In his Friday Sermon of 08 September 2023~22
Safar 1445 AH, Imam- Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam International Hazrat Muhyiuddin
Al Khalifatullah Munir A. Azim (aba) of Mauritius gives a deep exposition on
giving in the way of God.
Sincerity of intention and action is the mark of true faith. A true believer remembers Allah (swt) with her heart; is in awe of God’s commandments and prescriptions all the time. One’s mind, body and wealth- all will testify to devotional religious practices in everyday life: recitation of the Holy Qur’an; regular performance of the prayer; spending one’s wealth and resources secretly and openly in service of God’s cause. A public act of giving can encourage others to do the same. A person should not to be boastful; Qur’an condemns hypocrisy and show off- ‘someone who spends his wealth only to be seen by people’ (2:265; 4:39). Indeed, the true spirit of giving in religion- whether publicly or privately, is seeking only the Face of God, the approval and pleasure of God in sheer gratefulness for all that He has entrusted one with in terms of wealth and resources in this world. ‘Those who give, out of their own possessions, by night and by day, in private and in public, will have their reward with their Lord: no fear for them, nor will they grieve’ (2:274)
Read the Friday Sermon Below:
'Those who recite the
Book of Allah, keep up the prayer, give secretly and openly from what We have
provided for them, may hope for a trade that will never decline.' (Surah Al-Fatir, 35: 30)
Here “from what We
have provided” does not just mean wealth, but also includes abilities,
skills and means. So Allah is talking about those who spend from what He has
provided them. They spend in secret too and openly too. Allah says that those
are people who have made a transaction which shall never perish; a business or
trade that will never fail. And its advantages will continue all the time. We
know that in the world there are many businesses that prosper and flourish and
develop but after a while, if not in the lifetime of a person, but in the lifetime
of his children, the business ends and is destroyed.
But here Allah mentions
such a business which never ends, never fails, i.e. a never-ending prosperous
business. In that subject too, like I explained before, I told you that [like
in this verse] spending in the path of Allah has been linked to other subjects.
Otherwise, the act to just spend in itself is without any importance. There are
people who sometimes give importance to people who have money and who can spend
and they don’t give any importance to a person who does not have any money and
who cannot spend.
In the Jamaat Ul Sahih Al Islam, we do not make any difference between the rich and the poor. The difference is in Taqwa only. If a poor person who is Muttaqi gives a little something [to the Jamaat – in the way of Allah], then we honour him for this financial sacrifice, even if it be little. There should not also manifest the feeling and thought that if the rich are spending, then we should not give them any importance. Importance should be given to both the rich and the poor. They both are making efforts according to their means to give in the path of Allah.
So, in the Jamaat Ul
Sahih Al Islam we need to know how to maintain that balance. We should neither
raise the rich too much to the top, nor lower or humiliate the poor. All of
them are believers and they are equal before Allah, except regarding Taqwa,
because their degree of superiority depends on their degree of Taqwa
before the eyes of Allah. So, people should not develop negative feelings which
stems from an inferiority complex, or even a superiority complex – both of
these feelings are bad. This means that when rich people give something in the
path of Allah, we should not reject it. It is an ignorant thought to reject the
contribution of the rich. Allah sees all of you equally whether you are rich or
poor. That difference does not even come to thought (for Allah is never
unjust)!
So for people who do
not understand this subject well, who are not aware, they perceive this with
bad eyes; they think wrongly about it. They think that here a matter is presented
in a particular way, and in another place (of the Qur'an) it has been rephrased
in another way (be it concerning the rich, and be it concerning the poor as
well). But in reality, when spending in the way of Allah and for the pleasure
of Allah, there should not be those thoughts and feelings. These are but temporary
obstacles that people themselves put up, and create. Here the most honourable
is the one who has the most Taqwah. And it is normal that the one who has
the most Taqwah, who has the most fear of Allah, is the one who is the
richest in the sight of Allah, and his material wealth or poverty does not
prevent him from getting closer to Allah. But Allah mentions certain types of
people who spend money in such a way that I say, and I give the guarantee that
it is a business that will never end. They will benefit from it all the time.
