Al-Qur'an Surah Al-Baqarah Verse 272

Mufti Taqi Usmani

It is not for you to put them on the right path. Rather, Allah puts on the right path whom He wills. Whatever good you spend is for your own selves, and you shall not spend but to seek the pleasure of Allah, and whatever good thing you spend shall be repaid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged.

Dr. Mustafa Khattab, the Clear Quran

You are not responsible for people’s guidance ˹O Prophet˺—it is Allah Who guides whoever He wills. Whatever you ˹believers˺ spend in charity, it is for your own good—as long as you do so seeking the pleasure of Allah.[[ lit., seeking the Face of Allah.]] Whatever you donate will be paid back to you in full, and you will not be wronged.

Ruwwad Translation Center

You are not responsible for their guidance [O Prophet], but Allah guides whom He wills. Whatever wealth you spend in charity, it is for your own good – as long as you do so seeking Allah’s pleasure. And whatever wealth you spend in charity, you will be rewarded in full, and you will not be wronged.

A. J. Arberry

Thou art not responsible for guiding them; but God guides whomsoever He will. And whatever good you expend is for yourselves, for then you are expending, being desirous only of God's Face; and whatever good you expend shall be repaid to you in full, and you will not be wronged,

Abdul Haleem

It is not for you [Prophet] to guide them; it is God who guides whoever He will. Whatever charity you give benefits your own soul, provided you do it for the sake of God: whatever you give will be repaid to you in full, and you will not be wronged.

Abdul Majid Daryabadi

Not on thee is their guidance, but Allah guideth whomsoever He listeth. And whatsoever ye expend of good it is for your own souls, and ye expend not save to seek Allah's countenance and whatsoever ye expend of good shall be repaid to you, and ye shall not be wronged.

Abdullah Yusuf Ali

It is not required of thee (O Messenger), to set them on the right path, but Allah sets on the right path whom He pleaseth. Whatever of good ye give benefits your own souls, and ye shall only do so seeking the "Face" of Allah. Whatever good ye give, shall be rendered back to you, and ye shall not Be dealt with unjustly.

Abul Ala Maududi

O Prophet, you are not responsible for their guidance; Allah Himself shows guidance to anyone He pleases. And whatever wealth you spend in charity, it is for your own good. As you spend of your wealth to win Allah's pleasure, you will be given full reward for whatever you spend and you will not be deprived in the least of your rightful due.

Ahmed Ali

It is not for you to guide them: God guides whom He will. Whatever you spend you will do so for yourself, for you will do so to seek the way that leads to God; and what you spend in charity you will get back in full, and no wrong will be done to you.

Ahmed Raza Khan

It is not your duty (O dear Prophet Mohammed – peace and blessings be upon him) to make them accept guidance – but Allah guides whomever He wills; and whatever good thing you spend is beneficial for yourselves; and it is not right for you to spend except to seek Allah’s pleasure; and whatever you spend will be repaid to you in full, and you will not be wronged. –

Ali Quli Qarai

It is not up to you to guide them; rather, it is Allah who guides whomever He wishes. Whatever wealth you spend, it is for your own benefit, as you do not spend but to seek Allah’s pleasure, and whatever wealth you spend will be repaid to you in full and you will not be wronged.

Ali Ünal

(O Messenger! Your mission is to communicate all such commandments, so) it is not your duty to secure their guidance (in every matter); but God guides whomever He wills. (O people,) whatever good you spend (in charity and other good causes) is to your own benefit, and (as believers) you do not spend but in search of God’s "Face" (seeking to be worthy of His favor). Whatever good you spend will be repaid to you in full, and you will not be wronged.

Amatul Rahman Omar

You are not responsible for their guidance to the right path but Allah guides (him) who wishes (to be guided). (Believers!) whatever wealth you spend (in doing good) will be fully credited to you and you shall not be treated unjustly.

English Literal

Their guidance (is) not on you, and but God guides whom he wills/wants, and what you spend from goodness/wealth , so it is for yourselves, and you do not spend, except asking/desiring God`s face/direction , and what you spend from goodness/wealth is fulfilled/completed to you, and you are not being caused injustice to/oppressed.

