[2:245] How Do We Lend GOD a Loan of Righteousness? Giving, Sincerity, and the True Return

Author: Berk KÖKSAL
Date: November 05, 2026
Location: Mersin

The purpose of this reflection is to contemplate 2:245 alongside related verses: What does it mean to lend GOD a loan of righteousness? How does the question relate to giving, justice, truthful testimony, submission, and the way a person treats possessions? And what does bearing witness to GOD alone mean when something we love must leave our hands?

Peace. Peace be upon you.

I stopped at a sentence that seemed impossible if read as an ordinary financial transaction: How can I lend GOD anything? A loan usually supplies someone with something they lack. But what could the One who provides and withholds possibly lack? The ending of 2:245 makes the problem even more striking. GOD is the One who provides. We are the ones who return to Him.

I do not want to settle the question by calling it a poetic metaphor and moving on. The expression returns in other verses, in more than one setting. In 5:12 it belongs to a covenant; in 73:20 it appears alongside the Contact Prayers and obligatory charity; in 57:18 it is associated with charitable men and women. These connections demand that I look at the things I give, the people receiving them, and the intention with which I release them.

In my earlier reflection, What Is the Covenant Made with GOD?, I considered the distance between professing loyalty and living it. In Loving GOD Alone, I questioned the place of our attachments. Now those questions meet something tangible: the money I earn, the things I keep, what I am reluctant to share, and what I expect when I give.

Summary

2:245

مَّن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يُقْرِضُ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا فَيُضَٰعِفَهُۥ لَهُۥٓ أَضْعَافًا كَثِيرَةً وَٱللَّهُ يَقْبِضُ وَيَبْسُطُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

Who would lend GOD a loan of righteousness, to have it repaid to them multiplied manifold? GOD is the One who provides and withholds, and to Him you will be returned.

Kim TANRI’ya, kat kat çoğaltılarak geri ödenmek üzere bir doğruluk borcu verir? Rızkı sağlayan da kısıtlayan da TANRI’dır ve siz O’na geri döndürüleceksiniz.

Source: kuranteyit.com

5:12 — GOD had taken a covenant from the Children of Israel, and we raised among them twelve patriarchs. And GOD said, “I am with you, so long as you observe the Contact Prayers (Salat), give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and believe in My messengers and respect them, and continue to lend GOD a loan of righteousness. I will then remit your sins, and admit you into gardens with flowing streams. Anyone who disbelieves after this, has indeed strayed off the right path.”

57:18 — Surely, the charitable men and women, have loaned GOD a loan of goodness. They will receive their reward multiplied manifold; they have deserved a generous recompense.

73:20 — Your Lord knows that you meditate during two-thirds of the night, or half of it, or one-third of it, and so do some of those who believed with you. GOD has designed the night and the day, and He knows that you cannot always do this. He has pardoned you. Instead, you shall read what you can of the Quran. He knows that some of you may be ill, others may be traveling in pursuit of GOD’s provisions, and others may be striving in the cause of GOD. You shall read what you can of it, and observe the contact prayers (Salat), give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and lend GOD a loan of righteousness. Whatever good you send ahead on behalf of your souls, you will find it at GOD far better and generously rewarded. And implore GOD for forgiveness. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.

2:262 — Those who spend their money in the cause of GOD, then do not follow their charity with insult or harm, will receive their recompense from their Lord; they have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.

22:37 — Neither their meat, nor their blood reaches GOD. What reaches Him is your righteousness. He has subdued them for you, that you may show your appreciation by glorifying GOD for guiding you. Give good news to the charitable.

1. Lending to GOD: The Question That Disrupts the Ordinary Meaning of Debt

Verse

2:245

مَّن ذَا ٱلَّذِى يُقْرِضُ ٱللَّهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا فَيُضَٰعِفَهُۥ لَهُۥٓ أَضْعَافًا كَثِيرَةً وَٱللَّهُ يَقْبِضُ وَيَبْسُطُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ

Who would lend GOD a loan of righteousness, to have it repaid to them multiplied manifold? GOD is the One who provides and withholds, and to Him you will be returned.

