Exegesis of the saying of Allah the Exalted: “And establish prayer, give zakah, and obey Allah and His Messenger”

You perform it uprightly, and that is by fulfilling its conditions, pillars, and obligatory acts, and what else? Its recommended acts. However, performing the first three is by way of obligation, and the fourth is by way of perfection and recommendation. His saying: includes the obligatory and the voluntary. means “we gave it.” Zakah in language means growth and increase, and in the Shari'ah it is a specific amount of wealth from specific wealth, meaning a portion of specific assets paid to those who are entitled to it. His saying: takes two objects because it is from the category of “to clothe” and “to give,” so the first object is and the second object is omitted, meaning “its rightful recipient.” We gave zakah to its rightful recipient, because giving zakah to those who are not its rightful recipients does not benefit, just as if a person prayed at a time other than its prescribed time. His saying: after the command to establish prayer contains evidence for the emphasis on zakah. Does this necessitate that the Mothers of the Believers had wealth from which they paid zakah? It does not necessitate it. If we say it does not necessitate it, then addressing them with the command to give zakah is from the category of the wording, because they might say, “We have no wealth,” or it might be said, “We were commanded to give zakah: either by commitment or by actual giving.” By commitment if they had nothing, and by actual giving if they had something. It is not a problem that they had what zakah is obligatory upon, or that some of them had jewelry, as in the hadith of Umm Salama that she used to wear ornaments of gold, so she said, “O Messenger of Allah, is this hoarded wealth?” He said: So they had with which to pay zakah; it may not have been dirhams and dinars, but rather jewelry. Obedience. The scholars said it is compliance with the command. This obedience means not committing disobedience; it aligns with the command of the one obeyed, whether it is required by action, or if it is prohibited, by what? By leaving it. His saying: The conjunction of obedience to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) with obedience to Allah with the letter “waw” is because obedience to the Messenger is part of obedience to Allah, as Allah the Exalted said: [Al-Nisa: 80]. It has been mentioned to us repeatedly that in legal issues, it is permissible to associate Allah with the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), because what the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) brought in legal issues is from what Allah commanded. His saying: Is the intended meaning here obedience of worship, or is the intended meaning not contradicting? As for obedience to Allah, it is obedience of worship, humility, hoping for reward, and fearing punishment. As for obedience to the Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him), it is obedience in the sense of compliance with the command, whether in what he commands from the Shari'ah or in what he commands from his private needs. The Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) directs commands to those concerned either by way of worship, from what Allah commanded him, or by way of private matters related to him (peace and blessings be upon him).