The verses before are about giving life to the dead. I have mentioned earlier that the Quran can never be by a human being because any book written by a human being would have unity or a sequence of topics pursuant to the human mind. The Quran, however, has unity and sequence pursuant to the divine will rather than the human mind. This is what makes a difference. What would be the link between spending and the stinginess of one’s soul on one hand and the previous topic, on the other hand? The previous topic is a piece of dialogue between Abraham (PBUH) and Nimrod. It was a Quranic parable about Abraham. Anyhow, Quranic parables are not like human stories; they are meant for the moral out of them.

 {لَقَدْ كَانَ فِي قَصَصِهِمْ عِبْرَةٌ لِّأُولِي الْأَلْبَابِ}

(There was certainly in their stories a lesson for those of understanding.) (Yusuf: 111)

So, it’s a lesson and moral that goes throughout time and through place; the unity of topics, pursuant to the divine will, is the unity of faith obligations and treatment of human soul impurities. As a human being, you write on a topic and divide it into chapters like: the Suras of Ibrahim, Yusuf, Muhammad, Hood, Yunus, Musa, Isa … an so on. Then, you may have other sections on: Zakat, Haj, Jihad, Spending, kindness to parents, ethics … etc. Thus, you sort topics according to the headlines. On the other hand, the rhetorical inimitability of the Quran is there. The Quran is the sayings of the Lord of humanity to humans, tackling the human soul in all aspects and topics. A human mind can’t find a unity of topics which is there according to the divine will. A parable on giving life to the dead with a dialogue between Abraham and Nimrod is there. After that, the Quran tackles the issues of spending and the stinginess of the soul. The unity of faith is solid. So, you may ask: what’s the relation between the former and the latter? It’s a matter of fact that you, as a human being, is reading the sayings of the Lord of humanity, Who is tackling all thought. Mental, moral and value maladies of humans.

(… مَّثَلُ الَّذِينَ يُنفِقُونَ أَمْوَالَهُمْ فِي سَبِيلِ اللَّهِ كَمَثَلِ حَبَّةٍ أَنبَتَتْ سَبْعَ سَنَابِلَ فِي كُلِّ سُنبُلَةٍ مِّائَةُ حَبَّةٍ ) (The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed [of grain] which grows seven spikes; in each spike is a hundred grains …): The issue tackled here is related to the stinginess of one’s soul. Allah (swt) always gives us examples so that the required obligation is understood by the human mind. You’re required to spend, and spending is different from Zakat, which is mandatory and one of the pillars of Islam.

The talk here is about spending and the stinginess of the soul in general. There is a sequence of verses that highlights all aspects of such topic. Allah (swt) gives an example saying: (The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah) It’s a condition that the spending is made in the way of Allah (swt); and whatever is good is in the way of Allah (swt) : treating a patient, supporting a poor person, helping an orphan, saving a debtor, paying a debt, feeding a hungry person … all are in the way of Allah (swt). Besides, whatever related to public interest is in the way of Allah. Nevertheless, it’s not considered as spending when someone spends their money in the way of Satan i.e. to harm people and spread vices and deadly sins. Spending in the way of Allah is the absolute good doing for others.

Now, what’s the relation between spending and the seed? Imagine that you take a seed from the wheat you have and lay it on the soil (…a seed [of grain] which grows…)  Such seed won’t grow if I don’t plant it in the soil, will it? I only harvest the yield after I planted the seed. The single seed is seven hundredfold after I harvest seven spikes with hundred seeds in each of them.

( وَاللَّهُ يُضَاعِفُ لِمَن يَشَاءُ ۗ وَاللَّهُ وَاسِعٌ عَلِيمٌ … ) (…And Allah multiplies [His reward] for whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing): What do you get out of such example? Allah wants to teach you a lesson with respect to the stinginess of the soul: don’t bother yourself if your money decreases because you spend in the way of Allah for good deeds like taking care of orphans, the poor, the needy, the helpless, the wanderers, the ill and doing good to others and the society. Your money will eb seven hundredfold. Allah (swt) wanted to elaborate this for you because you think that your money has become less when you spend a pound, for example. So, how come you spend a pound, and it becomes seven hundred pounds instead? You make the wheat less by the seed you plant which, in turn grows seven spikes with hundred seeds in each of them. Therefore, the seed has become seven hundred seeds. What’s the idea behind such an example? It’s as if Allah (swt) is telling you: you see the soil which I created and in which you plant a seed and get seven hundred seeds in return. Am I not able to give you seven hundredfold if you spend in my way? The soil I created has given so; how about the creator then? Do you trust the soil more than you trust its Lord? Why have you lost one seed by planting it in the soil? It’s because you truly believe that the soil will give you back seven hundred seeds out of that seed. Allah (swt), however, gives you many folds as His bestowal is never limited to seven hundredfold which is used to exemplify. Allah (swt) has used such an example to handle the stinginess of the human soul and made it desires what’s in the hands of Allah (swt) rather than what’s in the hands of His creatures.