By Maryam Qadeer
“That scarf! I bet it will go well with Ma’s new coat.”
(continues browsing through the shop…)
“Ohh, this CD about ‘Giving’! It will make for a wonderful gift for A_, she’ll love it.”
Just then, out of the corner of your eye, you glimpsed a thick translucent box made out of plastic, the size of a small carton, with lettering on it to indicate donations were accepted for the teaching of the underprivileged. Well, this could not have turned out any better; with the hard earned cash you had just madefrom tutoring some kids, you could definitely afford to give some away for a just cause! Casually making your way to the box, you slipped in 40% of those selfsame earnings. Ah, the giddy feeling of pleasure that came with charity!
*
He really wanted to attend the workshop, you could see the intense feeling in his eyes. But being student and broke, he laughingly conveyedto you the reasons why he could not go.
“What if I could get someone to sponsor the ticket for you? Could you go then?” you made the suggestion as a brilliant idea occurred to you out of the blue.
“Really? That could happen?” he looked at you disbelievingly, as if scared to have his hopes dashed once again.
“Sure!” you went on hurriedly, having mentally calculated that you had enough to spare for a ticket- after all, you could go without your eating-out sessions this month. “Sometimes people buy more tickets so that those who can’t afford to book a place for themselves can also attend big events like this one.”
Going off the junk would also mean a leaner waistline insha Allah, you consoled yourself. And you weren’t lying, you easily assured your heart and mind, a friend of a volunteer had bought extra tickets this time:the only thing was, YOU were that ‘friend’. You were going to be the mysterious volunteer who donated an extra ticket. You happily sigh. Oh Allah, please let this small act be a source of earning Your pleasure and accept this of me!
*
We don’t know how Allah does it exactly, do we? He promises us a reward more than 700 times what we give away (Quran, 2: 261), which is actually a mind-boggling profit of 70,000% upon our “investment” in His cause. Further down the road from spending, you may run out of funds quicker than expected, but He shall not leave you on your own… He will help you out. After all, Allah helps those who help His creation.
In fact, the best way to spend (rather, invest!) is in the way of learning. You facilitate the education of one person- and soon, that individual shall teach two, those two teach four and the chain continues till the end of times by the will of Allah. The super thing about contributing to/ investing in Youth Club’s Charity drive is the part where you know without a shadow of a doubt that the money put in shall only go towards beneficial teaching and learning! You know the awesome lectures that are organised and the cool DVDs produced of those amazing sessions conducted? What could be better than knowing your charitable donation may have helped bring that about? The hope of seeing Allah in Jannah through our tiny efforts, that’s what!
