Al-Hadid · The measure of true independence
الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ وَيَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبُخْلِ ۗ وَمَن يَتَوَلَّ فَإِنَّ اللَّهَ هُوَ الْغَنِيُّ الْحَمِيدُ
“Those who are stingy and enjoin the people with stinginess. And whoever turns away, then indeed, Allah is the Free of need (Al-Ghaniy), the Praiseworthy (Al-Hameed)”
The ayah identifies the character behind the boast
The opening phrase defines those described as self-conceited boasters by exposing both their private refusal to give and their public cultivation of the same refusal.
الَّذِينَ يَبْخَلُونَ وَيَأْمُرُونَ النَّاسَ بِالْبُخْلِ
“Those who are stingy and enjoin the people with stinginess” functions as a Badal Bayaan. It identifies the Mukhtaal Fakhoor—the self-conceited boaster whom Allah does not love.
- Self-conceit produces a need to remain above others.
- That need appears as withholding what one can give.
- The same attitude encourages others to withhold.
البُخْل · Al-Bukhl
Stinginess and miserliness mean holding back from giving while possessing the capability and means to give. The person who practices البُخْل is بَخِيل (Bakheel).
Withholding extends beyond wealth
A person can be stingy with anything in their possession that they refuse to give or share. The ayah exposes a disposition, not merely a financial habit.
Wealth
Material means are retained despite the ability to spend. Possession becomes a means of preserving imagined superiority and security.
Knowledge
Knowledge can be concealed and held back. Later in the surah, this form of البُخْل appears in connection with the People of the Book.
Kindness
Even kindness can be withheld. Stinginess includes refusing to share non-material good that remains fully within a person’s capacity to offer.
The inner motive
The Mukhtaal Fakhoor does not want others to possess what he possesses. He seeks to continue seeing himself as having more and being better than everyone else.
Stinginess is commanded directly and taught indirectly
The plural address covers explicit obstruction as well as the culture created when people of means model habitual non-giving.
Directly enjoining stinginess
The hypocrites of Al-Madinah directly instructed others not to spend on those with the Messenger of Allah.
Teaching through example
Those who have the means to give but continually refuse to give teach the same behavior without speaking. Their example normalizes a culture of withholding.
هُمُ الَّذِينَ يَقُولُونَ لَا تُنفِقُوا عَلَىٰ مَنْ عِندَ رَسُولِ اللَّهِ حَتَّىٰ يَنفَضُّوا
“They are the ones who say: “Do not spend on those who are with the Messenger of Allah until they disband””Al-Munafiqun: 7
The command to give frames the warning against withholding
The ayah stands within a wider movement from spending wealth in Allah’s way to refusing the concealment of knowledge.
Spend in Allah’s way
The opening ayaat enjoin spending and direct wealth toward obedience.
Do not withhold or cultivate withholding
Stinginess is condemned in the individual and in the influence exerted upon others.
Do not withhold knowledge
The People of the Book display stinginess when they conceal knowledge and hold it back.
The response shifts attention entirely to Allah
The warning includes the stingy and everyone else who turns away from Allah’s command, from Allah, or from the message.
Whoever turns away
The wording is general. It includes turning away from the command to spend and avoid stinginess, as well as turning away more generally from Allah and the message.
Allah is Al-Ghaniy, Al-Hameed
Human refusal changes nothing about Allah. His complete independence and inherent worthiness of praise remain absolute.
True independence and intrinsic praise belong to Allah
The conclusion dismantles the illusion that withholding creates independence. Human possessions remain insecure; Allah’s independence and praise are complete.
الْغَنِيُّ
Al-Ghaniy
The One completely free of need
الْغَنِيُّ refers to the one who needs no one and nothing else. It denotes complete self-sufficiency and independence.
The word came to describe a rich or wealthy person because such a person appears not to depend on others. Allah alone truly has no need of anyone or anything.
الْحَمِيدُ
Al-Hameed
The One inherently worthy of praise
In Qur’anic usage, الْحَمِيدُ functions as a صِفَة مُشَبَّهَة (Sifah Mushabbahah): a form describing an inherent and stable quality.
An Ism Maf’ool. Praise comes from others and remains relational, contingent, and context-dependent. Someone praised today may be blamed tomorrow.
A word on the Fa’eel pattern. The quality that makes Him praiseworthy is intrinsic, stable, and self-contained.
The essential distinction
مَحْمُود means praised because others praise him.
حَمِيد means praiseworthy because of who He is, even if no one praises Him.
Hameed can linguistically carry an active-participle sense of one who praises continuously or habitually. This reading can convey that Allah praises those who spend and are not miserly despite having no need of them. When people do what Allah wants, He finds them deserving of praise. Its Qur’anic usage here remains the inherent quality of the One who is praised and worthy of praise.
Turning away harms neither Allah nor His provision
Allah has no need of withheld wealth, and obedient servants remain ready to fulfill His command.
And whoever turns away does not harm Allah in the least, nor does he harm the poor person; for Allah has no need of the wealth of those who turn away, and because He has servants who obey His command whom He praises.