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Since
we are in the blessed month of Ramadan and
Allah the Exalted has promised those who work
hard during this month to multiply the rewards
of their good deeds, Muslims are challenged by
this overwhelming opportunity and are striving
to do as much good as they can. Therefore, it
would be important to highlight the virtues of
one of the important topics of this month:
"Charity", as well as some of the
Islamic etiquettes and manners of giving
charity.
Islam
encourages the Muslim to spend his money for
the sake of Almighty Allah whenever he is
capable of doing so, and it stresses the great
virtues of giving in charity.
The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
said, "The upper hand is better
than the lower hand. The upper hand is the one
that gives, and the lower hand is the one that
takes".
(Al-Bukhari)
Almighty
Allah says:
[The
likeness of those who spend their money
for Allah's sake, is as the likeness of a
grain (of corn), it grows seven ears,
every single ear has a hundred grains, and
Allah multiplies (increases the reward)
for whom He wills, and Allah is
All-Sufficient for His creatures needs,
All Knower]
(Al-Baqarah 2: 261).
And
He also says:
[Whoever
works righteousness, man or woman, and has
Faith, verily, to him will We give a new
Life, a life that is good and pure and We
will bestow on such their reward according
to the best of their actions]
(An-Nahl 16: 97)
In
this life, charity enlarges the blessings in
one's fortune. Unlike what most people think,
money increases as long as the person is
giving in charity. This is as the Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon him) stated,
"Charity does not lessen one's
money…"
As
we know, the amount of money we have is not
what counts; it is the value of the money and
the things you can get with it. When the
believer feeds his money with charity, this
enlarges the blessings in his money. With a
certain amount of money he would be able to do
more than what he used to do before; not to
mention the harm that would be averted from
his money, so that the money will not be
wasted by one of many ways (for example, a car
accident, health problems and so on).
Furthermore,
charity has an amazing effect in averting
calamities and harm that afflicts the Muslim.
The Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
said, "Cure your sick people
with sadaqah ( charity)!"
(Abu Dawud)
That
is why righteous Muslims used to cure
themselves in times of sickness by giving in
charity! One of the early righteous Muslims
whose name is Ar-Rabe'e was afflicted with
Hemiplegia and was suffering from that disease
for some time. One day his wife cooked him a
chicken and baked some fresh bread, which was
something that he used to really enjoy.
Resisting the temptation of his favorite dish,
he asked her to give the food to one of the
poor people in charity, saying: "I would
like to give the poor what I love most, so
that Allah may accept my charity and reward me
with what is better than that". His
wife suggested that she would keep the food
for him, and instead give some money to the
poor which equals the same price of the food.
Ar-Rabe'e asked her to bring the money, and
when she did, he asked her to put them all
together (the money, the grilled chicken and
the fresh bread) and give them all to the
poor!
This
was the attitude of Muslims about giving in
charity, while many people nowadays spend
enormous amounts of money on doctors and
medications neglecting the importance of
charity that might not even make a noticeable
difference to their wealth.
In
the Hereafter, charity could be the reason for
a person being protected from Hell even if it
was as small as a piece of date! The Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon him) said, "There
will be none among you but will be spoken to
by Allah on the Day of Resurrection, without
there being an interpreter between him and
Allah. He will look and see nothing ahead of
him, and then he will look (again) in front of
him, and (only) Hell Fire will confront him.
So, whoever among you can save himself from
the Fire, should do so even with one half of a
date (meaning: even if all you can give in
charity is one half of a date)".
(Al-Bukhari)
Almighty
Allah has praised those who make it a habit to
give a portion of their wealth to the poor and
has promised them multiple rewards for their
charity. He says:
(Who is he that will
loan to Allah a beautiful loan which Allah
will double unto his redit and multiply it
many times?)
(Al-Baqarah 2: 245).
The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) also
said, "If one gives in charity
what equals one date-fruit from money that is
earned in a lawful way, and Allah only accepts
what is lawful, Allah shall take it in His
right (hand) and then enlarge its reward for
that person (who has given it), just like any
of you who brings up a foal, so much so that
it (i.e. the charity) becomes as big as a
mountain".
(Al-Bukhari)
What
we now spend in charity for the sake of
Almighty Allah is what remains with us after
death; however, what we spend for our worldly
pleasures vanishes. `A’ishah (the Prophet's
wife, may Allah be pleased with her) reported
that they once slaughtered a sheep, and then
distributed all the parts of the sheep in
charity except for the shoulder which she kept
for them. When the Prophet (peace and
blessings be upon him) asked her about what
remained from the sheep (after distributing
it), she said, "Nothing remained except
for the shoulder", so the Prophet (peace
and blessings be upon him) commented, "Everything
remained except for the shoulder!"
However,
for charity to be accepted and to achieve its
goals, the believer must consider some
essential manners when giving it.
