صدقہ کی فضیلت

It is narrated from Abu Hurayrah (may Allah be pleased with him) that the Noble Messenger (peace and blessings be upon him) said: “Whoever spends from lawful earnings the equivalent of a date (that is, an extremely small amount) — and know that Allah accepts only lawful wealth — then Allah accepts it with His right hand and then rears it (that charity) for the giver just as one of you rears his calf or the young of his camel, until it (the charity or its reward) becomes like a mountain.” (Bukhari and Muslim)

This blessed hadith shows that Allah accepts only what is pure; that is, He never accepts wealth that is unlawful, that is not from lawful earning, or that is not spent with a right intention. Allah the Exalted says: “Pure speech ascends to Him and righteous deeds rise to Him.” (Fatir 35:10) When a person gives pure wealth in charity with sincerity of heart, Allah takes it in His right hand — that is, He values it and honours it with acceptance — however small that charity may be, even a single date or dried date. His charity is nurtured and grows in the palm of Allah until it grows to be equal to a mountain or greater. That it “grows in the palm of Allah” means that it is nurtured and raised under Allah’s watch and protection, just as a farmer’s seed cast into the ground is protected by the earth itself by Allah’s command, which makes it sprout and grow; in the same way Allah protects the charity, and His nurturing rears and increases it, so that on the Day of Resurrection it proves heavy and weighty in the scale of deeds.
However small a charity may be, once accepted it does not remain small; rather in the sight of reality it comes to hold immense worth. The reality that charity expresses is, in Allah’s estimation, the spirit of spending (infaq); infaq is in truth the name of open-heartedness and gladness of heart. Thus a small charity, if given with complete sincerity, becomes the sign of some great reality. Moreover, the One who can make a single grain grow into many ears and grains — how would He leave charity fruitless? Far more precious than material grain is that spirit of the believer of which charity is the expression; so how can this great spirit be devoid of worldly and otherworldly fruits?
In the Holy Qur’an this reality is expressed in these words: “Allah destroys interest and increases charity.” (Baqarah 2:276) This verse describes the loss in interest and the blessings of charity; interest outwardly appears to increase, but in real terms, or in view of its outcome, interest-based wealth becomes only a cause of ruin and destruction.
From the example given in this hadith it becomes clear that just as someone rears the young of his cow or camel and makes it more useful, exactly the same kind of process takes place with charity, to the point that estimating its benefits, blessings, reward and recompense becomes difficult. This way of Allah operates not only in the matter of charity; rather any deed of a believer, through his sincerity, can come to hold many times more worth and fruits than itself.
The importance and virtue of charity can also be well judged from this narration: “Give charity early in the morning, for calamities cannot leap over charity to pass beyond it.” (on the authority of Bayhaqi) — meaning that if a person is diligent in charity and alms, afflictions and calamities do not turn towards him and he remains protected from them.
In summary, when Allah accepts some pure charity and deed of a servant, He makes it a cause of ever greater benefits and blessings; His accepting it becomes a cause of far more good than the earth’s accepting of a seed, and this way of His is meaningful, like the tending and rearing of a stray cow or the young of a camel.
May Allah grant us all perfect faith in these realities and the ability to give charity and alms that may become our support in the Hereafter.