This Ramadan, MuslimMatters is pleased to host the Institute Of Knowledge‘s daily Ramadan series: Keys to the Divine Compass. Through this series, each day we will spend time connecting with the Qur’an on a deeper, more spiritual, uplifting level.

Previous in the series: Juz 1 Juz 2 Juz 3

Juzʾ 4: Can You Give What You Love?

Bismillah-ir Raḥmān-ir Raḥīm. All praise to Allah and peace and salutations upon his servant and final messenger Muḥammad (pbuh), Assalāmu ‘Alaykum wa Raḥmatullāhi wa Barakātuh!

Welcome to another episode of our Ramaḍān Reflection series, Keys to the Divine Compass, where we go over verses of the Qur’an from every Juz throughout the month of Ramaḍān so that we can derive lessons and apply them to our lives.

InshaAllah today I will be going over verse 92 from Surah Āl-i ‘Imrān (Sūrah 3) in which Allah (swt) says, “You will never achieve the height of goodness, righteousness, piety until you spend from that that which you love, and whatever you spend then indeed Allah is aware of it.” This verse is instructive to all of us when it comes to the mindset we are supposed to adopt when giving charity, when giving in the path of Allah (swt).

There is a narration associated with this verse, of Abū Ṭalḥa (R), one of the earliest Muslims from the Anṣār and the leader of the Khazraj, who was part of the ‘Aqabah pledges before the migration of the Prophet (pbuh) to Madinah. He was one of the wealthiest individuals of Madinah, and he had a garden that was named Bīr-Ḥā’, the location of which would be in the rear area of the Masjid of the Prophet (pbuh) today. It was a very beautiful garden that had clean water, beautiful trees, and the Prophet (pbuh) would come to love to sit there and drink its water. When Abū Ṭalḥa (R) heard this verse after it was revealed, he made the intention to give his entire garden away in charity. He came to the Prophet (pbuh) and said, ‘I wish to give this garden in charity’. The Prophet (pbuh) was surprised but pleased, and he advised that instead of giving it in charity he should distribute it amongst his closest family members first. In other words, give it as charity to the people closest to you.

This verse is instrumental for us because Allah (swt) is addressing a very key point, a mindset that we might adopt sometimes–subconsciously–when it comes to giving charity. We may think that charity is something that we give from the extra, is something that we give from what we do not want anymore, that which no longer holds any value or never held any value to us but might be valuable to others. Yet, Allah (swt) says that to achieve the heights of goodness and piety, you must fight and disassociate yourself from the things you are attached to. The scholars say that the word ‘bir’ in the verse can be literally translated as good, but it refers to Jannah, that you will never be able to achieve Jannah until you are able to part from the things that you have a love for. When we give something, for example donating clothes, how often do we give clothes that we no longer wear? The clothes that are ripped, the clothes that have been neglected in the back of the closet, the clothes that were already going to be thrown out but now we decide to give it away to charity. How often do we look at the clothes that we wear, some of the more valuable ones, some of the ones that we love and are favorites, and we take one of those items and give it away to charity? How often do we buy things that are new and give them to charity?

This mindset helps a believer not form attachments to their wealth. What we own is that which Allah (swt) has given me from His blessings, but I will not allow those blessings to cloud my judgment. I will not allow those blessings to become an obstacle through which I am unable to achieve Jannah. I will not allow them to help me stay away from achieving the heights of piety that I can achieve otherwise. It is something that all of us should keep in mind in the month of Ramaḍān as we gear up to give charity every day, that yes –when we give $1, $10, or anything else, we are parting with something that we love. We love our money, we love our possessions, we love the things that Allah (sawt) has given us, but when we give, we actively fight against the impulse of ‘I am the owner of it’. It is not the owner of me, it has no value to me, rather when it is given away it adds value for me, that perhaps I can achieve Jannah through this.

So, when we are giving in the month of Ramaḍān our goal should be ‘Oh Allah, I am parting from things that I love for your sake, ‘I am parting from the things that I have a love for only for your pleasure’. When we give physical items in charity our goal should be to give from the best that we have. It might not always be possible, but we should try to give from the best we have because we do not want to be standing in front of Allah on the day of judgment and have Allah tell us, that yes you gave but you gave from the things that you no longer needed, you gave from the things that you would have thrown out, and you gave it feeling very generous when that is not really generosity. Allah (swt) says that whatever you spend He is aware of it, even if it is little. Allah (swt) knows that if it was a non-believer, then perhaps they would not have parted with it, but you did because you wanted the pleasure of Allah.

May Allah (swt) guide, bless, protect us all, and give us the ability to give charity from the things that we love for His sake and for His love, Ameen. Assalāmu ‘Alaykum wa Raḥmatullāhi wa Barakātuh.