Allah's Plan For You & Me

Charity

✦⋆· Prophet Muhammad (saw) said, "The earth on the Day of Resurrection will be scorching, except for the shadow of a believer, for verily his charity will serve him as shade."

● "Verily charity extinguishes the wrath of Allah."

● "Charity prevents seventy different types of adversities, the simplest of them being elephantiasis and leprosy."

● "Charity blocks seventy doorways to evil."

● "Charity prevents an undignified death."

● "Give charity and cure your sick ones through the giving of charity, for verily charity repels accidents and illnesses, and is a source of increase in your life spans and your good deeds."

● "Verily every single Muslim is to give in charity every single day.

"When asked who would be capable of such a thing,

He replied, "Your removal of an obstacle from the road is a charitable act; you're guiding someone the way is a charitable act; you're visiting the sick is a charitable act; your enjoinment of good to others is a charitable act; your forbidding others from wrongdoing is a charitable act, and you're returning the greeting of peace is a charitable act."

● "Every kindly act is considered charity."

● "Guard your tongue, for verily this is a charitable act that you perform for your own sake."

● "Abandoning evil [acts] is an act of charity."

● "The best of people is he who gives away his hard-earned money [in charity]."

● "The best form of charity is that which is secretly given to the poor by one who himself has little to offer."

● "The best form of charity is for the Muslim to gain knowledge and then teach it to his fellow Muslim brother."

● "The best form of charity is to shade someone under one's tent for the sake of Allah."

● "The one who is truly poor does not roam around the streets begging, nor can he be turned away with a date or two, or a bite or two.

Rather the one who is truly poor is he who restrains himself from asking people and who does not draw attention to himself - that is the one that should be given charity."

✦⋆· Imam Ali (as) said, "Charity acts as a shield against fire of Hell."

● "Do not feel ashamed if the amount of charity is small because to refuse the needy is an act of greater shame."

● "Attract sustenance by giving charity."

● "If you are reduced to poverty, then trade with Allah through giving in charity."

● "Charity and alms are the best remedy for ailments and calamities."

● "To secure for you fame, credit as well as blessings, the help that you give to men in need, should possess the following attributes:

Whatever its extent, it should be considered by you as trifling so that it may be granted a high status.

It should be given secretly; Allah will manifest it.

And it must be given immediately so that it becomes pleasant."

● "If you want to pray to Allah for better means of subsistence, then first give something in charity."

✦⋆· Imam Baqir (as) said, describing his father Imam Zayn al-Abidin (as), "He used to go out in the dark night carrying a sack on his back and going from door to door, knocking on each and giving to whoever came out to answer it.

He used to cover his face when giving to the poor in order for them to not recognise him."

✦⋆· Imam Sadiq (as) said, "A charitable act that Allah loves indeed is reconciling people when they have become estranged to one another and bringing them close together when they have become distanced from each other."

● "The best form of charity is to cool down someone's internal heat [by quenching their thirst]."

● "Do not give charity openly for people to see and commend you for it, for verily when you do that, you have already received your reward for it [in their commendation].

However, if you give with your right hand such that your left hand does not come to know it, then the One for whose sake you have secretly given charity will surely reward you for it openly."

● "By Allah, charity given secretly is better than charity given openly, just as, by Allah, worship performed secretly is better than worship performed openly."

● "Verily charity given at night [i.e. secretly in the dark of the night] extinguishes the wrath of the Lord, wipes away great sins and facilitates one's account [on the Day of Resurrection]. Charity given during the day [in broad daylight] makes one's wealth thrive and increases one's lifespan."

● Imam Sadiq (as) was once asked whether one should give charity to those who beg at people's doors, or whether to withhold it from them and give it to one's poor relatives instead, to which he replied, "No, rather one should send it to a [poor] relative, for that holds a greater reward."

✦⋆· Imam Kazim (as) said, "Your assistance of the weak is one of the best forms of charity."

● "Do not give away of yourself to your brothers so much that the loss incurred by you supersedes the benefit to them."