Charity is out of sacrifice

The most rewarding Charity is from sacrificing the little you have for the wellbeing of the most unprivileged. Most people feel shy to share the little they have because it is too small. Some postpone charity to a time when they assume they will get rich.

A point to remember is that we don???t have guarantee that we may get richer than what we are now. To those who understood the value and timeliness of charity, they do it even at their bed death, others sacrifice what benefits them as individuals to support what benefits many.

We interacted with one of the Chief Mobilizers of Okoa Mother and Child initiative LTD, Dr. Jamila Jafari from Malaysia. She shared that majority of those who contribute to charity are not the richest. Dr. Jamila shared a fascinating story about the giving attitude of the donors. The most touching story was about a bedridden cancer patient who needed money for treatment. However, when the patient received a notification of the call for donation, she sold part of her land and gave that money to charity work. Looking at how ill the lady was and her pain, Dr. Jamila wondered why she would donate all that money instead of seeking treatment. However, the cancer patient told Dr. Jamila that she would not survive even if she sought treatment; therefore, she needed to prepare herself for the next life. The second story was of a woman who had saved money for a year to perform Umrah (partial Hijjah). Still, when she heard about the call to build a school for needy children in Bukedea District in Eastern Uganda, she decided to channel the money to construct the school. When you hear such stories, you realize that people who give out to charity are not so rich. However, they sacrifice what they have to support the unprivileged ones. We can also make change in the lives of many through contribute the little possible. What will make heavier in the sight of Allah is the intention attached to it. Nonetheless, let us ask ourselves; why do they give so much? Perhaps it???s because they understood the Prophet Muhammad???s (SAW) teaching that: ???The upper hand is better than the lower hand; the upper hand is the giving hand, and the lower hand is the begging hand,??? as narrated in the books of Al-Bukhari and Muslim. Secondly, scholars assert that Zakat purifies us from sins and purifies our wealth from impermissible and dubious transactions. Qur???an 9:103 ???Take from their wealth a charity to cleanse and purify them???.??? Following the Prophet Muhammad???s (PBUH) Sunnah and Observing the Qur???an teachings will enable us to solve many community challenges. We have many things that we can contribute to in order to change lives of others For example, constructing shallow boreholes costs around $1200, We only need 120 people to contribute $10, to raise this money. We can do many more things like constructing mosques and schools and giving relief aid and educational materials. Therefore, we can conclusively say that we all afford to support charity work and attract Allah blessing up on us. May Allah give us the ability and will to do charity work.