Charity

لَن تَنَالُواْ الْبِرَّ حَتَّى تُنفِقُواْ مِمَّا تُحِبُّونَ وَمَا تُنفِقُواْ مِن شَيْءٍ فَإِنَّ اللّهَ بِهِ عَلِيمٌ

“You will not attain righteousness until you give of what you love for; and whatever you give, surely God knows it.”

Charity and helping others is a means of drawing closer to God

“O son of Adam, I fell ill and you visited Me not.” He will say: “O Guardian-Lord, and how should I visit You when You are the Lord of the worlds?” God will say: “Did you not know that My servant so-and-so had fallen ill and you visited him not? Did you not know that had you visited him you would have found Me with him?” [Then God will say]: “O son of Adam, I asked you for food and you fed Me not.” He will say: “O Guardian-Lord, and how should I feed You when You are the Lord of the worlds?” God will say: “Did you not know that My servant so-and-so asked you for food and you fed him not? Did you not know that had you fed him you would surely have found Me with him?” [Then God will say]: “O son of Adam, I asked you to give Me to drink and you gave Me not to drink.” He will say: “O Lord, how should I give You to drink when You are the Lord of the worlds?” God will say: “My servant so-and-so asked you for drink, and you gave him not to drink. Had you given him to drink you would have surely found Me with him.”

Charity and helping others is a key to purification and paradise

The Messenger said, “Give charity, even if all of it is but a date, for that will keep a poor man alive and removes sins as water extinguishes fire.”

Ibn Masud, may God be pleased with him, says: “A man worshiped God for seventy years; then he committed a great sin which voided all of that worship. Then he passed by a poor man and gave him a round loaf of bread. He was forgiven for his sins and the deeds of seventy years of his obedience were restored to him.”

And Luqman, the wise sage, said to a boy: “Whenever you commit a sin, give alms.”

Charity is a means of gaining freedom and happiness

Imam Al-Qushayri said, “When the Sufis speak on freedom [hurriya], they mean that the servant is not under bondage to any created thing, neither the contingencies of worldly life nor those of the Hereafter…Nothing enslaves him, whether it be the desire, wishes, requests, intention, needs, or wealth.”

“Know that the greatest kind of freedom comes from serving the poor…God instructed David, If you encounter one who seeks Me, serve him.”

Charity Requires working together across faith communities

“Vie with one another in good deeds.”

“Help each other to kindness and God consciousness and do not help each other to oppression and animosity.”