Kim TANRI’ya, kat kat çoğaltılarak geri ödenmek üzere bir doğruluk borcu verir? Rızkı sağlayan da kısıtlayan da TANRI’dır ve siz O’na geri döndürüleceksiniz.

Source: kuranteyit.com

Reflection on the Verse

The opening of 2:245 is an invitation framed as a question. Who would lend GOD such a loan? It asks something of me before I can hide behind a definition. When I look at what I possess, do I see only the things I have earned and the security they might provide? Or do I see a means of doing good while seeking GOD’s approval? The verse makes me examine my attachment to what is in my hands.

Yet the word loan creates a tension. A human borrower generally needs what another person can supply. This verse ends by saying that GOD provides and withholds. I therefore find no support here for imagining that I am filling a need in GOD. The language of a loan instead directs my attention to a righteous act for which GOD promises a multiplied return. That promise must not be expanded beyond what is written: the verse does not specify a date for repayment or guarantee a particular increase in my earthly bank balance.

This distinction matters to my intention. Am I seeking GOD’s pleasure, or am I looking for a way to control my future gains? The verse gives me reason to trust the One who promises the return, not a technique for extracting a desired result. Its final reminder is our return to Him. If I focus only on multiplication and forget that final meeting, I may misunderstand the entire invitation.

Verse reference: 2:245.

2. Whose Possessions Am I Giving? Ownership and the One Who Needs Nothing

Verse

57:7 — Believe in GOD and His messenger, and give from what He has bestowed upon you. Those among you who believe and give (to charity) have deserved a great recompense.

2:263 — Kind words and compassion are better than a charity that is followed by insult. GOD is Rich, Clement.

Reflection on the Verse

Verse 57:7 tells me to give from what GOD has bestowed upon me. This does not deny the reality of human work. I know the effort behind earning a living, saving, making plans, and supporting people who depend on me. But effort and ultimate ownership are not the same claim. I may work with what is given to me without treating its existence as proof of my absolute independence.

Then 2:263 places a remarkable comparison before me. Kind words and compassion may be better than charity followed by insult. The same verse calls GOD Rich. If I read these statements together, I cannot present my gift as something GOD lacked, nor can I pretend that a payment makes me morally superior to the person receiving it.

There is a kind of charity that carries a hidden demand: ‘Remember what I did for you.’ The money may have met a need, while the accompanying words injure a person. I find it difficult to reconcile that with the measure in 2:263. Remembering where my possessions came from should make me more careful about how I treat the person in front of me. A gift can be real without making its recipient subordinate to the giver.

Verse references: 57:7, 2:263.

3. Righteousness Is a Whole Life, Not a Payment

Verse

2:177 — Righteousness is not turning your faces towards the east or the west. Righteous are those who believe in GOD, the Last Day, the angels, the scripture, and the prophets; and they give the money, cheerfully, to the relatives, the orphans, the needy, the traveling alien, the beggars, and to free the slaves; and they observe the Contact Prayers (Salat) and give the obligatory charity (Zakat); and they keep their word whenever they make a promise; and they steadfastly persevere in the face of persecution, hardship, and war. These are the truthful; these are the righteous.

Reflection on the Verse

I cannot read 2:177 as a narrow statement about money. It brings together faith, giving gladly, observing the Contact Prayers, obligatory charity, keeping promises, and perseverance in hardship. The breadth matters. Righteousness is not reduced to the outward direction of the face, and neither is it reduced to the outward movement of a coin.

What holds my attention is the place given to keeping one’s word. Could I make a generous public donation while repeatedly breaking promises in private and assume that one act cancels the other? This verse does not give me a method for judging the hidden worth of particular people. But it does prevent me from constructing two unrelated moral lives: one in which I appear charitable and another in which my word means little.

I do not want to dissolve the loan of righteousness into the vague statement that ‘anything good counts.’ The verses about this loan do have a substantial connection to giving. Still, 2:177 warns me against separating that act from the kind of person I am becoming. If I wish to give in the cause of GOD, I must also ask whether my ordinary conduct is moving in the same direction.

Verse reference: 2:177.

