Assalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh
Bismillahir- Rahmanir-Rahim
1. Opening
Beloved friends whom Allah has blessed, every one of us surely desires happiness. Yet do we know that the primary indicator of a person’s faith can be seen in where he seeks his joy? From a spiritual perspective, a person can assess the direction of his life—whether it leans toward this world or the Hereafter—simply by measuring his inner response: Does he feel happier when receiving something, or even happier when giving something?For a worldly-oriented soul, happiness is measured by how much wealth he manages to amass and receive. But for a Hereafter-oriented soul, true happiness actually blossoms when he is able to release his wealth to help others.In the jurisprudence of the servant’s relationship with his Creator, we recognize a fundamental difference between zakāt and ṣadaqah. Zakāt is a formal obligation—like a regular religious tax—with strict rules and spiritual consequences if deliberately abandoned. Ṣadaqah, meanwhile, is the domain of proving pure love—ṣadaqah is rooted in the word ṣidq, which means honesty/truthfulness of faith. Through ṣadaqah, a true believer’s nobility of soul is tested as he willingly gives up the wealth he loves and cherishes most in order to attain the pleasure of Allah SWT:
لَيْسَ الْبِرَّ أَنْ تُوَلُّوا وُجُوهَكُمْ قِبَلَ الْمَشْرِقِ وَالْمَغْرِبِ وَلَٰكِنَّ الْبِرَّ مَنْ آمَنَ بِاللَّهِ وَالْيَوْمِ الْآخِرِ وَالْمَلَائِكَةِ وَالْكِتَابِ وَالنَّبِيِّينَ وَآتَى الْمَالَ عَلَىٰ حُبِّهِ ذَوِي الْقُرْبَىٰ وَالْيَتَامَىٰ وَالْمَسَاكِينَ وَابْنَ السَّبِيلِ وَالسَّائِلِينَ وَفِي الرِّقَابِ
“Righteousness is not that you turn your faces toward the east or the west, but righteousness is one who believes in Allah, the Last Day, the angels, the Book, and the prophets and gives wealth, in spite of love for it, to relatives, orphans, the needy, the traveler, those who ask [for help], and for freeing slaves...”
[QS. Al-Baqarah: 177]
2. Lessons and Message
The wealth we truly own is not what we keep in our wallets or bank accounts, but what we have given and invested for our Hereafter savings. To be a believer means training the heart not to be a “narrow vessel” that only wants to hold, but to become a “clear spring” that always longs to channel benefit to those around it.Let us reflect on a heart-rending incident from the victims of a flash-flood disaster.
There was an elderly woman whose house was completely destroyed, leaving only mud and rubble. Volunteers came bringing food packages and decent clothing for her. She received them with tears streaming down her face, thanking them repeatedly. Yet a few minutes later, the volunteers saw the old woman call her neighbor who lived alone and split in half the food package she had just received. When the volunteers asked in astonishment, “Mother, why are you sharing it? Your own house is destroyed and you desperately need this.” Wiping her tears, the woman smiled with trembling lips and replied, “Son, receiving this aid saves my stomach today. But being able to share with my starving neighbor saves my soul from despair. When I give, I feel that Allah still trusts me to be a conduit of His goodness.” How moving—amid material poverty caused by disaster, this woman’s faithful soul remained immensely rich and found the peak of her happiness in giving.Let us make a somewhat cheeky yet wisdom-filled analogy.
There was a man who diligently prayed in the mosque, “O Allah, make Your servant wealthy so I can give charity lavishly and help all the orphans in this village!” In short, his prayer was answered. His business advanced rapidly, his revenue exploded, and his profits multiplied. One day, a mosque construction committee came to his house with a donation proposal. Suddenly the man turned pale, held his forehead, and said, “Oh Mr. Committee, I’m so sorry. I do have a lot of money now, but I’m still in the business expansion stage. Everything is tied up in capital and stocks. Later, okay? Once I’m really, really rich and my business is stable, then I’ll give charity!”
The lesson: Many people think they need abundant capital to be able to give. Yet death never waits for your business to hit its break-even point! Stinginess has nothing to do with the balance in your account; it is a disease of the heart. If when we have ten thousand rupiah we find it hard to give one thousand for charity, don’t dream we’ll easily give a hundred million when we hold one billion!
3. Conclusion and Closing
Blessed brothers and sisters, a world-oriented person will always feel lacking because his happiness depends on how much he receives. By contrast, the characteristic of a Hereafter-oriented believer is marked by a spacious heart and overflowing joy when able to give. Zakāt is the safe boundary of our obedience, but ṣadaqah with the wealth we love most is our love letter to Allah SWT.
Let us test our hearts today. Let us shift our happiness from “happy when receiving an envelope” to “happy when able to hand over an envelope of goodness.” May Allah SWT purify our hearts from stinginess and grant us the sweetness of faith in the beauty of sharing.
. والله أعلم بالصواب
الحمد لله رب العالمين
Wassalamu’alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh.
Abu Sultan Al-Qadrie
