#578: The Meaning of Infāq
QUESTION
” Assalamu alaikum, please what is the meaning of INFĀQ??”
ANSWER
Wa alaykum Salām Warahmatullāh Wabarakātuh
Alhamdulillāh.
As for Infāq, it is the spending from one’s Halāl earning upon the needy, on the path of Sadaqah or for the Cause of Islām.
It is mentioned in Dalīl Al-Fālihīn from Imām An-Nawawī – rahimahullāh – that he said:
“Praise worthy Infāq (spending) is that which is done by way of giving to one’s immediate family, and then those who are nearby and then discretionary.”
That is because the Ulamā agree that the first priority in spending is to one’s immediate family and then if there is sufficiency in there, then upon those who are near of kindred, then upon those that are distant.
In the Hadīth recorded by Imām An-Nasa’ī from Tāriqu Al-Muhāribī – radiyallāhu ‘anhu -, the Rasūl – salallāhu alayhi wasallam – said on the Minbar:
يد المعطي العليا، وابدأ بمن تعول
“The giving hand is higher in rank (than the receiving). And begin from those that are your family”
This is the technical meaning of Infāq in the books of Fiqh.
It simply means spending linguistically. And this was the meaning referred in the Ramadān contributions posted.
Bārakallāhu fīkum
Jazākumullāhu Khayran
1st Ramadān 1439AH
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