Surah 2. Al-Baqara, Ayah 188
| وَلَا تَأْكُلُوا أَمْوَالَكُمْ بَيْنَكُمْ بِالْبَاطِلِ وَتُدْلُوا بِهَا إِلَى الْحُكَّامِ لِتَأْكُلُوا فَرِيقًا مِنْ أَمْوَالِ النَّاسِ بِالْإِثْمِ وَأَنْتُمْ تَعْلَمُونَ |
| Transliteration | : | wa- laa ta'kulo amwaal -kum bayna -kum bi- al- baat.il wa- tudlo bi- -haa 'ilaa al- h.ukkaam li- ta'kulo fareq(an) min amwaal an- naas bi- al- 'ithm wa- 'antum taclamon |
| Pickthall | : | And eat not up your property among yourselves in vanity, nor seek by it to gain the hearing of the judges that ye may knowingly devour a portion of the property of others wrongfully. |
| Asad | : | AND DEVOUR NOT one another's possessions wrongfully, and neither employ legal artifices163 with a view to devouring sinfully, and knowingly, anything that by right belongs to others.164 |
| Malik | : | Do not misappropriate one another's property unjustly, nor bribe the judges, in order to misappropriate a part of other people's property, sinfully and knowingly. |
| Yusuf Ali | : | And do not eat up your property among yourselves for vanities nor use it as bait for the judges with intent that ye may eat up wrongfully and knowingly a little of (other) people's property. 201 |
Note - 163Lit., "and do not throw it to the judges" - i.e., with a
view to being decided by them contrary to what is right
(Zamakhshari, Baydawi).
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Note - 164Lit., "a part of [other] people's possessions".
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Note - 201Besides the three primal physical needs of man, which are
apt to make him greedy, there is a fourth greed in
society, the greed of wealth and property. The purpose of
fasts is not completed until this fourth greed is also
restrained. Ordinarily honest men are content if they
refrain from robbery, theft, or embezzlement. Two more
subtle forms of the greed are mentioned here. One is
where one uses one's own property for corrupting others -
judges or those in authority - so as to obtain some
material gain even under the cover and protection of the
law. The words translated "other people's property" may
also mean "public property". A still more subtle form is
where we use our own property or property under our own
control - "among yourselves" in the Text - for vain or
frivolous uses. Under the Islamic standard this is also
greed. Property carries with it its own responsibilities.
If we fail to understand or fulfil them, we have not
learnt the full lesson of self-denial by fasts.
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Besides the three primal physical needs of man, which are apt to make him greedy, there is a fourth greed in society, the greed of wealth and property. The purpose of fasts is not completed until this fourth greed is also restrained. Ordinarily honest men are content if they refrain from robbery, theft, or embezzlement. Two more subtle forms of the greed are mentioned here. One is where one uses one's own property for corrupting others - judges or those in authority - so as to obtain some material gain even under the cover and protection of the law. The words translated "other people's property" may also mean "public property". A still more subtle form is where we use our own property or property under our own control - "among yourselves" in the Text - for vain or frivolous uses. Under the Islamic standard this is also greed. Property carries with it its own responsibilities. If we fail to understand or fulfil them, we have not learnt the full lesson of self-denial by fasts. |