The quality [positive aspect/ side] of these people is that they read the Book
of Allah. They do the Tilawat-i-Qur'an and they reflect upon it and then
they don’t miss their Salat and they concentrate in their Salat
in such a way that they cut off from this world.
Then after these two
related matters, they spend in the way of Allah. So in the eyes of Allah, the
spending of those people is accepted by Allah and thus the benefits of those
spending will never end. Financial sacrifice has its own importance, but those
who make financial sacrifices without fulfilling the basic duties of the
religion [Islam], despite this we certainly cannot reject them because there
are many people who are handicapped and walk on only one foot. And we also
cannot reject people who are not able to make financial sacrifices but are
correct in their Ibaadat, etc. They need to be encouraged to spend in
the way of Allah, but should not be rejected. But what is very important, and
there is no excuse for it, is not spending in the way of Allah, i.e., to give Zakaat.
This is not a contribution or ordinary donation that is voluntary; this is a mandatory
contribution to be paid and it is Allah who has established this for you, and
if you do not acquit yourselves of the money and property that is taxable by Zakaat,
then you commit a sin before Allah.
But regarding the other
voluntary contributions, and which are spent according to the means of the
people, the people should not be forced to contribute, but they should be
encouraged to contribute. There is a difference between forcing and
encouraging. But if, through divine revelation, Allah has revealed an
instruction for people to contribute to such a fund for the progress of the
Jamaat and Islam in general, and under the instruction of His Khalifatullah of this
era, then people must submit to the will of Allah and contribute according to
their abilities – not beyond their abilities – and that is applicable during
the lifetime of the Khalifatullah or the Messenger of Allah.
So, bear in mind that
when Allah introduces those who do financial sacrifices, then from the very
beginning itself, He starts with the basic requirements. Those are they who
read the Qur'an and pray [perform Salat] and then as a result of that
they derive a pleasure and become passionate to make sacrifices in the way of
Allah. Of their own will, of their own desire, they find that they need to make
many financial sacrifices for the progress of the religion of Allah on earth
and to come closer to Allah. And like I mentioned before, here secret spending
are mentioned as well as open spending. That is to say, for people who spend in
the way of Allah, their first tendency is to spend a little. They spend where
only Allah sees them and no one else sees them. And people who have this kind
of spirit in their spending, there is hardly anyone who can blame them and
accuse them of doing this for show or by hypocrisy. This is because there is
only one Bing Who is watching them in the darkness as well as behind the
curtains, and that Being is Allah.
So a person who is spending
for the cause of Allah in hiding, then it is clear that he is doing this only
for the pleasure of Allah. And when secret spending is being discussed, this
does not mean that he has completely rejected his own being or his own
selfishness. All of the great personalities of Allah, especially the prophets
of Allah who are the people whom Allah loves a lot; it is them who verily
harvest the most the price/ reward for the sacrifices that they make. This is because
all their matters/ affairs are completely dedicated/ entrusted to Allah. As a
prophet of Allah – even though I did not bring any new law and that I am
attached to the Qur'an, and our beloved prophet Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) – I can
understand this very well. There are expenses that need to be spent in the way
of Allah, whether it is secretly or openly, and there are also other expenses of
everyday life as well.
So it is very important
to balance those spending. The one who gives priority to the cause of Allah
more, his reward shall be more. This makes me recall this important anecdote
and Hadith in the history of Islam where Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq gave the
majority of his wealth to Allah and His Prophet (pbuh), and when Hazrat
Muhammad (pbuh) asked him what he left for his family, Hazrat Abu Bakr Siddiq
(ra) answered: Allah and His Prophet!
Hazrat Abu Bakr (ra)
knew that Allah would never abandon him and his family when he would spend in
His way. He knew Allah would provide for him and his family. He knew that
helping the Cause of Allah was a priority for him, and he was indeed thinking
about his family’s benefit, about their provisions and their well-being when he
spent in the way of Allah because he knew that a transaction with Allah is
worth all the wealth that the world can contain, and he wanted his family to obtain
this Rahmah (Grace) from Allah, not only in this world, but also in the
Hereafter, a transaction which was profitable for him and for them and which would
last forever. And moreover, his happiness, his obedience, his generosity [to
spend in the way of Allah] proved that Allah and His Prophet had great value in
his sight. He wanted to see the glory of Islam, to witness the success of Islam
in Arabia and the world.
