BITS OF EMAAN

Sadaqa in Secret

It was the time of Sadaqa and many were washing their sins with it. Sadaqa from family members reached this sister from various place. The family was a huge one and scattered very far from each other. However this sister residing in the native place was responsible for distributing the money among the poor relatives. Now we all know the hadith where Rasool(SAW) asked us to give Sadaqa in secret so that our left hand wouldn't know about it. Many a time or why most of the time we fail to carry out this sunnah. We just want to complete out duty and what harm would it do if it is done in public right? It is not an uncommon attitude with many of us. We do not concentrate on small things as such because believe it or not concealing what you give is a hard job. We need to make an effort here. As if the efforts for calculating the Zakath and Giving it away with a huge sigh was not enough. And not to forget the fantasies about all the things you could do if you have the money. That's why Allah gives us so huge a reward for sadaqa.

Allah says in Surah Tagaboon

فَٱتَّقُواْ ٱللَّهَ مَا ٱسۡتَطَعۡتُمۡ وَٱسۡمَعُواْ وَأَطِيعُواْ وَأَنفِقُواْ خَيۡرً۬ا لِّأَنفُسِڪُمۡ‌ۗ وَمَن يُوقَ شُحَّ نَفۡسِهِۦ فَأُوْلَـٰٓٮِٕكَ هُمُ ٱلۡمُفۡلِحُونَ

So keep your duty to Allah as best ye can, and listen, and obey, and spend; that is better for your souls. And whoso is saved from his own greed, such are the successful

So the very act of giving Sadaqa is so full of rewards. But imagine this sister slipping in her own sadaqa inside the money envelope silently in the name of other relatives. Every envelope had the giver's name, reciever's name and the allotted money. This sister, she counted a specific amount from her sadaqa and slipped it inside the envelopes. She was doing it secretly though I happened to walk past her. I didn't comment but was with her when she distributed it. And when she distributed among the poor relatives they were praising the giver and was fighting with her for not putting enough money. They were claiming that had it been the giver, they would have given more to her(the sister only packed what the giver told her and added her own sadaqa). And she was just ignoring all that and kept quite.

We may not have a stable Emaan. But these little efforts are the ones that shows how committed we are to our creator. I mean it really made me feel sorry for myself and my Emaan. So may Allah make us all be committed to him and may Allah accept our bits of Emaan.

Allahumma ameen