Emphasis On Charitable Acts That Benefit The Larger Society
The hadith aims to put emphasis on the charitable acts that benefit the society since they are great deeds and the people who do them are rewarded. Most Muslims become oblivious to these charitable acts. Another hadith stresses that Muslims are like one body where they care for each other. We should set ourselves as perfect models in our morality, behaviour, values and qualities in order for others to follow our steps and listen to us. Only by this will the level of confidence be increased in the society. People will listen to each other when they see good examples and this is what depicted by the verse that the Prophet Muhammad, sallallahu ‘alayhi wasallam, is a good model for Muslims.
As Muslims, we have to be engaged in the charitable acts. We should do as much as possible without making any commitment to any of them. These charitable acts are not done regularly as the 5 daily prayers. We do them on our convenience and according to our capacity. By performing these acts constantly, we will be closer to Allah. When every Muslim engages in these charitable acts, we will end up with a harmonious and cooperative society. By doing this, we contribute to the increasing of goodness and the diminishing of evil – this is the main purpose of da’wah.
This hadith emphasises the importance of certain deeds: bringing about justice between two
people and reconciling them. Getting people who digressed in their thoughts back to the community is part of islah (reconciliation). When the Khawarej started harbouring the thought of fighting their own community, Abdullah bin Abbas, radiyallahu ‘anhu, went to them and had a dialogue with them. He tried hard to remove any misconceptions. He was successful in getting two-thirds of them back into the Muslim community. This is one meaning of charitable acts. Another meaning is to give a helping hand to those who are in need for help. We should not wait until we are asked. We have to offer assistance when we see people in need. This is what is meant by wala’ (loyality) to the community.
Saying a good word is also a charitable act, as mentioned in Hadith 25. There are many ways that we can do this. For example, when we notice that someone is sad, we can bring pleasure to him by saying a good word to him and relieving his unhappiness or worry.
Another charitable deed is the step to prayer. We know that prayer compulsory, but by walking to prayer we perform a charitable act in every step. When Muslims keep this in their minds, they will be enthused to do such deeds.
The last charitable act that is stated in the hadith is removing a harmful thing from the road or from someone’s pathway. Some people may look at this as insignificant or trivial. But this does not suggest that the act is degrading. In the sight of Allah it is a tremendous act and we will be rewarded for doing it. Doing such an act may prevent a terrible accident from occuring. For instance, removing a nail from the street may prevent car accidents and consequently keep the safety of our community. We should disregard the comments of others because we are
doing it solely for the sake of Allah. The more we have the intention that we are doing these charitable acts for the sake of Allah, the more we will be rewarded by Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’aalaa.
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