Reviewing the Concept of "Qardh al-Hasan" in the Holy Qur'an

"Qardh al-hasan (benevolent lending)" is an important Qur'anic concept about social relations in an Islamic society. The Quran mentions the adjectival expression of " Qardh al-hasan " six times and the verbs indicating the action of benevolent lending twelve times. Using an analytical method, this paper seeks to analyze this concept in Arabic culture and the Qur'an, and evaluate the relationship between this Qur'anic concept, people's understanding and the view of commentators. The result of the research shows that in terms of concept, " Qardh al-hasan " includes all kinds of good interactions with others, and " Qardh al-hasan to God" includes any kind of God-pleasing deed, but in the context of the Qur'an, it is used only about God, and in all its usages, the believers have been ordained and encouraged to offer financial aid to the Prophet in order to defend the religion and the Islamic society, spread the religion or obey the Prophet. Based on the narrations of the Prophet's household, this Qur'anic concept has been interpreted as giving property to the infallible Imams, and it can be generalized to financial aid to the qualified Muslim jurists or the Muslim ruler (Wali faqih) in order to achieve the mentioned two goals in the time of Imam Mahdi’s occultation.