In the name of Allah, the Most-Merciful, the All-Compassionate

 

"May the Peace and Blessings of Allah be Upon You"

 

Bismillah Walhamdulillah Was Salaatu Was Salaam 'ala Rasulillah

                  As-Salaam Alaykum Wa-Rahmatullahi Wa-Barakaatuh

1) Aspects of Islamic Faith — Which charity is best?

 

We are always confronted by people who request charity. They may have a genuine case which needs help. How does Islam view such people and their action? Hakeem ibn Hazam, one of the Prophet’s companions, used to request the Prophet’s help, knowing that he did not refuse anyone. After giving him on several occasions, the Prophet (peace be upon him) said to him a few words that are highly significant. Hakeem quotes the Prophet as saying: “The upper hand is better than the lower one. Start with your dependents. The best charity is that which is taken from what is in excess of one’s needs. Whoever seeks to be contented God will grant him content, and whoever seeks to be self-sufficient will have God’s help in being so.” (Related by Al-Bukhari).

The Hadith focuses on two important points: the first compares the one who gives and the one who takes, and the other is giving to charity what we are in need of. We will look briefly at both points.

 

The majority of scholars agree that, in the context of the Hadith, the “upper hand” and the “lower hand” refer to the one who gives and the one who requests help, respectively. Thus the Hadith urges people who have plenty to give away to those in need, while at the same time it urges the ones in need to refrain from requesting charity. The ‘lower hand’ does not refer to the one who takes without asking, if he needs help; otherwise, people who really deserve help will refrain from taking zakat and charity, which could lead to defeating the very purpose of zakat, which is a very important and basic principle of Islam. Besides, taking zakat and charity when one is in need is perfectly permissible. It is contrary to Islamic principles that a person who does something permissible will be considered, as a result of doing it, lower than one who fulfills a duty incumbent on him. Indeed, the one who takes what is permissible to take may well be a better and more God-fearing than the one who gives. Ibn Al-Arabi says: “The lower hand is certainly that of the one who begs; not the one who takes without begging.” Ibn Hajar says: “The preference here is between giving and taking, which does not necessarily mean that the giver is a better person than the taker in every case.” What he means is that giving is better than taking, but the taker may well be the better of the two.

 

The second point concerns giving away what one needs. Al-Bukhari says: “Charity can only be paid when one has what is sufficient for one’s needs and the needs of one’s dependents. It is not acceptable that one gives to charity what is needed for his own essentials and the essentials of his dependents. Nor is it acceptable to give to charity when one is in debt. The repayment of one’s debt takes priority over charity, or sadaqah. To give to charity what one needs to repay one’s debts constitutes wasting other people’s money, which no one is allowed to do.

 

The question arises whether one can give in charity all that one has, leaving oneself poor, in need of help. It is well known that when the Prophet urged his companions to contribute to the equipment of the army, Abu Bakr donated all his money. The Prophet accepted that. However, this related to that particular occasion. Otherwise, scholars have made clear that this is permissible only if the donor is in full control of his mind and faculties, has no commitments and is able to withstand the resulting difficulty. Failing that, or if he has dependents who are not equally ready to tolerate the resulting poverty, he must not give away all his money. The best charity, as the Prophet outlines, is that which is given out of what one has in excess of what meets his own and his dependents’ needs.

 

Courtesy– Adil Salahi

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

__._,_.___

2) Are You Doing Good Deeds with Great Rewards?

When we think about our day-to-day actions, chances are they reside in separate compartments in our mind. This may not necessarily be the outcome of any conscious effort, but simply the result of how we habitually tend to perceive the act.
I help with chores to do my part around the house.
I eat because I am hungry.
I take a nap because I am bored.
I study because I need good grades.

But what if you could make all of those actions a source of reward insha’Allah?

How!? By our intention.