4. The Covenant and the Loan: What 5:12 Does and Does Not Say

Verse

5:12 — GOD had taken a covenant from the Children of Israel, and we raised among them twelve patriarchs. And GOD said, “I am with you, so long as you observe the Contact Prayers (Salat), give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and believe in My messengers and respect them, and continue to lend GOD a loan of righteousness. I will then remit your sins, and admit you into gardens with flowing streams. Anyone who disbelieves after this, has indeed strayed off the right path.”

Reflection on the Verse

The covenant in 5:12 is explicitly described as a covenant taken from the Children of Israel. I must not erase that setting. Yet I can examine the responsibilities named within it. The Contact Prayers, obligatory charity, belief in and respect for GOD’s messengers, and continuing to lend GOD a loan of righteousness stand side by side. The word continue is especially important to me. Faithfulness is not presented as one impressive act in the past; it involves persistence.

I also notice that obligatory charity and the loan of righteousness are mentioned separately. If I call them exactly the same thing without further examination, I may miss something in the wording. But I must not move to the opposite extreme either: their separate mention does not, by itself, tell me every legal distinction, percentage, or method of giving that might be associated with each phrase.

A covenant joins words to conduct. I can speak solemnly about faith and still resist the part that costs me something. I can respect a messenger in speech while avoiding the obligations placed beside that respect. Reading 5:12 makes me ask whether the commitments I profess have a continuation in my daily choices. The verse does not invite me to turn a historical covenant into a tool for judging others; it invites careful reflection on what fidelity looks like.

Verse reference: 5:12.

5. Human Limits: Illness, Travel, Work, and Giving What One Can

Verse

73:20 — Your Lord knows that you meditate during two-thirds of the night, or half of it, or one-third of it, and so do some of those who believed with you. GOD has designed the night and the day, and He knows that you cannot always do this. He has pardoned you. Instead, you shall read what you can of the Quran. He knows that some of you may be ill, others may be traveling in pursuit of GOD’s provisions, and others may be striving in the cause of GOD. You shall read what you can of it, and observe the contact prayers (Salat), give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and lend GOD a loan of righteousness. Whatever good you send ahead on behalf of your souls, you will find it at GOD far better and generously rewarded. And implore GOD for forgiveness. GOD is Forgiver, Most Merciful.

Reflection on the Verse

Verse 73:20 is long enough to slow me down, which is exactly what I need. It acknowledges illness, travel in pursuit of GOD’s provisions, and the limits of human capacity. It speaks about how much of the Quran people can read, the Contact Prayers, obligatory charity, and a loan of righteousness. The call to give appears within a realistic picture of human lives, not as an abstract competition to demonstrate who can sacrifice most.

Once again, obligatory charity and the loan of righteousness are listed separately. I should preserve that fact rather than force both into one undefined obligation. Just as importantly, I should pay attention to the compassion within the verse. Some people are ill. Some travel to earn a living. Not everyone can do the same thing at the same time or with the same strength.

This makes me cautious when I talk about giving to someone whose circumstances I do not know. I should not use a religious phrase to demand what that person cannot provide. The verse ends with the good one sends ahead for one’s own soul and with a request for forgiveness. That ending is humbling. A person encouraged to give is still someone who needs mercy. A gift is not a certificate that the giver has become faultless.

Verse reference: 73:20.

6. Multiplied Recompense: Who Determines the Return?

Verse

57:11 — Who would like to loan GOD a loan of righteousness, to have it multiplied for him manifold, and end up with a generous recompense?

57:18 — Surely, the charitable men and women, have loaned GOD a loan of goodness. They will receive their reward multiplied manifold; they have deserved a generous recompense.

64:17 — If you lend GOD a loan of righteousness, He will multiply the reward for you manifold, and forgive you. GOD is Appreciative, Clement.

Reflection on the Verse

In 57:11, the invitation to lend GOD a loan of righteousness returns. In 64:17, the multiplied reward is joined to forgiveness. Verse 57:18 turns our attention to charitable men and women. I want to preserve a meaningful difference between the verse texts: 57:11 says ‘loan of righteousness,’ while 57:18 says ‘loan of goodness.’ Their Turkish renderings likewise use different expressions. Similarity does not give me permission to rewrite a verse so that every occurrence has one uniform label.

