Bilal Philips – The Best in Islam #08 – Charity (Part 2 of 4)

			Salam Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh I'd like to welcome you to another in our series, the best
in Islam.
		

			This series, we look at what Allah and His Messenger may God's peace and blessings be upon him have
identified as the best. In this segment, we are continuing with the charity element of what is best.
Now we're looking at a Hadith from Hakeem Eben his arm, in which he quoted Prophet Muhammad
Sallallahu sallam was saying of the Allah sada caught my Kana and Vi Rena wali Adela Alia Hiren.
Minelli added Sophia
		

			will be Manta role.
		

			The best charity is that given when one has surplus wealth,
		

			and the upper hand is better than the lower, but begin giving charity with your dependents.
		

			The best charity is that given when one has surplus wealth, meaning that
		

			in general, relative to families, and societal needs,
		

			when a person has additional wealth, to give the charity from that without harming the family, then
that is what's best. Meaning, if what you have is just sufficient to handle your family needs for
you to take charity out of that and give away. So then your family suffers, then this is not good
charity, because the Prophet may God's peace and blessings be upon him, he said, and begin with your
own dependence, the charity should start with those who are closest to you. As he said, Charity
begins at home.
		

			So that's the principle here, because we're going to hear some other statements of the Prophet may
God's peace and blessings be upon him in which he describes charity from other perspectives. But
this is really from the perspective of the family. So that your charity when you're giving, you
don't harm your family members, and your friends, maybe asking you for help your close friends, they
have some business or whatever that's reading into difficulty. They're asking for help. And you
know, and so you want to be charitable to them. But if in being charitable to them, you now make
life difficult for your family, we have to say that when we weigh these two, you know it's not
		

			balanced, we're off balance, because those who are closest to us have more right on our wealth than
those who are farthest away from us. So, this is the message of the Prophet may God's peace and
blessings be upon him is conveying through talking about charity being best given when we have a
surplus, and that is actually a direct translation of Zeca. Because the CA is only required when you
have a surplus, that is the principle governing Zika only when you have sufficient wealth, we could
say minimum exemption limit for Zika which is the value of two ounces of gold, whatever that is, in
your currency. You know your period of time, the value of two ounces of gold if you have that much
		

			in saving
		

			for one year, you haven't touched it, it remains.
		

			Then
		

			you give 2.5% of that in charity
		

			That's what is required. So it is from your surplus. And this is a principle, which
		

			covers and protects families as opposed to amounts. As opposed to taking that charity, whether it's
forced, or whether it is voluntary. Taking that charity, from the amount of money you have is from
the surplus. For example, in Christian tradition, you have what is known as the tithe. That's the
10, which is given, but that 10th is regardless of whether it is surplus or not surplus, how many
people you have in your family, there is no consideration, you have money attends should go to the
church,
		

			automatically, again, that tends going to the church doesn't necessarily even reach the needy
people, it's going to maintain the priest, you know, give him a good life. He has a nice,
comfortable circumstance, education for his children, car, etc, you know, there is no consideration
for the one giving, nor for the family of the one giving. So one person may have 10 kids, and he
earns the same as somebody else who has no kids, they both have to give the same amount. That's not
fair. That's not fair. Whereas Islamic system of zakah, it takes into account the one who has 10
kids, and gets the same as the one who has no kids, obviously, his savings are not going to be the
		

			same.
		

			Though they both earn the same amount of money, the one with 10 kids has consumed most of that
money. So if he consumes and what is left is not above the minimum exemption limit, then he doesn't
even have to pay the car, even though he is earning the same as the other person.
		

			So you can see the Islamic system takes into account the need of the individual, the need of his
family, etc. So this when we shift now to voluntary charity, because that is obligatory charity Zeca
were obliged to pay it were not requested and suggested this is an obligation to not pay the car
when you're able is a sin.
		

			Whereas what we're talking about here in terms of voluntary charity sadaqa, this is best done, when
it is from the surplus wealth that we have. And I think that makes perfect sense. Then the Prophet
sallallahu Sallam went on to say, Well, yeah, doula Alia Hiren, Mina, Leah, this sofa, and the upper
hand is better than the lower hand. Now, what is meant by the upper hand of the lower hand, the
upper hand, as it is properly understood, meant the hand which was giving, you're giving
		

			the hand which is receiving is the one out, that is the lower hand, the upper hand is the giving. So
therefore, the one who gives
		

			is better than the one who receives
		

			a general principle.
		

