Fazail Sadaqat

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FAZAIL –E—SADAQAAT

By Molana Zakariya Kandhalvi

The second of two of the most read books in the Islamic world, detailing the innumerable benefits of performing one of thegreatest acts of worship in Islam, spending in the path of Allah. Heart softening stories of those who sacrificed there wealth forthe sake of the Almighty, and the overwhelming bounties of Allah upon such people. Handy compact edition, translated by Prof. Abdul Karim and Malik Haq Nawaz.

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VIRTUES AND REWARDS OF SPENDING FOR THE CAUSE OF ALLAH

The Holy Quran and the Ahadith of Rasulullah Sallallaho alaihe wasallam, the greatest of mankind, contain so manyexhortations to give away Sadaqah that, after going through them, one cannot but conclude that money is not to beheld back at all and that it is meant only for spending for the cause of Allah. The commandments and instructionson this subject are so numerous that it is difficult to collect even a tenth of them. In my usual way, I am quotingbelow, by way of example, a few Ayaat of the Holy Qur’an and some Ahadith with their translation.Section (a)

AYAAT

1. (The Glorious Qur’an) In it there is guidance for those who fear Allah and believe in things not visible; theyestablish Salaat and spend from what We have bestowed on them; and they believe in what has been sent down toyou and sent down before you; and they are certain of the Akhirah. They depend on the guidance from their Lord;they are the successful. (al-baqarah: 2-5)Note: These Ayaat contain several subjects, all of which need close consideration:(a) The Qur’an is a guidance to those who fear Allah Ta’ala Shanohu. Obviously, the one who does not fear hisLord, nor considers the Lord as his Master, and the one who does not know his Creator, cannot see the pathindicated by the Glorious Qur’an. He alone can see the path who has the capability of seeing. Similarly, a personwhose heart is devoid of the fear of Allah has no regard for His commandments.(b) "To establish Salaat’ is to perform it with full concentration, following the prescribed manner and fulfilling thenecessary conditions. These have been fully dealt with in my booklet on the ‘Virtues of Salaat,’ wherein I havequoted a saying of Ibne Abbas Radhiallaho anho to the effect that: ‘The establishment of Salaat’ depends on correctperformance of Ruku and Sajda, whole-hearted concentration and humility towards Allah. According to QatadahRahmathullah alaihe, perfection in Salaat can be achieved by observing it at its proper time, by proper ‘Wudhu’(ablution), and by ‘Ruku’ and ‘Sajda’ in the proper way.(c) The highest achievement of man is to attain ‘Falaah’. The term Falaah implies success and happiness, both inspiritual and worldly affairs.Imaam Raghib Rahmathullah alaihe has written that ‘Falaah’ in the worldly sense means attainment of excellence incertain aspects of worldly life, in respect of lasting satisfaction, contentment and honour. ‘Falaah’ in the life of Akirahconsists in four things:1. Eternal life2. Riches that have no shadow of poverty.3. Honour with no trace of disgrace.4. Knowledge with no taint of ignorance.In the case of absolute ‘Falaah’, success is implied in its highest degree, both in spiritual and material life.

2. It is not right righteousness that you turn your faces to the East or West; but the righteous is he who believes inAllah and the Last Day and the Angels, and the Scripture and the Ambiya and gives his wealth for the love of Him tokinsfolk and to orphans and the destitute and the wayfarer and to those who ask (in need) and to set slaves free;and observes Salaat properly; and pays Zakaat. (These are worthwhile attainments). (al-baqarah: 177)

(The Ayat mentions a few more qualities of the righteous and in conclusion, asserts, "Such are they who are trulysincere. Such are the people who fear Allah")

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Note: Qatadah Rahmathullah alaihe says that the Jews used to turn their faces to the West while offering theirprayers and the Christians faced the East; so this Ayat was sent down concerning their practise. Several otherUlama have expressed the same opinion (Durre Manthur). Imaam Jassaas Rahmathullah alaihe has said that thisAyaat was sent down to refute the objection of the Jews and the Christians against the change of ‘Qiblah’ i.e. fromBait-ul-Muqaddas to Ka’bah. Allah Subhanahu wa Ta’ala has, in this Ayat stressed the fact that virtue lies inobedience to Allah Ta’ala, without which the turning to the East or West is meaningless (Ahlamul-Quran).Spending for the cause of Allah means that, in all cases, money must be spent only to seek the pleasure and loveof Allah, and not for getting name and fame for one-self, in which case the spending will not count as an act ofvirtue. It will rather become a sin instead of being a virtue.Rasulullah Sallallaho alaihe wasallam has said that Haq Ta’ala Shanohu does not look at your faces and yourwealth (how much you spent). He rather, looks at your deeds and your hearts (the motives behind your deeds).(Mishkaat). Another Hadith reports Rasulullah Sallallaho alaihe wasallam as saying, "The thing I fear most for you(the Ummah) is the minor ‘Shirk’. On being asked what the minor ‘Shirk’ was, he replied, "To do something for thesake of show". Repeated warnings have been given in the Ahadith against spending for the sake of displaying one’sgenerosity.

The translation given indicated that spending of money should be motivated by love for Allah. Some Ulama haveinterpreted the Ayat as follows:

Spending of money should be accompanied by a feeling of love for spending i.e. one should be delighted to giveaway things as Sadaqah, should have no second thoughts, nor regret having spent money, nor fear from want, norblame oneself for spending it lavishly (Ahkamul Qur’an). Many other Ulama have given a different interpretation.They say that the Ayaat refers to spending for the cause of Allah while one still needs and loves money. A Hadithsays that someone asked Rasulullah Sallallaho alaihe wasallam, "What is meant by spending money while oneloves it; for everybody loves money?" Rasulullah Sallallaho alaihe wasallam replied, "It means that you shouldspend money while you are conscious of your own needs, fear from want and neediness and feel afraid lest youshould need it at a time during the long years of your life lying ahead".

Another Hadith says that the best Sadaqah is to spend at the time when you are in good health, hoping to live long.Do not go on postponing Sadaqah till you find yourself on the death-bed, with little or no hope of survival, at which juncture, you may begin to give away your wealth saying, ‘So much to so-and-so and so much for such and suchcause, though it now belongs to your heirs. (Durre Manthur). When the hope for life vanishes, feeling for personalneeds is no longer there and, with the apprehension of all the property going to your heirs, you begin to distribute itamong Masjids and Madrasahs!

So long as the feeling of one’s own neediness was uppermost, the will to give as Sadaqah was absent. Thereforethe ‘Shariah’ has ordered that such last-moment directions for giving things in Sadaqah or to non-heirs should belimited to a maximum of one third of the total property. Thus if the total property has been given away at the time ofdeath, only one third of it can be validly disposed off according to such a ‘will’ of the deceased. The above Ayatspecifically emphasizes spending on the orphans and the destitute while Zakaat has been mentioned separately, atthe end of the Ayat.

This shows that spending on the things specified therein has to be done from the property left with a person afterpayment of Zakaat. This point will be explained later under Hadith No. 1

3. Spend your wealth for the cause of Allah, and make not your hands contribute to your destruction; and do good.Lo! Allah loves those who are beneficent. (al-baqarah: 195)

Note: According to Huzaifah Radhiallaho anho, the command "Do not contribute to your own destruction," meansgiving up Sadaqah for fear of becoming poor.Ibne Abbas Radhiallaho anho has said, "To get killed in the path of Allah, is not ruining oneself: in fact, ruination liesin withholding the expenditure on sadaqah". Dhahhaak Bin Jubair Rahmathullah alaihe has said that the Ansaar