By Sheikh Abdul-Bari ibn Awad Al-Thebeiti – 20 Rabia Awal 1434

Sheikh Abdul-Bari ibn Awad Al-Thebeiti, may Allah preserve him, delivered the Friday sermon entitled “The Virtue of Giving”. In this sermon, he talked about giving and generosity and their virtues, and explained that the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam was the most generous of all people, and that he found greater joy in giving than one would find in receiving. Sheikh Al-Thebeiti also gave examples of the Companions’ acts of giving and charity, and mentioned some Prophetic sayings showing that the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam sought refuge in Allah from disability, miserliness, and stinginess.

Praise be to Allah, Who says, "As for him who gives (in charity) and keeps his duty to Allah and fears Him, and believes in Al-Husnâ (The best reward from Allah), We will make smooth for him the path of ease (goodness)" [Al-Lail: 5-7].

I praise Allah, Glory be to Him, and thank Him for his countless blessings. I bear witness that there is no god worthy of worship but Allah alone with no partner, Who says, "And the Bounties of your Lord can never be forbidden" [Al-Isra: 20]. And I bear witness that our master and Prophet Muhammad is His servant and Messenger to whom His Lord said, "And verily, your Lord will give you (all good) so that you shall be well-pleased" [Ad-Duha: 5]. O Allah, bestow Your peace and blessings upon him, his household, and his companions.

O Muslims,
I advise you and myself to fear Allah, for He says, "O you who believe! Fear Allah (by doing all that He has ordered and by abstaining from all that He has forbidden) as He should be feared, and die not except in a state of Islam" [Al-Imran: 102].

Servants of Allah,
Giving is worship. It is also a way of thanking Allah for his blessings. Our honoured Messenger Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam set the best example of giving and generosity; he gave all that he had, and of all kinds of things. He devoted himself and all that he had to others. Jabir, may Allah be pleased with him, said, “Nothing the Messenger Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam was asked for but he would give it; a man asked him for a herd of sheep that was grazing between two mountains, and he gave it to him”. The Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam was so generous that he gave away a garment that he was wearing. His giving is further evidenced by the fact that he devoted all his life to his Ummah, both as a warner and a bringer of glad tidings;

Allah, Exalted be He, says, "He is only a warner to you in face of a severe torment." [Saba’: 46].

The Prophet’s giving is also shown in his incomparable love and unequalled compassion towards his Ummah. In many cases, he would say, “Had I not thought it hard for my Ummah, I would have ordered them to do [such and such]”. When a man asked him about Hajj, “Is it prescribed every year, O Messenger of Allah?”, he said, “If I said yes, it would become obligatory and you would be unable to do it”. It is reported that the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam kept saying, “O Lord, my Ummah, my Ummah!” till his Lord said: “Verily We shall please you with regard to your Ummah and shall not sadden your.”

One of the abundant blessings of the Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam is that his giving is continuous till the Day of Judgment. The Prophet’s companions and righteous brothers followed his example of giving and generosity until they reached the heights of benevolence. The Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam said about Abu Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, “No money has benefited me more than Abu-Bakr’s money”. When Abu-Bakr, may Allah be pleased with him, heard this he wept and said, “Are myself and my money to anyone but you, O messenger of Allah?!” The generous ‘Umar ibn al-Khattab, may Allah be pleased with him, used to go every night to the house of a blind, disabled old woman, who had no one to help her, in order to attend to her needs and take refuse out of her house.

Mus’ab ibn Umair, may Allah be pleased with him, set yet another wonderful example of giving. When he went to Al-Madina, the majority of its houses embraced Islam within a year. Similarly, Sa’ad ibn Mu’adh got up to explain that Al-Ansar were ready to sacrifice their dearest possessions and their own souls, saying, “O Messenger of Allah! By Him Who has sent you with the Truth! If you seek to cross this sea and went in it, we will follow you and none among us will remain behind. Tie whoever you like, untie whoever you like, and take whatever you like of our property. We would not hate for you to lead us to meet our enemy tomorrow. We are patient in war, veracious in battle. May Allah allow you to witness from our efforts what comforts your eyes''.

As for Ibn Abbas, may Allah be pleased with them, his giving was most reflected in his sitting in the Holy Mosque in Mecca after dawn, saying: "Come over, O people of the Qur’an", and the people of the Qur’an would recite the Qur’an until sunrise. Then Ibn Abbas would say to them: "Arise and bring forth the people of the Hadith", and after these finished with their questions, he would say: “Arise and bring forth the people of jurisprudence," then the people of interpretation, then the people of Arabic, and so on. Afterwards, he would educate his companions. His giving thus encompassed the two best things: teaching religious knowledge and open-handedness.

