THEY ASK YOU AS TO WHAT THEY SHOULD SPEND. SAY: "WHATEVER GOOD YOU SPEND IS FOR PARENTS, KINS, ORPHANS, THE NEEDY AND THE WAYFARER. AND WHATEVER GOOD YOU DO, ALLAH IS ALL-AWARE OF THAT." (SURAH AL-BAQARAH: 215)

Part 1

The first consideration is that these verses are not about obligatory Zakat as for Zakat it has been specified how much spare assets one must have before Zakat becomes obligatory upon them (Nasa'ab), and it has also been specified what proportion of their spare assets they must give in Zakat.  Neither of these have been mentioned in these verses. This tells us that these verses are about voluntary charities (Nafl Sadaqah). This also removes the doubt that parents have been included as recipients of spending in this verse, while giving Zakat to parents is not permissible according to the teachings of the Holy Prophet ﷺ. It is because these verses are not about obligatory Zakat.

From Ma'ariful Quran, by Mufti Muhammad Shafi RE

THEY ASK YOU AS TO WHAT THEY SHOULD SPEND. SAY: "WHATEVER GOOD YOU SPEND IS FOR PARENTS, KINS, ORPHANS, THE NEEDY AND THE WAYFARER. AND WHATEVER GOOD YOU DO, ALLAH IS ALL-AWARE OF THAT." (SURAH AL-BAQARAH:215)

"DO YOU THINK THAT YOU WILL ENTER PARADISE DESPITE THAT THERE HAVE NOT YET COME UPON YOU CIRCUMSTANCES AS OF THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED AWAY BEFORE YOU? THEY WERE AFFLICTED BY HARDSHIP AND SUFFERING AND WERE SO SHAKEN DOWN THAT THE PROPHET, AND THOSE WHO BELIEVED WITH HIM, BEGAN TO SAY: "WHEN THE HELP OF ALLAH (WILL COME)?" BEHOLD, THE HELP OF ALLAH IS NEAR. (SURAH AL-BAQARAH: 214)

Part 2

The second point which is important to consider here is that the Prophets' and their Companions' asking when Allah's help would come wasn't because they didn't have full faith in Allah Ta'alah, which would have been beneath their station. It was because while Allah Ta'alah has promised to send help, He has not specified its time and place. So the reason they uttered these words in distress was a request to send the help early. Making such a prayer is not contrary to one's trust in Allah (Tawakkul) or the station of Prophethood. In fact Allah Ta'alah favours the earnest supplication of His servants, and who would be more deserving of what Allah likes than the Prophets and the pious.

From Ma'ariful Quran, by Mufti Muhammad Shafi RE

"DO YOU THINK THAT YOU WILL ENTER PARADISE DESPITE THAT THERE HAVE NOT YET COME UPON YOU CIRCUMSTANCES AS OF THOSE WHO HAVE PASSED AWAY BEFORE YOU? THEY WERE AFFLICTED BY HARDSHIP AND SUFFERING AND WERE SO SHAKEN DOWN THAT THE PROPHET, AND THOSE WHO BELIEVED WITH HIM, BEGAN TO SAY: "WHEN THE HELP OF ALLAH (WILL COME)?" BEHOLD, THE HELP OF ALLAH IS NEAR. (SURAH AL-BAQARAH:214)

Part 1

This verse seems to suggest that nobody shall enter Paradise unless he has gone through hardships and suffering, although, Quranic statements and sayings of the Holy Prophet ﷺ prove that many sinners will enter Paradise simply because of the grace, mercy and forgiveness of Allah Almighty, and that they shall undergo no hardship either. This is because hardship and suffering have different levels. The lowest degree is to resist against one's own inner self and the Satan, or resisting the enemies of faith in correcting one's beliefs. Every Muslim goes through this degree of hardship. Further to this there are medium and higher levels of hardships. The higher the level of hardship one goes through determines his place in the Jannah (Paradise). In a Hadith Rasool Allah ﷺ has said, "The worst hardships and sufferings are faced by the Prophets of Allah. And then by those who are close to them."

From Ma'ariful Quran, by Mufti Muhammad Shafi RE

"ADORNED IS THE PRESENT LIFE FOR THOSE WHO DISBELIEVE, AND THEY LAUGH AT THOSE WHO BELIEVE, WHILE THOSE WHO FEAR ALLAH SHALL BE ABOVE THEM ON THE DAY OF RESURRECTION. AND ALLAH GIVES, TO WHOM HE WILLS, WITHOUT MEASURE." (SURAH AL-BAQARAH:212)

In this verse the Holy Quran points out to the fact that the folly of considering any Muslim man or woman to be inferior because they are poor, and of ridiculing poor people, will be unmasked on the Day of Judgment.

It has been reported that Sayyidna Ali RAA said: "Any one who considers a Muslim man or woman inferior because of their poverty, Allah Ta'alah will put him to disgrace before a gathering of all the people from the beginning to the end of time on the Day of Judgment. And anyone who falsely accuses a Muslim man or a woman of a sin they did not commit, on the Day of Judgment Allah Ta'alah would put him on a high mound of fire until he admits his falsehood. (al-Qurtubi)

From Ma'ariful Quran, by Mufti Muhammad Shafi RE

"O THOSE WHO BELIEVE, ENTER ISLAM COMPLETELY, AND DO NOT FOLLOW THE FOOTSTEPS OF SATAN. SURELY, FOR YOU, HE IS AN OPEN ENEMY." (SURAH AL-BAQARAH:208)

Part 3

This verse should serve as a warning for those people who have restricted Islam only to mosques and certain Ibadah, and who behave as if they do not consider financial transactions and ways of interacting with people as part of Shariah. This misconception is particularly prevalent in people who appear to be outwardly religious. There are many people who consider themselves religious, who are punctual with Salah and fasting, and who look religious by their outwardly appearance, but a number of these people are completely negligent of the rights of other human beings, people's financial rights, and their social rights. They do not believe these injunctions to be part of Islam, and do not make an effort to either learn or follow these injunctions.

