Abdur Rahman ibn Yusuf Mangera – Charity Stinginess Extravagance
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similar Hawkman or him Alhamdulillah, hoping I mean, are
salatu salam ala so you didn't mousseline wider early he was sabe
he you are Baraka was seldom at the Sleeman Cathedral on Eli Yomi
Dean Amma Bert
it's been a long time
to have sat with so many people from solace which is supposed to
be one of the top universities in the world but unfortunately they
forgot to mention it in the top 10 of the recent rankings
it's the top 10 is one of the I mean it is the best university no
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but they just forgot to mention in Sharla next time you guys should
be producing some cutting edge research inshallah.
That will get us there in sharper but one thing about sauce is that
mashallah it's very Muslim friendly. Wherever you go, you see
Muslims around nice prayer facilities, nice voodoo place. So
alhamdulillah it's great for Muslims inshallah top university.
Allah subhanho wa Taala says in the Quran
AlLadhina pollun Morona NASA Bill Buckley were to moon Humala,
hoomin formula.
Allah subhanho wa Taala also says a shaytaan we are a Docomo fakra
Where Moroccan will fascia Allah who only do come mouthfeel rotten
meat Allah He must Virata minha favela wala who has zero Nadi,
Allah subhanho wa Taala says those people who are stingy, who
withhold,
who are miserly who are mean.
And they instruct
and order others and encourage others to also be stingy. And they
hide that which Allah subhanaw taala has given them, Allah
subhanaw taala speaks to the heart of the human. And that's why the
Quran supersedes all boundaries. And anybody who reads it
objectively with a sincere heart will generally be able to
benefit from it, because it will speak to their heart beyond any
kind of ethnicity or race or language, or any background.
What happens is, when a person
there's a fundraiser going on now, generally Alhamdulillah we're
living in a time,
which many of the scholars would consider to be the time of a trial
of prosperity as opposed to as opposed to a trial of adversity.
So most of us Alhamdulillah we're sitting here, we're wearing
clothing that we have chosen that we wanted.
We have the money, disposable income to purchase. And we're
sitting here with those chosen clothing, garments, whatever,
whatever it is that we're we have on.
So we have martial law, there's a lot of prosperity around us. If
there's a problem today, it's not about having little, it's actually
about spending too much and indulgence, which we call a
Seraph.
So you've got a typical case of a fundraiser, and you've got money,
you've got disposable income, because if we were to go out you
could probably pay 20 pounds on you know for a meal. But 20 pounds
is very difficult for us to give we just about managed to get five
pounds, sometimes 20 pounds is very difficult for us to donate.
If you see somebody next to you who's donating 50 pounds, it's
gonna make you feel really guilty. But what happens is that a mean
person will tell that person Hey, don't spend money, what's going on
10 pounds is enough. Because you don't want them to outdo you it
makes you feel bad. So what Allah subhanaw taala says in the Quran,
that this kind of mentality is those Alladhina balloon those who
are stingy and they order others to be stingy as well because they
don't want others to spend because it makes them feel guilty. And
then
if somebody comes up to your nice house wherever it is now
mashallah, if you live in Hackney, you've been priced out the house
cost a million pounds, but if you sell it, what are you going to do
with it? So what kind of millionaires are we today? It's a
kind of a really strange juxtaposing situation wherein you
seem to have money but you don't have money. But yet we still spend
Mashallah. So, they then hide that which Allah subhanaw taala has
given them so for example, if somebody does come to you because
you do have money, and mashallah you do have disposable income and
then somebody comes to us, then we'll come up with an excuse. I
know I've got a big house. I know I've got this nice car and I know
I dress with the nicest garments etc. And I've got the nicest
handbag etc. But, you know, after that I've got a lot of school fees
today. Right? So indulge ourselves, but when it comes to
giving others than we make
excuses. That's a that's an issue.
So, what exactly is how have the scholars defined?
miserliness? I think if you look at how that scholars have divided
they have defined miserliness and how they've defined what it means
to be generous, then I think that should help us to see where we are
in this regard.
First and foremost.
