Surah Al-Baqarah — Verse 264

O you who have faith in Allah and follow His Messenger, do not ruin the reward of your charity by boasting about it and hurting the person to whom you gave it. A person who does this is like one who spends to be seen and praised by people, and does not have faith in Allah and in the reward and punishment on the Day of Resurrection. This is like a smooth stone on which there is some dust: when heavy rain falls onto it, the dust is washed away and the stone is left smooth with nothing on it. Similarly, the reward of the actions and charity of those who show off does not remain in the sight of Allah. Allah does not guide disbelievers to what pleases Him and benefits them in their actions and spending.

Those who spend their wealth in the cause of Allah, and do not follow up their gifts with reminders of their generosity or with injury, their reward is with their Lord. On them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve (262)Kind words and forgiving of faults are better than Sadaqah (charity) followed by injury. And Allah is Rich (free of all needs) and He is Most Forbearing (263)O you who believe! Do not render in vain your Sadaqah (charity) by reminders of your generosity or by injury, like him who spends his wealth to be seen of men, and he does not believe in Allah, nor in the Last Day. His likeness is the likeness of a smooth rock on which is a little dust; on it falls heavy rain which leaves it bare. They are not able to do anything with what they have earned. And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people (264)

Allah praises those who spend from their money in His cause, and then refrain from reminding those who received the charity of that fact, whether these hints take the form of words or actions.

Allah's statement,

وَلَا أَذًى

(or with injury), indicates that they do not cause harm to those whom they gave the charity to, for this harm will only annul the charity. Allah next promised them the best rewards for this good deed,

لَّهُمْ أَجْرُهُمْ عِندَ رَبِّهِمْ 

(their reward is with their Lord), indicating that Allah Himself will reward them for these righteous actions. Further,

وَلَا خَوْفٌ عَلَيْهِمْ

(On them shall be no fear) regarding the horrors of the Day of Resurrection,

وَلَا هُمْ يَحْزَنُونَ

(nor shall they grieve) regarding the offspring that they leave behind and the adornment and delights of this world. They will not feel sorry for this, because they will acquire what is far better for them.

Allah then said,

قَوْلٌ مَّعْرُوفٌ

(Kind words) meaning, compassionate words and a supplication for Muslims,

وَمَغْفِرَةٌ 

(and forgiving) meaning, forgiving an injustice that took the form of actions or words,

خَيْرٌ مِّن صَدَقَةٍ يَتْبَعُهَا أَذًى

(are better than Sadaqah (charity) followed by injury.)

وَاللَّهُ غَنِيٌّ

(And Allah is Rich) not needing His creation,

حَلِيمٌ

(Most Forbearing) forgives, releases and pardons them.

There are several Hadiths that prohibit reminding people of acts of charity. For instance, Muslim recorded that Abu Dharr said that the Messenger of Allah ﷺ said,

ثَلَاثَةٌ لَا يُكَلِّمُهُمُ اللهُ يَوْمَ الْقِيَامَةِ، وَلَا يَنْظُرُ إِلَيْهِم، وَلَا يُزَكِّيهِمْ، وَلَهُمْ عَذَابٌ أَلِيمٌ: الْمَنَّانُ بِمَا أَعْطَى، وَالْمُسْبِلُ إِزَارَهُ، وَالْمُنَفِّقُ سِلْعَتَهُ بِالْحَلِفِ الْكَاذِبِ

(Three persons whom Allah shall neither speak to on the Day of Resurrection nor look at nor purify, and they shall receive a painful torment: he who reminds (the people) of what he gives away, he who lengthens his clothes below the ankles and he who swears an oath while lying, to sell his merchandise.)

This is why Allah said,

يَا أَيُّهَا الَّذِينَ آمَنُوا لَا تُبْطِلُوا صَدَقَاتِكُم بِالْمَنِّ وَالْأَذَىٰ 

(O you who believe! Do not render in vain your Sadaqah (charity) by reminders of your generosity or by injury) stating that the charity will be rendered in vain if it is followed by harm or reminders. In this case, the reward of giving away charity is not sufficient enough to nullify the harm and reminders. Allah then said,

كَالَّذِي يُنفِقُ مَالَهُ رِئَاءَ النَّاسِ

(like him who spends his wealth to be seen of men) meaning, "Do not nullify your acts of charity by following them with reminders and harm, just like the charity of those who give it to show off to people." The boasting person pretends to give away charity for Allah's sake, but in reality seeks to gain people's praise and the reputation of being kind or generous, or other material gains of this life. All the while, he does not think about Allah or gaining His pleasure and generous rewards, and this is why Allah said,

وَلَا يُؤْمِنُ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ

(and he does not believe in Allah, nor in the Last Day.)

