2:271 If ye disclose (acts of) charity, even so it is well, but if ye con-
ceal them, and make them reach those [really] in need, that is best
for you: It will remove from you some of your [stains of] evil. And
God is well acquainted with what ye do.
2:274 Those who [in charity] spend of their goods by night and
by day, in secret and in public, have their reward with their Lord:
on them shall be no fear, nor shall they grieve.3.Giving should be from the same stocks that are available to us, and not
from the lowest quality of products or assets in order to ‘‘dump’’ them
on the poor and needy.2:267 O ye who believe! Give of the good things which ye have
[honorably] earned, and of the fruits of the earth which We have
produced for you, and do not even aim at getting anything which is
bad, in order that out of it ye may give away something, when ye
yourselves would not receive it except with closed eyes. And know
that God is Free of all wants, and worthy of all praise.4.Those who can afford to give but they do not, the Qur’aan compares to
those who follow Satan. And those who follow Satan are promised deep
poverty and failure:2:268 The Devil and Evil one leads you to poverty and bid you to
conduct unseemly. God promises you His forgiveness and bounties.
And God/Allah cares for all and He knows all things.Business Finance
In the early days of Arabia, people were in need of capital to finance their
growing trading and business activities. Lenders would stipulate the time
atwhichtheloanhadtobepaidback.Theborrowerwouldpaya
monthly interest (the cost of using the money or usury), and the loan
would balloon to the original amount at maturity. If the borrower could
not pay it back for any reason—including reasons that were out of the
borrower’s control, such as crop failure due to a drought, or a severe
downturn in the economy—the lender would agree to extend the term of
the loan, but the extension would be conditional on increasing the
amount of the original loan. In today’s banking practices, this is known
as an ‘‘interest-only term loan with aballoon payment’’ at the end of the
term. If an arrangement is not reached, the lender would immediately
The Faith-Based Judeo-Christian-Islamic Foundation 39