You've just been through a fundraising week, lots of charity,
and mashallah we have a full, we have full conviction in our heart
full certainty. That to give is a good thing. We've probably
memorized we've probably, we can probably recall a number of
narrations, a number of verses of the Quran number of virtues, on
what it what you get for giving that each cent you give each penny
you give each pound you give, it gets you this much. So many of us
including our fundraisers, including myself, including the
scholars, we can talk the talk, and we have a full conviction in
our heart that yes, it's great to give charity, and this is the
Fidella you get we have a belief about in the hereafter. So when it
comes to a belief aspects, we're not going to deny that aspect
we're going to see yet it's great question is, how are we going to
fare when we're confronted with a situation where somebody asks us
for money? How do we feel then I could be the best fundraiser and
take a lot of money from you people. But if I'm faced with an
individual that actually needs my help, how do I feel? Do I feel now
like a fish out of water, where everything that I know suddenly
cannot manifest itself in words anymore? It's all just talk, and
it's just all theory. And now I don't feel a compassion. Somebody
comes to you, you're in the masjid. And somebody comes in and
says, I need some help. What do you do? We generally say there's
the office, or there's the Imam. Right? Or there's the committee
member, as though they're the only people that supposed to give or
the mosque as a whole needs to give. And we don't that's an
opportunity somebody has come to us, Allah subhanaw taala is going
to ask us on that day Subhanallah what the scholars actually say is
that when poor people come to you, then he's come from Allah. Now, of
course, we have to be careful, I remember when I went for Hajj, I
was told that there are proper, you can say, begging industries
and syndicates that that operate. So lots of people, they will
actually beg and there'll be really wealthy, more wealthier
than a lot of other people. So what happened is, I passed about
four or five days, and I didn't give money to anybody. Then I
reflected on I said, because I was doubting everybody that was asking
for money. So the shaytaan was basically deceiving me to make to
keep that in mind that make sure you don't give to the wrong
person. So I wasn't giving to anybody. I was literally just
ignoring everybody. Then I started having to become a bit more smart
and say no, I need to spend here because that's to my benefit. So
then to go and look for that hidden destitute, go and sit next
to people, there are people who will, who will literally expend
their life savings to come for Hajj, to come to that great place.
So you have to find these people. And if you ask Allah subhanaw
taala that I want my wealth to go into the best place, he will help
us to do that.
How do we how do we define what it means to be generous? This is what
the scholars say that generosity is medica to infinity, it says
quality in the heart. It's a quality in the heart, that the
rule Illa Bezaleel man, which encourages a person to spend to
spend to spend Zara in an island wardrobe not spend on your bills
which we have to spend, not spend on the basics that we need every
day, which we have to do. And there are some people who even
actually pile up money and they don't even buy things that will
make their life easier. They will really make their life difficult
and not spend and they keep their money. I don't know for who some
of our first generation. There's a massive clash in terms of the
first and second generation. They've seen tough times. So
that's what they do, they will not refurbish the house, they will not
get new clothing, et cetera, et cetera. And yet here we are
Mashallah. flushing it out, right? And they're still struggling.
So
generosity means to spend wealth
and spend enough wealth to have a good microphone system.
We have a massive problem in our masjid and even in our halls and
everywhere Subhanallah if we can just get that right. That'd be
really wonderful.
So it's to spend.
It's a quality in the heart that invites one and encourages one to
spend over and above what's necessary.
Sorry for a person to spend in, in the way of bills, etc. for three
reasons for one of three reasons. One is linearly thurb, which means
to gain a reward from Allah subhanaw taala. So it's done
specifically with sincerity for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala
I'm only spending for the sake of Allah subhanho wa Taala because I
want him to reward me. So everything we've heard we actually
doing it for the sake of Allah subhanaw taala number two, for a
person to do it as a cure for the feeling of miserliness, as many of
us who may actually feel that we're not generous enough, when
you see somebody else spending.
And you think that wow, how can that person spend so much. She
just pulls out the money and spends on her friends, for
example, and you feel actually quite embarrassed about it
yourself. That we can't do it for ourselves. So in order to rectify
ourselves and improve ourselves, we spend, they say miserliness is
that person who doesn't spend what the Sharia what the what the
religion tells him to spend, what the religion tells him to spend,
or what common decency and chivalry will tell you to spend,
I'll give you an example. We go out to eat. And one of one of us
is always kind of lounging around at the back. When it comes to
paying, right, he's always at the back. Right? In fact, there's some
people they don't even bother, you know, like somebody will say.
And then there's other people who will never even pull out the
water, they'll just oh, I need to go wash my hands.
So that's a massive problem. That is not even common decency. So
it's not like the first time you went out to eat or this time,
people really indulge, and it was a 500 pound bill or something. But
it was a high tea in the Ritz or something on the subway. But now
this is just every time and time and time out the eating on
somebody else. That is what you call social meanness that that is
also against generosity. So generosity, or meanness and
stinkiness is not what you just don't spend in the hunt of Allah.
It's also when you don't spend on others according to common social
distancing. So now we this is what we need to evaluate ourselves up.
So the second reason for spending is to read oneself of this
meanness to open up the hearts a bit more, I'll tell you from
experience, that if you find it difficult to spend 10 pounds, you
find it easier to spend on yourself, but to give to others 10
out for that, you know, for charity, or to feed somebody with
that, let the first time push yourself to do that. The next time
technology be very easy. In fact, try to double it and spend 20,
Parliament's on, and you will see that you will actually double it.
