Now that we’ve looked into the fasting for 2 consecutive months, it’s time to look into the feeding of 60 miskin, and to that effect, Q58 V4 says, ‘…and he who is unable – then the feeding of sixty poor persons…’
But just as we did in the last post where we looked into yajid, since that was the condition that must be fulfilled before being able to move into fasting 60 days; here also, there is a condition, and that is yastati’. So, if you are not yastati’ to fast for 2 months back to back, then you can move to the last bit.
Now, what is yastati’? Its root alphabets are to, alif or waw, and ain, and 10 forms of it occurred a total of 128 times. And it is said to mean to obey, to be obedient, to be amenable, to be subservient, to submit to, to be able to do.
Toa’ is classically said of a ripe fruit that readily gives itself up, and falls. When one has to pluck the fruit, force it down, that is karHa. And we find that that’s how Allah used it in the Quran too. In Q41 V11, Allah said, “Then He directed Himself to the heaven while it was smoke and said to it and to the earth, ‘Come [into being], willingly or by compulsion.’ They said, ‘We have come willingly.’”
Toa’ is the word translated to willingly; thus, the idea of being in obedience, spontaneous, willful is what toa’ means. And since karHa is used as its opposite, let me digress a bit into how Allah expects that Muslims should practice Islam, especially now that we are living in a time that some Muslims would rather others are forced to Islam, forced to practice Islam and the likes.
We find that Allah said in Q2 V256 that there is no compulsion in Islam, la ikraHa fi din. So, going by the ripe fruit imagery we have above, that would be similar to an instruction not to do kirHa with the fruits. To then believe that to force people to practice the din is the way to go is definitely wrong to say the least.
It is the willful obedience, and spontaneity that Allah asks of us, not one of coercion. Allah says in Q64 V12, ‘And obey Allah and obey the Messenger…’, and of course, toa’ is the word translated to ‘obey’ here too, so what is expected is willful submission, not coerced submission.
Now that we understand what toa’ means, it’s time to relate it with its use in Q58 V4 at hand. So that ‘…and he who is unable…’ then means, someone that’s unwilling, maybe because of health concerns, or just because of the difficulties it will cost them, they cannot willfully submit to fasting.
It is in Allah’s Rahmah that Gẹ has made this an option. Gẹs recognition of the difficulty of fasting for 60 days straight. And so the husband is given that option to willfully submit, or do the next thing; which is to feed 60 miskins.
Miskin, translated here as ‘poor persons’, has its origin in sin, kef and nun. The mim before it is a conjunctive pronoun which is meant to emphasize the continuous and persistent nature of the sakin. 13 forms the word was used 69 times in the Quran.
Miskin, like baais and faqir in Q22 V28, and qani’ and mu’tara in Q22 V36 have all been translated to mean poor, or any of its variants. So the task here is to look deeper into miskin, so that we are able to distinguish it from other ‘poor persons’.
Sakin means to be quiet, to be still, to be tranquil, to inhabit a place, to dwell, to be poor, knife. So what do they all have in common? It is the immobility. The place where one lives is called sakin because that’s where one is still from journey, and with sleep, when one gets to be still all night. One stops moving when they get home. Sakeena is also said of a knife because it can make something that is mobile be immobile, hence, kill something, and make it still.
In Q12 V31, sakeena is said of the knife that Yusuf’s boss’s wife gave the women that would later admire Yusuf and then cut their fingers. So, sakin is said of a knife. So how does this relate to being poor?
The type of poverty that is characterized as miskin is that which basically renders its subject immobile. They can’t move around to fend for themselves because they wouldn’t have the wherewithal to afford moving around, and so they are just in one place, hoping and praying that something good should come.
They don’t have to beg, but they might beg. Most times, they are too ashamed to even beg, as part of the meaning of sakin is that their state has humbled them, made them still. These are the folks one must seek out, and feed 60 of them.
Allah then ends Q58 V4 with what is perhaps the strongest fusion of women’s right and belief in Allah, in the Quran. Allah says ‘…that is for you to believe [completely] in Allah and His Messenger; and those are the limits [set by] Allah. And for the disbelievers is a painful punishment.’.
Thus, all the atonement stated above will only apply to those who believe in Allah and Gẹs Messenger; in essence saying whoever doesn’t follow them can’t be said to be believers in Allah and his messenger. So if someone goes ahead, declares ziHar on their spouse, and then proceeds to be with them like nothing happened, then it will be as if they are disbelievers. The last sentence in the verse also outrightly calls them ‘disbelievers’, and state that for such disbelievers is going to be a painful punishment.
This is a stern warning to husbands, about the rights of the women they marry; they are to be treated with ma’ruf, and when such hurtful things that would constitute ziHar is said to them, they must choose one of these atonement, or else, they may be regarded as disbelievers.
May Allah make it easy for all husbands to be able to treat their wives with ma’ruf. Amin.
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