Isn’t it heart-melting how your Lord gives you the opportunity to spend the wealth He gave you to bring great benefit to yourself? Giving charity is something truly heart-softening in Islam— but do you know how you can actually become more productive by giving charity?
Giving charity is one of the five pillars and a part of your Islamic identity. But does the charity you give define you or is it just a click of a mouse and ‘job done’? Let’s get the spirit of giving back and find out how your charity can truly transform your life as well as others!
Allah gave us a beautiful promise:
Charity and the Beautiful Promise of Allah
Verily those who give sadaqah, men and women, and lend Allah a goodly loan, it shall be increased manifold, and theirs shall be an honorable good reward (Paradise). (Quran 57:18)
Let’s find out about the amazing virtues of sadaqah and how your charity can make you more productive.
A Moment of Truth
Close your eyes for a moment. Imagine you’re in your grave. You’ve just heard your family walking away, crying. It’s dark, and you’re all alone. All your good deeds have come to an end.
Yesterday you said: “I’m going to be really good to my parents tomorrow to please Allah.” But the angel of death came to get your soul while you were sleeping and now it’s all too late. All the big plans, all the projects, all the good deeds you thought you’d do one day are all impossible now.
Then you realize that there’s something still benefiting your scared soul; it’s a good deed you once did, a deed that continues to work while you’re under the ground all the other people are walking on.
Imagine the importance of this deed. It’s priceless. It’s soul-saving. The Prophet Muhammad told us:
When a man dies, his deeds come to an end except for three things: Sadaqah Jariyah (ceaseless charity); a knowledge which is beneficial, or a virtuous descendant who prays for him (for the deceased). (Sahih Muslim)
A Beneficial Knowledge
Do you dream of having the honor of aiding Allah’s religion and spreading His words across the world but haven’t yet been given the opportunity? Would you like a chance to receive the reward of a scholar, of a caller to Allah’s religion? Have you always wanted to spread knowledge but feel you’re not knowledgeable enough?
I always think, whatever you read, each day, is a verse of Allah, it is a sign of your Lord that He’s trying to tell you something, a test. How will you respond, and what will you do? Will you make a move, or delay? Will you take it seriously or wave it away?
To be part of spreading knowledge which is beneficial is classed as running, or ceaseless, charity (sadaqah), something that keeps going even after your own death. This is an amazing mercy of Allah. What am I talking about? I’m talking about ultimately the best knowledge you can ever spread: The message of the Quran.
A House on the Hills
First of all, if someone were to tell you: “Give me 10 or 50 or 100 or 1000 dollars and in a few years I will give you in return a mansion with beautiful gardens in a top location anywhere on the globe.” I don’t have to tell you— you’d give the money, right?
… and theirs shall be an honorable good reward (Paradise).
For whom? For those who use the blessings that Allah The Most Merciful Himself placed in their lives to aid His cause. We know our Lord’s promise is true!
For them Allah has got ready Gardens under which rivers flow, to dwell therein forever. That is the supreme success. The deal is simple: you believe in Him, strive with your life and wealth (which He gave you in the first place), and enjoy everlasting pleasure.
Sadaqah and the Quran
Charity brings barakah to our wealth but it could benefit our time and personal matters. And sadaqah can save your soul from punishment in the Hereafter. There are amazing benefits in this life and the next. The best investment ever is when you give sincerely and not to be seen by others.
So we go online, pick a charity, one click on the mouse and job done. But have you ever thought how giving charity can actually change you as a person.
How? The answer is: visualize. Connect to the recipients of your charity. Who are they?
The Ultimate Combination
Be inspired by an amazing hadith that instructs us on how to be the best of the best. The Prophet said:
The best among you are those who learn the Quran and teach it (to others). (Al-Bukhari)
Can you imagine yourself teaching the Quran to others? Imagine a brother or sister with a burning desire to understand the words of Allah, but who’s never found the opportunity, and then Allah uses you as a tool to help them?
Allah is giving you a chance now to help us spread and teach His Word and Message to everyone on this planet.
The heat was sweltering. But it was nothing in comparison to the emotions bubbling up inside of me. I parked my car and made sure the doors were locked, knowing it would be well over 130 degree upon my return.
I took a few steps on the melting asphalt toward the store and realized there was nothing they could sell me to fix what I was feeling.
Then I took a few more steps into the cool air conditioning of a place which offered no answers, no solace. I had not come to purchase milk, eggs, or even entertainment. And I didn’t know what I have come to buy. I drove to this place of consumerism to buy something that didn’t exist with money I didn’t have.