			Of course, it's not necessarily always the case, when you go down to persons faith, and there's a
lot of other issues, because of course, ultimately, who is best are those who fear God the most. So
the one who was receiving might fear God more than the one who's giving. So that's quite possible
also. But this is relative to the act of giving this is what is being referred to here, the concept
of giving, is it better to give or to receive, that's where we're dealing with what is better, and
it is better as a general principle life principle, that it is better to give than to receive
		

			the one that's begging, the one that's receiving, that is the one in need, or it could be greed.
		

			But in general, it's the one in need, whereas the one who's giving is the one with means are the one
prepared to sacrifice. So, in other words, when the Prophet Muhammad salah, told us that the upper
hand is better than the lower hand, he's saying, Go and give, the greater reward is in giving, not
in receiving, this is what you're rewarded for. This is the
		

			charity, this is what is blessed by God. So that's where we need to be, we need to be in a position,
a charitable position, whether it's because we have surplus wealth, which is better, as the Prophet
SAW, Allah told us, or it is a sacrifice that we're making, we see people in greater need than we
are. So we take from what we have and give to help them, see an emergency situation. Yes, our family
will be the loss, we will take some things from the family, but still, after taking those things
from the family to give to those people in need, because they're in dire need, we're still much
better off than those people who are in need. So this is the principle that we keep in mind the life
		

			principle here of trying and striving to be in the position of giving. We're gonna take a short
break here, and we'll see you after the break. So
		

			Salam, Alaikum, Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
		

			Alhamdulillah, you now have the opportunity to avail yourself
		

			of this treasure we call IRA to Corsi, this great Islamic treasure which Prophet Muhammad wa sallam
		

			called the greatest verse in the Quran, based on revelation from Allah subhanaw taala.
		

			He told us this. Why? Because he wanted us to give special attention to it to corsi.
		

			He told us that every night before we go to bed, we should recite it.
		

			It would protect us from satanic forces in our lives,
		

			even during the day after our daily prayers, reciting it would also benefit us
		

			in this life, as well as the next.
		

			So it's very important for us to know the meaning of this verse because the power of AI to corsi is
not in the sounds. The Arabic recitation the parroting of the words. The power of AI to corsi lies
in the depths of meaning
		

			that Allah has shared with us.
		

			It lies in understanding that meaning, and living our lives, intending to live our lives in
accordance with its meanings.
		

			This is how it makes a difference. Otherwise, if it is just parroting, then know that it will not
benefit us at all.
		

			It will be useless.
		

			Ritual,
		

			practice a cultural habit, but for it to become a part of a Muslims life.
		

			To have meaning and have impact and change that individual. We do need to understand what is Allah
saying, in this the greatest verse of the final revelation of Allah to humankind, and I have two
courses.
		

			This course is a very critical and important course
		

			in the life of a Muslim to help him and her understand this critical element of the religion.
		

			Very simple act with huge implications.
		

			May Allah bless you to benefit from the elucidation, the tafsir the commentary and discussion on
this verse.
		

			The 2/55 Verse, also Al Baqarah donors either to corsi
		

			Baraka, Luffy, Coombs, said, I want a Goomba Rahmatullahi we're gonna get
		

			Salam aleikum. Welcome back from the break. And to just recap, we were looking at Charity. In the
Hadith of the Prophet, may God's peace and blessings be upon him in which he said, The best charity
is that given what
		

			No one has surplus wealth, and the upper hand is better than the lower hand.
		

			But we should begin giving charity with our dependence. This is the Hadith that we're looking at, in
this episode.
		

			In the case of the charity, being best when we have surplus, in one might say, Isn't the charity
best, when we have a struggle, were striving, there's effort to give, why when you have surplus when
you have surpluses, no pressure on you, giving charity at that time is much easier. Well, this is
looking at the giving of charity, from the perspective of the family of the giver. Those who depend
on the giver,
		

			that he or she who is giving, should not give and put their family in difficulty, they should give
from the extra wealth that they have.
		

			So that the family doesn't suffer in any way. And
		

			giving is better than receiving.
		

			Giving as a general principle is better than receiving, though, the one receiving might be himself
as an individual better than the one who's giving the principle of giving is better than receiving
we want to be among the givers. We want to be among those who gives a cap
		

			as opposed to being among those who receive sicker. Of course, this may be according to our last
caller, Allah's decision, he decided that you ended up in a poor family, and the other person ended
up in a rich family. So the one in the rich family is in a much better position to give than you are
going to be, take that aside. Where you have a choice, you can go out and receive. While you can go
out and give, it's better to go out and give the last point
		

			which the prophets Allah wa sallam spoke of.
		

