Spending in the way of Allah is a
great virtue. It occupies paramount importance in divine religions. All
Prophets of Allah emphatically urged their followers to spend in the way
of Allah. In this article, we shall take a brief look at some of the blessings
of spending in the way of Allah.
True Attachment with God
The greatest benefit of spending in
the way of Allah is that it establishes a strong bond between a person
and his Creator. A man’s heart generally lies where his wealth is. If he
hides away his wealth in some secret place, he finds himself thinking about
that very place all the time. In case of investment in a business or a
company, he cannot help being pre-occupied with the continued viability
of the investee. In short, what is evident from practical experience is
that man’s heart is affixed to his wealth. Keeping in view the foregoing
explanation, it can be asserted that anyone who spends in the way of Allah
would find that he is in an everlasting communion with God since he has
entrusted Allah with his wealth. In this regard, Jesus (sws) is reported
to have said:
Lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven where
neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal.
For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Mathew 6:20-1)
Stronger Ties with the Society
The second benefit which spending
in the way of Allah affords the spender is that it helps him establish
unfailing ties with his society. A little deliberation here will reveal
that this achievement is not of less significance. Rather, it is one of
the two pillars upon which the whole structure of religion is based. These
two pillars, namely: prayer and spending, are a pre-requisite in order
to make a person a true servant of God. The first pillar helps in developing
a true relationship with the Almighty. And the second inculcates a deep-rooted
connection amongst the members of the society. Hence, both play an unsurpassed
role in nurturing and developing the persona conceived by the Qur’an.
It is precisely for this reason that Salah (the prayer) and Zakah
(alms-tax) find mention in the Qur’an side by side. For example,
in the initial verses of Surah Baqarah, what immediately follows
the mention of Salah is spending in the way of Allah.
As pointed out earlier, these two
pillars in fact constitute the foundations upon which the entire structure
of man’s relationship with the Creator and His creation is erected. Consequently,
one can safely conclude that the fabric of the Shari‘ah too is based
upon the prayer and spending. All ancient Semitic religions regard both
these pillars as the origin of righteous conduct. Once someone asked Jesus
(sws) about the great commandment in the law. Jesus (sws) enlightened him
by saying:
‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind’. This is the first and
great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbour
as yourself’. On these two commandments hang all the law and the Prophets
(Matthew, 22:37-40)
The best possible way to demonstrate affection
towards a neighbor is to sympathize with him and help him out financially
whenever he is in trying circumstances. Just as Salah is the only
befitting way man can express his love for the Almighty, the only appropriate
manner he can exhibit his appreciation for his neighbour is to spend for
him whenever he is in need.
Both things apparently seem distinct
and separate yet if are viewed from a holistic perspective the love of
the neighbour would appear to be the direct outcome of the love of God.
Anyone who loves God would certainly care for His creation since He has
analogously regarded the whole mankind as His own children. Man is so created
that whenever he loves someone he instinctively falls in love with everything
related to him as well. So, when a person loves Allah he surely feels affection
for His Creation and this affection ultimately results in spending to ease
the sufferings through which the ‘children’ of his beloved Allah may be
going.
The brimming love that man feels for
Allah is the natural consequence of his sentiments of gratitude. When he
observes carefully around himself the providence and power of Allah, he
finds himself engulfed by the bounties of his Gracious Creator. This realization,
on the one hand, gives rise to the sentiments of worship which naturally
prompts him to offer the prayer and, on the other hand, induces him to
be as much generous as possible to mankind since he has become cognizant
of the fact that everything he possesses has been bestowed upon him generously
by Allah alone.
It can therefore be concluded that
the love for humanity is an offshoot of one’s love for God and that both
provide a rock-solid base for religion. While the former stands at the
core of all human rights, the latter is the stream from which all religious
obligations spring forth. Anyone who can willingly spend his wealth for
others cannot be assumed to be careless when it comes to discharging other
moral obligations. The only person who can be presumed to be the best member
of a society is the one who has done away with his undue love of riches,
because should this love prevail, it would awfully obstruct the normal
flow of righteous conduct. The Holy Qur’an alludes to both situations
in the following words:
فَأَمَّا
مَنْ أَعْطَى
وَاتَّقَى
وَصَدَّقَ
بِالْحُسْنَى
فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ
لِلْيُسْرَى
وَأَمَّا
مَنْ بَخِلَ
وَاسْتَغْنَى
وَكَذَّبَ
بِالْحُسْنَى
فَسَنُيَسِّرُهُ
لِلْعُسْرَى
So, he who gave in the way of Allah and was godfearing
and believed in the good outcome [in the Hereafter], We shall, indeed,
take him to [a fate] of delight. And he who was a miser and was indifferent
and belied the good outcome [in the Hereafter], We shall, indeed, take
him to [a fate] of affliction. (92:5-10)
Spending nurtures Wisdom (Hikmah)
The third benefit of spending is that
it is like food and water for all the other religious obligations and creeds.
