سُوْرَةُ يٰسٓ
Surah Yaseen (36) — Ayah 47
وَإِذَا قِيلَ لَهُمْ أَنفِقُوا۟ مِمَّا رَزَقَكُمُ ٱللَّهُ قَالَ ٱلَّذِينَ كَفَرُوا۟ لِلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ أَنُطْعِمُ مَن لَّوْ يَشَآءُ ٱللَّهُ أَطْعَمَهُۥٓ إِنْ أَنتُمْ إِلَّا فِى ضَلَـٰلٍ مُّبِينٍ ﴿47﴾
Translation by Dr. Muhammad Muhsin Khan & Dr. Taqi-ud-Din al-Hilali
And when it is said to them: "Spend of that with which Allâh has provided you," those who disbelieve say to those who believe: "Shall we feed those whom, if Allâh willed, He (Himself) would have fed? You are only in a plain error."
Word by Word — Arabic, Transliteration & Meaning
وَإِذَا
wa-idhā
And when
قِيلَ
qīla
it is said
لَهُمْ
lahum
to them
أَنفِقُوا۟
anfiqū
Spend
مِمَّا
mimmā
from what
رَزَقَكُمُ
razaqakumu
(has) provided you
ٱللَّهُ
l-lahu
Allah
قَالَ
qāla
Said
ٱلَّذِينَ
alladhīna
those who
كَفَرُوا۟
kafarū
disbelieved
لِلَّذِينَ
lilladhīna
to those who
ءَامَنُوٓا۟
āmanū
believed
أَنُطْعِمُ
anuṭ'ʿimu
Should we feed
مَن
man
whom
لَّوْ
law
if
يَشَآءُ
yashāu
Allah willed
ٱللَّهُ
l-lahu
Allah willed
أَطْعَمَهُۥٓ
aṭʿamahu
He would have fed him
إِنْ
in
Not
أَنتُمْ
antum
(are) you
إِلَّا
illā
except
فِى
fī
in
ضَلَـٰلٍۢ
ḍalālin
an error
مُّبِينٍۢ
mubīnin
clear
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran — Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani
Tafsir Taiseer ul-Quran (Facilitation of the Quran) is a comprehensive Quran commentary by Maulana Abdul Rahman Kilani, a renowned Salafi (Ahl al-Hadith) scholar from Pakistan. Known for his eloquent and accessible writing style, Kilani authored this tafsir with a focus on clarity — making Quranic meanings understandable to the common reader. The tafsir provides detailed historical context for verses related to battles and expeditions, and firmly refutes modernist ideologies using strong scriptural evidence. It is widely regarded as an invaluable resource for understanding the Quran and countering deviant interpretations. The tafsir is originally written in Urdu, translated to English by tohed.com.
And when it is said to them, "Spend from what Allah has provided for you," the disbelievers say to the believers, "Should we feed those whom, if Allah had willed, He could have fed Himself [46]? You are clearly in manifest error."
[46]
The Pretext of Divine Will is Used When the Fault is Their Own:
This is the attitude of those obstinate and argumentative people—“the bad habit of making many excuses”—that is, they know well that helping the poor is a very good and virtuous deed. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah tests everyone in every condition. He tests the rich by seeing whether they give to the poor or not, and He tests the poor by seeing whether they are patient and grateful to Allah in their state or not. The real divine will is that Allah makes some people rich and some poor in order to test both, whereas their argument is that if Allah had willed, He would have given them Himself. And their clear misguidance or the invalidity of their argument is evident in that they only take refuge in divine will when they themselves are guilty, and when someone else is guilty and their own rights are being violated, they never take refuge in divine will. For example, if a robber snatches their wealth, at that time they will take every possible action against him and will never say that the robber is not at fault or that they should bear everything because this was Allah’s will. It should be clear that this meaning applies when ﴿إنْ أنْتُمْ الآَ فِيْ ضَلاَلٍ مُّبِيْنٍ﴾ is understood as the word of Allah. And if this sentence is considered the speech of the disbelievers who do not give charity, and its addressees are Muslims, then its meaning would be: O Muslims! Your misguidance is very clear, that you want to feed those whom Allah does not want to feed.
[46]
The Pretext of Divine Will is Used When the Fault is Their Own:
This is the attitude of those obstinate and argumentative people—“the bad habit of making many excuses”—that is, they know well that helping the poor is a very good and virtuous deed. Whether one is rich or poor, Allah tests everyone in every condition. He tests the rich by seeing whether they give to the poor or not, and He tests the poor by seeing whether they are patient and grateful to Allah in their state or not. The real divine will is that Allah makes some people rich and some poor in order to test both, whereas their argument is that if Allah had willed, He would have given them Himself. And their clear misguidance or the invalidity of their argument is evident in that they only take refuge in divine will when they themselves are guilty, and when someone else is guilty and their own rights are being violated, they never take refuge in divine will. For example, if a robber snatches their wealth, at that time they will take every possible action against him and will never say that the robber is not at fault or that they should bear everything because this was Allah’s will. It should be clear that this meaning applies when ﴿إنْ أنْتُمْ الآَ فِيْ ضَلاَلٍ مُّبِيْنٍ﴾ is understood as the word of Allah. And if this sentence is considered the speech of the disbelievers who do not give charity, and its addressees are Muslims, then its meaning would be: O Muslims! Your misguidance is very clear, that you want to feed those whom Allah does not want to feed.