That is the way to rid ourselves of them. So that's the second
reason for why a person would want to want to spend and there should
be no other reason. The second, the third reason, the third reason
is really for the law to do, just for a person to gain just for a
person to gain the virtues of being generous. Being generous, is
a really praiseworthy tricks. You may forget everything about
somebody, but when they die, you remember the man who used to
spend, you know, she was a very generous individual, she would
always give should always help should always be there. Now
remember, when I talk about generosity, I don't just talk
about wealth and money, we've reduced it to well, much of the
time, generosity is about expanding yourself. It's about
expanding your time. It's about expanding your knowledge, your
instruction, your ability, your career, whatever ALLAH SubhanA,
Allah has given us to expand on others. And give you an example,
there was a person that I know, I met, I heard a lot about him, I
met and I met a friend of his as well
is that this is the same guy who when he was studying Unicode, in
London is something that used to be, but when he was studying in
London, you would meet a guy on the street, the homeless guy or
something. And he would actually take an interest in that
individual of how he became homeless. And he found out that,
for example, this is an illegal an immigrant who's having problems
with their people. He would go home, you take the guy's
information, he would go home. It's not like okay, give him 10
pounds, give him 20 pounds, maybe go and buy a burger from
somewhere. And then that's, it's Allamani, you don't want to see
you again, he will actually go home, research that individual and
try to find out where his paperwork is, and CV can help him
then the next thing when it comes back for university is actually
going around looking for that guy and saying, Here's your paperwork
that's going out of the way for someone. So the example I gave in
the beginning that we can listen to all the virtues and speak about
all the virtues. But when we're actually confronted with an
individual or a child of anybody who needs our help, can we really
translate it? Does it become second nature? Is it something
that's coming down from our hearts? The only way you will
is if we practice it, if we actually start doing it, and then
you will notice that it'd be very easy for you to just put up 20
pounds or whatever, give it away and forget about, you won't even
remember it. And so that's the way of spending. Studies show that
when you spend, you actually feel happier than when you spend on
yourself. They did a study in Vancouver that gave everybody $10
or $20 in an envelope in the morning. Some people they told
them to spend it on themselves, buy a coffee, buy something extra
days off. And another group said spend it on somebody else. And
then they were told to write their feelings at the end of the day.
And what they discovered is that those who were told to spend that
money on others felt much better, much more exhilarated, much more
satisfied and accomplished than those who spend it on the results.
They thought, okay, maybe this is an issue in Vancouver, Canada,
prosperous area. So, you know, let's try and around the world.
They tried in third world countries, they tried in numerous
different places. And this is what they discovered that time and time
again, spending on somebody else gave you much more satisfaction.
How would you get there, you start doing that's the way to do it.
Take all of your friends next time you make sure you pay the prophets
of Allah already said this is one of the first funny that he
mentioned when he entered Madina. Munawwara is the office of Ebola
virus instead of screaming to feed people, give food feed people,
that's what he said, Oh, Mr. Brown is an anxious Salam you know the
thing and he says, spreads around spread the greeting of peace,
right, which is much more significant and substantially to
saying hello, for example, what does it all mean? Has anybody
looked at the MC Balaji of Hello, for example, As salam o alaikum
Peace be upon you, it's like a dua that you're giving to somebody so
spread Salam spread the peace
out to people Tara will see or harm and tie the knots of Kenji be
good with your relatives. And I also knew will lay you unanswered
near and pray stand up and pray at night when other people are
sleeping, that hood agenda to be salah, you will enter agenda with
peace, the mullah anchoring and crooner they even couldn't evolve
Salam Alaikum Salam Alikum inshallah Allah give us a stage
when we enter Jannah and the angels will just enter around from
the different doors themselves, and why they will masala morning
Peace be upon you, not true peace, everlasting peace, endlessly
eternal bliss, this is what we will have. But we need to create,
we need to create that for us in this world, this is the place for
him.
So spend on others, and this is how you will you will find that
you will open up your heart. There are many people who are in need of
health, both in this country and the others. That's why we did most
of all, many of the Muslims in this country is being sent
outside. Most of the Muslims, if you notice your your your
donations are being sent around the world. And of course, they are
entitled to that. And we shouldn't be doing that. However, we also we
have poor people here. So what we've done locally, is we actually
after seeing a number of people with immigration issues. There are
women in domestic shelters who have no money who are having
problems, they've got six kids, that government doesn't pay them
enough. We started at what they call or we called Noah benevolence
fund, which is literally to take the Zakat money of the local
people and instead of sending sending it outside it is to give
it back to the local community those who I need as a part of that
we're also thinking Inshallah, to open up the scholarships, because
this is really something that we need to be thinking about. Right?