The pairing of charitable men and women in 57:18 also matters. The value of giving is not tied to a public title. But neither the status of the giver nor the size of a donation gives the giver control over the promised recompense. The verses speak of a multiplied reward; they do not offer a schedule of worldly returns for individual donations.

I hear a temptation within myself whenever multiplication is mentioned. If I give a hundred, do I begin demanding a thousand? When that becomes my governing thought, the gift starts to resemble a commercial maneuver designed for my gain. Trusting the promise from GOD is not the same as treating GOD as the mechanism of a financial scheme. I want my giving to remain an act of submission even when I do not know the form of the return.

Verse references: 57:11, 57:18, 64:17; compare 2:245.

7. Giving From What I Love, Not What I Want to Discard

Verse

3:92 — You cannot attain righteousness until you give to charity from the possessions you love. Whatever you give to charity, GOD is fully aware thereof.

2:267 — O you who believe, you shall give to charity from the good things you earn, and from what we have produced for you from the earth. Do not pick out the bad therein to give away, when you yourselves do not accept it unless your eyes are closed. You should know that GOD is Rich, Praiseworthy.

Reflection on the Verse

Verse 3:92 confronts me with the possessions I love. It is easy to give away what I have already decided has little value to me. But when something matters, giving exposes my attachment. I may remember how long I worked to obtain it. I may worry about needing it later. Some of those concerns are legitimate, and the verse does not demand that I abandon every responsibility in order to give recklessly. Still, it challenges my habit of keeping everything valuable for myself.

Verse 2:267 adds another practical test: give from the good things you earn, rather than selecting for others what you would scarcely accept yourself. This is not a command to make every donation luxurious. It is a warning against pretending that something I regard as unacceptable becomes noble merely because I hand it to a person with fewer choices.

I think the two verses examine opposite sides of the same hand. One asks whether I can release something I value. The other asks what I consider another person worthy of receiving. The answer should involve both generosity and respect. When I give, what is being measured may not be the price tag alone; it may also be the place that the possession occupies in my heart.

Verse references: 3:92, 2:267.

8. The Grain and the Garden: Multiplication Without a Mechanical Formula

Verse

2:261 — The example of those who spend their monies in the cause of GOD is that of a grain that produces seven spikes, with a hundred grains in each spike. GOD multiplies this manifold for whomever He wills. GOD is Bounteous, Knower.

2:265 — The example of those who give their money seeking GOD’s pleasure, out of sincere conviction, is that of a garden on high fertile soil; when heavy rain falls, it gives twice as much crop. If heavy rain is not available, a drizzle will suffice. GOD is Seer of everything you do.

Reflection on the Verse

The grain in 2:261 produces a remarkable image of multiplication. An act that seems small to human eyes may lead to something beyond our calculation. Yet the verse does not end with a mechanical equation. GOD multiplies for whomever He wills. The agency belongs to Him.

Verse 2:265 shifts the image to a fertile garden and emphasizes those who give seeking GOD’s pleasure, out of sincere conviction. I find that shift important. Multiplication and intention are placed close together, but I cannot look into a stranger’s inner world and measure the sincerity of that person’s contribution. I must begin with my own intention.

These verses make me wary of promises framed as religious investment advice: ‘Give this amount and your income will increase by this precise amount at this date.’ The examples do not authorize that prediction. The promise of GOD’s recompense is meaningful precisely because it comes from GOD, not from my control over consequences. I can act, trust, and refrain from inventing guarantees that the verses themselves do not make.

Verse references: 2:261, 2:265.

9. When Charity Is Followed by Injury

Verse

2:262 — Those who spend their money in the cause of GOD, then do not follow their charity with insult or harm, will receive their recompense from their Lord; they have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.

2:263 — Kind words and compassion are better than a charity that is followed by insult. GOD is Rich, Clement.

2:264 — O you who believe, do not nullify your charities by inflicting reproach and insult, like one who spends his money to show off, while disbelieving in GOD and the Last Day. His example is like a rock covered with a thin layer of soil; as soon as heavy rain falls, it washes off the soil, leaving it a useless rock. They gain nothing from their efforts. GOD does not guide disbelieving people.

Reflection on the Verse

There is a way of taking back a gift without physically reclaiming it. I can keep reminding a person that I helped. I can mention the favor whenever disagreement arises. I can use past generosity to silence present objections. The resources have changed hands, but the relationship may have become a form of control.

