Life has
taught me a lesson or two. It has saved
me from myself. It has seen me stupid. It has seen me naïve. It has probed me
to think mercilessly and lately it has seen me wiser. Lately I am thinking in two dimension.
Putting things into perspective and the truth is no one has ever been more wrong
or right but ourselves. You will see what you allow yourself to see. You will
be what you allow yourself to be. Even if you were so wrong where everybody
else could easily see (krik krik) but if
Allah didn’t grant the privilege for you to see and right the wrongs, you could
only be who you allowed yourself to be. A jerk ! Got it? (Never mind if you don’t understand what I am saying)
What is
giving? To give? To sadaqah? To part
with what you own? To share? To handover? To commit? To part with? To cause or allow someone to have something. All the synonyms of giving that you can find through Mr Google, ahh my good friend (who never shouted Stupid
! Itu pun tak tau ke? Eheh?)
This is what my faith taught me because I know my blog is read by non Muslims too (I know about some bogus Quran translations that have been circulated to tarnish the image of Islam which claimed that the muslims are trained to be terrorists) - seriously? Oh Please! The least you could do is to consult Mr Google, you are not that stupid are you?
Sadaqah
(voluntary charity) is a virtuous deed in Islam. In fact, it is
considered as a proof of one’s eeman (faith). The Prophet (s.a.w)
sallallaahu ‘alayhi wa sallam said in the following authentic hadeeth:
Abu Malik al-Ashari (r.a.)
(radhi Allahu anhu) narrated that Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w) said:
“Cleanliness is half of faith. Alhamdulillah (Praise be to Allah)
fills the scale. SubhanAllah (Glory be to Allah) and Alhamdulillah (Praise be
to Allah) fill up what is between the heavens and the earth. Prayer is a
light. Charity is proof (of one’s faith). Endurance is a brightness and
the Qur‘an is a proof on your behalf or against you. All men go out early in
the morning and sell themselves, thereby setting themselves free or destroying
themselves.” (Muslim, 432)
BUT.
Sadaqah
does not just mean to give because you have extras. Especially so - not because
you have plenty of money (why so? Because then,
only the rich can give - which is not normally the case)
Sadaqah
is not restricted to giving part of your wealth or material possessions or any
special deed of righteousness. Islam considers all good deeds as sadaqah
that increase our eeman:
Abu Musa narrated that the Prophet
(s.a.w.s.) said, “Every Muslim has to give in sadaqah (charity).” The
people asked, “O Allah’s Messenger (s.a.w)! If someone has nothing to give,
what will he do?” He said, “He should work with his hands and benefit himself
and also give in charity (from what he earns).” The people further asked, “If
he cannot do even that?” He replied, “Then he should help the needy who appeal
for help.” Then the people asked, “If he cannot do that?” He replied, “Then he
should perform all that is good and keep away from all that is evil and this
will be regarded as charitable deeds.” (Bukhari Vol. 2, Hadith 524)
The
Messenger of Allah (s.a.w) said: “To smile in the company of your brother is
charity. To command to do good deeds and to prevent others from doing
evil is charity. To guide a person in a place where he can not get
astray is charity. To remove troublesome things like thorns and
bones from the road is charity. To pour water from your jug into the jug
of your brother is charity. To guide a person with defective vision is
charity for you.” (Bukhari)
Don’t
you see? Kindness is a form of charity too. It counts! To live with good values. It
is charity ! Perhaps the best one that is! Do not be trapped into thinking that
Allah’s promise that 1 (one) sadaqah in the form of money will be multiplied to
10 times of the value of money you have given away .
In fact, Insyaallah,
Allah may reward you in the other aspects of your life too (not just money) :
Good
health, good friends who will guide you to Jannah, wisdom, intelligence, love
and more love, positive energies, talents you don’t think you possessed
before, unexpected windfall etc etc to
name a few. (So money shouldnt be the only thing you consider as the reward you should be getting.
In fact
you may claim to be righteous and felt smug because you gave lotsa money to
charity and dressed long and covered so visible to differentiate yourself as
the most pious one (but that’s what you want -
for your deeds to be visible for others to see ) - unfortunately, that doesn’t make you be to be the best sadaqah giver, ever ! And only Allah will be the judged of your
intention .Wallahuaklam.
Just
before I picked up Reach Out Malaysia
from pieces in 2011, I was robbed off from
most of my possession. I lost a business, a car, a house, my dignity. I got cheated, stepped on etc etc. So much so
I promised myself this. If I want to give away my possessions I might as well do it so willingly to those
people who deserved it. Not to crooks, liars, cheaters and of course bank loans
(errrr ).
And
that was how Reach Out Malaysia the 2nd generation was born. From
kindness. Not money. Allah the all
knowing has allowed it to happen. For I am only his slave. He owns everything
and will take whatever he feels like taking and will give whatever he feels
like giving.
Disclaimer
: I am not an Islamic scholar but rather I am practicing a common sense which
is to be kind is the way to be ….
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