Al-Baqara • EN-AL-JALALAYN
﴿ يَسْـَٔلُونَكَ مَاذَا يُنفِقُونَ ۖ قُلْ مَآ أَنفَقْتُم مِّنْ خَيْرٍۢ فَلِلْوَٰلِدَيْنِ وَٱلْأَقْرَبِينَ وَٱلْيَتَٰمَىٰ وَٱلْمَسَٰكِينِ وَٱبْنِ ٱلسَّبِيلِ ۗ وَمَا تَفْعَلُوا۟ مِنْ خَيْرٍۢ فَإِنَّ ٱللَّهَ بِهِۦ عَلِيمٌۭ ﴾
“THEY WILL ASK thee as to what they should spend on others. Say: "Whatever of your wealth you spend shall [first] be for your parents, and for the near of kin, and the orphans, and the needy, and the wayfarer; and whatever good you do, verily, God has full knowledge thereof."”
They will ask you O Muhammad (s) about what they should expend. This was the question posed by ‘Amr b. al-Jamūh. He was a wealthy elderly man and went to ask the Prophet s what and for whom he should expend; Say to them ‘Whatever you expend of good min khayrin ‘of good’ is an explication of mā ‘whatever’ covering small and large amounts and denotes one half of the question represented by the expender; God responds with regard to the one receiving the expenditure this pertaining to the other half of the question in the following it is for parents and kinsmen orphans the needy and the traveller that is they are the most deserving of it; and whatever good you may do by way of expending or otherwise God has knowledge of it’ and will requite it accordingly.