Also In the stories of the Sahabah we can find that every one was good at doing some specific acts. This means talents are divided among people. Ibn Masud said that fasting the sunnah prevented him from reciting the Qur’an. It made him weak. So he chose the recitation of the Qur’an over the non-obligatory fasting. This is mentioned by al-Shatibi in his al-I’tisam. So people have choices and preferences in doing acts of ibadah according to their ability and this is acceptable in Islam. Only a few people may have the ability to do many things together. One of them was Abu Bakar al-Siqdiq, radiyallahu ‘anhu. He was given the talents to perform all forms of ibadah and was good at doing them. Ibn al-Qayyim mentions said that it is recommended to compete towards good deeds as mentioned in the Qur’an. People are allowed to compete for goodness and for the acts of charity in accordance with their talents and ability. we can do. We have to have the intention to do any charitable act. The hadith that says: “Your smile to your brother is a charitable act” is a good example of this type of ibadah. It is common now to see many people who have the habit of smiling at other people. They are in fact good at this kind of charitable act. They are blessed with this behavior. It has a positive influence on other’s behavior.

There is a story of a man who was in Madinah who usually goes to salah with some money in his pocket. After the salah and on his way back, he would give the money to any needy person that he met. He was well known for doing this kind of charity. Then there is the story of an old man who was over 80 years old who used to do many good activities for the people of the village. He used to walk around the streets of the village and cleaned the roads and streets. Every morning after the Fajar prayers he would go to the school and clean the muddy and dusty road to that school. He was an illiterate man but yet he did a lot of good jobs for the villagers which other people did not bother to do. This is indeed a great deed in the sight of Allah. It is a good opportunity to get the pleasure of Allah. Therefore every Muslim should be doing this kind of action which is actually easy and simple but has great rewards. We cannot do all charitable acts at one time but we have to do whatever is within our possibility.

No matter what you have, you can still give charity. Even removing an obstacle from the path of people is charity and meeting others with a smiley face is charity. This would breed love among members of the community. So whether or not you are rich, you can engage in charitable acts. An opportunity you cannot afford to miss.

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Sualih Abdulai

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