Faridul Haque

It is not your duty (O dear Prophet Mohammed - peace and blessings be upon him) to make them accept guidance - but Allah guides whomever He wills; and whatever good thing you spend is beneficial for yourselves; and it is not right for you to spend except to seek Allah’s pleasure; and whatever you spend will be repaid to you in full, and you will not be wronged. -

Hamid S. Aziz

It is not your duty (O Muhammad) to guide them; but Allah guides whom He will; and whatever good you expend it is for yourselves when you spend not save for Allah´s sake. And what you spend of good, it shall be repaid you in full, and you shall not be wronged,

Hilali & Khan

Not upon you (Muhammad SAW) is their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills. And whatever you spend in good, it is for yourselves, when you spend not except seeking Allah's Countenance. And whatever you spend in good, it will be repaid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged.

Maulana Mohammad Ali

Their guidance is not thy duty, but Allah guides whom He pleases. And whatever good thing you spend, it is to your good. And you spend not but to seek Allah´s pleasure. And whatever good thing you spend, it will be paid back to you in full, and you will not be wronged.

Mohammad Habib Shakir

To make them walk in the right way is not incumbent on you, but Allah guides aright whom He pleases; and whatever good thing you spend, it is to your own good; and you do not spend but to seek Allah's pleasure; and whatever good things you spend shall be paid back to you in full, and you shall not be wronged.

Mohammed Marmaduke William Pickthall

The guiding of them is not thy duty (O Muhammad), but Allah guideth whom He will. And whatsoever good thing ye spend, it is for yourselves, when ye spend not save in search of Allah's Countenance; and whatsoever good thing ye spend, it will be repaid to you in full, and ye will not be wronged.

Muhammad Sarwar

(Muhammad), you do not have to guide them. God guides whomever He wants. Whatever you spend for the cause of God is for your own good, provided you do not spend anything but to please God. For anything good that you may give for the cause of God, you will receive sufficient reward and no injustice will be done to you.

Qaribullah & Darwish

It is not for you (Prophet Muhammad to cause) their guidance. Allah guides whom He will. Whatever good you spend is for yourselves, provided that you give it desiring the Face of Allah. And whatever good you spend shall be repaid to you in full, you shall not be harmed.

Safi-ur-Rahman al-Mubarakpuri

Not upon you (Muhammad) is their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills. And whatever you spend in good, it is for yourselves, when you spend not except seeking Allah's Face. And whatever you spend in good, it will be repaid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged.

Wahiduddin Khan

It is not your responsibility to make them follow the right path; God guides whomever He pleases. Whatever wealth you spend is to your own benefit, provided that you spend only to seek the favour of God. Whatever wealth you spend [for God's cause] shall be repaid to you in full and you shall not be wronged.

Talal Itani

Their guidance is not your responsibility, but God guides whom He wills. Any charity you give is for your own good. Any charity you give shall be for the sake of God. Any charity you give will be repaid to you in full, and you will not be wronged.

Tafsir jalalayn

When the Prophet (s) was prohibited from giving voluntary alms to idolaters [as an incentive] for them to embrace Islam, the following was revealed; You are not responsible for guiding them, that is to say, for people, that they should embrace Islam, [you are responsible] only for conveying the Message [to them]; but God guides, with His guidance, whomever He will, to embrace Islam. And whatever good, property, you expend is for yourselves, since the reward is for you; for then you are expending, desiring only God's Face (this clause is the predicate, denoting a prohibition), that is to say, His reward and not any other transient object of this world, and whatever good you expend, its requital, shall be repaid to you in full, and you will not be wronged, you will not suffer any diminishment of it (both [of the last two] sentences emphasise the first one).

Tafseer Ibn Kathir

Giving Charity to Polytheists

Allah says;

لَّيْسَ عَلَيْكَ هُدَاهُمْ وَلَـكِنَّ اللّهَ يَهْدِي مَن يَشَاء وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلنفُسِكُمْ وَمَا تُنفِقُونَ إِلاَّ ابْتِغَاء وَجْهِ اللّهِ وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تُظْلَمُونَ




Not upon you (Muhammad) is their guidance, but Allah guides whom He wills. And whatever you spend in good, it is for yourselves, when you spend not except seeking Allah's Face. And whatever you spend in good, it will be repaid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged.

Abu Abdur-Rahman An-Nasa'i recorded that Ibn Abbas said that;

they, "Disliked giving charity to their polytheist relatives, but were later on allowed to give it to them when they inquired about this matter, and this Ayah was revealed."

