O You Who Believe

7)

"O you who have believed, spend from that which We have provided for you before there comes a Day in which there is no exchange and no friendship and no intercession. And the disbelievers – they are the wrongdoers."

[Al Baqarah 2:254]

Sadaqah or Sadqah صدقہ‎, "charity", "benevolence", in the modern context has come to signify "voluntary charity".

According to the Qur'an the word means voluntary offering, whose amount is at the will of the "benefactor".

Life is a journey from Allah to Allah. He is the One who created us from a clot of congealed blood and blessed us with everything we have today.

The love for life of this world and the love for worldly possessions have been identified as the root causes of sins, therefore in this verse, Allah reminds people to spend in His way.

Prophet (S.A.W) said: “Sadaqah extinguishes sin as water extinguishes fire.”

(Ahmad, Tirmidhi and Ibn Majah)

The Prophet (S.A.W) also said: “The believer’s shade on the Day of Resurrection will be his Sadaqah.”

(Ahmad)

Allah commands His servants to spend for His sake, in the path of righteousness, from what He has granted them so that they acquire and keep the reward of this righteous deed with their Lord and King. Let them rush to perform this deed in this life, “before there comes a Day in which there is no exchange and no friendship and no intercession.” The Day refers to the Day of Resurrection.

Allah ta'ala reminds us that the time to act and do righteous deeds is “now”. On the Day of Judgment, no one will be able to bargain on behalf of himself or ransom himself with any amount even if it was the earth’s fill of gold; nor will his friendship or relations to anyone benefit him.

On the Day of Judgment, deeds will not be up for sale. They cannot be borrowed from a friend either. Once caught by the punishment, one cannot be released on someone’s intercession, unless Allah subhanahu wa ta’ala wills to forgive the person. Therefore, the time to act is now.

One reason, as stated in the beginning, is that it washes away the sins that people have committed. And the second reason is that unless a person spends money on something they do not consider it valuable. Since most of us inherited religion from our parents and did not have to study or strive for it, we do not know the value of being a Muslim. We spend tons of money on whims and worldly possessions but when it comes to spending in the way of Allah ta’ala we count our pennies and can come up with several excuses for not spending in His way.

-Do a little test – when you receive pay raise or get money from somewhere, what is the first thing that comes to your mind? Generally, it is something of the dunya: Buy new clothes, a new car, throw a dinner, invite people, go on a vacation, etc. Why does spending in the way of Allah doesn’t come to our mind first? We can drive to shopping mall, restaurant or a friend’s place but driving to masjid or an Islamic class is an expense?

People who spend their money in good causes (for the promotion of Islam) that money will benefit them even after their death. Aren’t all of us in need of continuous good deeds?

Make a commitment to regularly spend in the way of Allah not just your spare change but an amount that will make you proud in the Hereafter and raise your scales with Allah. Do not advertise your charity. Let it be a secret between you and Allah. If you want to show off, do it infront of Allah. Be open. Stand off to him. Be unique and sincere for Allah in good deeds. Give as much as you can because you'll get the same amount back with a triple of over four times increase in the amount and most importantly, Allah will be happy with you.

"…that which you give for charity, seeking the Countenance of Allah, (will increase); it is those who will get a recompense multiplied.”

[Qur’an, 30:39]

The Messenger of Allah (s.a.w.s.) 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)

For our own success, we should spend time, money and efforts in giving sadaqah for the pleasure of Allah as the rewards of sadaqah is nothing but success, especially in the Hereafter:

“The likeness of those who spend 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 of) for whom He wills, and Allah is sufficient for His creatures’ needs, All-Knower).”

[Qur’an, 2:261]

In the end of this verse, Allah refers to the disbelievers. The disbelievers in those times and even now are focused on limited thinking: Why would Allah ask us to give to the poor when He can provide for them Himself.

This life is a test. For those who are given less Rizq, their test is to strive and gain and the test of those who are given more Rizq is whether they spend money and give away their dearest belongings in the way of Allah.

Afterall, all that we have is Allah's. Nothing in this world is our own then why act arrogantly and limit our minds in a small comfort zone? We have to reach out and look at the bigger image.

"Never will you attain piety until you spend (in the way of Allah) from that which you love. And whatever you spend - indeed, Allah is Knowing of it."

[Al'e Imran 3:92]

Spending money for Allah's sake does not reduce a person's wealth rather it increases sustenance, protects wealth and increases love for fellow beings. On the other hand, gathering and collecting wealth and not spending it in Allah's way ruins the wealth and Allah becomes unhappy when a person acts arrogant.

Things we learnt:

> Sadaqah is an act of love in which our hearts bind with those in need and we become dearest to Allah.

> Sadaqah washes our sins and protects our wealth.

> On the day of Judgement, our good deeds will intercede for us so we should do our best to acheive the ultimate goal: Allah's happiness by giving Sadaqah.

> Sadaqah should purely be for Allah's sake and not for showing off to people.

> On spotting a person in need, nothing should ever hold our hand back from spending in Allah's way.

> Even giving a piece of a date for Allah's sake will save us from the fire but on the Judgement day, no intercession and no exchange will be accepted from those who acted arrogantly in the worldly life.

May Allah guide us to the right path.
Ameen.
Wama alayna illal balaghul mubeen.