Abdul Muqit Chowdhury :
The Holy Quran reveals : “They ask thee/What they should spend/ (In charity). Say : Whatever/Ye spend that is good,/Is for parents and kindred/And orphans/And those in want/And for wayfarers./And whatever ye do/That is good -God /Knoweth it well.”
“Fighting is prescribed/For you,
and ye dislike it./But, it is possible/That ye dislike a thing/Which is good for you,/And that ye love a thing/which is bad for you./But God knoweth,/And ye know not.” (Sura Baqara 2: Ayat 215, 216, The Holy Quran Translation and Commentary by A. Yusuf Ali.
Allama Yusuf Ali comments on the Revelation on charity : “Three questions arise in charity : (1) What shall we give ? (2) To whom shall we give ? and (3) how shall we give ? That answer is here : Give anything what is good, useful, helpful, valuable. It may be property or money ; it may be a helping hand, it may be advice ; it may be a kind word ; “whatever ye that is good” is charity. On the other hand, if you throw away what is useless, there is no charity in it. Or if you give something with a harmful intent, e.g., a sword to a mad man, or a drug or sweets or even money to someone whom you want to entrap or corrupt, it is no charity, but a gift of damnation. To whom should you give ? It may be tempting to earn the world’s praise by a gift what will be talked about, but are you meeting the needs of those who have the first claim on you ? If you are not, you are like a person who defrauds creditors ; it is no charity. Every gift is judged by its unselfish character : the degree of need or claim is a factor which you should consider ; if you disregard it, there is something selfish behind it. How should it be given ? As in the sight of God ; this shuts out all pretence, show and insincerity.”
Allama Yusuf Ali adds comment on the second quotation (Ayat 216, Sura Baqara 2) where the verse starts with “Fighting is prescribed/For you, and ye dislike it.”:
“To fight in the cause of Truth is one of the highest forms of charity. What can you offer that is more precious than your own life ? But here again the limitations come in. If you are a mere brawler, or a selfish aggressive person, or a vainglorious bully, you deserve the highest censure. If you offer your life to the righteous Imam, who is only guided by God, you are an unselfish hero. God knows the value of things better than you do.”
In the light of these comments, we can judge our charitable activities, whether these are purely unselfish and sincere on humanitarian perspective. Holy Quran upholds the Injunctions of charity. Holy Ramzan is the golden period of such activities when we train ourselves to sacrifice our ‘self’ for the welfare of the deprived and suffering humanity.
The Holy Quran reveals : “They ask thee/What they should spend/ (In charity). Say : Whatever/Ye spend that is good,/Is for parents and kindred/And orphans/And those in want/And for wayfarers./And whatever ye do/That is good -God /Knoweth it well.”
“Fighting is prescribed/For you,
and ye dislike it./But, it is possible/That ye dislike a thing/Which is good for you,/And that ye love a thing/which is bad for you./But God knoweth,/And ye know not.” (Sura Baqara 2: Ayat 215, 216, The Holy Quran Translation and Commentary by A. Yusuf Ali.
Allama Yusuf Ali comments on the Revelation on charity : “Three questions arise in charity : (1) What shall we give ? (2) To whom shall we give ? and (3) how shall we give ? That answer is here : Give anything what is good, useful, helpful, valuable. It may be property or money ; it may be a helping hand, it may be advice ; it may be a kind word ; “whatever ye that is good” is charity. On the other hand, if you throw away what is useless, there is no charity in it. Or if you give something with a harmful intent, e.g., a sword to a mad man, or a drug or sweets or even money to someone whom you want to entrap or corrupt, it is no charity, but a gift of damnation. To whom should you give ? It may be tempting to earn the world’s praise by a gift what will be talked about, but are you meeting the needs of those who have the first claim on you ? If you are not, you are like a person who defrauds creditors ; it is no charity. Every gift is judged by its unselfish character : the degree of need or claim is a factor which you should consider ; if you disregard it, there is something selfish behind it. How should it be given ? As in the sight of God ; this shuts out all pretence, show and insincerity.”
Allama Yusuf Ali adds comment on the second quotation (Ayat 216, Sura Baqara 2) where the verse starts with “Fighting is prescribed/For you, and ye dislike it.”:
“To fight in the cause of Truth is one of the highest forms of charity. What can you offer that is more precious than your own life ? But here again the limitations come in. If you are a mere brawler, or a selfish aggressive person, or a vainglorious bully, you deserve the highest censure. If you offer your life to the righteous Imam, who is only guided by God, you are an unselfish hero. God knows the value of things better than you do.”
In the light of these comments, we can judge our charitable activities, whether these are purely unselfish and sincere on humanitarian perspective. Holy Quran upholds the Injunctions of charity. Holy Ramzan is the golden period of such activities when we train ourselves to sacrifice our ‘self’ for the welfare of the deprived and suffering humanity.