It helps, on the one hand, all those righteous deeds which are yet feeble
and have shallow roots in our soul and, on the other hand, it strengthens
all beliefs which have not yet gained sound basis in our heart.
This stability and depth of all virtues
and beliefs in a person is exactly what the Qur’an describes as
Hikmah (wisdom). From certain indications of the Qur’an we
may construe that the key to this wisdom is indeed spending in the way
of Allah. At one place, the Qur’an delineates the benefits of spending
in the following words:
الشَّيْطَانُ
يَعِدُكُمْ
الْفَقْرَ
وَيَأْمُرُكُمْ
بِالْفَحْشَاءِ
وَاللَّهُ
يَعِدُكُمْ
مَغْفِرَةً
مِنْهُ
وَفَضْلًا
وَاللَّهُ
وَاسِعٌ
عَلِيمٌ يُؤْتِي
الْحِكْمَةَ
مَنْ يَشَاءُ
وَمَنْ
يُؤْتَ
الْحِكْمَةَ
فَقَدْ
أُوتِيَ
خَيْرًا
كَثِيرًا
Satan threatens you with poverty and bids you
to conduct unseemly. Allah promises you His forgiveness and bounties, and
Allah cares for all and He knows all things. He grants wisdom to whom He
pleases and he to whom wisdom is granted receives indeed a benefit overflowing.
(2:268-9)
Only that spending brings this benefit
to the spender which has been carried out in order to please Allah alone
and to reinforce what is yet feeble in heart. Therefore, the parable described
just before the above quoted verses begins as:
وَمَثَلُ
الَّذِينَ
يُنفِقُونَ
أَمْوَالَهُمْ
ابْتِغَاءَ
مَرْضَاةِ
اللَّهِ
وَتَثْبِيتًا
مِنْ
أَنْفُسِهِمْ
And the likeness of those who spend their substance
seeking to please Allah and to strengthen their souls. (2:265)
The part ‘to strengthen their souls’ implies
that they spend in the way of Allah contrary to the ill wishes of their
heart so that they can overcome all the impediments, which stand in their
way to being a Godly person. The reward that God promises them in return
is that He will of surety bless them with His bounties and bestow upon
them the treasure of priceless wisdom.
Increase in Wealth
The fourth benefit of spending in
the way of Allah is that it augments the wealth of the spender. The Qur’an
says:
مَثَلُ
الَّذِينَ
يُنفِقُونَ
أَمْوَالَهُمْ
فِي سَبِيلِ
اللَّهِ
كَمَثَلِ
حَبَّةٍ
أَنْبَتَتْ
سَبْعَ
سَنَابِلَ
فِي كُلِّ
سُنْبُلَةٍ
مِائَةُ
حَبَّةٍ
وَاللَّهُ
يُضَاعِفُ
لِمَنْ
يَشَاءُ
وَاللَّهُ
وَاسِعٌ
عَلِيمٌ
The parable of those who spend their substance
in the way of Allah is that of a grain of corn: It grows seven ears and
each ear has a hundred grains. Allah gives manifold increase to whom He
pleases and Allah cares for all and He knows all things. (2:261)
The Qur’an sheds light upon this
fact in the following words as well:
يَمْحَقُ
اللَّهُ
الرِّبَا
وَيُرْبِي
الصَّدَقَاتِ
Allah blights usury and augments what is spent
in His way. (2:276)
This spending no doubt will bear fruit
in the Hereafter but in this very world the person who spends in God’s
way enjoys a fabulous increase, for the needy people who are helped pray
for their benefactor. And, as these people are pitiful, they much deserve
that their prayers be granted by the Merciful Master. From some Ahadith,
we find that even the Angels of God pray for such a person:
قال
رسول الله
صلى الله
عليه وسلم ما
من يوم يصبح
العباد فيه
إلا ملكان
ينزلان فيقول
أحدهما اللهم
أعط منفقا
خلفا ويقول
الآخر اللهم
أعط ممسكا
تلفا
The Prophet said: ‘Every day two angels come
down from Heaven and one of them says: ‘O Allah! Compensate every person
who spends in Your cause’, and the other [angel] says: ‘O Allah! Destroy
every miser’. (Bukhari: No. 1374)
It is, however, to be noted here that
this ‘increase’ in no way means that the spender would find his safe overflowing
with wealth or that his bank balance would increase or that the value of
his property would augment overnight. Rather, it implies that the optimal
benefit one can attain from the use of wealth is afforded to the person
who spends in Allah’s way. The benefit his wealth brings to mankind, others’
wealth cannot undertake to fetch; the contribution his wealth helps make
to the welfare of the society, others’ wealth fails to make; how he succeeds
to please the Lord, others remain unsuccessful; the profound respect and
love he earns in others’ hearts, others obnoxiously obsessed with piling
up their riches cannot even visualize and, above all else, peace of mind,
the spiritual elevation and satisfaction that he drives from this spending
are in fact blessings which have eluded many grand emperors of this world.
(Adapted from Islahi’s Tadhkiyah - i - Nafs)
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