Charity is a sure way to save oneself from hellfire and also remember that your need to give charity is always bigger than those who are receiving it.

1. Our Openenemy The Shaitan tempts us through GreedFight Himthrough
Charity
All praise isto Allah(SWT),the CreatorandLord of thisUniverse andpeace andblessingsbe uponthe
lastof the messengersof Allah(SWT) ProphetMuhammad(SAW).
It isa blessingthatwe are Muslimsandthussee so manyMuslimfacesaroundthe world.Peoplewho
have no connectionorsimilaritybetweenthemselvesonworldlythingsare joinedtogetherwiththe
rope of Allah(SWT) thatisIslam.Thoughsadlywe seldom sayeven Salam toone anotherinthisworld,
letus hope thatwe will greetone anotherinJannahwhichisa much betterplace inthe afterlife.
Surah Baqarah isthe longestsurahof the Quranas everybodyisaware.Itcoversa lot of thingsand the
twoayahs that are the particularfocustodayappearnear the endof thisblessedchapter.There are
manyayahs that coverthe subjectof charity andspendinginthe wayof Allah(SWT). Thinkof these
ayahsas a tree,butknowthisthat everytree startsitslife asa seedandthisseedwasplacedinthe start
of the surah.Allah(SWT) saysinthe Quran,
“Who believe in the unseen,establish prayer,and spend outof whatWehaveprovided forthem,”
(QuranSurah Baqrah Ayah2:3)
Firstletus understandhumannature.Wheneverhumanshave something,theythinkitistheirs.For
example,achildcomestoherfatherwhois eatingice creamand asksif she can have some,he says no
its mine, thenshe asksagain can I havea little bit and again he says no its mine, andwhenthe thirdtime
she asks himhe givesitto her.Now10 minuteslater,whenthe fatherwillaskthe childif he can have
some ice cream,the childsays no its mine. Now that the childhas hada taste of the ice cream, she
knowsit’sgoodand doesn’t wanttoshare.
Applythe above examplewithwhatAllah(SWT) givesus.He providesforusandgivesusand givesus,
eventhoughall of the thingsHe isgivingusisHis and donot belongtous, andwhenAllah(SWT) asksus
to give,we begintothinkthatwhat we have isours.
We mustrealize thatShaitanisour openenemyinthisworldandhe will doeverythinginhispowerto
leadusastray from the path of Allah(SWT).One of the biggestexamplesof Shaitanbeingthe enemyof
humanity,we findinthe storyof Adam(AS).Consideringthe size of Jannah,itisevidentthatthere may
be trillionsoruncountable numberof treeswithfruitsinthere.Allah(SWT) gave Adam(AS) permission
to eat fromanywhere inJannah,except1tree.Itis saidthat once he was forbiddenbyAllah(SWT) to
eat fromthistree,Adam(AS) venturedfarintoJannahandawayfrom that tree.Butwhat compelled
himto turn back and travel all thatdistance tothe forbiddentree,eventhoughtherewere manyfruit
ladentreesinthe way,wasShaitan.The Devil convincedAdam(AS) thatif he can eatthe fruitof that
one tree that Allah(SWT) hasforbidden,he willbe happyandcontent.He convincedthemthatthe
otherswere notworthit. Imagine howmanytreesAdam(AS) wouldhave passedtoreachthat1 tree.
The pointof the storyis that Shaitanwouldcompel people tohave the one thingthattheydon’thave
evenmore as itis evident,thateventhoughAllah(SWT) gave the entire JannahtoAdam(AS),Shaitan
compelledhimtohave the one thinghe couldnothave.That ishuman nature.Shaitan convinces
mankindtobe greedyandalwayshave a wantfor more until thatwant becomessogreatthat we begin

2. to desire whatAllah(SWT) hasprohibited.Forexample,how manyhalal drinksare available todayinthe
world?Hundredsmaybe thousandseven,butthere are peopleamongthe Muslimsevenwhodesire
onlyto drinkalcohol,one of the fewthingsAllah(SWT) hasforbidden.ThatisShaitansdoing,he makes
whatAllah(SWT) has forbiddenappearmore appealingandpushpeople tosin.Greedisone of the
strongestweaponsthatShaitanhasagainsthumanitywhichiswhyIslamasemphasizedgreatlyonthe
virtuesandbenefitsof givingcharity.
And spend in the way of Allah and do notthrow [yourselves] with your[own] handsinto destruction [by
refraining].And do good;indeed,Allah lovesthe doersof good.
(QuranSurah Baqrah Ayah2:195)
Allah(SWT) hascommandedhumanityinthe Quranto spendinHisway fromwhat theyhave earned
purely. Understandingwhatispure earningsisveryimportant.Forexampleif afruitvendorisselling
bad fruitsonpurpose,thanhisearningsare not pure.If a mechaniclooksat a car whichonlyneedsan
oil change but tellsthe customerthathe or she needsa new transmissionjusttomake some extra
money,thanthat moneyisnotpure and spendingthatearnedmoneyincharityisnotappropriate.
Accordingto AbdullahibnMasud(RA),The ProphetMuhammad (SAW) said:'Seeking halalearning is a
dutyafterthe duty.'In otherwordsworkingtoearna halal livingisitself areligiousobligationsecondin
importance afterthe primaryreligiousobligationslikeprayers,fastingandhajj.
People tendtospendalotin otherworldlythingsfortheirownentertainmentinthisworld but
spendingtoomuchonlybecomesabigdeal for themwhenitcomesto spendinginthe wayof Allah
(SWT).Alwaysrememberthatcharityisa sure wayto save oneself fromthe tormentof hellfireandalso
rememberthatyourneedtogive charityis alwaysbiggerthanthose whoare receivingitbecause your
rewardis directlywithAllah(SWT).
This article is written fromtheinformation provided in a lecture by UstadNouman AliKhan.Thisis not a
transcriptof the lecture. For the full Lecture pleasevisit the link below:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMQc6scXSbE
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