It is very important to understand that there are five facets of Islam. The first is Aqa'id (Beliefs), for example believing that there will be another life after this one, and that people who have done more good deeds than sins will go to Jannah (Paradise) and vice versa. The second is Ibadah (acts of worship) like praying Salah and giving Zakat etc. Many Muslims think that Islam is restricted to only Aqa'id and Ibadah. The third part is Ma'amlat (financial transactions). The core of Ma'amlat is that a person should not earn or consume any money that he has earned unfairly or against the injunctions of Allah Ta'alah and Rasool Allah (Holy Prophet) ﷺ. The fourth component of Islam is Ma'ashrat which relates to ways of living and how people interact with each other. The fifth part is Akhlaq, or purification of internal attributes. Until a person tries to learn and follow all of these five facets of Islam his islam does not become complete.

From Ma'ariful Quran, by Mufti Muhammad Shafi RE

"O THOSE WHO BELIEVE, ENTER ISLAM COMPLETELY, AND DO NOT FOLLOW THE FOOTSTEPS OF SATAN. SURELY, FOR YOU, HE IS AN OPEN ENEMY." (SURAH AL-BAQARAH:208)

Part 2

The previous verses ended with a praise for the sincere (Mukhliseen). Sometimes Ikhlas (sincerity) leads to excess inadvertently, in that the person intends to do more obedience but because of excess that obedience exceeds the limits of Shariah and Sunnah. This can be explained through the example of the blessed Companion Hazrat Abdullah Ibn Salam RAA and others who, before embracing Islam, were known Jewish scholars. In Judaism Saturday was the sacred day of rest (Sabbath), and eating camel meat was unlawful. Once they embraced Islam they thought that they could continue to honour Saturday since Islam did not require dishonouring it, similarly they would consider eating camel meat Halal but in practice would refrain from doing so, thus they would abide by the laws of both Shariah of Moses AS and Shariah of Mohammad ﷺ, something they believed meant showing greater obedience to Allah Ta'alah.

Allah Ta'alah has firmly corrected that thought in this verse stating that Islam is an obligation in its totality. It is total and perfect only when what is not necessary in Islam is not considered to be part of it. In Ibadah and obedience to Allah Ta'alah going beyond the limits set by Shariah and Sunnah is a grave error and is likely to result in more serious consequences than inadvertently doing something which a person does believe to be a sin.

From Ma'ariful Quran, by Mufti Muhammad Shafi RE

"O THOSE WHO BELIEVE, ENTER ISLAM COMPLETELY, AND DO NOT FOLLOW THE FOOTSTEPS OF SATAN. SURELY, FOR YOU, HE IS AN OPEN ENEMY." (SURAH AL-BAQARAH:208)

Part 1

According to Arabic grammar this verse can be translated in two ways, though both meanings are very similar to each other.

The first refers to the condition of the believers while entering Islam, which must be 'complete'. This would mean that their entire person, hands and feet, eyes and ears, feeling and thinking, after having embraced the faith, should all be within the parameters of Islam. What shouldn't happen is that while one may be physically carrying out the injunctions of Islam but he doesn't fully believe in its veracity in his heart and mind, or the other way round that while he has full faith and belief in Islam, what he is doing physically is outside the dictates of Islam.

The second meaning would refer to the perfect and complete state of Islam in which the believer must enter. So 'entering Islam completely' would mean that one must accept all injunctions of Islam, and not only the ones that one happens to like. When one enters Islam one must enter all of its facets, whether they be beliefs (Aqa'id) , acts of worship (Ibadah), financial transactions (Ma'amlaat), way of living (Ma'ashrat), or injunctions related to one's inner self (Ikhlaq). One cannot accept some and reject others.

From Ma'ariful Quran, by Mufti Muhammad Shafi RE

"AND FEAR ALLAH AND BE SURE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE GATHERED BEFORE HIM." (SURAH AL-BAQARAH:203)

Part 4

Another reason for reminder of Taqwa at the end of Hajj injunctions is that Hajj is a great act of Ibadah. Once someone has performed Hajj the Satan tries to put thoughts of grandeur and self-righteousness into his mind, which lay waste to all his Ibadah. That is why people were advised at the end of the conversation that just like it is important and obligatory to fear Allah and to keep obeying Him before and during Hajj, similarly one must continue to fear Allah and to keep abstaining from sins even more after completing Hajj so that all the Ibadah that he has performed do not go to waste.

From Ma'ariful Quran, by Mufti Muhammad Shafi RE

"AND FEAR ALLAH AND BE SURE THAT YOU ARE GOING TO BE GATHERED BEFORE HIM." (SURAH AL-BAQARAH:203)

Part 3

A buzurg (holy man) once said, "When I returned from Hajj I once got an impulse to carry out a sin. I then heard a voice from someone I couldn't see: Haven't you performed the Hajj? Haven't you performed the Hajj? This voice became a barrier between me and that sin, and Allah Ta'alah protected me."

There was another Buzurg who was a disciple of Maulana Jami RE. He was such a pious person that he used to observe a halo of radiance over his head. He went to perform Hajj but after he returned he observed that that halo had disappeared. When he inquired with his spiritual teacher Maulana Jami about it, he said, "Before you went for Hajj you were a humble person. You used to weep before Allah thinking of yourself as a sinner. After doing Hajj you started thinking of yourself as a pious person and a saint, and your Hajj became a source of pride for you. That is why that halo disappeared."

To be continued...

From Ma'ariful Quran, by Mufti Muhammad Shafi RE