Ahmadiyyat or The True Islam — Page 193
193 Another natural instinct in man is the exercise of his rights of ownership over property whereby he spends his wealth or hoards it. The working of this instinct has also been properly regulated by Islam. The first restriction imposed is, 'Spend out of the best of that which you have earned or are entitled to (and not out of that to which you are not, entitled). ' 106 Again, 'And give to those relatives for whose welfare you are responsible their rightful share in your property' (indicating that Islam enjoins a man to look after his near relatives), 'and to the poor and the needy and give not with a view to receive a profitable return, nor squander the whole of your substance. ' 107 The Arabic word, Tabdh i r , means to scatter seeds or to scatter away, or to prove or test a thing. The ex- pression, La tubadhdhir tabdh i r a , in the above verse, therefore, means that a man should not give to relatives or the poor or the needy in the hope of, or with a view to receive from them, a larger amount in return, as a farmer scatters seeds in the hope of gathering a rich harvest; nor should a man give away all his substance and keep nothing for himself, or conversely, squander all of it on himself and give nothing to others; nor should he give to his relatives and the poor in such a 106 Al-Baqarah, 2:268. 107 Ban i ’Isr a ’ i l, 17:27.