Verses 2:262-264 warn against following charity with harm, reproach, and insult, as well as giving for show. The comparison in 2:263 is striking: kind words and compassion may be better than charity accompanied by insult. In that moment, the dignity of the receiving person becomes impossible to ignore. The verse does not allow me to measure charity exclusively by the amount transferred.

I want to ask whether I have truly given something if I still insist on deciding what the recipient must think, feel, or say afterward. The verses do not list every modern form of emotional pressure. Yet their warning against reproach and harm gives me a sound reason to examine those forms in my life. A gift that remains attached to an invisible demand may reveal an intention I would rather not see.

Verse references: 2:262-264.

10. Giving Without Expecting Even a Thank-You

Verse

76:8 — They donate their favorite food to the poor, the orphan, and the captive.

76:9 — “We feed you for the sake of GOD; we expect no reward from you, nor thanks.

76:10 — “We fear from our Lord a day that is full of misery and trouble.”

92:18 — Who gives from his money to charity.

92:19 — Seeking nothing in return.

92:20 — Seeking only his Lord, the Most High.

Reflection on the Verse

In 76:8-10, food is given to the poor, the orphan, and the captive. The givers say they seek neither reward nor thanks from the people they feed. I do not read this as condemnation of ordinary gratitude. Rather, the gift is not made conditional on the recipient’s gratitude. A person may be exhausted, ashamed, unable to reply, or unknown to me. Does that change what I should do?

Verses 92:18-20 describe giving money without seeking something in return, seeking only one’s Lord. I find that a liberating standard. If I no longer require recognition, I do not need to make the recipient a witness to my goodness. I can help and then allow the person to continue living without owing me a performance of gratitude.

Still, receiving thanks does not prove that the giver was insincere. These verses do not authorize me to accuse people because their generosity has become visible. The question is what governs my own choice. Would I make the same gift if nobody knew, nobody praised me, and nobody remembered my name? That question feels much more demanding than a public declaration of generosity.

Verse references: 76:8-10, 92:18-20.

11. Public Charity, Private Charity, and the Freedom of the Recipient

Verse

2:271 — If you declare your charities, they are still good. But if you keep them anonymous, and give them to the poor, it is better for you, and remits more of your sins. GOD is fully Cognizant of everything you do.

2:272 — You are not responsible for guiding anyone. GOD is the only one who guides whoever chooses (to be guided). 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, without the least injustice.

Reflection on the Verse

Verse 2:271 does not call every public donation bad. It says open charity remains good while anonymous giving to the poor is better. I need to retain both halves. Public visibility cannot by itself prove hypocrisy, just as secrecy cannot prove sincerity. But anonymity may help protect the dignity of someone who did not choose to have their hardship displayed.

Then 2:272 addresses another temptation: trying to control the person I help. I am told that guiding people is not my responsibility, and that charity is to be given for the sake of GOD. This does not settle every question about choosing recipients or using resources wisely. It does, however, challenge the assumption that helping someone entitles me to govern that person’s conscience.

A hungry person should not become an opportunity for me to collect allegiance. A family member in difficulty should not become a target for emotional debt. If I give, my sincerity should be measured against my purpose, not the obedience I can obtain. The command to give for the sake of GOD keeps redirecting me away from the desire to make myself indispensable.

Verse references: 2:271-272.

12. Who Receives the Gift? Understanding Need Rather Than Applauding Myself

Verse

9:60 — Charities shall go to the poor, the needy, the workers who collect them, the new converts, to free the slaves, to those burdened by sudden expenses, in the cause of GOD, and to the traveling alien. Such is GOD’s commandment. GOD is Omniscient, Most Wise.

2:273 — Charity shall go to the poor who are suffering in the cause of GOD, and cannot emigrate. The unaware may think that they are rich, due to their dignity. But you can recognize them by certain signs; they never beg from the people persistently. Whatever charity you give, GOD is fully aware thereof.

Reflection on the Verse

Verse 9:60 names groups to whom charity is to go. The poor, the needy, people carrying particular responsibilities, those burdened by sudden expenses, and the traveling alien are among them. I cannot treat giving as simply the emotional relief of knowing that I have donated. The question of who actually benefits matters.