Allah's statement,

وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ فَلنفُسِكُمْ


And whatever you spend in good, it is for yourselves,

is similar to His other statement,

مَّنْ عَمِلَ صَـلِحاً فَلِنَفْسِهِ

Whosoever does righteous good deed, it is for (the benefit of) his ownself.

There are many other similar Ayat in the Qur'an.

Allah said next,

وَمَا تُنفِقُونَ إِلاَّ ابْتِغَاء وَجْهِ اللّهِ

When you spend not except seeking Allah's Face.

Al-Hasan Al-Basri commented,

"Whenever the believer spends, including what he spends on himself, he seeks Allah's Face with it."

Ata Al-Khurasani said that the Ayah means,

"You give away charity for the sake of Allah. Therefore, you will not be asked about the deeds (or wickedness) of those who receive it."

This is a sound meaning indicating that when one spends in charity for Allah's sake, then his reward will be with Allah. He will not be asked if the charity unintentionally reached righteous, evil, deserving or undeserving persons, for he will be rewarded for his good intention. The proof to this statement is the Ayah,

وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِنْ خَيْرٍ يُوَفَّ إِلَيْكُمْ وَأَنتُمْ لَا تُظْلَمُونَ


And whatever you spend in good, it will be repaid to you in full, and you shall not be wronged.

The Two Sahihs recorded a Hadith by Abu Hurayrah that the Messenger of Allah said,

قَالَ رَجُلٌ لَااَتَصَدَّقَنَّ اللَّيْلَةَ بِصَدَقَةٍ فَخَرجَ بِصَدَقَتِهِ فَوَضَعَهَا فِي يَدِ زَانِيَةٍ فَأَصْبَحَ النَّاسُ يَتَحَدَّثُونَ تُصُدِّقَ عَلَى زَانِيَةٍ فَقَالَ اللَّهُمَ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ عَلَى زَانِيَةٍ لَااَتَصَدَّقَنَّ اللَّيْلَةَ بِصَدَقَةٍ

A man said, "Tonight, I shall give charity." He went out with his charity and (unknowingly) gave it to an adulteress. The next morning the people said that alms were given to an adulteress. The man said, "O Allah! All the praises are for You. (I gave my alms) to an adulteress. Tonight, I shall give alms again."

فَخَرَجَ بِصَدَقَتِهِ فَوَضَعَهَا فِي يَدِ غَنِيَ فَأَصْبَحُوا يَتَحَدَّثُونَ تُصُدِّقَ اللَّيْلَةَ عَلَى غَنِيَ قَالَ اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ عَلَى غَنِيَ لَاَتَصَدَّقَنَّ اللَّيْلَةَ بِصَدَقَةٍ

He went out with his charity and (unknowingly) gave it to a rich person. The next morning (the people) said, "Last night, a wealthy person was given alms." He said, "O Allah! All the praises are for You. (I gave alms) to a wealthy man. Tonight, I shall again give charity."

فَخَرَجَ بِصَدَقَتِهِ فَوَضَعَهَا فِي يَدِ سَارِقٍ فَأَصْبَحُوا يَتَحَدَّثُونَ تُصُدِّقَ اللَّيْلَةَ عَلَى سَارِقٍ فَقَالَ اللَّهُمَّ لَكَ الْحَمْدُ عَلَى زَانِيَةٍ وَعَلَى غَنِيَ وَعَلَى سَارِقٍ

So he went out with his charity and (unknowingly) gave it to a thief. The next morning (the people) said, "Last night, a thief was given alms." He said, "O Allah! All the praises are for You. (I have given alms) to an adulteress, a wealthy man and a thief."

فَأُتِيَ فَقِيلَ لَهُ أَمَّا صَدَقَتُكَ فَقَدْ قُبِلَتْ وَأَمَّا الزَّانِيَةُ فَلَعَلَّهَا أَنْ تَسْتَعِفَّ بِهَا عَنْ زِنَاهَا وَلَعَلَّ الْغَنِيَّ يَعْتَبِرُ فَيُنْفِقُ مِمَّا أَعْطَاهُ اللهُ وَلَعَلَّ السَّارِقَ أَنْ يَسْتَعِفَّ بِهَا عَنْ سَرِقَتِه

Then, someone came to him and said, "The alms that you gave away were accepted. As for the adulteress, the alms might make her abstain from adultery. As for the wealthy man, it might make him take a lesson and spend his wealth that Allah has given him. As for the thief, it might make him abstain from stealing."
Who Deserves Charity

Allah said