THE KHALIFAH DIARIES

بِسْمِ اللهِ الرَّحْمٰنِ الرَّحِيْمِ

Sadaqah is a beautiful way to show Allah your sincerity in seeking His pleasure by doing righteous and good deeds that benefit others. This can be in the form of contributing your money, time, effort and any resources you have that Allah has gifted you with.

“Every act of goodness is Sadaqah.”

(Sahih Bukhari)

You’d be surprised how easy it is to give Sadaqah every day to everyone around you. As long as what you give is sincere from the heart and does benefit others, insyaAllah Allah will accept it as a form of ibadah to Him. 

Today, I’d like to share with you how Sadaqah can change your life not just in dunya but also in the akhirah. All these benefits of Sadaqah are truly amazing. Let’s get into it.

1. Practice letting go of love for this dunya

“Never will you attain the good [reward] until you spend [in the way of Allah] from that which you love. And whatever you spend – indeed, Allah is Knowing of it.”

(Al-Imran 3:92)

The best way to practice letting go of your love for this dunya is to… well.. let go of it. Let go of it by giving Sadaqah. You can assess yourself and find out what you love most. 

If you love money, try donating 1 Dollar a day or 10 Dollars every week to your local Masjid. Or you can also start giving your parents a small portion of your money. Soon, it’ll be easier for you to give bigger amounts insyaAllah. 

The most important thing is to start small.

If you value your time, try volunteering at the local Masjid or teach at an orphanage. 

When we give what we love most back to Allah, that would be the best way to prove our love for Him insyaAllah. 🙂

2. Live in Allah’s Mercy

“The believing men and believing women are allies of one another. They enjoin what is right and forbid what is wrong and establish prayer and give zakah and obey Allah and His Messenger. Those – Allah will have mercy upon them. Indeed, Allah is Exalted in Might and Wise.”

(At-Taubah 9:71)

Zakah is an obligatory form of charity which is the 3rd pillar of Islam, whereas Sadaqah is a voluntary form of charity that can be given through many means besides money. 

Both are very important. In this ayah, Allah emphasized that believing men and women who are sincere in faith will do acts that bring His pleasure including giving Zakah. 

Those who do this will have earned His Mercy. 

3. Best investment with Allah s.w.t

“Who is it that would loan Allah a goodly loan so He may multiply it for him many times over? And it is Allah who withholds and grants abundance, and to Him you will be returned.”

(Al-Baqarah 2:245)

In the time of Prophet Muhammad s.a.w, people had to finance their own participation in battles and all forms of Jihad in the cause of Allah. Therefore the emphasis on financial contributions (Sadaqah) in this ayah is very much valued by Allah. 

Allah s.w.t assured them that by loaning Allah ‘a goodly loan’, He will grant them abundance and multiply the rewards of their contributions many times over. 

Sadaqah in our time is also our way of giving Allah a ‘goodly loan’ so that He will multiply His rewards for us. InsyaAllah.

4. Save yourself from hell-fire

“Save yourself from Hell-fire even by giving half a date-fruit to charity.”

(Sahih Bukhari)

During a particularly hard season in the time of the Prophet s.a.w,  a poor woman with two daughters knocked on Aisha’s r.a door for something to eat. All Aisha r.a had in her house at the time were 3 dates, so she gave all of it to the woman.

The woman gave one date each to her daughters. As she was about to eat the third date, her two daughters had finished eating theirs and was looking at her date with hungry eyes. So she split the third date in half and gave each to her daughters with nothing left for herself.

Aisha r.a was so touched by this mother’s gesture. She later told Prophet Muhammad s.a.w about this incident and he s.a.w said: “She will enter Paradise because of that.”

Sadaqah is not about the grandeur of our contribution, some of the most beloved acts to Allah are the tiniest but are the most sincere from the heart. 

So don’t worry if you don’t have the means to donate or give big Sadaqahs to society, whatever you do for your loved ones and the people around you is enough Sadaqah for you to receive huge rewards from Allah as well. InsyaAllah. 🙂

5. Attain shade on the day of resurrection

“Hearts, that Day, will tremble.”

(An-Naziat 79:8)

Judgement day is said to be the most heart-wrenching time that all of us will be going through. The sun will be right on top of our heads, and some of us will be drowning in our own sweat. 

In one hadith it says, “Seven types of people will receive the shade of Allah on the day where there will be no shade… one of them is the one who gives charity secretly that his left hand does not know what his right hand has given.” 

