Al-Ḥadīd
The aim of this chapter of the Qurʾan is to motivate and encourage the faithful to spend in the way of God, as illustrated by the repeated exhortations to do so:
Have faith in Allah and His Messenger, and spend out of that wherein He has made you successors … ()
Who is it that will lend Allah a good loan…? ()
Indeed the charitable men and charitable women, and those who lend Allah a good loan… ()
Note that in these verses, the Qurʾan refers to their spending in the way of God as a ‘loan’ (qarḍ) to God. This is because God is the utmost good that can be sought, and He does not break His promises. He has promised them that if they grant Him a loan, He will multiply it for them and grant them a noble and abundant reward.
These verses show that their spending is motivated by Godwariness and faith in the Messenger, and that it occasions forgiveness for their sins, a double share of God’s mercy, a light to guide them, and admittance to the truthful ones and the witnesses in the vicinity of God in the Hereafter.
These verses also contain many teachings about creation and resurrection, and they call on their audience to adopt Godwariness, dedication in faith, asceticism, and to take moral admonition.
Based on the tone and context of its verses, this chapter is evidently of Medinan provenance. Some have even claimed that there exists a consensus amongst commentators on the Qurʾan about this fact.
The chapter opens by exalting and glorifying God and invoking several of His Most-Beautiful Names. This is because, as we have already mentioned, the aim of this chapter is to encourage the faithful to spend in the way of God. Therefore, by praising God in this manner, the opening of the chapter dispels the notion that God is asking the faithful to spend in His way because of any need, lack, or want on His part. We can see a similar dynamic at work in all of the chapters that begin by glorifying God, such as Sūrah al-Ḥashr, al-Ṣaff, al-Jumuʿa, al-Taghābun.
This is the ʿAllāmah's introduction to the sūrah, from the opening of the commentary.