Verse 2:273 makes that concern more subtle. Some people suffer yet do not insistently beg. Their dignity may lead strangers to think they are well-off. That troubles me because visible need is not the only need. It is possible to walk past a person in difficulty because that person does not know how, or does not wish, to ask publicly.

These verses do not tell me that every organization asking for funds is trustworthy, nor do they establish an exclusive contemporary institution for collecting every contribution. They do offer reasons to look carefully at where assistance goes. It may be easier to celebrate a donation than to verify whether it reaches the people named by the verses. True concern requires attention, not merely an appealing story about generosity.

Verse references: 9:60, 2:273.

13. The People Near Me: Family, Neighbors, and Those Beyond My Circle

Verse

2:215 — They ask you about giving: say, “The charity you give shall go to the parents, the relatives, the orphans, the poor, and the traveling alien.” Any good you do, GOD is fully aware thereof.

4:36 — You shall worship GOD alone—do not associate anything with Him. You shall regard the parents, the relatives, the orphans, the poor, the related neighbor, the unrelated neighbor, the close associate, the traveling alien, and your servants. GOD does not like the arrogant show-offs.

Reflection on the Verse

When people ask about giving in 2:215, the answer names parents, relatives, orphans, the poor, and the traveling alien. Verse 4:36 puts regard for parents, relatives, neighbors, close associates, and others near the command to worship GOD alone. Together, they make it difficult for me to celebrate generosity in a distant place while refusing to see the needs that stand just outside my door.

But the opposite danger also exists. I might care only for my own family, never letting generosity reach someone outside my circle. The verses name both those close to me and people with whom I have no personal connection. They do not instruct me to turn these groups into enemies in a competition for compassion.

I cannot derive a universal, fixed distribution chart from these two verses alone. Circumstances differ. Responsibilities differ. Yet I can ask a truthful question before I give: Am I meeting a real need, or choosing the gesture that makes me appear generous while allowing me to neglect a more uncomfortable responsibility? A loan of righteousness should not be used as a way to forget the human beings already entrusted to my care.

Verse references: 2:215, 4:36.

14. Moderation: Neither Stinginess nor Reckless Giving

Verse

17:26 — You shall give the due alms to the relatives, the needy, the poor, and the traveling alien, but do not be excessive, extravagant.

17:29 — You shall not keep your hand stingily tied to your neck, nor shall you foolishly open it up, lest you end up blamed and sorry.

25:67 — When they give they are neither extravagant nor stingy; they give in moderation.

Reflection on the Verse

It is easy to make charitable language sound as though the only sincere act is giving away everything immediately. Yet 17:29 warns against both stinginess and opening one’s hand foolishly. Verse 25:67 commends moderation in giving. The issue is not whether generosity matters. It is whether I am mistaking a dramatic gesture for a responsible life.

Verse 17:26 acknowledges what is due to relatives and people in need while warning against extravagance. This makes me think about continuity. If I give extravagantly today and cannot meet legitimate responsibilities tomorrow, I should examine my judgment. I should also examine the opposite excuse: am I calling my reluctance to share ‘prudence’ simply because the word sounds respectable?

The verses do not supply one monetary amount that applies to everyone. They establish an ethical tension I must take seriously. Care for other people, care for responsibilities, and resistance to greed belong in the same decision. Moderation should not become a polite name for refusing to give. Nor should public generosity become a reason to neglect those who depend on me.

Verse references: 17:26, 17:29, 25:67.

15. In Prosperity and Difficulty: Giving as a Continuing Practice

Verse

3:134 — who give to charity during the good times, as well as the bad times. They are suppressors of anger, and pardoners of the people. GOD loves the charitable.

64:16 — Therefore, you shall reverence GOD as much as you can, and listen, and obey, and give (to charity) for your own good. Anyone who is protected from his own stinginess, these are the successful ones.

51:19 — A portion of their money was set aside for the beggar and the needy.

Reflection on the Verse

Verse 3:134 speaks about giving in good times and bad. What surprises me is that controlling anger and forgiving others appear alongside generosity. The moral life is not divided into a financial part and an emotional part. I can give money and still harm people with my anger. The verse places both within the horizon of doing good.

