Saif Morad – Charity Isnt Restricted To Spending Money

My dear brothers and sisters, may Allah Subhanahu

Wa Ta'ala bless us with the best in

this world and the next.

In today's video we're gonna be looking at

how Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has given us

plenty of opportunities to do good.

And it is up to us

to recognize these opportunities

and seize them.

One day some of the Sahaba radiAllahu anhu

came to the Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam

and they told him,

oh Messenger of Allah,

the rich among us have taken all the

rewards.

They pray as we pray, they fast as

we fast,

and they can give in charity while we

cannot.

The Prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam he let

them continue to speak so we can understand

why they think like this.

And then he salallahu alaihi wa sallam said,

has Allah not made a way for you

to give in sadaqa?

The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam

posed the question to them

to open their mind, to get them thinking

that there are ways to give in charity

beyond spending one's wealth.

In the saying of SubhanAllah,

there is sadaqa.

In saying Allahu Akbar, there is sadaqa.

In saying Alhamdulillah,

there is sadaqa.

In saying La ilaha illallah, there is sadaqa.

And enjoining of good is sadaka

and forbidding of that which is evil is

also sadaka

and in fulfilling one's desire is also sadaka

so the companion said You Rasulullah

is there a reward for a person who

satisfies his desire?

The Prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said, If

he was to fulfill his desire in an

unlawful manner,

is there a sin upon him?

So just like that if they fulfill their

desires in a permissible way

then they have reward in it.

The prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam is showing

them

that the aspect of charity is broader than

we think. It is not restricted

only to spending of one's wealth.

The avenues of charity are plentiful.

Even if a person fulfills their desire in

a halal manner. In the intimate relationship between

spouses, if they have the right intention,

they are rewarded for it.

In another narration,

the poor people from the Muhajirun came to

the prophet salallahu alaihi wa sallam and said

that the rich amongst us have taken the

highest rewards.

And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said,

why is that?

Here the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam asked

them why. What is the reason for them

thinking in this manner? He didn't jump and

give them the answer,

but he posed the question in order to

find out why they think like this.

So they said,

they pray as we pray. They fast as

we fast. And they give sadaqa while we

don't. And they free slaves while we cannot.

So then the prophet

said,

shall I not teach you something

by which you will catch up to those

who have surpassed you

and you will stay ahead of those who

come after you

And no one shall be better than you

except the one who does the same as

you.

Imagine now these companions,

how excited they are that the Prophet sallallahu

alaihi wa sallam is going to let them

in on a secret that if they were

to do this

they will be on a totally different level.

The companion said, of course we want to

know. So the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam

said to say

at the end of every salah 33 times.

We were probably expecting something big.

But in this easy task

the reward is tremendous.

So then the poor from the Muhajiri and

they came back to the prophet sallallahu alaihi

wa sallam and told him

that our rich brothers they heard of this

and they started doing the same thing that

we are doing.

And then the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam

said

that that is the bounty of Allah Subhanahu

Wa Ta'ala He gives it to whomever He

wants.

If Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala has blessed someone

then what can we do?

And we learn from this that sadaqa is

of 2 types.

The first one is when the benefit goes

to the person who does the action.

For example when we say subhanAllah, alhamdulillah,

this benefit comes back to us.

The second type is when the benefit extends

towards others.

For example, when we help people, when we

spend our waft, other people are the ones

benefiting and we're benefiting along with them.

This is the beauty of Islam. In every

situation there is an opportunity to do good.

There is an opportunity to get closer to

Allah

There is an opportunity to increase our ranks.

A kind word, smiling in the face of

our brothers and sisters,

helping others.

All these are ways to give charity.

Even in the regular activities we do on

a daily basis, like going to work,

cleaning the house,

going grocery shopping, buying food for our families,

All these things if a person has the

intention

that they expect the reward from Allah Subhanahu

Wa Ta'ala. Whether male or female,

there is an opportunity for charity in there.

As the prophet

said,

that the spending of a man upon his

family and he expects the reward from Allah

subhanahu wa ta'ala, there's charity in that.

And this extends to the female as well.

If she works and she helps out the

family,

she is getting rewarded for it

if the intention is there.

But rectifying our intention is not easy.

To consciously bring our intention into play at

every situation when there is a chance for

good is not easy because it's more easier

to function on autopilot.

Go shopping, go to work, go buy food.

But if we were to consciously bring our

intention into play,

all these things can be turned into an

act of charity.

Theoretically it's easy, but practically it's difficult.

Therefore we can start with maybe 2 to

3 things

that we try to bring our intention into

play. And once that becomes part of our

routine we try to include other activities that

we can make in 2 acts of worship.

And the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam told

us that

every act of goodness is charity.

Every good act there is a chance for

us to get reward. There is a chance

for us to give charity

And we should never belittle any act of

kindness.

And we should also strive

to help others as much as we can

because the prophet sallallahu alaihi wa sallam said,

the most beloved people to Allah

are those who are the most beneficial to

others.

The most beloved deed to Allah is to

make a Muslim happy

or to remove one of his troubles or

to forgive his debt or to satisfy his

hunger.

That I walk with a brother regarding a

need is more beloved to me than I

seclude myself in this mosque.

Whoever swallows his anger, then Allah will conceal

his faults. Whoever suppresses his rage even though

he could fulfill it,

then Allah will secure his heart on the

day of resurrection.

Whoever walks with his brother regarding a need

until he secures it for him, then Allah

the Exalted will make his footing firm across

the bridge on the day when the footings

are shaken.

This hadith shows a tremendous

reward in being of service to other people.

Therefore, we should work on our own spiritual

development. At the same time, we should help

other people

starting with our family,

starting with our spouses,

with our parents, with our children,

our relatives,

and then extending towards others as well.

So we should work on ourselves

and at the same time, we should be

of benefit to others.

The Sahaba radiAllahu anhu when they were competing

with one another to do good,

they try to seize every opportunity in front

of them. And if Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala

opens the doors of good for us, where

we're able to do good, we're able to

do worship, we're able to help other people,

then we need to be grateful because this

is a tremendous blessing of Allah

upon us.

So today's exercise is

pick one act of charity where the benefit

comes back to us,

remembering Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala, praying extra nawafil.

Number 2, pick an act that the benefit

goes towards others.

And perhaps everyday we can do a different

act

of kindness towards other people

so that everyday we're giving charity that benefits

others.

May Allah subhanahu wa ta'ala bless us to

take advantage of every opportunity that comes in

front of us.

May He forgive our sins.

May He rid the world from the coronavirus.

And may He make us amongst those who

He frees from the hellfire forever.