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Hidden
Sadaqah Extinguishes Allah’s Wrath
Sadaqah
(optional charity) refers
to helping others in any way, by giving them in charity, by spending
some time with them, listening to them attentively, directing them
to the right path, feeling for them, smiling to them, removing
whatever may harm them in streets, etc. All these are instances of sadaqah
in its comprehensive sense.
Hidden
sadaqah is what one gives in secret with no one but
Almighty Allah knowing about it. When one gives charity to a needy
person in secret, one spares the needy person the feelings of
inferiority he may experience if given charity in front of other
people.
Hidden
sadaqah will help the needy meet their needs and will also
help them get rid of the negative feelings of envy and grudge they
might have harbored towards the rich people.
Feelings
of love and respect would grow then between the needy and rich
people, and this, in turn, would positively reflect on the unity of
society and bind its members with the bonds of love and cooperation.
When
the poor’s needs are met in an atmosphere that preserves them
their dignity, the tension they would live in because of need will
decrease and their energy for work will increase. This will reflect
positively on their social relations with others.
There
are many poor people who are in dire need, yet they restrain from
asking for charity. Hidden sadaqah will help them a lot and
spare them exposure to humiliation.
Allah
Almighty says about that kind of people: [(Alms are) for the poor
who are straitened for the cause of Allah, who cannot travel in the
land (for trade). The unthinking man accounteth them wealthy because
of their restraint. Thou shalt know them by their mark: They do not
beg of men with importunity.] (Al-Baqarah: 273)
As
for he who gives hidden sadaqah, the process of giving itself
provides him with great happiness and purifies his soul. It helps
him get rid of selfishness and develop feelings of cooperation with
others. It is also a means of protecting his wealth, [for when he
gives others, he wins their love, and thus spares himself the
influence of their envy.] In essence, giving sadaqah reflects
on the giver and benefits him [as much as it benefits the
recipients].
Allah
Almighty says: [And whatsoever good thing ye spend, it is for
yourselves, when ye spend not save in search of Allah's countenance;
and whatsoever good thing ye spend, it will be repaid to you in
full, and ye will not be wronged.] (Al-Baqarah: 272)
Furthermore,
hidden sadaqah helps its givers get rid of feelings of
depression that they may experience. When one gives the poor, one
feels deep happiness, especially when one hears them praying for one
and expressing gratitude for one.
Contemplate
the image Allah Almighty gives in the following verse that describes
the example of the one who gives generously in charity: [And the
likeness of those who spend their wealth in search of Allah's
pleasure, and for the strengthening of their souls, is as the
likeness of a garden on a height. The rainstorm smiteth it and it
bringeth forth its fruit twofold. And if the rainstorm smite it not,
then the shower. Allah is Seer of what ye do.] (Al-Baqarah: 265)
Based
on the above lines, the psychological analysis of the influence of
hidden sadaqah on both the giver and the recipient shows that
it extinguishes the humiliation of the recipient and the
embarrassment of the giver. It creates between them such an
atmosphere of peaceful coexistence that Almighty Allah is pleased
with. Moreover, it extinguishes the wrath that Allah Most High may
have towards the giver, for there is a divine hadith to the effect
that “the hidden sadaqah extinguishes Allah’s wrath.”
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