Such overflowing giving in all fields of life enabled the first Muslim generation to change the course of events and re-write history. How sublime it is for a Muslim to give and wish good for others! True giving has no limits and is not subject to any conditions, and should be extended to those whom you love and those whom you may not love.

People of giving know no miserliness, stinginess, or hatred, for if you give something, you will gain multiples of what you have given. Your giving will surely offer joy and hope to hearts that have suffered and grieved, such as an orphan who has been deprived of parental affection or a widow who has lost her breadwinner. Give to your Muslim brothers wherever they are, and to your kinsmen. Mutual giving in marriage is expressed through love, affection and compassion.

The door is open for plentiful of ways of giving, such as pardoning those who did wrong to you, overlooking those who offended you, visiting those who cut all ties with you, extending invitations to both Muslims and non-Muslims, accepting people’s apologies and forgiving their mistakes, and waiving some of your rights. Giving may also be realized by a useful idea that you offer to your workplace or to your society. It includes giving money, knowledge, and providing information and experience. You can help others through your dignity and fame, or contributing your time, effort, good reputation, and intercession.  Giving can be realized by removing harmful objects from roads, acting in the interests of people, and sacrificing oneself for the sake of Allah.

Giving is ordained for all categories and classes of people, and it is not hard to achieve; smiling at your brother, visiting relatives, uttering a good word, praying for someone, spending some of your money on others, and buying them medicine are all acts of giving. Why do we not get through the door of benevolence?! Why do we not learn to give and do benefit to our society, our country and our nation?!

This is what gives meaning to life, what gives flavour to our relationships and life to our feelings. These souls which find joy in giving suffer in order to feed the hungry and strive so that their charitable acts may be of support and assistance to them on the Day of Judgment.

No one in the nation is deprived of the ability to give. He who refrains from giving paralyses his movement, destroys himself, kills his own feelings, and buries himself alive. Each one of us is capable of giving and serving his nation with his deeds and words. We have to remove the impediments to benevolence, the most important of which is powerlessness, which is often the main cause of failure. The Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam said: “O Allah, I seek refuge in You from disability”, a state that is the main cause for our failure and deficiencies.

The Prophet Sallallahu Alayhi Wa Sallam said: “Seek the assistance of Allah and do not feel helpless”. The feeling of helplessness weakens determination, kills ambition, and makes one lose the desire to give, which is an important part of one’s personality and potential.  A powerless man would look for trivial reasons and excuses to justify his helplessness.

Such a frustrating feeling of helplessness has turned certain Muslims into beggars, always taking and never feeling satisfied, leading them to a life of total seclusion and selfishness. They have become miserly and weak-willed, always aspiring to own what is in the possession of others. Even if they were among the wealthy, they would choose to live the life of poverty and would refrain from giving.

“Seek the assistance of Allah and do not feel helpless” means “Rise, take the initiative, and move forward, but in all cases seek the help of Allah, and you will find good flowing, assistance increasing, and your Lord will support you and grant you success”.

Giving, fellow Muslims, has a positive effect on the benefactor, his community, and the whole nation. It liberates the potential of the individual and society. It opens wide horizons for development and achieving glory to the Ummah, together with ensuring mutual trust among individuals. Indeed, an open-handed person is loved by his community and respected by his people.  He acquires self-complacency, and Allah is all the more pleased with him. The open-handed person is constantly resorted to, and his gifts are never-ending, as their usefulness has far-reaching impacts, with his constant presence and the long-lasting effect of his good deeds.

Once the spirit of giving is anchored in your heart for the sake of Allah, you will soon experience a feeling a joy. There is joy in giving that exceeds the joy felt by the taker. Getting immersed in charitable acts and providing help and assistance to others protect us from all feelings of anxiety that might be a hindrance in our life. Therefore be among the open-handed, and be among the pioneers of benevolence, those who give, for Allah gives to those who give, and Allah’s gifts are ceaseless and His supplies are never-ending.

Our nation today, while suffering from the scourges of wars and seditions, is, more than ever before, in dire need of reviving the meaning of giving so as to fight ignorance with knowledge, poverty with benevolence and development, the increasing number of orphans with guardianship and custody, the widespread fear with security, war with peace, and corruption with control and integrity. Now is the time for giving. Allah, Exalted be He, says:

"So whosoever does good equal to the weight of an atom, shall see it." [Az-Zalzala: 7].

May Allah bless you and me with the Noble Qur’an, and may He grant us benefit with its verses and wise words. I say what you have heard and I ask forgiveness of Allah, the Most-Great, for you and me; He is the Oft-Forgiving, the Most-Merciful.