(The guiding of them is not thy duty…) [2:272]. Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ahmad ibn al-Harith informed us> 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Ja'far> 'Abd al-Rahman ibn Muhammad ibn Muslim> Sahl ibn 'Uthman al-'Askari> Jarir> Ash'ath ibn Ishaq> Ja'far ibn al-Mughirah> Sa'id ibn Jubayr who reported that the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “Do not give alms except to the people of your own religion”. Allah, exalted is He, then revealed (The guiding of them is not thy duty…), upon which the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: “Give alms to people of other religions”. Ahmad informed us> 'Abd Allah> 'Abd al-Rahman> Sahl> Ibn Numayr> al-Hajjaj> Salman al-Makki> Ibn al-Hanafiyyah who said: “Muslims used to dislike giving alms to the poor among the idolaters until this verse was revealed. They were then ordered to give them alms”. Said al-Kalbi: “The Messenger of Allah went to perform the lesser pilgrimage to make up for the lesser pilgrimage which he missed the previous year ('Umrat al-Qada') and had with him Asma' bint Abi Bakr. The mother of Asma', Qutaylah, and her grandmother, who were still idolateresses at that time, came to see her and ask her for help. Asma' said: 'I will not give you anything until I consult the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, for you do not follow my religion'. She went and consulted him about this matter, upon which Allah, exalted is He, revealed this verse. The Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded her after the revelation of this verse to give alms to both of them. She gave them alms and helped them”. Said al-Kalbi: “There is another way of understanding this verse. It happened that some Muslims had relatives, in-laws and ties through suckling among the Jews. Because of this, they used to help them before the advent of Islam. When they became Muslim, they disliked to keep on helping them and wanted to force these Jews to become Muslim. They consulted the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, about this. This verse was revealed as a response to their consultation, after which the Muslims continued their help to them”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou
