One of my biggest issues with the topic of charity is that, it only comes up in
the context of a fundraiser. And so you've heard the verses about sadaqah,
the Hadith about sadaqah,
all of these different things being used and these concepts being deployed
in order to raise money for noble causes,
but, you can feel spiritually disconnected from that action of charity.
And I remember sitting at a fundraiser where Imam Siraj, and Imam Siraj
said something so beautiful about this particular Hadith,
the prophet (pbuh)
he said that when a person wakes up in the morning,
everyday, two angels are sent to that person.
One angel says "Allahum 'aet munafaqana khalafaan"
the other one says "Allahum aeti mumsikana talfana"
Oh Allah give to the one who gives and, Oh Allah withhold from the one who
withholds. Okay. So Imam Siraj said very beautifully.
He said that there is a book, a record book.
Right now the angels are recording those amounts.
It's not just the people putting them,
then them into the Excel sheets or documenting the numbers themselves.
And he said, when your name is there,
do you want there to be a zero next to your name or do you want there to be
something else? Right?
So this idea of never allowing there to be a zero next to your name when it
comes to "Sadaqah".
Now, this Hadith about the two angels descending and saying,
"Allahum 'aet munafaqana khalafaan" "Allahum 'aet mumsikana talfana"
Oh Allah give to the one who gives, and withholds from the one who withholds.
This is obviously in accordance with your capacity,
but there's another Hadith for Abn Habban
which is a beautiful visual to take with this.
The prophet (pbuh) said that, Verily
there's an angel at one of the Gates of paradise that is holding on to that gate
of Jannah and saying, "min yuqrid alyawm, yujza ghadaan"
"min yuqrid alyawm yujza ghadaan"
Whoever gives a beautiful loan today will be given a beautiful reward tomorrow.
And as he's hanging on to the Gates of Aljannah, what he means is that paradise,
that Allah (swt) has promised for the believers and promised as a reward
for generosity, and the prophet (pbuh) said that on another gate of Jannah,
there's an angel saying
"Allahum 'aet munafaqana khalafaan" "Allahum aeti mumsikana talfana"
Oh Allah give to the one who gives, and Oh Allah withhold from the one who withholds.
This is also in a Hadith of the prophet (pbuh)
mentioned that there was a man that was walking one day and as he was walking,
he heard this voice from the clouds that said "asqy hadiqata flan" irrigate
the garden of so-and-so, water the garden of so-and-so. And so the prophet (pbuh) said
this man looked up and he saw the clouds form and then suddenly it started to
pour rain and the rain came on this Stony surface and then, it perfectly formed
into a channel that flowed directly into this garden.
So, he followed where the water was going and he saw that it was going perfectly
into this man's garden.
And he saw the man that was then distributing the water across his garden.
And he asked the man,
you know, What his story was? without telling him what he had just seen.
And the man was a little apprehensive because he didn't want to tell him what
his story was, He was curious why he was being asked.
And then that man said that I saw the clouds form and I heard a voice from
the sky that said, water the garden of so-and-so. So that's why I came to you.
And "Subhan Allah" that man responded. He said, every thing that I earn,
I cut it into into threes. So I have one third that is for my family,
one third that I invest, and one third that I give and charity.
And that's how I allocate all of my wealth. One third for my family,
one-third I invest, and one third that goes to "Sadaqah".
So this is a divine equation for good in our lives.
Now what I,
what I'd want for you to take from this beyond just the angels and things of
that sort, charity should be a daily habit. Don't wait for the fundraisers.
Don't wait for somebody to invite you to Jannah, right? This is your place.
This is your reward. This is something between you and Allah (swt)
and this is especially true when people are not attending the fundraisers that
they typically would because of their circumstances, right?
This is particularly true now that you push yourself and you don't hesitate and
charity becomes due upon you every single day,
even if it's a small amount.
One of the things that my parents did, "may Allah
have mercy on my mother and preserve my father". We used to have
for one of the charities, over at "qubat alsakhra", at the dome of the rock,
and the dome would come off and we would put some charity in there every single day.
And so whether it's a dollar that you put in a day or you put in a coin a day,
then it was just to get everyone in the habit of putting in something, a penny,
a nickel,
something every single day that goes towards "Sadaqh" and then at the end
of the month we'd give it away in charity.
And so, even when you're thinking about your families,
if you've taken a course with me before,
even if you take like a two liter bottle and call it our Jannah bottle and teach
your family that look every single day, we're going to give something in Sadaqah
Because, if I could find the most righteous person in the world and say, Hey,
I want you to make Duea' for my, my wellbeing every single day.
If I had that moment to find the most righteous person in the world and say,
Hey, I want you to remember me every single day, and ask Allah to give me,
then all of us would take that opportunity.
But here you have an opportunity that the prophet (pbuh),
is saying where you can have an angel literally holding on to the Gates of
Aljannah, praying for you, making Duea' for you to be rewarded with that.