قَرْضًا حَسَنًا
A good loan
root verb: أقْرَضَ
# of times in Qur’an: 6
Sūra al-Baqara 2:245
Our 2nd Qur’anic Arabic Word of the series is actually a phrase that God repeats several times: قَرْضًا حَسَنًا which means ‘a good, or beautiful loan’. It comes from the root qa-ra-ḍa or the verb aqraḍa, which means to lend someone a loan for future repayment.
In Sūra al-Baqara: 245 and in many other places, Allah uses the same sentences worded as a question:
مَّن ذَا الَّذِي يُقْرِضُ اللَّـهَ قَرْضًا حَسَنًا فَيُضَاعِفَهُ لَهُ أَضْعَافًا كَثِيرَةً ۚ وَاللَّـهُ يَقْبِضُ وَيَبْسُطُ وَإِلَيْهِ تُرْجَعُونَ
‘Who will give God a good loan so He may repay him manifold?’
God is, of course, needless of our loan! But He asks us this question, and expects a response. So how do we go about giving God a loan?
A good loan is any act of charity, but specifically one where you lend someone help, without expectation or pressure of repayment.
So why does He call it a loan then?
Allah caters to many different types of mindsets in the Qur’an - just like children…
those who are compliant and obey willingly because God said so.
there are those who are more daring, and don’t behave until there’s a threat of punishment.
those who need intellectual reasoning like the kids who ask: But why?
those who require an incentive and think: what’s in it for me?
For those people who need an incentive to give to charity, He reframes it as a loan, promising them a manifold return on their investment, that what they gave is never lost, and will yield them much more than just financial return.