So, grab this opportunity while you still can to benefit others with as much Sadaqah. InsyaAllah. 🙂

6. Increase your status with Allah

“Charity does not decrease wealth, no one forgives another except that Allah increases his honor, and no one humbles himself for the sake of Allah except that Allah raises his status.”

(Sahih Muslim)

It’s perfectly natural to think that our wealth will decrease as we give more Sadaqah to others but Allah says that’s not the case with Him. If you give Sadaqah sincerely for His sake, He will increase you not just in wealth but also in your status with Him.

That’s why you don’t hear people going broke because of too much Sadaqah. It’s the giving of Sadaqah that has brought more to begin with. SubhanAllah. 

7. Receive huge rewards

“The example of those who spend their wealth in the way of Allah is like a seed [of grain] which grows seven spikes; in each spike is a hundred grains. And Allah multiplies [His reward] for whom He wills. And Allah is all-Encompassing and Knowing.”

(Al-Baqarah 2:261)

Imagine that… every seed you sow will gain hundreds and hundreds of grains. MasyaAllah. Allah is truly generous. Every good deed, every Sadaqah we give to others will come back to us in huge rewards from Allah. 

No Sadaqah you give will go unnoticed in Allah’s eyes. He knows everything. 🙂

8. Extinguish past sins

“Sadaqah (charity) extinguishes sins just as water extinguishes fire.”

(Tirmidhi)

Even if we have sins the size of Mount Uhud (which we all probably have at some point), we can proactively remove our sins by giving Sadaqah to others consistently. 

9. Enter Jannah through the gate of Sadaqah

“… those who give sadaqa will be invited to enter by the gate of sadaqa.”

(Bukhari & Muslim)

There are 8 gates of Jannah that we can enter Jannah from…

• Baab As-Salaat: For those who pray often.
• Baab Al-Jihad: For those who sacrificed their lives for the benefit of Islam.
• Baab As-Sadaqah: For those who give Sadaqah often.
• Baab Ar-Rayyaan: For those who fast often.
• Baab Al-Hajj: For those who perfect their Hajj Pilgrimage.
• Baab Al-Kaazimeen Al-Ghaiz Wal Aafina Anin Naas: For those who constantly suppress their anger and forgive everyone in their lives.
• Baab Al-Iman: For those who are steadfast in their faith in Allah, trust Him in all affairs and live in fulfillment following His commands.
• Baab Al-Dhikr: For those who remember Allah and do Dhikr often.

Which gate do you want to enter Jannah from? We can plan from now and make dua for it insyaAllah. 🙂

10. Protection from harm

“Give the sadaqa without delay, for it stands in the way of calamity.”

(Mishkat al-Masabih)

At any given moment, we are exposed to difficulties, life challenges and all sorts of harm. Sadaqah is like a protection shield for us to protect ourselves and ease our way through all these hardships in life. 

This seems very true because when I look around me, the people in my life who are constant givers – they give more Sadaqah to the family, society and so on –  seem to be happier, more fulfilled and overall more content compared to those who are at the receiving end. 

11. Endless rewards even after death

“When a person dies, his deeds are cut off except for three: Continuing Sadaqah, knowledge that others benefited from, and a righteous son who supplicates for him.”

(Sahih Tirmidhi)

Everything after death will be cut off, that’s it… you will only receive the rewards of good deeds that you’ve done while you were alive. But if you have these 3 things, it will continue to give you multiplied rewards until the day of Qiyamah, and one of them is ongoing Sadaqah.

MasyaAllah, how awesome is that?!! Let’s say you give 1 Dollar Sadaqah to the Masjid every Friday, if that Masjid still stands and benefits the people until the day of Qiyamah, you will receive the rewards from that too.

Conclusion

People often mistaken Sadaqah as grandeur gestures or large sums of monetary contributions given to institutions when in fact, in Allah’s eyes, the most important part of Sadaqah is how sincere you are in your heart when giving that Sadaqah, no matter how small. 

Heyy, maybe helping your mum with the dishes at home is more beloved to Allah than giving 1 Million Dollars of Sadaqah to that new Masjid. Just saying. 😉

So, when we’re trying to please Allah with our Sadaqah, don’t look at the size of our contribution, give Sadaqah no matter how small because that may be more beloved to Allah than all the biggest amount of Sadaqah people have given in this world. 🙂

Love & Salam,

Aimi