Question: What is the importance of giving sadaqah?
ANSWER
All kinds of good deeds, whether material or spiritual, done in order to gain the pleasure of Allahu ta'ala are called sadaqah. Shaitan does not want us to give sadaqah, but we should give it at any cost. A Qur'anic verse says (what means):
(Shaitan frightens you with poverty, commands you to be niggardly and to do foul deeds; he does not want you to give sadaqah. But Allah promises forgiveness and abundant blessings from His grace. Allah is bounteous and knows everything thoroughly.) [Al-Baqarah 268]
It is stated in hadith-i sharifs about the virtues of sadaqah:
(Treat your sick ones with sadaqah. Sadaqah repels all illnesses and calamities.) [Bayhaqi]
(Let him who has 'ilm give sadaqah from his 'ilm. Let him who has wealth give sadaqah from his wealth.) [Ibn Sunni]
(Charity increases one’s life span. Sadaqah wipes out sins and protects one against awful death.) [Tabarani]
(Sadaqah wipes out arrogance.) [Tirmidhi]
(The rizq of a giver of sadaqah increases, and his du’a is accepted.) [Ibn Majah]
(Curse be upon him who prevents one from giving sadaqah.) [Isfahani]
(Sadaqah protects one from the torment in the grave. It takes one under protection on the Day of Resurrection.) [Bayhaqi]
(Avert your troubles with sadaqah.) [Daylami]
(Sadaqah wipes out sins just as water extinguishes fire.) [Tirmidhi]
(By Allah, giving sadaqah does not decrease wealth. Then give sadaqah.) [Imam-i Ahmad]
(Sadaqah increases wealth. Then give sadaqah.) [Ibn Abiddunya]
(Sadaqah averts 70 types of problems, the least of which is
leprosy and alphos.) [Hatib]
(Sadaqah cripples Shaitan.) [Daylami]
(Sadaqah given in secret extinguishes the wrath of Allah.) [Bayhaqi]
(Whoever gives sadaqah purely in pursuit of Allah’s pleasure, Allahu ta’ala will say to him on the Day of Resurrection, “O My slave, you pursued My pleasure, so I will not make you despicable, and I will make your body haram for Hell. Enter Paradise from any door you like.”) [Daylami]
(Give sadaqah even if it is little. Allah stops His favors on someone who conceals his money and does not give it.) [Muslim]
(Whoever wants abundant rizq, let him give sadaqah.) [Daylami]
(Make your rizq abundant by giving sadaqah.) [Bayhaqi]
(Sadaqah increases wealth.) [Ibn Adiy]
(Hurry to give sadaqah because trouble cannot pass before sadaqah.) [Tabarani, Bayhaqi]
(Give sadaqah because it is a means for your salvation from Hell.) [Tabarani]
(Give sadaqah even if it is a single date because it, though little, satisfies hunger and wipes out sins just as water extinguishes fire.) [Ibn Mubarak]
(Giving sadaqah in the beginning of a day averts calamities.) [Daylami]
(Sadaqah is more virtuous than observing a voluntary fast.) [Bayhaqi]
(If one gives sadaqah by intending its thawab for one’s Muslim parents, its thawab goes to them. There will be no decrease in one’s own thawab.) [Tabarani]
(A piece of bread given as sadaqah grows like the size of Mount Uhud in the sight of Allah.) [Tabarani]
Question: I have heard that we should give sadaqah every day. What should one do if one does not have any money?
ANSWER
Our Master the Messenger of Allah and the Blessed Companions had the following talk. Our Master the Messenger of Allah said:
- Every Muslim has to give sadaqah.
- O the Messenger of Allah, if someone cannot find anything to give, what should one do?
- One should work, earn, and give sadaqah.
- If one cannot find work?
- One should help someone in need in any way possible.
- If one cannot find anyone to help?
- One’s doing any beneficial deed is a sadaqah for one [for example, one’s saying “If I had money, I would give it in charity,” giving directions, removing something harmful from a pathway, remembering death, avoiding harming others, learning and teaching 'ilm]. (Bukhari, Muslim, Nasai)
Whom should we give sadaqah?
Giving charity to institutions where 'ilm is studied, whether in the form of zakat, fitrah, aqiqa, or adaq or in the form of sadaqah protects one against troubles and calamities. It causes one to lead a life in good health and welfare. Furthermore, one also earns thawab for jihad and dissemination of 'ilm. One who helps in this way attains many blessings both in this world and in the hereafter.
Our Master the Messenger of Allah says the following about the thawab of spreading 'ilm:
(The thawab given for all acts of worship compared with the thawab given for the jihad in the way of Allah is as much as a drop of water compared with sea. The thawab given for jihad compared with the thawab given for amr-i ma’ruf and nahy-i an-il-munkar[teaching commandments and prohibitions of Islam] is as much as a drop of water compared with sea.) [Daylami]
Ihlas Vakfý houses thousands of poor university students and especially needy students coming from Turkic world in its dormitories. Their needs are met by charities of philanthropists.
