unjustly or send it [in bribery] to the rulers in order that [they might aid] you [to] consume a portion of the wealth of the people in sin, while you know [it is unlawful].

— Saheeh International

And eat not up your property among yourselves in vanity, nor seek by it to gain the hearing of the judges that ye may knowingly devour a portion of the property of others wrongfully.

— M. Pickthall

[Al-Quran 2:188]

Q2:188 is the last ayat of the twenty-third ruku of Surah al-Baqarah. This ruku contains the directives about Fasting. 

Fasting is abstaining from the permissible. So, it is interesting to note that the commands to fast are followed by the command to not to unjustly consume others' wealth. 

When Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى‎ commanded Jonah (Yunus عليه السلام) to go to Nineveh, and deliver His Message, he didn't want to go. Yet, when he became convinced of Allah سُبْحَانَهُ وَتَعَالَى‎ 's Perfection, His Justice, he went to Ninevah to deliver the Message. It was probably the largest and most prosperous city, of its time, in the world. The Bible informs us that their wickedness was the reason for its impeding punishment. 

When Jonah (Yunus عليه السلام) delivered the Message that they had only forty days,  they immediately took to fasting, stopped eating and drinking, turning to God in repentance, gave up their evil ways, and thus the punishment was averted from them. 

In The Quran, we read about Jonah (Yunus عليه السلام). His story is narrated in greater detail in The Bible. 

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The ruku preceding contains ayaat about punishment for murder, the obligation of making a will on a dying person who is pious, and the sin of altering the will of that person. 

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In the ruku about fasting, we find a special permission to mate during the nights of the fasts. The wording is curious:

 ...  عَلِمَ اللّٰهُ اَنَّکُمۡ كُنۡتُمۡ تَخۡتَانُوۡنَ اَنۡفُسَکُمۡ فَتَابَ عَلَيۡكُمۡ وَعَفَا عَنۡكُمۡۚ ...

... Allah knows that you were deceiving yourselves nafs. So He has accepted your repentance and pardoned you. ...

[Al-Quran 2:187]

The triliteral root khā wāw nūn (خ و ن) is variously translated as deceive, betrayal, treachery, and so on. It is basically understood as to betray trust. So, even not taking care of one's own nafs is not okay. Even though the nafs is supposed to be controlled, and not obeyed when it commands sin, yet it also has rights that a pious believer must be mindful of. 

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Deen-e-Haqq

Islam is Deen-e-Haqq. Everyone and everything has certain rights that are obligated. The triliteral root ḥā qāf qāf (ح ق ق) occurs 287 times in the Quran, in seven derived forms. Usurping the rights of anyone is not permissible. We are accountable for everything. We must ensure that we do not cheat others or unlawfully consume other's wealth or property. Moreover, the poor have rights in the wealth of the rich. We must share from what we have been given. 

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Related Posts

Fasting 

Anger, Anguish & The Repentance (excerpt):

The Bible informs us:

Then the word of the Lord came to Jonah a second time: 2 “Go to the great city of Nineveh and proclaim to it the message I give you.”

3 Jonah obeyed the word of the Lord and went to Nineveh. Now Nineveh was a very large city; it took three days to go through it. 4 Jonah began by going a day’s journey into the city, proclaiming, “Forty more days and Nineveh will be overthrown.” 5 The Ninevites believed God. A fast was proclaimed, and all of them, from the greatest to the least, put on sackcloth.

6 When Jonah’s warning reached the king of Nineveh, he rose from his throne, took off his royal robes, covered himself with sackcloth and sat down in the dust. 7 This is the proclamation he issued in Nineveh:

“By the decree of the king and his nobles:

Do not let people or animals, herds or flocks, taste anything; do not let them eat or drink. 8 But let people and animals be covered with sackcloth. Let everyone call urgently on God. Let them give up their evil ways and their violence. 9 Who knows? God may yet relent and with compassion turn from his fierce anger so that we will not perish.”

10 When God saw what they did and how they turned from their evil ways, he relented and did not bring on them the destruction he had threatened.

[The Bible, Jonah Chapter 3] 

The Punishment of Disgrace 
The Quran informs us that when Jonah returned to the mission assigned to him:

فَلَوْلَا كَانَتْ قَرْيَةٌ آمَنَتْ فَنَفَعَهَا إِيمَانُهَا إِلَّا قَوْمَ يُونُسَ لَمَّا آمَنُوا كَشَفْنَا عَنْهُمْ عَذَابَ الْخِزْيِ فِي الْحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَمَتَّعْنَاهُمْ إِلَىٰ حِينٍ

So why not was any town that believed, and benefited it its faith, except the people (of) Yunus? When they believed, We removed from them (the) punishment (of) the disgrace in the life of the world and We granted them enjoyment for a time.

[Al-Quran 10:98]

Last updated on: January 26, 2025