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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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