Allah next set the example of whoever gives charity to show off. Ad-Dahhak commented that the example fits one who follows his acts of charity with reminders or harm. Allah said,

فَمَثَلُهُ كَمَثَلِ صَفْوَانٍ

(His likeness is the likeness of Safwan) where Safwan, from is Safwanah, meaning 'the smooth rocks,'

عَلَيْهِ تُرَابٌ فَأَصَابَهُ وَابِلٌ

(on which is little dust; on it falls a Wabil) meaning, heavy rain,

فَتَرَكَهُ صَلْدًا

(which leaves it bare.) This Ayah means that heavy rain left the Safwan completely barren of dust. Such is the case with Allah's action regarding the work of those who show off, as their deeds are bound to vanish and disappear, even though people think that these deeds are as plentiful as specks of dust. So Allah said,

لَّا يَقْدِرُونَ عَلَىٰ شَيْءٍ مِّمَّا كَسَبُوا وَاللَّهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الْكَافِرِينَ

(They are not able to do anything with what they have earned. And Allah does not guide the disbelieving people.)

In the fourth verse, the same subject has been taken up differently with a little more emphasis. It was said: Do not waste your charities: verbally -- by causing your favour to be known; or practically by causing pain.

This makes it clear that any form of favour-flashing or needy-bashing, after an act of charity renders such charity null and void. There is no reward for it.

In this verse, one more condition governing the acceptance of sadaqah صدقہ has been added by saying that one who spends for public exposure, for name and fame, and does not believe in Allah Almighty and the Day of Resurrection, can be likened to be acting in a situation where he sows a grain on a clean rock which has collected a layer of soil, then comes the rain and washes the whole thing clean. Such people will never reap what they have sown and Allah Almighty will not let the disbelievers see the way. From this we know the condition that governs the acceptance of sadaqah صدقہ and khayrat خیرات۔- spend only to seek the good pleasure of Allah Almighty and with the intention of getting thawab ثواب (reward) in the akhirah آخرۃ (Hereafter). Never do it with the intention of having public exposure, name and fame. Spending with the intention of earning name and fame is wasting what you spend. And should a true Muslim, who does believe in the Hereafter, expend something simply for name, fame, and under hypocritical motivation, he too, would not get any thawab ثواب (reward) for it. Moreover, there is a hint here in the use of the additional sentence ولا یؤمن باللہ ، (And does not believe in Allah); perhaps, it aims to suggest that hypocrisy and name-seeking is not just the sort of thing a person who believes in Allah Almighty and the Day of Resurrection would ever do since hypocrisy is a sign of something being wrong with his faith.

The meaning of وَاللَّـهُ لَا يَهْدِي الْقَوْمَ الظَّالِمِي 'Allah Almighty will not show disbelievers the way' towards the end of verse 264 is that the Qur'anic guidance is universal. It is common to all human beings. But, disbelievers do not take notice of this guidance, rather go a step farther and make fun of it. As a result, Allah Almighty lets them be deprived of the very taufiq توفیق ، the ability to accept guidance. The effect is that they do not accept any guidance.

Some soil (earth) may collect on the surface of a boulder. Outwardly, it appears as though this is good, fertile soil, but when a gust of wind brings a rain-shower down upon it, then the earth is washed away, leaving the rock exposed to the elements. The same is true of one who has donned a superficial robe of piety, without that piety having permeated his entire being. Should he be addressed rudely by someone asking for financial help, or should his ego receive a wounding blow, he becomes so irritated that he exceeds all bounds of decency in his response. Incidents of this nature are like the showers of rain which wash away his outward garb of piety, leaving his true nature exposed to the outside world. To do things for God’s sake, is to give priority to the invisible over the visible world. It is to set one’s sights on an unseen world, over and above the world which meets the eye. This requires a loftiness of vision. Those who show such sublimity of vision have the door of God’s realization opened to them.