First
of all, the charity must be given from money
that is earned in a lawful way. Almighty Allah
says:
[O
ye who believe, spend from what you
(lawfully) earned]
(Al-Baqarah 2: 267)
Also,
the Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
said, "Allah is Tayyib, and He
only accepts what is Tayyib",
(the word Tayyib means lawful, pure, and good)
(Muslim)
Second,
when giving in charity, the believer must
purify his intention and make his purpose just
for the sake of gaining the pleasure of
Almighty Allah and His reward; not anything
else (such as worldly benefits, fame, and good
reputation) The Prophet (peace and blessings
be upon him) said, "All
deeds are based on intention and everyone will
be rewarded according to what he intended
(from his action.)"
(Al-Bukhari)
Also,
he (peace and blessings be upon him) said, "Nothing
that you spend for Allah's sake but you will
be rewarded for it, even the food that you
raise up to your wife's mouth".
Almighty
Allah praised those who give for His sake
without expecting any benefit from the people
who receive the charity. He says:
[And
they give food (in spite of their love for
it) to the poor, the orphan and the
captive. Saying; we feed you seeking
Allah's countenance only, we wish for no
reward nor thanks from you]
(Al-Insan 76: 8,9).
Any
of our daily actions could be turned into an
act of worship if it is done purely for the
sake of Almighty Allah, and any act of worship
could be rejected by Allah if it is done for
any other purpose except for pleasing Him.
Third,
the believer should hasten to give in charity
and should not delay it without a specific
reason. It is also much better for the Muslim
to give charity during his life when he is in
need of money, rather than wait until death
comes to him, then he commands his inheritors
to give charity on his behalf. The Prophet
(peace and blessings be upon him) was once
asked about the best of all charity, so he
said, "The best charity is
what you give during your life while you are
in need of it."
Fourth,
it is more fitting for the Muslim to give the
charity from the best of his possessions; that
which he loves the most. This is actually the
opposite of what many people do nowadays; as
they only give their old unwanted possessions
as if they are trying to get rid of them!
Almighty Allah says:
[By
no means shall you attain righteousness
unless you give (freely as a charity) from
that which you love; and whatever you
spend Allah knows it well]
(Aal `Imran 3: 92).
However,
this does not mean that one should lessen the
value of his charity if he only has a little
to give.
The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him) once
said to his companions, "One
Dirham could be better in reward than one
hundred thousand Dirhams!"
A
man asked, "And how is that, messenger of
Allah?"
He
(peace and blessings be upon him)) replied, "A
wealthy man takes one hundred thousand Dirhams
which is one part of his wealth and gives it
in charity, while a poor man who only has two
Dirhams pays one of them in charity."
Also,
it was reported that `A’ishah (may Allah be
pleased with her) once gave a piece of date in
charity when this was all she had. Whatever
you do, big or small, will be put in your
account, even if it was as tiny as the weight
of an atom. Almighty Allah says:
[Whoever
does an atom weight of good he shall see
it (in his book), and whoever does an atom
weight of evil he shall see it]
(Az-Zalzalah 99: 7- 8).
Fifth,
the believer must hide his charity and do his
best not to let anyone know about it in order
to avoid falling into showing off one's good
deeds to others and doing the good deeds for
other than the sake of Almighty Allah. The
Prophet (peace and blessings be upon him)
said, "Seven (types of) people
will be covered with Allah's shade on a day
when there is no shade but His Shade, (from
among them) a man who gives charity hiding it,
so that (even) his left hand does not know
what his right hand has spent" (Al-Bukhari)
Saying
that your left hand does not know what your
right hand has spent is a form of expression
that indicates how careful you should be when
giving charity. You should not let anyone
notice what you are doing. It would be even
better to hide your identity from the one who
is receiving the charity, if this is possible,
so as to protect the receiver's dignity and
save him from feeling shameful or humiliated.
One of the righteous successors used to give
constant charity to the scholars who were
known to be poor during his time. In order to
hide his identity and protect them from
embarrassment, he used to wait until they
entered the mosque for one of the daily
prayers, then he would put the money inside
their slippers! The scholars never knew his
true identity until he died and they found
that the charity they used to receive on a
constant basis stopped all of a sudden.
Sixth,
the believer must not follow his charity by
harming the one who receives it, nor should he
keep on reminding him of his generosity.
Hurting the one who receives charity in any
way would only nullify (cancel) the reward of
the charity, as Almighty Allah indicated in
His Glorious Book: [O
you who believe, cancel not your charities by
reminders of your generosity, or by harm.]
(Al-Baqarah 2:264)
Seventh,
when one can not (or does not want to) give
charity to a person who is asking for it, he
should only say a kind word to him, and should
not by any means hurt his feelings. Almighty
Allah says: [Kind
words and forgiveness are better than a
charity followed by injury]
(Al-Baqarah 2:263).
May
Allah lighten our way and help us to use the
golden opportunities of this blessed month.
Ameen.
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