In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
“Say: Lo! my Lord enlargeth the provision for whom He will of His bondmen, and narroweth (it) for him. And whatsoever ye spend (for good) He replaceth it. And He is the Best of Providers.” (34:39)
Echoes from the pulpit.
Real-life stories regarding the effects of charity.
He said to him, "As for the dogs,"
"they give birth to many times the number of sheep,"
"and as for the people,"
"they eat sheep and lambs,"
"but they do not eat dogs."
"Why, then,"
"is the number of sheep many times over the number of dogs?"
"Why, then?"
The young man fell silent,
and he could not answer this question.
The father continued his hadith, saying,
"My son, these matters"
"are not taught in the greatest universities in the world."
"This is barakah (blessing),"
"and this is charity,"
"and doing good,"
"which increases wealth and causes it to grow,"
"and never diminishes it."
Charity.
A sermon by the honorable Sheikh
Khalid Ibn 'Abdullah al-Hamudi,
may Allah preserve him.
O servants of Allah,
I will speak today
about a matter
for which I will pave the way
with these three stories.
The first:
One day,
a young man graduated
from the College of Economics
and Commerce
at one of the most prestigious international universities.
After the young man finished
his studies,
he returned to his father
to help him
in the business of selling appliances,
selling electrical
and home appliances
that he owned.
After a few days
of working,
the young man noticed
that his father would donate every month
a refrigerator,
or an oven, or a washing machine,
to a needy person among the poor,
or the orphans, or the widows.
The young man was astonished
by this matter
and objected to it
strongly,
arguing that it was
a loss for the business and trade.
The young man began
to calculate the cost of these
donations
monthly and annually,
just as he calculated the amount
over ten years,
and what if these funds
had been utilized
to increase capital,
increase profit,
and expand the business and trade.
He came up with high figures
and significant sums of money
that were not to be underestimated.
And so,
he decided
to discuss this matter with his father
and tried to convince him
to stop this
action that was harming him,
for it contradicted commercial logic
and everything he had learned
of the laws
of economics and trade
in the greatest universities
of the world.
His father did nothing
but smile calmly
and ask him a question
that was extremely simple.
He said, "My son,"
"are sheep"
"more numerous, or dogs?"
The boy replied,
"Sheep are certainly more numerous."
The father asked him,
"And how many times do dogs give birth"
"in a year?"
"And how many times do sheep give birth?"
The boy said,
"Dogs give birth more than once,"
"and each time,"
"five or six,"
"and perhaps more,"
"while sheep"
"do not give birth in a single year"
"to more than one lamb or two at most."
The father continued,
saying,
"And do people"
"eat the meat of sheep and lambs,"
"or the meat of dogs?"
The young man's astonishment increased
at the questions,
and he did not know what his father
wanted to say to him.
But he replied in any case,
saying,
"Of course, people"
"eat sheep and lambs."
The father said to him,
"As long as dogs,"
"and as long as people"
"eat sheep and lambs,"
"and do not eat dogs,"
"why, then,"
"is the number of sheep"
"many times over the number of dogs?"
The young man fell silent
and could not answer
this question.
The father continued his hadith, saying,
"My son,"
"these matters"
"are not taught in the greatest"
"universities in the world."
"This is barakah,"
"and this is charity,"
"and doing good,"
"which increases wealth and causes it to grow,"
"and never diminishes it."
"Indeed, it is a profitable"
"trade with Allah."
The Messenger of Allah,
peace be upon him, said:
"Wealth does not decrease"
"because of charity."
Narrated by al-Tirmidhi.
This is the first story.
And listen to the second, O servants of Allah,
which
is more amazing than the first
regarding the virtue of this subject
that we are talking about.
There was
a teacher who was giving lessons
to a group
of women,
and she was urging them to give charity.
After the lesson ended,
and in order to ensure
that the teacher
was certain everyone understood the lesson well,
she opened a box
to collect charity for the poor.
Every woman present
who was attending the lesson
hastened
to give charity
with whatever money she had.