Yahya Ibn Abu Kathir said: “Learn about intentions, for their importance is greater than the importance of actions”

In a hadeeth, on the authority of Umar Ibn Al-Khattab who said, I heard the Messenger of Allah (Peace and blessings be upon him) say:

“Actions are but by intention and every man shall have but that which he intended. Thus he whose migration was for Allah and His messenger, his migration was for Allah and His messenger, and he whose migration was to achieve some worldly benefit or to take some woman in marriage, his migration was for that for which he migrated.” [Related by Bukhari and Muslim]

Our ‘niyyah’, or intention, is what dictates the value and the reward we hope to obtain, so the first thing we need to do is ‘un-categorize’ our day to day actions. View them as actions we can use to advance us in our journey towards Jannah insha’Allah. Treat these actions as deeds (big or small), as a valid opportunity to bank some ajr (reward). In order to keep the good deed counter ticking, we need to make a conscious effort to adjust our perspective. This will help you reap the maximum benefits from your daily routines!

What Is Niyyah?

Niyyah, which is the arabic word for intention comes from the root word ???     which means:Decided/intended purpose; Destination/direction (when used with reference to traveling).

The beauty of your niyyah is that it is between you and Allah. Your intention before the actions we will discuss do not have to be communicated openly. It is an intended purpose made in your heart and mind prior to engaging in an act, to acknowledge that it is for the sake of Allah.

How Does Niyyah Relate to Productivity?

Simply put, your niyyah is what enables you to cash in on previously untapped tresasure chests of reward!

There are two ways for you to do this:

1. Make sure you renew your intention
   Bring it to the surface of your efforts for energy and remind yourself that even the most routine, mindless acts can be done with the aakhirah in mind. Remind yourself that an act made with pure intentions can become an act of worship bi’ithnillah.
2. Make niyyah to do good even when you are not sure you will be able to do it
   ”Allah has written down the good deeds and the bad ones.” Then, he explained it [by saying that]: ”He who has intended a good deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as from ten good deeds to seven hundred times, or many times over. But if he has intended a bad deed and has not done it, Allah writes it down with Himself as a full good deed, but if he has intended it and has done it, Allah writes it down as one bad deed.” [related by Bukhari and Muslim]
   The above hadeeth is an indication of Allah’s Mercy; it also goes to show us the significance of intending to do a good deed. Reward simply for intending to do good – how awesome is that!? SubhanAllah.

Let’s Keep that Counter Ticking!

There are a number of ways you can aim to ensure that your niyyah is an active, snd not passive, element of your actions; here are two ways through which you can begin to adjust your perspective on day-to-day tasks:

1. Du’a for acts and following the Sunnah
   There are so many acts that we do on a daily basis for which we can recite an assigned du’a. I highly recommend you get yourself a copy of Dar-us-Salaam’s Fortress of the Muslim.
   Change your perspective from worldly gain to akhiraah. For eg. Recite the supplication before you begin a meal. Make an intention to practice the sunnah eating etiquette, a conscious effort to please Allah.
2. Multiply the reward!
   Going to an Islamic class? How can you supersize the reward – invite friends, bring family members, take notes and share them after, etc
   Reciting the Quran? Aim to do it for not just the ajr you receive for every letter, but make niyyah to be able to purify your heart and improve your relationship with Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala), to learn and understand and then implement this guidance and way of life from Allah (Subhanahu wa Ta’ala).
   Going to eat lunch? Recite the supplication before and after eating your meal for gratitude. Eat with the intention to energize yourself for other acts of worship. Follow the sunnah of eating etiquette to multiply the ajr. Don’t eat simply because you’re hungry.
   Putting on some clothes? Read the supplication for it. Remind yourself of the importance of looking presentable as well being modest with the intention to please Allah.

The Good Deed Effect

The best part of your niyyah is that has a knock-on effect to other areas of your life. The conscious effort results in your mind switching into a ‘zone’ that allows you to see opportunities for ajr where you may never have looked before. The more we try to practically apply the concept to our lives, the more easily we can ensure that were always maintaining the right level of focus needed for this life.

Our niyyah is the heartbeat of our efforts and at the end of the day, purifying and upgrading our niyyah is a way to make good deeds apart of our daily routine.

And finally, to answer the question posed in the heading of this post – How fast is your good deed counter ticking? The answer is…..never fast enough!

Courtesy- http://www.productivemuslim.com

Compiled, edited and adapted by Khalid Latif, www.thekhalids.org

 

Prev

Next