﴿ ۞ يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّ كَثِيرًۭا مِّنَ ٱلْأَحْبَارِ وَٱلرُّهْبَانِ لَيَأْكُلُونَ أَمْوَٰلَ ٱلنَّاسِ بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ وَيَصُدُّونَ عَن سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ ۗ وَٱلَّذِينَ يَكْنِزُونَ ٱلذَّهَبَ وَٱلْفِضَّةَ وَلَا يُنفِقُونَهَا فِى سَبِيلِ ٱللَّهِ فَبَشِّرْهُم بِعَذَابٍ أَلِيمٍۢ ﴾

“O you who have attained to faith! Behold, many of the rabbis and monks do indeed wrongfully devour men's possessions and turn [others] away from the path of God. But as for all who lay up treasures of gold and silver and do not spend them for the sake of God - give them the tiding of grievous suffering [in the life to come]:”

(O ye who believe! Lo! many of the (Jewish) rabbis and the (Christian) monks devour the wealth of mankind wantonly) [9:34]. This was revealed about the scholars and doctors of the people of the Book. They used to accept bribes from the communality of people; these are the gains they used to obtain from the common people. (They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah�) [9:34]. Abu Ishaq al-Muqri� informed us> �Abd Allah ibn Hamid> Ahmad ibn Muhammad ibn Ibrahim> Muhammad ibn Nusayr> �Amr ibn Zurarah> Hushaym> Husayn> Zayd ibn Wahb who said: �I passed by al-Rabadhah where I came across Abu Dharr. I asked him: �What brought you here?� He said: �I was in Syria and I had a disagreement with Mu�awiyah regarding the verse (They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah�). Mu�awiyah was of the opinion that it was revealed about the people of the Book, while I said to him that it was revealed about them as well as about us. We had an altercation after which he wrote to �Uthman to complain about me. �Uthman wrote to me asking me to go to Medina. When I went to Medina, a lot of people came to see me, as if they had never seen me before. I mentioned this to �Uthman and he said: �If you wish you can move somewhere else and stay close�. This is what has brought me to this place. Had they appointed an Abyssinian slave as my leader, I would have heard and obeyed him� �. This was narrated by Bukhari from Qutaybah from Jarir from Husayn; he also narrated it from �Ali from Hushaym. The Commentators of the Qur�an also disagree about the occasion of this verse. Some are of the opinion that it was specifically revealed about the people of the Book. Al-Suddi thought it was revealed about the people of the Qiblah while al-Dahhak was of the opinion that it was about both the people of the Book and the Muslims. �Ata� also reported that Ibn �Abbas said regarding the words of Allah (They who hoard up gold and silver and spend it not in the way of Allah�): �He means of the believers�. Abu�l-Hasan Ahmad ibn Ibrahim al-Najjar informed us> Sulayman ibn Ayyub al-Tabarani> Muhammad ibn Dawud ibn Sadaqah> �Abd Allah ibn Mu�afa> Sharik> Muhammad ibn �Abd Allah al-Muradi> �Amr ibn Murrah> Salim ibn Abi al-Ja�d> Thawban who said: �When the verse (They who hoard up gold and silver�) was revealed, the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, said: �May gold and silver perish!� He was asked: �O Messenger of Allah, which of the riches should we hoard?� He said: �A heart which is grateful, a tongue which remembers Allah and a righteous wife� �.