“Two more…”
“Two more people to give $5000.”
His gaze sweeps across the audience searching for a raised hand or finger. As he holds the mic up to his mouth, the people in the room shuffle and whisper. You turn to the left and then the right looking for the next donor. “Allahu Akbar!” You quickly look in the direction the speaker is faced, and catch a young man in the back of the room lowering his hand. “Just one more pers…”
“Allahu Akbar!” A woman two tables down nods her head.
That’s 50,0000. Now I need to get just 10 people to give $1000?
We’re all way too familiar with this scene, you are at a fundraising dinner, the speaker is using every hadeeth and verse of the Quran on the topic to encourage, convince and literally beg you to donate to the cause. You eventually raise your hand when he mentions the category that you had decided on before you left the house.
“Allahu Akbar! May Allah SWT Bless you and your family, Say Ameen!” The crowd echos “Ameen.”
Feels amazing doesn’t it?
But, Is it right?
Why does your mosque/Islamic center/local Islamic organization have to book a hotel ballroom, get a speaker from out of state, feed and entertain you in order for you to give for the sake of Allah?
Giving in the way of Allah is for our safety, and not giving is the real danger. We have to look out for the poor and support our local institutions, and we should do it without a second thought. Although there will come a time when it will be the first thing on our minds, this fact comes from surat Al-Munafiqoon – the Hypocrites verse 10:
“And spend something (in charity) out of the substance which We have bestowed on you, before Death should come to any of you and he should say, “O my Lord! why didst Thou not give me respite for a little while? I should then have given (largely) in charity, and I should have been one of the doers of good”.
The verse doesn’t say I will pray, nor I will fast, but I will give to charity. As though it will be the dearest thing to us at that time. We will be the ones begging, pleading for more time before our souls are taken, so we can give more charity.
When working with the MSA in university, we would go around to Muslim-owned restaurants requesting donations for Iftar. Which was served on campus daily in Ramadan, save for Fridays. Some offered a tray of rice, some chicken, others salad and at the end of the day something was better than nothing. Some shopkeepers and owners sent us off empty-handed. Why? Because they had already done their bit of charity this Ramadan; “we already donated food to the kids at the college.”
As though there is a cap on giving to charity.
In surat Al-Insaan verses 8 to 10, Allah SWT describes those that give for His sake:
“And they feed, for the love of Allah, the indigent, the orphan, and the captive,- (Saying),’We feed you for the sake of Allah alone: no reward do we desire from you, nor thanks. – We only fear a Day of distressful Wrath from the side of our Lord’.”
The verse above adds a second crucial point. Adopting, sponsoring and taking care of Orphans.
What about those kids without moms or dads? The ones whose parents left them there because they couldn’t afford to take care of them? What about the kids who get all these donated clothes and toys but can’t find a single person do give them the love and attention they really need?
The Prophet PBUH was an orphan. Have we forgotten?
A few years ago, in Cairo, we went to visit an orphanage as a tarbiyah exercise, and to see how they were. Of course they were adorable, and fairly well kept, which I don’t assume the case to be in most orphanages. We had been there for about 20 minutes when this young man came in, and the kids started screaming!
“Ammu Sherif! Ammu Sherif!” They all flocked towards him, almost knocking him over. He greeted them warmly and was smiling ear to ear. He stayed there for at least the other 2 hours we did, probably longer, and played with them, giving each their own time. Subhan Allah! Just taking out the time to visit them, obviously in a consistent manner, and it doesn’t cost him anything really. You cannot begin to understand how happy it made them.
Mashallah! How great is his reward with Allah SWT?
May Allah SWT bless him and everyone that tries to work with the unfortunate among us, and alleviate their suffering.
We worry about giving our own children enough attention. We agonize over being bad parents and try to find ways to be better to our children. We think back over our actions and hope they won’t affect them negatively as adults. What about the orphans? Have we given them a second thought?
The Prophet PBUH said, “Me and the one that takes care of Orphans are like this in Jannah”, and he demonstrated by putting his index and middle finger together.
Enough said, now for the doing part.
Everyone that reads this needs to do one of two things, or both.
1) Pick an Islamic Charity and sign up to give a monthly amount from your income. You won’t regret it. For example Islamic Relief has this option to donate to ‘where its needed the most’ which I think is an easy way of making up your mind on what specifically you want done with your money.
2) Sign up to sponsor an orphan, and pledge a monthly amount that is probably much less than your cable and internet bill.
There is no excuse when we have the means we do, as Muslims, not to be looking out for our Orphans and Poor. When we have to answer for being blessed with wealth and safety and why we haven’t tried to establish the same for others.
In verse 8 from Surat At-Takathur we are reminded of just that.
“Then, shall ye be questioned that Day about the joy (ye indulged in!).”
May Allah SWT bless us all with good deeds that bring us closer to Him.
Ameen.





a) Proprietorship: An unincorporated business owned by a single individual. 