Verse 64:16 tells people to reverence GOD as much as they can and to give for their own good. It also warns about stinginess. I should not confuse a real limitation with unwillingness; nor should I label everyone who gives little as someone who lacks faith. A person may be struggling to survive and still be genuinely committed to sharing.

Verse 51:19 describes money set aside for the beggar and the needy. This has a practical meaning for me. Giving need not depend entirely on whether I feel moved at a particular moment. I can think ahead and make room for another person’s need. The verse does not give me a universal percentage. But it suggests that concern for the needy can have a regular place in a person’s life, not merely a place in occasional speeches.

Verse references: 3:134, 64:16, 51:19.

16. When Religious Giving Becomes an Instrument of Power

Verse

9:34 — O you who believe, many religious leaders and preachers take the people’s money illicitly, and repel from the path of GOD. Those who hoard the gold and silver, and do not spend them in the cause of GOD, promise them a painful retribution.

9:79 — Those who criticize the generous believers for giving too much, and ridicule the poor believers for giving too little, GOD despises them. They have incurred a painful retribution.

22:37 — Neither their meat, nor their blood reaches GOD. What reaches Him is your righteousness. He has subdued them for you, that you may show your appreciation by glorifying GOD for guiding you. Give good news to the charitable.

Reflection on the Verse

Verse 9:34 contains a serious warning about religious leaders and preachers who take people’s money illicitly and turn people away from GOD’s path. It reminds me that religious language cannot serve as a substitute for honesty. Titles, confidence, and a polished appeal do not prove that money is being collected fairly or used as promised. A person who speaks about GOD should not be treated as immune from accountability.

Verse 9:79 shows another misuse of money: mocking people who give a great deal and ridiculing those who can afford only a little. Both gestures turn giving into a performance judged by spectators. They draw attention away from the needy and toward the status of the giver. Yet I do not know every person’s obligations, capacities, or intentions.

In 22:37, it is righteousness that reaches GOD, not the physical offering described in the verse. That does not make material giving unnecessary; the surrounding verses about charity still matter. But it prevents me from assuming that an impressive outward offering settles the question of what lies within it. A religious collection can be large and still call for moral scrutiny. A modest gift can be quiet and deeply meaningful. Neither appearance licenses me to declare the unseen state of another soul.

Verse references: 9:34, 9:79, 22:37.

17. Arabic Roots: Loan, Goodness, and Multiplication

Verse

2:245 — Who would lend GOD a loan of righteousness, to have it repaid to them multiplied manifold? GOD is the One who provides and withholds, and to Him you will be returned.

57:18 — Surely, the charitable men and women, have loaned GOD a loan of goodness. They will receive their reward multiplied manifold; they have deserved a generous recompense.

Reflection on the Verse

In the Arabic text of 2:245, يُقْرِضُ (yuqridu) and قَرْضًا (qardan) belong to the root ق-ر-ض (q-r-ḍ), used here in the sense of lending. The word حَسَنًا (hasanan) is connected to ح-س-ن (ḥ-s-n), associated with goodness and beauty. This makes the quality of the act as worthy of attention as the language of the loan. The expression should be examined in its sentence, not reduced to an isolated dictionary entry.

The form فَيُضَٰعِفَهُۥ (fayuḍāʿifahu) is linked with ض-ع-ف (ḍ-ʿ-f) in the context of multiplying. The contrast between يَقْبِضُ (yaqbiḍu) and يَبْسُطُ (yabsuṭu) in the same verse relates to withholding and providing. But a root does not independently dictate a doctrine. The verse’s complete wording must remain primary.

In Rashad Khalifa’s Authorized English Translation, 2:245 speaks of a ‘loan of righteousness.’ Its Turkish translation uses the expression ‘doğruluk borcu.’ In 57:18, the English says ‘loan of goodness’ and the Turkish translation says ‘iyilik borcu.’ I want to keep this difference visible rather than silently harmonizing it. The words ask me to consider lending, the goodness of the act, and the multiplied return together, while recognizing that neither I nor an interpreter can add guarantees the verses do not provide.

Verse references: 2:245, 57:18; compare 57:11 and 64:17.