Therefore, all those who spend with joy [from the bottom of
the heart] - with pleasure (and not by force), this simple act of spending in
the path of Allah becomes an act of Ibaadat for them, and its reward is
huge in front of the eyes of Allah. That’s why they reap more fruits from the
actions of their sacrifices. The people who suffer the loss are the people who
leave this path and spend elsewhere. There are many people whose spending is a
mix of the two. They spend in things that shall profit them [spiritually] and they
spend in things that are wrong or bad. But the prophets are the ones who return
everything to Allah. All that they have, they spend it in the way of Allah; so
this is not something which destroys their ego, No! But on contrary, the
advantage that they get from this, no one else can acquire it. This is because if someone’s personal feeling
is mixed with the feeling of Allah, then the matter is between him and Allah, and
no one else - it is between only him and Allah. This means that you should mix
your own being in Allah, immerse yourselves completely in Allah, in such a way
that you barely even have your own voice. This is a way where you want to walk
together with the desire or will of Allah. Every moment of your life is spent
in the pleasure of Allah. This is a matter where you end up being completely in
Allah [where nothing of you remains – only Allah]. This is why in the Qur'an
Allah ordered Hazrat Muhammad (pbuh) to announce: “Qul Inna Sallati Wanusuki Wa-mahyaya wa-mamaati lil Rabil Aalameen.”
(Indeed, my prayer, my rites of sacrifice, my living and my dying are
for Allah, Lord of the Worlds.) – That is to say: Look! - All my
prayers, my acts of worship, my living, my dying, my rising, my sleeping, all
are for Allah; And the Qur'an draws an image from this, it says that the spending
that you do secretly or openly but that you do only for the cause of Allah,
means that you have no intention except to please Allah.
Some people, by their very nature, are forced to do good
work. As Allah says, he created them to do good, to do good for humanity. But
it’s people who don’t do it [i.e., the good deeds] with an intention [to do
good] – they just do it! They will spend as much as they have to spend [in
doing good deeds] but as soon as they encountered a little trouble or are vexed
they stop spending as if it is a natural thing for them to do good and stop
doing it. But there are people who spend for the cause of Allah; even when they
are facing difficult situations, they continue to spend in the Way of Allah.
They spend at a time when despite they are facing adversity and despite their
natural desire to get some material benefits for their comfortable life on this
earth, they sacrifice and they spend in the path of Allah.
So the word that the Qur'an has used for them “Yarjuunna
Tijaarattan” does not diminish them; On the contrary, this enables them to
achieve a very high status or rank. Someone who does not understand this
subject can say that the person is spending for his own selfishness because he in
fact doing this as a transaction which will reap him much good, a transaction
the benefit of which shall never end. What needs to be studied is that: Is that
person giving less to get more, or giving more to get less? In the world there
are people who spend a lot but in return they do not earn anything. For that
matter, even the world is a temporary abode, which will end in a few days. But
those who spend in the way of Allah, even if they give only one cent, they get
so much profits, such profits which shall be eternal for them.
So this is a business/ transaction that Allah mentions in
this verse; and it’s not a transaction cited by coincidence, no, but it’s an
intentional transaction. And because it is intentional that it reaps so many
benefits. If it is good deed done without intention – such a deed which is done
automatically/ naturally, then bear in mind that flowers also gives perfumes,
but the flowers do not receive any reward in giving perfume. It gives it
naturally. In the same way as water extinguishes fire, it is through the law of
nature that it does this. It didn’t do it on purpose. But someone who is able
to set a fire and he is able to extinguish it as well, so when done with the
intention to extinguish a fire or to set a fire where Allah wants him to set,
then with the actions he does with the intention to set fire, or extinguishes
it – this is considered a good deed (of course for a good cause – not to set a
fire for evil works). Thus, this becomes a transaction wherein there is no
lost, no evil; a perpetual transaction which will reap him good. Insha-Allah.
I stop here for today. Insha-Allah, I will continue this subject next week. May Allah give us all the Tawfiq to spend in the path of Allah with good intentions, and may we reap the eternity of His grace and His pleasure upon us. Insha-Allah, Ameen.