We need we need to be thinking about our next generation in this
country as well as the people in the other country.
Right. So now
Rasool allah sallallahu alayhi wa sallam states about his level of
generosity. What kind of was Allah? He said, Allah, Allah, He
said, Have you please Allah? Yeah, it is already hurting Luke, the
prophets of Allah when he wasn't, wasn't a king, he was a prophet.
But yet he mentions in his description, that he would give
such huge amounts in abundance, that kings would be enfeebled
kings would not be able to stand up in front of him in terms of the
amount that he would give. And then this is what's most
important, our status the exact opposite of this. So think about
this carefully. It says that he would give more than kings and
kings to shame. And then he says, we are issuing enough see here you
should focus on but when it came to his own soul, he used to live
the life of a destitute. That's why the lowest person in Madina,
Munawwara could relate to the Prophet sallallahu alayhi salam,
the person who had nothing in Madina, Munawwara he could relate
to the prophets. He was the best example. So when it came to
himself, he was totally he was an ascetic. So they told himself when
it came to others, he would give profoundly when it comes to
ourselves, we spend on ourselves, we indulge, we become more refined
each year, then the next suit we buy has to be better than the last
one. If the first one was from Primark.
The second one has to be from Debenhams. I don't care what brand
it is, it cannot be from Primark alright as to be from dividends,
then dividends become solid becomes more than it has to be
Giorgio Armani, Konami, you know, John Franco villa in order to be
returned when it all is anyway. So this is the way we are when it
comes to indulgence on ourselves. But when it comes to giving others
than we give the most meager which is so different from our prophets
Subhan Allah, and again I'm talking the talk here, I ask Allah
for us for myself and for everybody here that he makes us
walk the walk in this regard, really opens up our hearts allows
us to enter our hearts because that is when it is going to be
really worth our while. A Hadith which is related honorable Sheikh
he mentions Majula when he along in the Sahara he was to go to
Subhan Allah, Allah, Allah subhanho wa Taala still hook
you've heard the William Allah, the friend of Allah, those people
who are very close to Allah subhana wa Tada, the prophets of
Allah where I use them said, there is no word in every wedding. It
says that every wedding of Allah subhanahu Uttara me everybody of
Allah subhanho wa Taala the only way that makes him the only thing
that makes him a weenie is that he is generous. And if number two, he
has good character, generosity will only come when you have
reliance on Allah. Because if you don't have reliance on Allah
subhanaw taala you find it difficult to spend is in why
should I spend I'm going to do from what I have. But if you have
reliance in Allah that Allah has to give her than you willing to
spend because you know, Allah will give you that. Finally, the one
thing that I want to mention, I just want to give you a scenario
Subhan Allah. And we ask Allah by this scenario, we ask Allah by
this example. We just passed Eve, just a few weeks ago, just about a
month ago, we just had an angel. Now imagine this scenario, whether
you whether whether this is in serial, or whether this is in
Palestine, there's a child who's paid as a child who's playing on
the streets. And suddenly, his friends start to seek realistic
help into this final scenario I want to give you
there's a child that's playing on the streets with his friends,
suddenly, his friend starts speaking about what they're going
to get for eat. The friends are saying, Oh, my father's going to
bring by me this way. My father is going to give me this for you. I'm
gonna get this for you. And this child ism. This child comes home.
This child comes home and he says to his mother, he says to his
mother, oh, my mother, what am I going to get for him? What am I
going to get for you?
And his mother. After looking away for a while, with tears in her
eyes, she says to him, the father that used to bring you your Aegis
is not the bonus.
He's no longer with us.
This child cries.
Day by day, his friends are thinking about what they're going
to get for each.
Knock, imagine what this child is feeling. We asked you Oh Allah, to
have mercy on us.
We ask you Allah to have mercy on us, to open up our hearts, to make
us less intelligent, to make us more caring and compassionate. And
to remove this oppression that loosens a feeling around the
world, to remove this oppression and aggression that the Muslims
are feeling around the world. That is the most important thing.
We are suffering. We ask Allah subhana wa Taala to remove that
suffering, to accept our for US laws have been made every day. But
maybe because of our hypocrisy, maybe because of the way we do
things we don't. He's not accepting our while we ask Allah
to have mercy on us and to have compassion to deal with us gently
because he has no mercy. Then all those who have mercy in this
world, and on this I end that may Allah subhanaw taala relieve all
of those who are suffering like this and may Allah never allow us
to see a bad day with our own children. May Allah subhanaw taala
allow us to invest for an hour here often