(O ye who believe! Spend of the good things which ye have earned…) [2:267].
'Abd al-Rahman ibn Ahmad al-Saydalani informed us> Muhammad ibn 'Abd Allah ibn Muhammad ibn Nu'aym> Ahmad ibn Sahl ibn Hamdawayh> Qays ibn Unayf> Qutaybah ibn Sa'id> Hatim ibn Isma'il> Ja'far ibn Muhammad> his father> Jabir who said: “The Prophet, Allah bless him and give him peace, commanded that the poor-due of the break of fast (Zakat al-Fitr) was to be one measure (Sa') of dates. One man brought low quality dates, as a result of which this Qur'anic verse was revealed (O ye who believe! Spend of the good things which ye have earned, and of that which We bring forth from the earth for you, and seek not the bad (with intent) to spend thereof (in charity) when ye would not take it for yourselves save with disdain)”.
Abu Ishaq Ahmad ibn Muhammad al-Wa'iz informed us> 'Abd Allah ibn Hamid al-Asfahani> Muhammad ibn Isma'il al-Farisi> Ahmad ibn Musa al-Jammaz> 'Amr ibn Hammad ibn Talhah> Asbat ibn Nasr> al-Suddi> 'Adiyy ibn Thabit> al-Bara' who said: “This verse was revealed about the Helpers. At the time of the harvest of dates, the Helpers used to bring out of their fields bunches of dates and unripe dates and then hang them on a rope between two pillars in the mosque of the Messenger of Allah, Allah bless him and give him peace, so that the poor among the Emigrants could eat of them. Some people used to hang therein bunches of very low quality dates, thinking that no one will notice, due to the abundance of these bunches that people usually placed there. Allah, exalted is He, revealed, about those people who do this: (and seek not the bad (with intent) to spend thereof (in charity)…), in reference here to bunches of low quality dates, for 'if the same was gifted to you, you would not accept it' ”.
Asbab Al-Nuzul by Al-Wahidi , trans. Mokrane Guezzou