Bathe Yourself with Money!
Creator: Muhammad Alshareef
Date: 2008-01-29
Format: text
Identifier: http://www.khutbah.com/en/salah_zakah/money.php
Language: en
Subject: zakat
Title: Bathe Yourself with Money!
Created on: Tue Jan 29 11:04:45 -0500 2008
Updated on: Tue Jan 29 11:09:49 -0500 2008
Version: 3
Abstract: ... diseases of hypocrisy and doubt. 2. By cleansing the heart from the disease of stinginess. 3. By bathing the remaining wealth with barakah. 4. By bathing the good character of the one giving and increasing his or her wealth. As Rasul Allah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, “Charity never decreases wealth.” “If I win a million dollars I’ll give half to the masjid!” Ever heard that du’a before? Allah ta’aala teaches us that the nature of humans is to attach themselves to coins of gold and silver. In fact, they pray day and night for it. In their prayers, they promise that if they are indeed blessed with the wealth, they will be unselfish with that gift. But when a test befalls them, they turn their backs: And among them are those who made a covenant with Allah, (saying), “If He should give us from His bounty, we will surely spend in charity, and we will surely be among the righteous.” But when He gave them from His bounty, they were stingy with it and turned away while they refused. So He penalized them with hypocrisy in their hearts until the Day they will meet Him - because they failed Allah in what they promised Him and because they (habitually) used to lie (At-Tauba 9/75–78). Yayha ibn Mu’adh rahimahullah commented, “I have always been amazed at someone who has wealth, yet is stingy. His Lord, who gave the wealth to him, requests that he loan part of it to Him and the stingy man says, ‘No.’” Zakah is an obligation connected to wealth. When someone delays the paying of zakah, that obligation directly chains itself to the individual’s neck. In order for them to repent, they must give what Allah made obligatory upon them. RasulAllah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam taught us that when a people hoard wealth and do not give the zakah, they will be afflicted with a famine: “There was never a people that refused to give zakah except that Allah afflicted them with famine” (Bayhaqi). He, sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam, warned us of stinginess because of the destruction it brings: “Beware of stinginess for verily those who came before you were destroyed because of it” (Abu Dawood). And on the Day of Resurrection, the zakah that was not paid will be a means of punishment for the individual: And let not those who (greedily) withhold what Allah has given them of His bounty ever think that it is better for them. Rather, it is worse for them. Their necks will be encircled by what they withheld on the Day of Resurrection (A’le-Imran 3/180). In Sahih Muslim, Abu Hurayrah radi Allahu anhu narrates that RasulAllah, sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said: “If any owner of gold or silver does not pay what is due on him, on the Day of Resurrection, plates of fire shall be molded out for him and heated in the fire of Hell. With it, his sides, his forehead and his back will be cauterized and branded. When the plates cool, (the process) will be repeated for a day whose extent is fifty thousand years. Then judgment will be pronounced amongst the servants, and he shall see whether his path is to take him to Paradise or to Hell.” PART II The following is a list of items on which one has to pay zakah: • Banknotes • Gold • Silver • Capital goods • Cattle • Merchandise • Fruits and other crops • Minerals • Buried treasures In a world where most of us do not live a farmer’s life, we should pay special attention to paying zakah on the following: • Monetary savings • Gold - according to some scholars, zakah should be paid on gold, including collections of bridal gold. • Business inventory - If someone owns a store (as many families do) and they have items in storage waiting to be sold, they need to pay zakah on those items. Additionally, it is very common for some families to purchase something in bulk and store it in their homes to be sold at a later date. One must pay zakah on these items also. • Additional homes one may own with the intention to wait for them to increase in value and then sell them. Abdullah ibn Mas’ood radi Allahu anhu said, “Store your wealth where no worms will eat it, where it cannot be reached by thieves. Store it in sadaqah.” Umm Al-Mu’mineen Aisha radi Allahu anha once met a poor woman who was with her two daughters. Aisha radi Allahu anha gave her three dates. The woman gave each of the daughters one date and took one for herself. She was about to eat the date when one of her daughters expressed the desire to eat her date. She immediately shared the date among her daughters. This kind treatment impressed Aisha radi Allahu anha, and she related the whole incident to RasulAllah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam. After listening to the whole story, RasulAllah sal Allahu alayhi wa sallam said, "Verily, Allah has assured Paradise for her because of this act or has rescued her from the fire of Hell." Indeed, not only are we giving zakah and sadaqah to cleanse ourselves; we do so in order to protect ourselves from Hellfire. PART III When it’s ... [Full Article...]