Indeed, there were even some
who did not have enough money,
so they began to give charity
from their jewelry.
Some of them took off
their earrings,
and some took off their necklaces.
Among those sitting
was an elderly woman,
well-off,
who was wearing a necklace
made of pure
pearls.
She stood up and donated this necklace.
At this point, the teacher
refused
to take it and said
to her, "This necklace"
"is very valuable,"
"I cannot accept it."
But the woman
insisted on donating it.
The next day,
the teacher went
to a jeweler
to sell what she had received
and then donate it
as charity.
When the jeweler
saw the valuable
The jeweler was dazzled by it,
and he said to her,
"What a precious necklace this is!
However,
to appraise it,
I must first remove
all the beads."
"Do you agree?"
The teacher agreed.
A merchant came to the teacher,
looking fearful,
and said to her, "When
I removed the beads from their place,
I found beneath them
clippings of hair
and women’s fingernails.
These things are likely
the work of sorcery."
At that moment, the teacher realized
that she was facing a story
about the virtue of charity.
The following Friday,
the teacher met the woman
who had donated the necklace,
and said to her,
"How are you?
How are your affairs?"
She replied, "I had been,
along with my children and my husband,
in a state of dispersion and estrangement,
and great mutual aversion.
But as soon as I gave the necklace in charity,
I sat with my children
and my husband
at one table
for the first time
in over twenty years.
In fact, we have begun
to converse and laugh
naturally,
as if nothing had ever happened."
Do you see, O servants of Allah?
Then the teacher said to her,
"This charity
warded off harm from you,
for the necklace had been enchanted."
The woman was astonished
and asked, "How so?"
"A close friend gifted me the necklace,
and I loved her
to the point that I would not take it off,
even while I slept."
"So praise be to Allah,
who removed the veil
from my insight,
and by His grace,
made me never to be miserable again."
As for the third, O servants of Allah,
I tell you
about a man I know closely,
and he may even be among us
in this mosque.
I have traveled with him,
and I found him to be generous
and a lover of good.
He was afflicted with an illness
that baffled the doctors,
and they were unable to treat it.
He began to say of himself,
he said, "I reached a state
known only to Allah,
of despair and exhaustion,
until I began
to await death.
Then Allah opened the way for me through charity,
so I began to give charity
every day, morning and evening,
with the intention
that Allah would heal me."
He said, "Days passed,
and I began to see
a vast difference
and a wide gap
in my health for the better,
until the appointed day came,
and I met with the attending physician.
He requested a repeat
of the tests.
When he saw them,
he was dazzled and amazed.
By Allah,
there was no trace of any illness
from what had been there before.
'What did you do?
What medicine did you take?'
When I told him,
he said, 'There is no god but Allah.
Indeed, Allah is over all things
omnipotent.'"
Do you see, O servants of Allah,
the effect of charity?
Charity is like a wide well,
which,
if you lower a bucket into it,
returns to you
full, containing blessings
that only Allah knows.
Yes, it returns to you,
your bucket, filled with blessings
that never end.
Our topic, O servants of Allah,
our topic is charity.
Charity, O servants of Allah,
and its
great impact.
Charity is a protection from the Fire,
and charity extinguishes the anger of the Almighty,
and wipes away sin.
Charity is shade for its giver
on the Day of Resurrection.
Charity is a cause for healing
from diseases of the heart
and the body.
Charity, O servants of Allah,
is a cause for winning
the supplication of the angels
for replacement and compensation.
Charity is a cause for blessing,
and a cause for entering Paradise,
and for salvation from the Fire.
Charity is a cause that
gladdens the heart,
preserves wealth,
repels calamity,
and protects against evil ends.
Charity, O servants of Allah,
covers every fault,
increases one's lifespan,
attracts the prayers of people,
and intercedes for you before Allah.
I ask Allah, the Majestic,
to make us among His servants
who do good,
among His servants who give charity,
and among His righteous, God-fearing servants.
Until our next meeting,
within the "Echo of the Pulpits" series,
and peace be upon you,
and the mercy of Allah,
and His blessings.