The Cycle of Prayer and Charity - Portal Gems #66

Est. Read time: 3 min
Edition Number: 66
Adapted from: A Man of God: Tafsir of Surah Luqman
Instructor: Shaykh Abdullah Waheed

Assalamu Alaykum,

Today’s gem is from Shaykh Abudllah Waheed’s Ramadan Immersion course, Man of God: Tafsir of Surah Luqman. In this gem, while covering the tafsir of the fourth ayah of Surah Luqman (shown below), Shaykh Abdullah explains why establishing prayer and giving zakah are mentioned together so many times in the Quran.

Hope you enjoy!

We begin in the Name of Allah ﷻ, the Most Merciful and Compassionate,
We ask that He ﷻ sends Peace and Blessings upon our noble and beloved
Prophet Muhammad ﷺ

What is the wisdom of putting يُقِيمُونَ ٱلصَّلَوٰةَ (establish prayer) with وَيُؤْتُونَ ٱلزَّكَوٰةَ (giving zakah) so many times in the Quran?

Salah is a method to take from Allah ﷻ. Salah you take from Allah ﷻ, and then in the same verse Allah ﷻ says you give to my creation. Take from me and then give. That cycle has to continue.

There are two types of worships in Islam. There is a physical exertion of worship, and there's a financial exertion of worship. Most of the time, they come together.

Salah (prayer) is the epitome of exertion of the physical body, siyam (fasting) is exertion of the physical body, Zakah (charity) is exertion of financial element of the human being, Hajj is the exertion of finance and physical.

So Allah ﷻ is saying this is the whole Deen guys, it has a physical component and a financial component. You cannot separate this.

And the other wisdom is you take from Allah and you give to His Creation. For a person to do this they have to believe in akhira (the hereafter). There needs to be a level of certainty for a person to be on their prayer on time, or doing it consistently, and giving charity consistently will lead you to a condition where you will have conviction.

Two things: either you're doing it because you have conviction already, or you don't have that level of certainty but you're doing it and you're doing it and you finally reach that level. Allah ﷻ says about those people:

These people are in guidance from their Lord, and they are the ones who are successful. They are the ones who are going to harvest the fruits of their hard work.

May Allah ﷻ grant us tawfiq to establish prayer and give zakah.

أقول قولي هذا وأستغفر الله لي ولكم، فاستغفروه إنه هو الغفور الرحيم

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