18. Other Claims

Verse

5:12 — GOD had taken a covenant from the Children of Israel, and we raised among them twelve patriarchs. And GOD said, “I am with you, so long as you observe the Contact Prayers (Salat), give the obligatory charity (Zakat), and believe in My messengers and respect them, and continue to lend GOD a loan of righteousness. I will then remit your sins, and admit you into gardens with flowing streams. Anyone who disbelieves after this, has indeed strayed off the right path.”

57:18 — Surely, the charitable men and women, have loaned GOD a loan of goodness. They will receive their reward multiplied manifold; they have deserved a generous recompense.

Reflection on the Verse

Different interpretive approaches may identify the loan of righteousness primarily with voluntary material charity, treat it as a form of obligatory giving, or use it as a broad figure for righteous actions. Each approach may appeal to aspects of the surrounding passages, but I do not want to present any one of them as an undisputed definition established by the wording alone. Verse 57:18 explicitly speaks of charitable men and women. Verses 5:12 and 73:20 distinguish obligatory charity and the loan in their sequence of expressions. Both observations deserve to be retained.

Another claim treats the multiplied recompense as a reliable method for increasing earthly wealth in a predictable amount of time. An opposing approach can make the loan so thoroughly inward and symbolic that actual sharing seems optional. The first risks inventing financial guarantees; the second risks weakening the verses that explicitly describe giving. I have not used either theory as the foundation for the reflections above.

Questions about percentages, compulsory schedules, or exclusive institutional intermediaries may be discussed in other interpretive traditions. But I do not wish to transform additional arrangements into direct words of GOD. The aim here is not to close every disagreement. It is to keep the verse in view while admitting the limits of what it explicitly settles.

Verse references: 2:245, 5:12, 57:18, 73:20, 2:177, 2:262-265.

19. Conclusion: Lending to GOD by Giving to People

Verse

2:245 — Who would lend GOD a loan of righteousness, to have it repaid to them multiplied manifold? GOD is the One who provides and withholds, and to Him you will be returned.

2:262 — Those who spend their money in the cause of GOD, then do not follow their charity with insult or harm, will receive their recompense from their Lord; they have nothing to fear, nor will they grieve.

41:46 — Whoever works righteousness, does so for his own good, and whoever works evil does so to his own detriment. Your Lord is never unjust towards the people.

Reflection on the Verse

I return to my first question: How do I lend GOD a loan of righteousness? Reading these verses together, I see a direction rather than a secret transaction. I begin by remembering the source of what I possess. Then I give something good, within my capacity, where real need exists, seeking GOD’s pleasure. I do not turn the recipient into my debtor. I do not follow the gift with humiliation or make it a monument to myself.

Verse 2:177 connects giving to faith, prayer, keeping promises, and perseverance. Verses 5:12 and 73:20 place the loan near ongoing acts of worship and obligatory charity. Verse 3:92 asks me to give from what I love. Verse 2:267 tells me not to choose what I would reject for myself. Verses 2:271-272 bring sincerity and discretion into view. Verse 17:29 reminds me not to mistake extravagance for goodness. Together, these passages describe something larger than one visible act.

I cannot use a gift to gain authority over GOD. I cannot use it to purchase a human conscience. I cannot look down upon someone who has given less than I have, or consider my own soul purified simply because I have spent money. The return belongs to GOD, and trusting Him means leaving the form of that return with Him as well.

Verse 41:46 reminds me that the benefit of righteous action returns to the one who acts. Perhaps the one changed by this unusual loan is not GOD, but the person giving it. The act reveals what I cling to, what I fear losing, and whether my generosity can exist without applause. Giving does not solve every contradiction within me. But it may uncover the contradictions I most need to face.

So I leave myself with one question: If nobody knew, nobody thanked me, my name were never mentioned, and I did not know when the recompense would come, would I still choose to give?

Verse references: 2:245, 2:177, 2:262, 2:267, 2:271-272, 3:92, 5:12, 17:29, 41:46, 57:18, 73:20.

Note

2:32 — They said, “Be You glorified, we have no knowledge, except that which You have taught us. You are the Omniscient, Most Wise.”

GOD knows best.

Source: kuranteyit.com