Charity is something known and is encourage by every society. Christians give charity in the form of tithing, so do the traditional African religion but as to their form, we leave it to them and the scholars. But what is the Concept of charity in the Islamic religion?
In fact, charity is one of the five pillars of Islam. It is highly recommended and mandatory for every muslim who has enough resources to extend the hand of kindness towards the poor by allocating a specified percentage of his wealth ( provided that it has reached the threshold in time and amount) to the needy and other categories of people specified by the Qur’an.
Ibn Rajab states that the Islamic concept of charity in its broad sense can be divided into two
types: –
The acts of goodness and kindness one can have towards other humans. Ibn Rjab gave some examples such as education and teaching people, teaching the Qur’an, removing anything that harms people in their paths, and also doing whatever that contributes to the well-being of the Muslim community. This also includes making du’a (prayer) and istighfar (forgiveness) for the other Muslims.
Keeping any harmful action away from others. This means that we must not perform a harmful act towards other people if it does not benefit them. It is the minimum thing that one can afford to do to benefit others. Charitable acts are rewarded even without niyah or intentions. This can be understood from the first impression or the general observable meaning of the text of the hadith. But it seems that Ibn Rajab is not happy with this interpretation. He says that a charitable act, according to many scholars, is conditional to a good intention. That is we must do it for the sake of Allah only and to seek His Pleasure.
According to Ibn Rajab, this view is supported by two evidences:
In another version of the hadith good intention was mentioned and hence it applies to the other places where good intention was not mentioned.
In Surah al-Nisa Ayah 114, Allah says: “There is no good in most of their secret talks
except one who exhorts to a good deed of charity or goodness or conciliation between
people. To him who does this seeking the pleasure of Allah, We shall soon give him a
reward of high value.” Ibn Rajab says that in this verse it is mentioned that the reward is
conditional to a good intention only.
Each of the phrases of dhikr Allah such as al-tahmid, al-tahlil, and al-tasbih is a charitable act. This shows us the importance if dhikr Allah. There are general types of dhikr and there are specific types of dhikr. Muslims should remember Allah all the time. The recommended time to do dhikris during the morning and the evening and after the salawat. Every Muslim should maintain and observe the dhikr in order to become among those who are described as al-dhakirun. When we give charity, we are indirectly alleviating poverty in the society.
blogpay
Total Comments: 0