Being Charitable

In the Name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

An unassuming man, he sends out the call – A neighbourhood needs to be fed and perhaps add a few toiletries to the goodie-bag. The call is heeded. The troops gather, bringing with them the provisions as donations. A truck is loaded with pots of soup, many a loaf of bread, groceries and, as a treat for the kids, some sweets and biscuits.

The helpers, some aboard the truck, others follow in their cars ,proceed to a nearby neighbourhood, to satisfy the needs of some. The need is great and a greater effort will be required to feed all. The hope is that this will grow so that more can be fed.

Nevertheless, it is a lovely winter’s afternoon, the sun has, for once this season, the sky to itself. Not a breeze. Beautiful. As the truck arrives, the expectant crowd gathers. The helpers take up their posts and the food is handed out. One or two people are tasked with ensuring the flow of people to ensure that we reach as many people. Kids are among the expectant crowd and for those kids amongst the helpers, it is most definitely a humbling experience to see this. The gratefulness on the faces and the utterances of those who received the goodies no doubt makes one realise that this is but the mercy of Allah Almighty. Had it not been for two parties separated by an economic schism, the have’s (even those of us with just a little more) would not have had this awesome opportunity to understand the mercy and blessing of Allah Almighty in that He has given some more than others. Perhaps those who receive less here will receive more in the Hereafter, but it is such that now the giver and taker develop a love for one another. The one who gives does not feel any bit of superiority over the other. Both are grateful to the Almighty Allah because it is through His mercy that some felt the need and love to share of what they were given. The other party took for it was their need and, not once, as anyone made to feel that they( the have’s) merely owe it to them (have ’s). They too remained humbled and grateful.

There is many an effort of charity like this. There are people more experienced than this man when it comes to charity. But it takes a man with a big heart to be there for so many people, to be the driving force in helping others, not only it what is being said here, but in countless other events.

We salute people like him and pray that he is rewarded abundantly. We pray for all those who sacrifice in helping others for the good of humanity with the aim of please the Creator, the Nourisher, the Sustainer. We salute the many organisations that go the world over to address the plight of the people. We salute the individuals involved far and wide.  As we shed a tear for the plight of the people and, sadly hand over only a few pennies in the name of charity, we pray that perhaps we become those soldiers in the trenches. We ought to be more charitable, not only with our money, but also of ourselves and our families – it’s not a feel-good thing .. it is just a good thing. We cannot be satisfied while our neighbour goes hungry!

So we praise Allah for bestowing on us our health and the wealth that we may be contributors in His cause and effect the equilibrium, for that is our responsibility.

The Call

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

Welcome my friend, I missed you much, so glad you could come

You are special for your master sent with you bounties and then some

I confess that I have so neglected myself since last you were here

All those promises I made, in most I failed, only to few did I adhere

How serene the atmosphere, the desire to do good, now that you did arrive

The worldly desires have somewhat faded and hearts have become alive

Oh how sweet the sound of the recitation of Quran, a most beautiful gift

Absorbing it all and abiding by it will most certainly cause with bad deeds a rift

 

So now you are here it is required of me from pre-dawn to dusk that I abstain

From food and water while with greater sincerity my prayers and conduct I maintain

While those who understand not, consider this noble task perhaps burdensome

Not in the least can the immense bounties you bring  be found loathsome

Yes I do realise that you have come to remind me ,yet again , of a better me

This training ground is much better than any other coaching session which is free

So I pray a little extra, give some charity and I remember my Lord and His blessings more

He, Allah, your master and mine, has promised that for this much blessing is in store

 

So I pray that your stay, however short, will be for me most beneficial

That on that Day, your witness in my favour will be made official

So I embrace you even more than I ever have, knowing that I truly love you

For this love is for no other reason but that my Love for Allah is true

  

Most certainly I acknowledge what you mean to me now, and always will

How then can I not invite others such that we may all forsake the evil

From my sisters who have not covered up to others who have not prayed at all

Always a good time to tell my non-Muslim friends to answer this call

 

The call is to obey Allah who created me, you and the entire universe

Such indeed was the call of Abraham, Moses, David and not forgetting Jesus

And on all of them be peace for they were without doubt great messengers

And to be complete,  so too peace upon Muhammad the seal of all messengers

O you who are a slave

In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

O you who are a slave! You refuse to be a true slave, a slave to the One Who Created you, you refuse to be a slave to the Truth, yet you are but a slave.

Unfortunately, you are the one who gets up early in the morning to go to a place of work – a place which you do not enjoy being at; nor do you enjoy the wage being paid to you. Yet you are slave for the truth is you do not know why you are there and why perhaps you need to be there. You work overtime for minimum wage. You consider being flirtatious as a way to get ahead. You have sold yourself, your soul for what? A career? A job? Money? Status? You are a slave to a world which is meaningless.

You dress in a way which sometimes make you look uncomfortable, perhaps you are. But it is simply that you are a slave. You are a slave to fashion. You are a slave to peer pressure. You are a slave for truth that may be inside your heart is simply overshadowed by your master – the pressure from without – the fashion and society. You are a slave to that which is superficial and you don’t even realise it for you are its slave. Your life is superficial .. does that mean it is meaningless?

You party, you enjoy yourself when you often know the consequences of it all. But you cannot stop for you are a slave. You are a slave to the pressure of those whose lives revolve around fun and those who have shunned responsibility. But you a slave to those who have not your best interest at heart for you have succumbed. So you were there, so now you “in” .. in what? In slavery ... another meaningless exercise in being superficial – for you are its slave.

You have given up morals and values – you call them outdated – for you are a slave to a society bent on destroying itself but you have shunned truth, so how should you know. What say do you have for you are a slave to a lawless immoral society who looks down on the poor, the meek, the humble. “No, we don’t I hear you say”, but how hypocritical you are – for the moral you practise, they do too to your dismay or shall we just say the morals you don’t practise neither do they. But you are slaves to those who propagate immorality and for you nothing is taboo.

So are you a slave to Him who deserves your servitude or you are merely a slave to everything that goes against that which is natural? What is natural is what is from nature. What is from nature is what is from the Creator, Allah. He created men such that they grow facial hair, yet they shave it. He created men and women with eyebrows, yet women see fit to pluck it. And so the list goes on, the list  with servitude to that which opposes the nature given by Allah.

The reality of this misguided servitude is because we may not properly understand why we are here. If you are a true slave, a slave of Allah then indeed you are free for you are one that have humbly submitted to Him who does not change. But if you are a slave to everything else, you will continually strive to obey the master who changes with time, be it your boss, fashion, the latest social trends, and whatever else you may fancy to be a slave to.

Those who deny the truth and thus are really slaves of the latter, then they have no reason to complain for they have brought their misery upon themselves. But these are the people who find reason to complain.

Whatever you do in life, do it for the right reason, not for your whims and fancies. Be a true slave!

In case anybody misunderstands –  I am neither slating work or your boss – what I am merely saying, get to enjoy what you do, ensure mutual respect for your boss and colleagues and progress in your career on being the best at what is required from your job.