At the time I was 18, and it was the first time in my life that I realized the things we need the most can’t be found in the dunya.
I realized that C.S. Lewis had struck upon some truth when he wrote:
“The fact that our heart yearns for something Earth can’t supply is proof that Heaven must be our home”.
What is Dunya?
“The word dunya encompasses many things but generally means the temporal, earthly world in contrast to the eternal spiritual realm of the hereafter. Literally, the word dunya means ‘closer,’ or ‘lower.’”
More colloquially speaking, the dunya is any earthly concern or possession. We human beings admittedly love the dunya. And there is no problem in loving the dunya. It is after all the means to sustain our lives and continue our worship. It is after all a blessing for us and a means for us to be thankful to our Creator.
When Love of the Dunya Goes too Far
The problem comes in when we make the dunya become the goal and not the means to the ultimate goal. The dunya is a place where we are for a time, and all that is in the dunya should be used for or avoided with the ultimate goal of pleasing Allah in mind.
Our goal is not to be as rich, or as powerful, or as comfortable as we possibly can in this life. This life is just a means to the hereafter where what we do in the dunya will determine our position with Allah. And Allah knows how we forget the dunya’s place in our journey to the hereafter. He says in the Quran:
But you prefer the worldly life, while the Hereafter is better and more enduring. (87:16-7)
When we start chasing the dunya for dunya’s sake instead of using it as a means to our real goal (pleasing Allah) that is when our priorities are mixed up. And we start to suffer from a serious spiritual disease.
The Prophet (peace be upon him) once stood before the companions and said:
“It is not poverty that I fear for you, but what I fear for you is that the world (the dunya) will be presented for you just as it was presented for those before you, then you will compete for it, and it will destroy you, just as it destroyed them.” (Ibn Majah)
As a physical disease destroys the body, a spiritual disease destroys the soul. When we put the love of the dunya before the love of Allah, diseases like greed, arrogance, ingratitude, jealousy, vanity all start to take over our heart and destroy our lives.
Guiding Children
Children have a natural love of Allah. And it is easy to nurture this love in them.
But as soon as they are old enough to process visual stimulus and voice their wants, they are bombarded with advertisements geared at them, convincing them that they need the latest and greatest toy, article of clothing, or snack on the market. And this is where the battle ground for the heart begins.
The good news is that, as parents, you can do a lot to make sure the love of Allah wins over the love of dunya in the hearts and minds of your children. Use their obsession with getting that bright and shiny new toy as a teachable moment. Tell them about children who could only dream about having all that they have.
Ask them if they would rather get a new toy or send money to those in need. Teaching them empathy, compassion, love for their brothers what they love for themselves, and investing in Allah’s cause are all antidotes to greed, jealousy, ingratitude.
As your children get into school age, they will start to look to their friends’ approval and even compete with them in material possession. If their friend has the newest video game, they all of the sudden HAVE to have it also. Don’t tell them to ignore what their friends have, redirect them to compete with their friends in halal ways. Encourage your children to start a Quran memorization competition, compete in good deeds, and learning the deen.
The key is not to deny children their impulses, but to redirect them to something better.
Combating too Much Love of Dunya as Adults
As adults, we still fall for the same traps we did as children. The commercials may be more sophisticated and our friends may have bigger toys to tempt us to compete, but it is all the same.
Similarly, the cure for this disease of too much love of the dunya is the same.
When we want the latest and greatest “toy” and become obsessed with it and feel like we cannot live without it, we can look to those who have less than us. Allah’s Messenger (peace be upon him) said:
Look at those who stand at a lower (financial) level than you but don’t look at those who stand at a higher level than you, for this would make the favors (conferred upon you by Allah) insignificant (in your eyes). (Muslim)
When we feel the urge to compete with others in material wealth or possessions – things that will not help you even a little in the hereafter – replace that competition with a competition in good deeds and gaining religious knowledge – things that will build mansions and gardens for us in the hereafter.
When the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) was asked whether the verse in the Quran:
And those who give whatever they (have to) give while their hearts are trembling. (23:60) referred to people who committed sins, he replied:
No. They are those who fast, pray and give charity while fearing that (these deeds) may not be accepted (by God). They are those who compete with one another in good deeds. (Ibn Majah)
The key is to understand that Allah does not deny our impulses. He encourages us to redirect them to something better.
Remind yourself that everything you do in this dunya can be done for the love of Allah, if you just have the right intentions.
