The 365 · Verses · Day 261 · Justice
Why cling to what heaven and earth will hand back to God regardless?
وَمَا لَكُمْ أَلَّا تُنفِقُوا۟ فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ وَلِلَّهِ مِيرَٰثُ ٱلسَّمَـٰوَٰتِ وَٱلْأَرْضِ ۚ لَا يَسْتَوِى مِنكُم مَّنْ أَنفَقَ مِن قَبْلِ ٱلْفَتْحِ وَقَـٰتَلَ ۚ أُو۟لَـٰٓئِكَ أَعْظَمُ دَرَجَةً مِّنَ ٱلَّذِينَ أَنفَقُوا۟ مِنۢ بَعْدُ وَقَـٰتَلُوا۟ ۚ وَكُلًّا وَعَدَ ٱللَّهُ ٱلْحُسْنَىٰ ۚ وَٱللَّهُ بِمَا تَعْمَلُونَ خَبِيرٌ
“Why should you not give for God's cause when God alone will inherit what is in the heavens and earth? Those who gave and fought before the triumph are not like others: they are greater in rank than those who gave and fought afterwards. But God has promised a good reward to all of them: God is fully aware of all that you do. (Quran 57:10)”
57:10 Read 57:10 with tafsir
Svenska: Hur är det fatt med er, som inte vill ge [av det ni äger] för Guds sak? Allt det som himlarna och jorden lämnar i arv skall ändå tillfalla Gud! De bland er som gav [av vad de ägde] och kämpade [för Guds sak] före segern kan inte jämställas [med er andra] och står ett steg högre än de som gav och kämpade [först] efteråt, även om Gud har lovat dem alla det högsta goda. Gud är underrättad om vad ni gör.
The story
'Why should you not give for God's cause,' the āyah asks, 'when God alone will inherit the heavens and the earth?' Al-Sa'di reads the question as a gentle rebuke to stinginess: what could possibly justify withholding, when in truth nothing belongs to you? Every fortune will slip from your hands, or you from it, and ownership will return to its only real Owner - so seize the chance to give while the wealth is still in your grip. Ibn Kathīr hears in it a reassurance against fear: spend and do not dread poverty, for the One in whose cause you give owns the treasuries of the heavens and earth, and He has promised, 'whatever you spend, He will replace it.' The āyah then ranks the givers - those who gave and fought before the victory are not equal to those who did so after. Al-Sa'di identifies that victory as the treaty of Ḥudaybiyya, after which Islam spread openly and people entered it in crowds; before it, believers were few, harassed, and afraid, so early giving cost far more and weighed far more. Yet the āyah guards the latecomers at once: 'to all Allah has promised the best reward.' Ibn Kathīr cites the Prophet ﷺ - 'do not revile my Companions' - and names Abū Bakr as the foremost to live this out, spending all he had for the Face of Allah. Justice, then, is not blind equality: God weighs each gift by its moment and its cost, and pays every giver what is truly due.
In the language
The āyah calls all things 'the mīrāth (inheritance) of the heavens and the earth' that belongs to Allah - a startling turn of phrase, since an heir normally receives what a deceased owner leaves behind. Al-Sa'di unfolds the logic: every wealth will transfer from your hands, or you from it, until ownership reverts to its Owner - so naming creation His mīrāth pictures the moment when every temporary holder has passed on and only the one enduring Owner remains to receive it all. Ibn Kathīr reinforces the sense with the parallel verse, 'whatever is with you will be exhausted, and whatever is with Allah will remain.' The rhetoric turns your grip on wealth into something visibly provisional: you are holding an estate that is already, in the end, willed back to God.
Why this verse
If everything eventually reverts to God anyway, hoarding only delays the inevitable while forfeiting the reward. Giving early, when it costs you, is what God weighs most - He judges each gift by its moment, not merely its amount.
Bring it into today
Think of a gift you keep postponing until you 'have more' - the donation you will make once the raise comes, the help you will offer once things settle. This āyah asks you to move it forward, because the giving that costs you now outweighs the comfortable giving of later. Try this: give before the surplus arrives, not after. Choose an amount you feel a little - enough that it registers as a real transfer, the way the early Companions gave when giving was hard - and release it this week rather than next quarter. If fear of running short is what holds you back, take Ibn Kathīr's reading to heart: you are lending to the Owner of the treasuries of the heavens and earth, who has pledged to replace what you spend. You are not diminishing your estate; you are moving part of it to where it lasts.
A reflection to carry
Al-Sa'di calls stinginess strange: how can you clutch what was never yours, when every fortune must slip from your hands, or you from it, until it returns to its Owner? That is what naming creation God's inheritance means. The āyah does not treat all giving alike - those who gave before Ḥudaybiyya, when giving was costly, stand above those who gave once Islam was safe. Yet none are dismissed: 'to all Allah has promised the best.' The justice here is finer than equal shares - God weighs not only what left your hand, but when, and what it cost.
Sources: Ibn Kathīr, al-Saʿdī. The Qur'an and its translation are verified; the scholarship is retold faithfully in our own words and credited to its sources, never reproduced verbatim.
Also on Day 261
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