Law

188. Do not eat your wealth amongst yourselves by falsehood, and do not present it to the
judges so that you may eat a portion of the wealth of men with sin while you know (that
what you are doing is wrong).

In the previous ayahs, Allah (swt) told us about fasting. How we should abstain from food, drink and our wives for Him (swt). This is so that we can gain Taqwa, so that we can learn how to control our desires and our passions for Him (swt). The desires are what veil man from the Divine. Now one of the greatest of desires that all men have is the greed for money and wealth.
The material things of this world can seduce a human being and he can spend his whole life trying to acquire as much of it as possible. This greed can be so great that if the human being does not have the guidance from Allah (swt), then he will not care from where he acquires his wealth. That is why in the previous ayahs as Allah (swt) taught us to abstain from our need for food, drink and sex, in this ayah He (swt) tells us to curb our desire for wealth. In the previous ayahs Allah (swt) told us to have Taqwa in how we observe the rules of fasting and in this ayah He (swt) tells us to have Taqwa in the way that we acquire our wealth.

Allah (swt) begins this ayah by saying “Do not eat your wealth amongst yourselves by falsehood”. To eat the wealth of your Muslim brother in falsehood is to acquire that wealth in an unlawful way. So if you gain money or property in any way that is forbidden by the Law of Allah (swt) then you eating that wealth in falsehood. All wealth belongs only to Allah (swt) and He (swt) has only given you the right to consume the portion of it that you acquired while abiding to His (swt)’s Law. If you in any way broke the Law of Allah (swt) to acquire some wealth then you should know that you have no right to that wealth. If you should then consume that wealth, then know that you would be consuming it in falsehood. That means you would be consuming it in sin and thus earning the displeasure of Allah (swt). May Allah (swt) save us from that!

Notice also how this one verse covers all of the illegal ways of acquiring wealth. It is a sin to acquire wealth through theft, through bribery, through extortion, through blackmailing, through cheating the scales and giving false measurement and all of the other illegitimate ways of gaining wealth. In addition it is also illegal to gain wealth through interest, just as it illegal to gain wealth through a transaction that is not valid in the Law of Allah (swt). So any transaction where the item being sold is forbidden, such as pork or wine, is also forbidden. As is any transaction where the item being sold is not known at the time of sale, such as insurance contracts. All of these are forbidden in the Law of Allah (swt), and if any wealth is acquired through these then that wealth is acquired in falsehood. May Allah (swt) save us from that!

Also look at the beauty of the language in this ayah. Allah (swt) does not say not to consume someone else’s wealth in falsehood but He (swt) says not to consume your own wealth in falsehood. This is because when you acquire wealth through illegitimate means, you are really cheating yourself and you are really depriving yourself. On the one hand you are breaking the Law of Allah (swt) and you are earning the Wrath of Allah (swt). On the other hand you are cheating and depriving your Muslim brother of wealth that really belongs to him. Furthermore you are encouraging such a practice in the society. When you acquire wealth through ways that are forbidden in the Law of Allah (swt) then your actions encourage others to do so as well. So if you cheat someone else and acquire some wealth unlawfully then you should know that it is only a matter of time before someone does it to you. As it is said what goes around eventually comes around. May Allah (swt) save us from all of the unfair means of acquiring wealth that exist in the society that we live! May Allah (swt) allow all of the wealth that we acquire to be through lawful means! This is so that our wealth will be a wealth that Allah (swt) will bless and that He (swt) will allow us to use to become closer to Him (swt) with it! May Allah (swt) also help us to realize the oceans of meanings and the subtleties of wisdom that are present in every ayah of the Quran!

In the second part of this ayah, Allah (swt) says “and do not present it to the judges so that you may eat a portion of the wealth of men with sin while you know (that what you are doing is wrong)”. The scholars say that this part of the ayah is telling us about bribing judges and officials in order to get a ruling in our favor. When Allah (swt) says “do not present it to the judges”, He (swt) is telling us not to offer our wealth to the judges as bribes. The purpose of such bribes would be deception and injustice because Allah (swt) says “so that you may eat a portion of the wealth of men with sin”. So it is forbidden to offer bribes to judges in order to steal the wealth of others. We see here that not only does Allah (swt) forbid giving bribes to judges, but He (swt) also forbids any injustice or deception in the courts whereby the wealth of others is taken wrongfully. So if you bribe a judge, or if you lie in court, or if you present false evidence, or if you conceal the truth, all with the intention of cheating others and taking their wealth, then you should know that you are directly violating the command that Allah (swt) has given in this ayah. No matter how you look at it, it is still stealing. We can also note in this ayah that Allah (swt) does not say “take the wealth of Muslims with sin” but He (swt) says take “the wealth of men with sin”, so this includes all of mankind; both Muslims and non-Muslims. So any kind of injustice in the court where the wealth of another person is taken unjustly is a terrible sin for which one will earn the Wrath of Allah (swt). May Allah (swt) save us from that!

