Charity and giving…
How should we spend our money especially our
extra cash for charity? How much? How much should we give away? How much to
keep? How to create a balance?
Let us look on what the Quran say about the subject
in these 10 entries.
All
emphasis are mine to help readers focus on a particular message.
1. And
let not your hand be tied (like a miser)
to your neck, nor stretch it forth to its utmost reach (like a spendthrift), so
that you become blameworthy and in severe poverty. - Quran 17:29
v Note:
this is Mohsin Khan’s translation. The rest as before is from Muhammad Assad. I
use Khan’s for this particular verse as the language is much simpler.
2. THEY
WILL ASK thee as to what they should spend on others. Say: "Whatever of your wealth you spend shall
[first] be for your parents, and for the near of kin, and the orphans, and the
needy, and the wayfarer; and whatever good you do, verily, God has full
knowledge thereof."- Quran 2:215
3. If
you do deeds of charity openly, it is
well; but if you bestow it upon the needy in secret, it will be even better for
you, and it will atone for some of your bad deeds. And God is aware of all
that you do. Quran 2:271
4. But
as for you, O believers, never shall you
attain to true piety unless you spend on others out of what you cherish
yourselves; and whatever you spend - verily, God has full knowledge
thereof. - Quran 3:92
5. Those who spend (freely),
whether in prosperity, or in adversity; who restrain anger, and pardon (all)
men;- for Allah loves those who do good;- Quran
3:134
6. But no blame shall attach to
the weak, nor to the sick, nor to those who have no means. [to equip
themselves], provided that they are sincere towards God
and His Apostle: there is no cause to reproach the doers of good, for God is
much-forgiving, a dispenser of grace. Quran 9:91
7. Behold,
[O believers,] it is you who are called upon to spend freely in God’s cause:
but [even] among you are such as turn out to be niggardly! And yet, he who acts niggardly [in God’s cause] is but niggardly
towards his own self: for God is indeed self-sufficient, whereas you stand
in need [of Him]; and if you turn away [from Him], He will cause other people to take your place, and they will not be the
likes of you! Quran 47:38
8. [In
all these respects,] let him who has
ample means spend in accordance with his amplitude; and let him whose means of
subsistence are scanty spend in accordance with what God has given him: God does not burden any human being with
more than He has given him - [and it may well be that] God will grant,
after hardship, ease.- Quran 65:7
9. Remain,
then, conscious of God as best you can, and listen [to Him], and pay heed. And spend in charity for the good of your
own selves: for, such as from their own covetousness are saved – it is
they, they that shall attain to a happy state! Quran 64:16
10. Who
is it that will offer up unto God a
goodly loan, which He will amply repay, with manifold increase? For, God takes
away, and He gives abundantly; and it is unto Him that you shall be brought
back. Quran 2:245
In the last entry above, the Quran suggests
that our charity and act of giving is like a good loan that we extend to God that he will
repay us in manifold both in life and death. That is a very good deal 😊
Peace, anas
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