Charity in Islam - Invest in the Hereafter: Give Sadaqah Jariyah

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

Want to invest in your Akhirat (hereafter)? Then Alhamdulillah whatever we give or spend in the way of Allah (sadaqa, zakat etc) will be rewarded to us in huge increase. Allah has given us wealth to test us by the way we spend our wealth. Allah, the most Bountiful and the most Gracious, says:

''Lend unto God a goodly loan. Whatever good you shall forward on your behalf you shall find it with God, as better and richer in reward.'' [al-Muzzammil 73: 20.]

What is Sadaqah?

Sadaqah is an optional extra charity that is paid on top of Zakat. Allah encourages Muslims in the Quran to pay sadaqah to the poor and needy at any time of the year. So sadaqah can be paid anytime to anyone, even beggars on the streets. Or you can help anyone in the world whether they be Muslim or non Muslim, through charity registered organisations via the internet by standing orders from your bank.

"Take Sadaqa from their wealth to purify and cleanse them and pray for them. Your prayers bring relief to them." (9:103)

If we have the tawfiq (means) then we should give in charity generously while we have it. It is better to pay charity when we have wealth because when we don't have wealth we will not be able to pay charity. Paying sadaqah is like investing in shares, but there is a guaranteed profit, massive profit from Allah either in this life or the hereafter.

Sadaqah is not compulsory and is only optional if an individual wants to donate. Zakat is obligatory which is a fixed percentage of your halal or lawful savings which is meant to purify your wealth by recognising that the poor and needy has a right over a portion of it. Zakat in simple terms means to 'purify' ones wealth.

Allah says: Of their wealth take alms to purify and sanctify them. [at-Tawba 9:103.] Furthermore: He that spends his possessions [on others] so that he might grow in purity. [al-Layl 92: 18.]

Those who spend their wealth by night and day, by stealth and openly, verily their reward is with their Lord, and their shall no fear come upon them neither shall they grieve.

What we have to remember is that our rewards and sins are based on intention, so if you intend to do good then you will be rewarded before you even do it, and if you intend to sin then it won't be written down for a while because Allah asks the Angels to wait and see if that person who committed the sin repents.

We have a chance to repent every day of our lives and until we take our last breath, but the repentance has to be sincere to Allah. Allah knows everything so whatever our intentions are we will rewarded for that, or have a sin recorded against us in our book.

Allah is the most gracious and the most merciful. Allah only gave 1 out of a 100 mercy on earth, so he has kept 99 for himself. Just imagine we only have 1% (we can call it %) and yet there are people on earth who are so merciful, and then imagine how merciful Allah is. You can't!

Allah is GREAT!

Many people make assumptions that these charities who come on TV, for example Islam Channel, may be dodgy but the main point is if you want to donate then DONATE!

As we have mentioned above, insha Allah we will be rewarded for our intention and action upon donating to whatever cause we like. If you do not want to donate then do not phone up the programme and say you will, because that will be a sin. This means that you are lying and giving people hope of receiving a donation. If you have the ability to donate then do so, if not then do not.

If the charities receive your donations and do not pass it on to the people they say they want to help and do not carry it out, but you still donated, then you will still receive the reward for it insha Allah.

On judgement day we will all have to answer for our actions in this temporary life on earth, so if the charity money is not used properly then the people responsible will have to answer for their wrongdoing.

Of course you can research the charities that come on these channels to raise funds to help the poor and needy or building mosques, because you will have peace of mind when you realise that the charity is genuine and has fulfilled it's promises in the past and is a reputable charity such as Muslim Aid, Islamic Relief, Muslim Hands and many many more.

With all the natural disasters and Muslim all over the world being persecuted and opressed, what responsibility and action can we take?

One of the best ways to help in this situation is to donate, pay sadaqah which is also relief via the reputable charity registered organisations which you will find below.

We Muslims are one Ummah (Nation) and when our brothers and sisters around the world are suffering we cannot sit here and do nothing about it. The least we can do is to at least help with food, water, clothing, building homes and in many more ways.

Please do your part and know that Allah will reward you in this life or the hereafter, insha Allah.

Before you donate to smaller charities it is a good idea to research and the best way to do that nowadays is via the internet. Check to see if they exist on the internet and what kinds of work they have carried out recently and in the past.

I once saw a charity on TV and wanted to donate but then i went on the internet and could not find a single thing about the charity so then i decided not to. Looking back in hindsight maybe i should have donated because i felt like i wanted to in my heart. Because i couldn't find anything on the charity, i decided not to donate as i got the feeling that although they may be genuine, my money probably won't go far enough to help the cause the charity says it was going to help.

There may be smaller charities who have to start somewhere and that could be a reason why there may not be any information about them on the internet, but then that tells you a lot about their administrative qualities. If you want to help people then you would try to raise your profile and use every medium to raise awareness of your cause.

Below are some links to charities which you can set up monthly standing orders for only £3 per month which will go towards helping the Muslim Ummah. There are many people in need of our help and if you can't help physically then help with money.

All of these are genuine charities in sha Allah, so please DONATE GENEROUSLY!

(Please Google them copy and paste web address)

• Islamic Relief http://www.islamic-relief.org.uk/
• Islamic Aid http://www.islamicaid.com/
• Muslim Hands http://muslimhands.org.uk/
• Muslim Aid http://www.muslimaid.org/
• Ummah Welfare Trust http://www.uwt.org/site/default.asp (100% donation policy)
• Muslim Global Relief http://www.muslimglobalrelief.com/
• Islamic Help http://www.islamichelp.org.uk/

PLEASE HELP AND DONATE, THANK YOU.

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