In their tafsir of this ayah, the scholars have pointed out a hadith of the Prophet (saw) where he (saw) said “I am only human. You present your cases before me, and some of you may be more eloquent and persuasive in presenting his argument, I might issue a judgment in his favor. So if I give a Muslim’s right to another, I am really giving him a piece of the Fire, so he should not take it”. Here we see even the Prophet (saw) warning us against injustice in the court.
Just because a judge ruled in your favor does not make what you did as correct if you yourself know that what you did was wrong. That is why in the final part of this ayah, Allah (swt) says “while you know (that what you are doing is wrong)”. So if you bribe the judge, or you cheat the judge with false evidence, or persuade the judge with eloquent arguments, and then the judge rules in your favor, that does not make what you did as correct. Even if that judge was the Prophet (saw) himself (saw) that does not make what you did as right. Because you know that what you did was wrong, and more importantly Allah (swt) Knows that what you did was wrong. So while you might get a temporary gain in the life of this world, you should remember that a terrible punishment is waiting for you in the Hereafter. May Allah (swt) save us from that!

So the lesson that we can take from this part of the ayah is that we must always be fair and just, especially when we are in the court and in front of a judge. Any wealth that we get unlawfully through deception and lies, we should know that that there will be a punishment for us in the Hereafter because of that wealth. We should know that while we may be able to fool the judges in the life of this world we will never be able to fool the True Judge. Then the wealth that we took unlawfully will be a punishment for us. May Allah (swt) save us from that terrible punishment! May Allah (swt) save us from our greed for the material goods of this world! May Allah (swt) save us from taking even a half a date unlawfully!

Another lesson that we can take from this ayah is that it shows us the many benefits of the Islamic Economic System. In this ayah alone, Allah (swt) has categorically forbidden all of the means through which wealth is earned unlawfully. From this ayah we can see how all of the wealth that every person earns in the Islamic State must be fairly earned. The Islamic Economic System does not prohibit private ownership of property like the Communists do, but at the same it does make certain that all of the wealth is fairly and justly earned. It does not allow the oppression and the hoarding of wealth that we see in the Capitalist world. It is prohibits any one group of people from controlling all of the wealth. The system of Zakat ensures that all of the wealth of the land is fairly distributed among all of the people. It ensures that there are no people in poverty and in need. This is because one of the greatest injustices that can be done with wealth is to hoard it and not to give it others when you do not truly need it and they do. That is why the Islamic State seeks to create a society in which there is no one who is exuberantly wealthy and there is no one in abject poverty. Thus many of the problems that are found in the Capitalist economic system of the world today would not be found in the Islamic Economic System. You would not see an extremely wealthy class of people holding on to all of the wealth. You would not see poverty and deprivation among the masses. Rather what you would see is every human being given their fair chance to earn a livelihood. You would see a system where any illegal and unfair means of earning wealth to be forbidden. No one will be allowed to take the wealth of others in injustice and sin. No one will be allowed to control all of the wealth and no one would be allowed to cheat their way into making a fortune. We are not saying that the Islamic Economic System will create a utopia because there will always be dishonest people. There will always be people who think more about themselves than they do of Allah (swt). But Islamic system will be a system in which dishonesty will not pay off and dishonesty will not be encouraged. Rather the people will be taught that the first and foremost of their duties is to worship and serve Allah (swt). Even their earning of wealth must be a way of serving Allah (swt).
The State will work to build this Taqwa in the hearts of all its citizens. From a young age the children will be taught about Allah (swt) and they will be taught that their purpose in life should only be to worship and serve Allah (swt). They will be constantly reminded that Allah (swt) always Sees them and that He (swt) Knows all that they do, and that one day soon they will return to Him (swt) to be judged for each and every one of their actions. Insha Allah this will generate the Taqwa within the citizens of the Islamic State, because they have grown up knowing Allah (swt). Once they have this Taqwa, even the greediest of men will lean towards fairness instead of unfairness, and he will lean towards equity instead of injustice. This is because the system itself teaches you that your purpose is to worship and serve Allah (swt). How different is this from the Capitalist systems that we have today which teach everyone that their purpose in life is to gather as much wealth as possible? What do you expect from the people when this is what they are taught even at an early age? Is it then surprising at all that we see so much corruption and injustice in the economies of the West? So many people are stealing from others? So many people are cheating the wealth out of others? So many people are using lies and deception in order to get their wealth? How much pain and misery has this caused in the hearts of so many people? Is this for any other reason other than because the people have turned away from Allah (swt)? The people have turned away from ruling by the Divine Law that the Creator has revealed and so they have turned away from the Creator Himself (swt). May Allah (swt) save us from becoming like such people! May Allah (swt) make mankind realize the Light of His (swt)’s Law and the darkness of the laws of men! May Allah (swt) give the enabling grace to this Muslim Ummah to reestablish the Islamic State so that mankind can be taken out of darkness and into Light!

Source: http://quran-tafsir.org/baqarah3.pdf