And say:
Indeed, my prayer, my service of sacrifice, my living and my dying are for Allah, Lord of the worlds.’ (6:162)
I was once praying in a mosque. When the Imam finished the prayer, I remembered a great favor God blessed me with that day, so I felt the urge to prostrate and thank Him for that blessing. Once I raised my head from the ground, I found a pale face in front of me saying in a warning tone:
“Sister, never do that again, it’s a bid’ah!”
Is prostration after prayer a bid’ah? At that moment, I didn’t know what to say, and how to explain to her my reason.
I thought to myself, “Subhan Allah! She didn’t know what is between me and my Lord.”
This is just my way of expressing thankfulness to God.
Whenever I receive a bounty, I prostrate.
Whenever I hear a good news, I prostrate.
And whenever I’m facing a trial, I prostrate and thank God for rescuing me from a bigger trial…
This state of getting down on my knees, and putting my forehead on the ground always relieves me; it marks my weakness and neediness; it’s an act of humbleness towards my creator and provider.
Also, it’s a Sunnah that Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) used to do.
When anything came to the Prophet (peace be upon him) which caused pleasure (or, by which he was made glad), he prostrated himself in gratitude to Allah. (Abu Dawud)
Take it a Habit
For some, being grateful is only when a good thing happens to them. But Islam teaches me as a Muslim that it cannot be the only way.
For some time in my life, I started to train myself to live with a heart of gratitude. Everyday I tried to remind myself of something to be grateful for; and day after day, it eventually became a continuous habit.
However, at first, it was a difficult challenge for me; it was hard to maintain the habit of being grateful in every circumstance of my life. For it might be easier to be grateful for the good things we enjoy, but it’s not that easier to show the same enthusiasm and gratefulness for the things that go against what we desire.
But sajdat shukr (the prostration of thankfulness) helps me to be more focused and relieved. I prostrate in gratitude to my Lord when receiving a bounty hoping to multiply it; and I prostrate in gratitude to Him in my hardship hoping to increase my patience and relieve me.
After that short conversation with the sister in the masjid, I finally told her: “I can thank God the way I feel ease. And this is my way of being grateful.”
More Than a Word
In Islam, gratitude is given much importance and emphasis. It’s expressed in many forms.
And as a Muslim, I learned that to be grateful is more than a lip service; rather it’s more about actions. It’s easy to say ‘thank you’, but how do we make our thanking into practice? That’s the main thing that many people don’t realize.
In Arabic, there are two words that can give the meaning of gratitude.
1- Expressing Gratitude with Tongue
Hamd is praising and saying words of appreciation when receiving good things.
2- Expressing Gratitude with Action
This type of gratitude is called shukr. It is expressed with action more than words. It’s when someone doesn’t say ‘thank you’ but you can grasp their appreciation through their actions. So it’s not just a lip service, rather it’s about showing appreciation through action.
This idea is clearly shown in the following verse when God says:
Work, O family of David, in gratitude. And few of My servants are grateful. (34:13)
In this verse, God didn’t say, “say o family of David…”, rather He says: “work o family of David…”
So expressing gratitude is in fact a verb; it’s all about actions and doings, not just words.
A Means of Increase
We tend to rush around too much, not slowing our pace enough to be grateful to God the way He deserves. But recognizing and remembering His blessings is a form of thanking Him.
We should remember that thanking Him is for our own benefit, not His benefit. If we give thanks to Him, He will multiply our blessings and give us more and more. So why not make it a good habit? Why do people restrict thanking God in a specific occasion or a certain celebration?
Isn’t it for our benefit? So why not take it a habit?
Just try it. You’ll be surprised how being grateful on a daily basis can relieve you and change your whole perspective on life.
A Beautiful Dua
I am sharing with you a great dua that only God knows its reward.
The Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) said:
One of the slaves of Allah said: ‘Ya Rabb! Lakal-hamdu kama yanbaghi li-jalali Wajhika wa li ‘azima sultanika.
(O Lord, to You is praise as befits the Glory of Your Face and the greatness of Your Might.)’
The angels were uncertain and did not know how to write this down, so they ascended to heaven and said:
‘O our Lord, Your slave has said a word that we do not know how to write down.’
Allah said – and He knows best what His slave said:
What did My slave say?
They said: ‘O Lord, he said “Ya Rabb! Lakal-hamdu kama yanbagi li-jalali Wajhika wa li’azima sultanika (O Lord, to You is praise as befits the Glory of Your Face and the greatness of your Might).'”
Allah said to them:
‘Write it down as My slave said it, until he meets Me and I shall reward him for it.’ (Ibn Majah)
