The religion of Islam is a religion of mercy. It is the\nreligion of helping others for the sake of Allah SWT. It is about helping the\npoor and helping the needy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Sura Baqarah, ayat 261, Allah SWT says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The similitude of those who spend their wealth in the way of\nALLAH is like the similitude of a grain of corn which grows seven ears, in each\near a hundred grains. And ALLAH multiplies it further for whomsoever HE pleases\nand ALLAH is Bountiful, All-Knowing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
My brothers, if one was to analyse the above ayat, it is\nevident that Allah SWT is describing the way in which the reward for giving\ncharity is multiplied many times over. In fact this ayat is telling us that the\nreward for whatever is given in charity is multiplied 700 times by Allah SWT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This, my brothers, is the extreme bounty which Allah SWT\ndisplays towards his servants.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
One can be mistaken into thinking that charity is reserved for\nthose who can afford to give it. This is not true. We know from our Prophet\nSAWS that giving charity does not decrease wealth and so we are transgressing\nourselves if we think this and therefore don\u2019t give to charity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Allah SWT reminds us of this in ayat 195 of Sura Baqara\nwhich is translated to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And spend in the way of Allah and\ndo not throw [yourselves] with your [own] hands into destruction [by\nrefraining]. And do good; indeed, Allah loves the doers of good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On top of this, we also have the our beloved Prophet SAWS advising\nus to give to charity. In a Sahih hadith, the prophet SAWS is narrated to have\nsaid:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“There will be none among\nyou but will be talked to by Allah on the Day of Resurrection, without there\nbeing an interpreter between him and Him (Allah) . He will look and see nothing\nahead of him, and then he will look (again for the second time) in front of\nhim, and the (Hell) Fire will confront him. So, whoever among you can save\nhimself from the Fire, should do so even with one half of a date (to give in\ncharity). <\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are several different categories of charity in Islam,\nthe two main ones being Zakat (obligatory charity) and Sadaqa (voluntary\ncharity).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Zakat is a specific, standardized charity that must be given\nto the poor and those in need. The general guide to for the amount is 2.5% of\ncapital assets, i.e. money.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Sadaqa, on the other hand, can be given to anyone, and in\nmany different forms, including: a smile to another, advice to a friend,\nhelping someone out with a task or chore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And probably, the best of all, is the charity that we can\ninvest in that will work for us after we have departed this world and that is\nSadaqa Jariya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Examples of this can range from paying for the maintenance\nor building of a masjid to planting a tree that wildlife can feed off or even\nteaching others about Islam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charity serves as a way to bring justice, balance and\nkindness to every society and community. It should be the prayer of every\nsingle Muslim that their community fulfils their charitable duty correctly and\ndoes their part to eliminate poverty from the neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There are numerous benefits of giving Sadaqa besides what has\nalready been mentioned. This reminder concludes with summarizing these so that\nwe may be encouraged to give to charity consistently and without reminder.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Charity wipes away sins. Charity protects us from the anger\nof Allah SWT in other transgressions we may be guilty of. It protects us from\nthe Hellfire, it keeps us under the shade of Allah SWT on the Day of Judgement\nand it results in angels praying for us that would otherwise not. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the dunya, we have benefits of giving to charity. The\nfirst is that our wealth isn\u2019t diminished. In fact, our wealth is filled with\nbaraqa. What does that mean though? In practical terms, we get a sense that the\nmoney doesn\u2019t just disappear as we may have all experienced from time to time.\nThe money we acquire has more substance, more meaning and just appears to last\nlonger even if the amount is the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The other and final point on the benefit is one of it being\na cure. Charity cures illnesses and it is a remedy for the heart. Allah SWT\nmentioned the benefit in ayat 92 of Sura Imran which is translated to say:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Never will you attain the good\n<\/p>\n\n\n[reward]\n\n\n\n
until you spend [in the way of Allah ] from that which you love. And\nwhatever you spend – indeed, Allah is Knowing of it.\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dear brothers and sisters, giving to charity gives us peace\nin our hearts, cures to our ailments and blessing to our wealth. It is one of\nthe biggest gifts we have the choice to take. And all it requires is for us to\npart with that which we are known to love, part with it in the knowledge that\nit is better for us in this life and the next to do so.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The religion of Islam is a religion of mercy. It is the religion of helping others for the sake of Allah SWT. It is about helping the poor and helping the needy. In Sura Baqarah, ayat 261, Allah SWT says: The similitude of those who spend their wealth in the way of ALLAH is like […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_regular_price":[],"currency_symbol":[],"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[72],"class_list":["post-2474","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sermon","tag-charity"],"blocksy_meta":[],"post_slider_layout_featured_media_urls":{"thumbnail":"","post_slider_layout_landscape_large":"","post_slider_layout_portrait_large":"","post_slider_layout_square_large":"","post_slider_layout_landscape":"","post_slider_layout_portrait":"","post_slider_layout_square":"","full":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2474","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2474"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2474\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2474"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2474"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/salahadeenmosque.org.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2474"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}