Ihlas Vakfý, for years, has put charities given by philanthropists to use in the best way. It provides relief in all ways for poor students coming from Turkic world. It supports, both materially and spiritually, students coming from Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan, Chechnya, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Crimea, East Turkestan, and the other Turkic world in its dormitories it has founded in the metropolitan cities of Turkey.
Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are provided in dormitories, and Ihlas Vakfý shows great love and affection for those students.
The meat needed by dormitories of Ihlas Vakfý during the year is met by the qurbans of philanthropists. With the agency given to Ihlas Vakfý, animals for sacrifice are bought in the name of philanthropists, and they are sacrificed according to the rules prescribed by our religion. Then they are kept in freezers. The meat kept is used in meals of its dormitories during the year.
Ihlas Vakfý, which hosts in the best way extramural students who come to our country from the cruelties of communism that lasted 70 years, is an honor to our country. It provides public service in the best way by the service and support it gives to education and our state. As descendants of our ancestors who founded waqfs in world history, it is a national and religious duty of ours to back waqfs, charitable organizations, and institutions dedicated to teaching and learning by agency contracts for sacrificing qurban or other kinds of charity, and thus, to contribute to the education of knowledgeable and cultivated students.
Zakat and sadaqa-i fitrah of those who want to donate are accepted by agency contracts with a view to giving them to poor students. We strongly advise our readers to contribute to this beneficial service.
One who appoints Ihlas Vakfý to be one’s agent by an agency contract to sacrifice qurban on one’s behalf has participated its services. One can form agency contract on http://www.ihlasvakfi.org.tr
Question: Which deeds are considered sadaqah?
ANSWER
Any good deed done to earn the pleasure of Allahu ta’ala is considered sadaqah. It is stated in hadith-i sharifs:
(What you spend on you and your family is a sadaqah.) [Bayhaqi]
(Every good deed is a sadaqah.) [Tirmidhi]
(Good word is a sadaqah.) [Imam-i Ahmad]
(Saying salam by smiling is a sadaqah.) [Bayhaqi]
(Smiling at a fellow Muslim’s face is a sadaqah.) [Tirmidhi]
(Something eaten or stolen from a tree is a sadaqah for the one who planted it.) [Muslim]
(Teaching something good to someone, preventing him from doing an evil deed, giving directions to someone who asks, removing harmful things from the road are a sadaqah each.) [Tirmidhi]
(Everybody must give sadaqah as much as the number of his joints. Saying “Subhanallah”, “Alhamdulillah”, “La ilaha illallah” or “Allahu akbar” is a sadaqah each. Advising what is good and trying to prevent what is evil is a sadaqah. As for performing a two-rak’at Duha salat, it is equivalent to all these.) [Muslim]
(Performing amr-i ma’ruf and nahy-i munkar is a sadaqah.) [Muslim]
(Inhaling and exhaling of an ill person is a sadaqah.) [Hatib]
(Every step one takes while going to the mosque is a sadaqah.) [Imam-i Ahmad]
(Remembrance of death is a sadaqah.) [Daylami]
(If one gives one’s poor debtor time to pay his debts, one’s every day is a sadaqah.) [Tabarani]
(Giving directions to someone who has lost way is a sadaqah.) [Jami-us-Saghir]
(Serving one’s husband is a sadaqah.) [Daylami]
(Having intercourse with one’s lawful wife is a sadaqah.) [Muslim]
(Consulting with someone who refrains from haram is a sadaqah.) [Daylami]
(Refraining from doing an evil deed is a sadaqah.) [Ibni Abiddunya]
(Lending someone something is a sadaqah.) [Tabarani]
(Greeting someone with salam is a sadaqah.) [Bukhari]
Question: What is the reason for having difficulty in giving sadaqah?
ANSWER
It stems from miserliness. Miserliness steams from ignorance and the weakness of faith. One thinks that the money one gives as charity goes to waste. One cannot think that one will be rewarded many more times. Shaitan gives waswasa to prevent one from doing what is good. A Qur’anic verse says (what means):
(Shaitan frightens you with poverty, commands you to be niggardly and to do foul deeds; he does not want you to give sadaqah. But Allah promises forgiveness and abundant blessings from His grace. Allah is bounteous and knows everything thoroughly.) [Al-Baqarah 268]
(I swear that giving sadaqah does not decrease wealth.) [Imam-i Ahmad]
If one gives sadaqah, it boosts barakah on one's wealth. One benefits much from one’s a little money. It is stated in a hadith-i sharif:
(Give plenty of sadaqah, whether in secret or in public, so that your rizq may be abundant and you will be beneficiary of help and your du’a will be accepted.) [Ibn Majah]
Whoever gives something, Allahu ta’ala gives him/her much more. If one cuts down, Allahu ta’ala stops giving, too. When Hadrat Asma, the daughter of Hadrat Abu Bakr, asked, “O the Messenger of Allah, I do not have anything except the mahr my husband, Zubayr, gave me. Should I give sadaqah?” our Master the Messenger of Allah answered, “Give sadaqah as much as you afford. Do not tighten the purse strings. Then Allah tightens your rizq.” [Bukhari]
