Giving charity is always encouraged in the Muslim community. In fact, to give Charity or Sadaqa is one of the most reward fetching deeds a Muslim can do, in and after Ramadan. The reason behind this is Allah loves it when you benefit His creation – be it a hungry man, a child seeking support or even a bird who sets out in the morning to gather food for her children.
Unlike popular notion, charity does not deplete your wealth.Most of the people refrain from giving because they fear their ends will not be met. However, Allah says that charity does not deplete your wealth, rather it purifies it. It is like an investment you make towards the hereafter.
“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.”
- Surah Baqarah, 2:271
“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.”
- Surah Baqarah, 2:215
“Who is it that will offer up unto God a goodly loan, which He will amply repay?
For, such (as do so) shall have a noble reward.”
- Surah Al – Hadid, 57:11
How do the poor give charity?
Also, one may wonder if the rewards and importance of charity is so immense, why can’t the poor or the underprivileged benefit from it? Well, the answer is simple. You don’t have to be rich or have heaps of money to give charity. For instance, if you smile at someone,it is considered charity, you put a morsel of food in your wife’s mouth, it is charity and even if you remove an obstacle from somebody’s path, it fetches you the same reward as charity.
Charity in Ramadan
Let’s do some simple math. Every deed you do in ramadan is multiplied 70x- even your charity and every deed you do during Laylatul Qadr is like you did it for 83 years. So if you plan your charity around the last 10 days of Ramadan, imagine the rewards you will earn.
How to give charity?
If you’re wondering how you can give in different ways, here are a few ideas:
- Donate or participate in building a mosque.
- Donate towards an orphanage.
- Sponsor an orphan’s education.
- Donate a copy of the Qur’an or teach someone to read from it.
- Donate to a school.
- Distribute Islamic reading material.
- Donate a wheelchair to a hospital.
- Donate towards a dispensary or hospital.
- Install drinking water at public places.
- Plant trees.
“The likeness of those who spend their wealth in the Way of Allah, is as the likeness 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 is All-Sufficient, All-Knower.” [Al-Baqarah 2:261]