			That is begin with your dependents. This is following the principle that Charity begins at home,
Charity begins at home, those who are closest to you, they're the ones who you are obliged to look
after you know in the society for the society to function effectively, the government cannot look
after everybody, everybody's needed in society, there are so many people with so many needs. So,
therefore, there has to be in the society and network of support support network, we could call it a
safety net, that is there to catch people who are slipping through the cracks, falling without
others knowing it etc. The safety net is there. So who provides that safety net? Now, we have
		

			organizations, special NGOs and these type of things which tried to catch you know, needs within the
society which the governments are not able to catch, but fundamentally, that should be the family
where it is possible. It should be the family who is looking after the needs of its members, the
extended family, not necessarily father, mother, kids, the extended the uncles, the grandparents,
the cousins, the other relatives who make up that family who may be much better off than their
relatives. They are first responsible before the government steps in, they are responsible to help
out their relatives. But that's the general principle. Looking after one's dependents is a life
		

			principle. You need to be that safety net. You need to be there for your extended family. It's your
job, primarily.
		

			God puts you in that relationship. And that network of blood
		

			relations. God puts you there for a reason. If you have surplus, then they have first right to that
surplus, or to some of that surplus to share with them. So beginning with one dependence makes good
sense.
		

			It's really
		

			level, it's practical, it is the safety net, which the society needs. So that the government is not
expected to do everything. Because the government is never able to provide for all of the needs of
its citizens.
		

			Never,
		

			no government is going to be able to do that. Unless they are among the super rich, the numbers are
small, and they have been blessed with massive wealth. Few countries like that, vast majority of
countries are not like that. So the norm is that the dependents should get support from those on
whom they depend you with the means? owe it to your fellow family members, your relatives, distant
or close? You owe it to them, to help them. And this also tightens the bond, because there will come
a time, maybe, maybe not, but maybe there may come a time when you are in need. And who will you
first turn to the state? No, you will turn to your relatives. It's makes sense. So it's not to say
		

			that you give thinking, Okay, I'm gonna give so that when my turn comes, they'll give me no, we
don't have to give in that way. Because then that takes away from the true spirit of giving, because
you're giving, expecting to receive know, when we give in charity, there shouldn't be an expectation
that you receive, because maybe you give to your relative when they're in need. And when you're in
need, they don't give you
		

			then what then when your situation changes, and you become now the one with means and they're in
need again, you say well, you didn't give me when I was in need, so I'm not gonna give you that's
not real charity. Real charity is, even though they did that to you, when the time comes, their
family because maybe that individual, he was stingy, he didn't help you and he should have, but his
family are they to blame his wife, his children,
		

			are they to blame now, so for you to say I'm not going to help them, because your brother didn't
help you when you needed, then this is not the charitable way. This is not the charitable spirit.
That charitable spirit is one of giving. That's why the Prophet sallallahu sallam said, the upper
hand is better than the lower hand. So if it's the last other, that you are the one always on the
upper end. Because you are the one with the means which Allah gave you, then Alhamdulillah you
embrace it, this is what Allah has given you is made you put you in that position where you can earn
great reward for yourself. But that reward is only being earned, if you have the right intention. So
		

			that's why I said, You shouldn't give it with the intention of okay, when my time comes, you know, I
will be expecting from them, they should give me when I need, just as I gave them
		

			know, it's our nature to want and to expect that. But we should never allow that to prevent us from
helping those who are really in need. That's the point. We have to go beyond go that extra step.
		

			Not be caught within the confines of our circumstance and situation, we have to look beyond it and
look for the higher goal, the better position be among those who give rather than be among those who
receive. So this is the message of the Prophet, God's peace and blessings be upon him, Give from our
surplus. Don't take from what your family needs to give to others, if they need it. And they have
the first right to it be among those who are giving rather than those who are constantly receiving.
If you're able, of course if you're not able you have no other choices, your situation, then Allah
does not burden you beyond your capacity to give when you're not able to give
		

			and
		

			you should always keep in mind, your dependents, your family, your extended family. Allah has put
you there
		

			If for any reason, if they need you, then you should be there for them. It's your duty before that
of anyone else in the society.
		

			So, with those thoughts, we're going to close this session of the best in Islam. We're Prophet
Muhammad may God's peace and blessings be upon him, has given us advice with regards to charity, the
best in Islam with regards to charity
		

			deals with the essence of charity,
		

			which is portrayed in Zeca giving from our surplus wealth, then, if we have the choice of being
among those who give, or those who receive, we should strive to be among those who give. And don't
forget your family members, your relatives, your dependents, they have the first right on us. We
hope to see you in the next episode of our program, the best in Islam salaam aleikum wa rahmatullah
Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.