This Morning’s Thoughts [Sadaqah]
One of the first things I do when I wake up is thank God. The nearer to first that act is, the better my day is going to be. Today, after snoozing for around 45-minutes (don’t judge me, I have a baby), I rolled over and tapped open my Daily Hadith iPhone app. Basically the Prophet (pbuh) was saying that sadaqah, or voluntary charity, was incumbent every day upon the believer. The idea of voluntary charity being mandated may sound strange at first, but it’s not when you turn it around. What the Prophet is saying is that if you call yourself believer and forsake voluntary charity, you are in fact deluding yourself. There is no belief without the desire to give of oneself.
The Prophet’s companion asked, “O Messenger of God, from what do we give charity if we do not possess property?”
The Prophet answers essentially that doing good deeds, commitment to Islam’s unitary faith, even a good and encouraging word… are all worthy acts of charity. Put another way, you don’t have to be rich in order to do good and you don’t have to have goods in order to be rich.
I have a lot of conversations with smart people about the nature of reality and what we really are. Yet most of them remain in an ethereal realm located somewhere between bullshit and irrelevancy. It seems very mediocre and small to debate the interpretation of theological minutae while actual flesh-and-blood humans are suffering from lack of clean drinking water and basic sanitation; whose governments are ruled by corrupt and selfish politicos; whose economies are poisoned by international exploitation.
In the face of all this, I understand how small our impact can seem. After college, I tried very hard to stop thinking seriously about the world’s troubles, believing that I was incapable of affecting them. I now realize this runs counter to my faith. I am reminded of the Biblical story of David, of Daniel, of the first Muslims who were laughed at, stoned and banished from their homes. They were eventually raised to a great height over those who formerly mocked them.
God gives earthly power to whom He pleases, and not without reason, to test whether they will do what is good with it. He makes the path difficult for those whom He pleases to test them, in order to see if they will remain true. I have never, in all my years, heard the story where God asks, “What is the nature of reality?” in order to get into Heaven. God does not care if you understand the Universe (trust me, He already knows); He only wants you to know yourself and understand what you must do.
And that doesn’t take a savant.
